Public Policy
Dr. Prince White, a deputy director for the Oakland social justice organization Urban Peace Movement, died on August 24 from a rare autoimmune disease he had been battling since May.
Senate Bill 1192 would require restaurants to serve unflavored milk or water as the default in kids’ meals.
Members of Neighbors for Racial Justice say two of Oakland’s recreation centers, Montclair and San Antonio Park, are prime examples of racial disparity in the city.
As rents and home prices continue to skyrocket across California, a major ballot fight is brewing between tenants and the real estate industry over the state rent control law Costa Hawkins. Watch the video to learn more.
Californians who are incarcerated in state prison or on state parole are prohibited from voting—which affects 162,000 people across the state. Taina Vargas-Edmond is seeking to change that with a grassroots initiative to put the issue before voters. Her partner in the campaign is her husband, Richard Vargas-Edmond, a prisoner organizing signature gathering from within prisons, even though he can’t sign the petitions himself. This May, they fell short of their signature goal, but pledge to try again in 2020….
Most healthcare bills have a hefty price tag attached, but Senate Bill 562 may have one larger than some Californians are willing to take on—an estimated $400 billion a year, according to an analysis from the California Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill, commonly called a “single payer plan,” is being pushed by members of the California Nurses Association, which is headquartered in Oakland. Should it pass, all healthcare costs would be covered under the expansive umbrella provided by the state…
In late April, in a formerly empty lot at the corner of Northgate Avenue and 27th Street in Oakland, the city installed 20 sheds that will house up to 40 people who are currently living on the street. This area, being referred to by the city as the “Northgate Cabins,” is supposed to serve as the first step toward transitional, and eventually permanent, housing for homeless folks who live in nearby encampments. According to officials in the City Administrator’s Office,…
Last week, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and five East Bay communities were fined $389,300 in penalties for violating the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2014 Clean Water Act settlement. Oakland was penalized the most harshly, collecting $226,500 worth of those fines for its failure to both repair its sewage system’s defects and to prevent sewage from overflowing into the San Francisco Bay. The effects of overflooding—not just in private homes and neighborhoods, but also into the bay—are deadly for…
Papery doves of peace hovered above Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, among people carrying colorful signs and banners demanding the end of immigration raids and deportations. “No ban, no raid, no wall—sanctuary for all!” people chanted from a flatbed truck as different groups from throughout the Bay Area gathered at the plaza on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day.