Politics

Every day, employees of the city of Oakland’s and the city of Richmond’s public works departments each collect around 30 abandoned mattresses. These discarded beds cause a litany of problems for a city—there’s the cleanup cost (about $500,000 annually for Oakland), they pose a public health risk by attracting insects and rodents, and contribute to neighborhood blight. The issue of abandoned mattresses is a “regional problem” State Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) said Monday during a press event in an area…

Nearly six months after the first clashes between police officers and Occupy Oakland protesters in the middle of downtown Oakland garnered national attention, the Oakland Police Department is changing its crowd control policies, chief Howard Jordan announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

Oaksterdam University supporters celebrated 4/20—the calendar date that matches a code word often associated with pot smoking—with a march in Oakland protesting the recent federal raid of Oaksterdam’s facilities and demanding the federal legalization of medical marijuana. At 11 am, supporters gathered at the Federal Building on Clay Street in downtown Oakland. Starting off as a rather small gathering of some 30 medical marijuana activists and patients—many in wheelchairs—the group grew to around 200 people by midday. The protesters waved…

The federal government has been collecting the Harbor Maintenance Tax from port customers for years with the specific purpose of port maintenance and dredging. When the government increased the tax in 1990, it did so with the explicit promise that all dredging needs would be met with funds collected from the tax, according to Port of Oakland’s spokesperson Marilyn Sandifur. Today, in the long, drawn-out battle over port funds, Port of Oakland officials claim the government has not released sufficient funds for maintenance over the years, and the proof is in the channels’ depths.

If the Oakland Unified School District is going to keep schools from leaving to become charters, it needs to change its policy on local school governance, board member David Kakishiba (District 2) told fellow board members at a special meeting on Wednesday night. “The bottom line is if we don’t move affirmatively in some concrete ways, we’ll have more ASCENDs and Learning Without Limits,” Kakishiba said. ASCEND and Learning Without Limits are two current district small elementary schools that successfully…

Justin Samaniego is attending the Oakland Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy because he wants to become a police officer. Jan Gilbrecht signed up because she believes that citizens need to be aware of the OPD’s practices and make sure the department is following the rules. Gilbrecht and Samaniego were two of 45 people who attend the first night of OPD’s Citizens Police Academy, which is for Oakland residents and department applicants who are interested in learning more about OPD’s “policies and procedures” according to the course booklet that’s passed out to each of the students.

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 and Eritrean communities in Oakland with “East Africans in Oakland” a series of profiles on everyday people living in the city.

Oakland’s inaugural Veg Week starts this weekend. A number of events geared toward community education about meatless lifestyle choices will be taking place from April 15-21.

Desi W.O.M.E, the founder of the Community Rejuvenation Project, says he wants to “transform the San Pablo corridor” by engaging the local community with a series of murals focused on sustainable practices. His plan is to take a huge wall—tagged with graffiti but otherwise blank—and talk to members of the community about what they’d like to see in a mural, then work out a deal with the owner of the building. Then, he says, local artists will turn the vision into a reality.