Public Policy
You can adopt a cat, dog or rabbit anywhere. Now in Oakland you can adopt a drain. In early 2014, the city of Oakland launched its Adopt a Drain program. Oakland has over 10,000 storm drains, spread over the city on every street. When clogged with trash, water in the drains overflow, flooding streets and sidewalks. This happens particularly often during fall and winter, due to storm season and massive amounts of fallen leaves. Creeks, storm drains and sanitary sewer…
The Allen Temple Baptist Church’s large auditorium was packed with community residents young and old, as student pharmacists from the University of the Pacific helped seniors grapple with updates to their Medicare plans and manage their medications.
Without the cells of Henrietta Lacks, the world would have no polio vaccine, cancer treatments, or in-vitro fertilization. This year, Samuel Merritt University will learn about her life as one community, and through it important lessons in medical ethics, informed consent, and human compassion.
As election results rolled in after the polls closed last night, advocates for several major policy changes celebrated victories at the state, county and local levels, including a statewide initiative that reduced penalties for certain non-violent offenses, an increase in Alameda County’s sales tax and a raise for Oakland’s minimum wage. Alameda County residents agreed to double a transit-funding sales tax to one percent last night by passing Measure BB. (Voters defeated the similar Measure B two years ago.) The…
As results from Tuesday’s election continue to come in, mayoral candidate Libby Schaaf claims an early lead in first choice voting. Additionally, Measures N, Z, BB and FF all receive the necessary votes to pass.
When the polls closed tonight, Oakland candidates and their supporters gathered to celebrate the results and their hard work.
On election night, Oakland voters will weigh in on Measure CC, a charter reform measure designed to provide the Oakland Public Ethics Commission with increased powers and responsibilities in monitoring City Hall.
Oakland city councilmember at-large Rebecca Kaplan was the first out lesbian elected to office in Oakland when she joined the city council in 2008. Now, at age 44, she has another goal for change: to become Oakland’s mayor.
Three Oakland school board members are vacating their spots on the Board of Education this fall, making room for a field of first-time school board candidates racing toward the November 4 election.