Oakland North TV
A little rain didn’t keep Oaklanders away from the first annual East Bay Mini Maker Faire on Sunday. The fair, which was an indoor and outdoor exhibition of over 100 Bay Area businesses and tech projects, was held at Temescal’s Park Day School.
The Temescal location of Tara’s Organic Ice Cream, a New Mexico-born ice creamery serves all natural, locally made treats with unlikely flavors. Ever heard of garam marsala ice cream? How about basil? Or blueberry mint? You can try those and more at Tara’s. Check out these videos to learn more.
The Oracle Arena was filled with powerful music Saturday evening, as Bay Area church choirs competed before an enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 in the annual “How Sweet the Sound” gospel choir competition.
Bicycles have long been ingrained in the Bay Area’s transportation culture, so it’s no surprise that fixed-gear bikes—single-gear bikes with no rear freewheel, making it impossible for the rider to coast—have found a home in Oakland.
There was talk of chickens and pigs at North Oakland’s Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library on Friday night, but it wasn’t a discussion of Animal Farm. Jordan Ruyle named the barnyard critters while calling out square dance steps as part of a monthly event he puts on with his wife’s quartet, the Squirrelly Stringband.
The largest medical marijuana store in California, previously named iGrow, re-opened on Sunday as a national enterprise called weGrow, attracting dozens of reporters and hundreds of visitors. Watch this video for glimpse of the megastore some wags have nicknamed the Walmart of Weed.
Axis performed its unique style of modern dance last Thursday at Dance Access Day: A Day of Dance, Disability, Performance and Fun at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland. Audience members included children as well as disabled adults and seniors. Watch the video of the local dance team performing and teaching people of all ages how to dance.
The sun was shining this weekend as Swim A Mile swimmers of all ages, colors, shapes, and sizes donned swimsuits, swim caps, and goggles in rainbow colors and dove into the sparkling blue water of the pool. At the Mills College Trefethen Aquatic Center, the event arena, the large outdoor pool was able to accommodate the 400-plus participants swimming throughout the weekend.
On October 15, the Howie Harp Multi-Service Center at San Pablo and 18th Street will close. For the last 21 years, Howie Harp has served homeless people diagnosed as mentally ill. The clients’ conditions run the gamut from schizophrenia and narcotics abuse to manic depression and diabetes, and Harp has provided such services as housing referrals, anger management, counseling, hygiene kits and meals. Watch the photo slideshow and hear from the people who have sought aid from the center for so many years.