Politics
Behind the counter at Nick’s Liquor store in West Oakland, owner Abdullah Albasir tries to calm customers annoyed that they have to pay 10 cents for a bag now that Alameda County’s new regulations on plastic bags have gone into effect. “I don’t got 10 cents,” one customer says loudly, sliding a gallon jug of water and packages of Marie Callender’s TV dinners across the counter. “You charge 10 cents, too?” asks another customer overhearing this conversation. “Damn!” Albasir explains…
Oakland officials have announced a launch date for the city’s new Municipal ID program, which would allow Oakland residents to apply for a city-issued identification card that can also be used as a debit card. Oakland studied other cities that have implemented similar programs, including New Haven, Connecticut, and San Francisco, said Mayor Jean Quan, speaking to a room of reporters gathered at City Hall late Wednesday. But unlike the programs in those cities, Oakland’s identification cards will also include…
Nearly 200 people gathered at a North Oakland church Monday to remember Oakland’s homicide victims in 2012. On New Year’s Eve, the last day of the year, the number of killings had reached 131—a five-year high.
2012 was a year of big changes for Oakland, as the city dealt with its struggling finances, a possible federal takeover of its police department, multiple petitions to recall the mayor and the closure of several elementary schools.
Police Chief Howard Jordan announced Thursday afternoon that Oakland is hiring police consultant William Bratton, a former Los Angeles police chief who also served as police commissioner in both New York and Boston, to combat what Jordan called an “unacceptable” crime rate under his watch. As the city’s new police consultant, Bratton is charged with helping Oakland develop programs to target gang activity, work with the community to build trust, and reduce violence, including using statistical data to prevent crimes….
Among the answers: an airport tower, police officer salaries, and a lot of repaved roads. This end-of-year roundup by reporter Aaron Mendelson examines the trail of the federal stimulus money that arrived three years ago in Oakland–recipient of the tenth largest stimulus grant in the country.
A group of Eritrean immigrants are planning a Bay Area protest on December 29 against what they say is a oppressive government in their home country.
The Rockridge Safeway expansion, and inclusion of a dog park in Lake Merritt, are two highly-contested issues that were taken on by the City Council Tuesday night, when three of the longest-standing councilmembers cast their last vote as local elected officials.
A coalition of tenants and concerned community members seeking to stave off the eviction a church and its programs from a historic West Oakland building held a press conference Tuesday morning at which speakers called the property an important neighborhood gathering point, and urged the city to help the Jack London Square Chapel Church and its media education and community outreach programs remain in the building.