Politics
In this audio slide by Anna Bloom, local classroom teachers and their students reflect on the classroom promise and challenges of this extraordinary election. Click here to play.
In these commentaries, Oakland North writers weigh in on 1) keeping Black Friday in perspective; 2) keeping certain kinds of humor in the back room, where maybe it ought to stay; and 3) how the new secretary of state selection looks through the eyes of a journalist raised in West Africa.
by ANNA BLOOM DEC. 1—Guests at a City Hall World AIDS Day Community Awards Ceremony got an early glimpse tonight of a 50-foot long bronze monument planned for a new city park in downtown Oakland. “We are here as a testament of what is truly important and that is us, the livelihood and survival of our community,” Vashone Huff, deputy of intergovernmental affairs for the city of Oakland, said before a scale version of the statue, less than one-tenth the…
Named after a Rockridge pediatrician who was murdered a decade ago, this free service brings volunteer doctors to children who need them. Click here for the story.
By MARTIN RICARD The 100 people who funneled last Thursday into the former downtown campaign office of newly elected at-large city councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan were welcomed by jazz music, food, and a number of familiar faces. They chatted, exchanged hugs and shared laughter during a post-election celebration of her victory. And then about half an hour into the event, here came Kaplan—striding toward a makeshift podium in the darkened room, blowing one long blast toward the ceiling with her signature…
by MELANIE MASON Nov. 15–“Are you happy not to have to cross the bridge for justice today?” That was the question posed by Richard Wright, an Oakland-based blogger and activist, to an estimated 500 Oakland residents this morning, as they gathered in downtown’s Frank H. Ogawa Plaza to protest Proposition 8, the ballot measure to amend the state constitution to prohibit gay marriage, which passed by a 52-48 margin.
by ANNA BLOOM Nov. 14– Alongside whooping football fans glued to flat-screen TVs, and above the excited murmur of someone’s birthday party table, young Democrats crowded into Arsimona’s bar in downtown Oakland last night for a festive gathering of their own. One week and two days since voters named Barack Obama U.S. President-elect and Rebecca Kaplan Oakland city-councilwoman-elect, they had reason to ring up their bills with good cheer. Among the crowd were spokespersons from the city attorney’s office, a…
by SAMSON REINY Nov. 14–In a packed auditorium at Montera Middle School last night, Oakland Police Cpt. Anthony Toribio commended both the Montclair neighborhood and Oakland officers for capturing two suspects believed to have been involved in a number of forced-entry burglaries in the Oakland Hills throughout September and October. Charles Langley and Kevin Simmons are charged with multiple felonies, and as more forensic evidence becomes available, more charges will likely be added. On Oct. 28, officers apprehended the duo…
by LINNEA EDMEIER Nov. 13–Shouting through megaphones and chanting “No more cuts,” protestors crowded the entrance of the state building in downtown Oakland today. Brandishing multi-colored posters and hand-held signs in Korean, Mandarin, Spanish and English, the protesters stood, or leaned on walkers or sat in wheelchairs to deliver their message to the office of State Senator Don Perata: more cuts to human services are not the answer to the state’s budget woes. “These are not extras we are asking…