Politics

On Sunday at Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery, dozens of people gathered in the sunshine to remember Jonestown at the unveiling of a memorial for those who died in the Peoples Temple mass suicide in 1978. Bring up Jonestown to people who read and watched the news in 1978, and you may hear a story of disgust, anger and shock. But ask the people who were there for this weekend’s service, and you will hear about love, dedication, agony and finally—after 32 years—closure.

Equipped with whistles, banners and plastic noisemakers, hundreds of people crammed into the City Council Chambers on Thursday evening to voice their concerns about the city’s proposed budget cuts at a special hearing held by the city officials. The crowd was so large that many had to be relocated to another hearing room for safety reasons.

The city of Oakland wants to put its energy and climate action plan into practice, and you’re part of it. The plan aims to reduce Oakland’s greenhouse gas emissions 36 percent by 2020 and requires individuals’ help to get the job done.

A giant excavator was parked in the yard of a motel near the MacArthur BART station on Monday afternoon, where dozens of people were taking pictures with the machine that may soon start tearing down the motel rooms. The MacArthur Transit Village project will eventually transform a 7.76-acre site near the MacArthur BART station into a mixed-use area with new housing units and retail shops, along with restaurants and possibly a day care center.

Oakland library supporters crawled down Telegraph Avenue Saturday evening in their zombie finest to protest the potential closure of 14 of the 18 city libraries. The living dead groaned “Zombies need brains, keep libraries open!” to passerbys in cars, restaurants, and at Oakland’s Uptown galleries.

Oakland officials including Mayor Jean Quan and Council President Larry Reid return from a trip to china meant to encourage trade. As China’s capital grows, more and more investments will be made in the U.S., said Quan, and “We’d like a share of those.”

The controversial AB 376, a bill that would make possession and trade of shark fins illegal in California, was amended on Thursday. State Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-Cupertino), who introduced the bill in February, wants to “grandfather in” restaurants and distributors which are already selling shark fin products by pushing back the bill’s effective date for those sellers from 2012 to 2013.

You’ve seen the May 21 billboards. Maybe you’ve heard the radio station. Now here’s a look inside the world of Harold Camping and his Oakland-based Family Radio media group, who predict that Judgment Day is coming — this weekend.

The Oakland City Council burned the midnight oil late last night and into Wednesday morning as they passed a measure that will continue to fund gang injunctions as a crime-fighting tool. By a 4-3 vote, the city council voted for the measure, which has cost the city about $1 million to date in court costs and police overtime.