People
Carlos Mendoza, a high school student, comes every Monday night at Liberating Ourselves Locally for Hack Night. Sitting in the back of the room next to his mentor, Mendoza takes out his laptop and starts typing. At 18 he is one of the group’s youngest members. He also has a big project underway: Mendoza is creating his own video game.
During his years of internment at Heart Mountain, Jimi Yamaichi mastered living in a frozen world. He insulated his barrack with ice. He substituted cold cow dung for cement. He grew summer vegetables in below-zero temperatures. He stood perfectly still when guards at the Heart Mountain War Relocation Camp ordered him to pack his belongings and prepare to be transferred to Tule Lake War Relocation Center. At least, he thought, it would be warmer. “I kept my street clothes on…
While the East Bay Municipal Utility District is suffering the worst drought since its founding in 1923, its 1.3 million users face no danger of going dry anytime soon. That was the message from EBMUD board members and operations staff at their Tuesday public meeting. Infrastructure investments, conservation, and transfers–buying water from the Sacramento River–together mean the East Bay is weathering this Stage 4 drought better than most of California. According to the state’s own data, the EBMUD staff are…
Oaklanders get together weekly for a boozy drawing party at The New Parkway.
The co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association and civil rights advocate talked to students at Samuel Merritt University about social justice and healthcare for immigrants.
Family and friends gathered on Saturday to celebrate the life of bar Café Van Kleef’s owner, who passed away on Tuesday, leaving behind his legacy as the “godfather of Uptown Oakland.”
The California State Bar’s Public Law Section has named Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker the 2015 Ronald M. George Public Lawyer of the Year (PLOY). The award is named after retired the California Supreme Court justice, and honors members of the State Bar who have demonstrated at least a five-year commitment to public law and have achieved exceptional accomplishments in the practice of public law. “It’s the highest recognition that I could receive, because it’s from your peers who know your…
For Oakland’s artists, The Flight Deck, an arts and performance venue, is an open home. But for one theater group in particular, the space means much more than that. Tucked away in the back of The Flight Deck, Gritty City Repertory Theater prepares for their newest play, while its founder, Lindsay Krumbein, is preparing to play the role of company manager, ticket seller and costume designer. Krumbein founded the group in 2012 after an 11-year career as an English and…
The New Parish in Downtown Oakland is packed. About 300 attendees wave their hands and clap as five purple stage lights illuminate the silhouette of a guy wearing a plaid suit, a red vest, a tie and shiny black shoes. The band—drums, piano, bass and guitar—starts playing a blues tune with a catchy guitar riff. Finally, the front man grabs the microphone with conviction and sings in a gritty voice: I’m packing up and leaving tomorrow I need a new…