People

1927: Rockridge scandalized by pagan love cult

The sleepy Rockridge district was an unlikely home for scandal. But in 1927, it came to light that a small Rockridge bungalow had become the international headquarters of a mystical society called the “Great White Brotherhood.”

The Livermores: Rockridge’s Founding Family

The Livermores were one of the earliest families to settle in Rockridge, and contributed significantly to its development in the early twentieth century. In addition to turning the large tracts of land above Broadway into residential areas, they were also involved in the establishment of public utilities and lumbering in California. Read on for more on Rockridge’s founding family.

East Africans in Oakland: Sharing Ethiopian music with the world

Many of the 20,000 people from Ethiopia and Eritrea living in the Bay Area call Oakland home. Oakland North is taking a look at the culture and history of the Ethiopian or Eritrean community in Oakland with “East Africans in Oakland” a series of profiles on everyday people living in the city.

Oakland at Work: Piloting Giants

The San Francisco Bar Pilots navigate all the ships through the San Francisco Bay. They take the occasional cruise ship in and out of Monterey Bay, as well as piloting commercial vessels as far up the Sacramento River as Stockton, but the majority of the traffic comes from the Oakland port.

An advocate for children teaches kids and parents how to spot abuse

Twenty-five years ago, Norma Rodriguez went to a training session for the Child Assault Prevention Training Center. When she agreed to participate in the session, she didn’t realize that two weeks of learning how to prevent and recognize child abuse would change her life. She didn’t know that intense training would soon become her career.

Oakland at Work: A sailor’s life for me

Though Mary Swift-Swan has traversed the Bay Area’s many estuaries and coastlines since she was 3 years old, she didn’t settle into the nonstop, unpredictable life of a sailor until she was well into her 30s. Now, as a licensed captain and the owner of Afterguard Sailing Academy, located near Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin, she spends almost every day on the water