Public Policy

Student pharmacists help seniors manage healthcare

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.

Voters say yes to boosting the minimum wage, higher sales tax and reclassifying some felonies

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…

Mayoral candidate: Rebecca Kaplan

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.