Public Policy
Richard Lee is president of Oaksterdam University, a cannabis trade school located in downtown Oakland. He’s also a driving force behind the November state ballot initiative to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana in California.
An innovative financing scheme designed to help homeowners afford to make their homes greener and more energy efficient could be in trouble. The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently announced that it would not support Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) finance programs, like one set to launch for Oakland residents later this year.
As the 2010 midterm elections approach, Obama supporters are trying to get Oaklanders to think positively about the healthcare reform bill signed into law this past March. Organizing for America, the grassroots network that helped elect President Barack Obama, held a healthcare teach-in for Oakland residents.
In a lively, standing room only meeting, the Oakland city council voted Tuesday night to approve on first reading a city-wide plan for the cultivation of medical marijuana in four new large-scale factories.
As the fog burned away into sunshine Saturday morning, campaign volunteers manned a table on the Lakeview Branch Library lawn and gathered signatures to officially put Rebecca Kaplan on the ballot for this fall’s mayoral election.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you could be taking dance lessons in Jack London Square or having a drink. But no, we’ve had too important a week, haven’t we?” With that, Aimee Alison, host of the KPFA Morning Show and founder of OaklandSeen.com, opened the Oakland mayoral forum on public safety held Thursday evening, July 15th at the Lakeshore Baptist Church.
As Oakland awaits next month’s sentencing of Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer convicted last Thursday of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant, authorities, community groups and onlookers congratulated each other on the mostly non-violent protests that followed the verdict last Thursday. Joint planning among city, police and community groups helped keep the peace, they say.
On Thursday afternoon, protestors and media convened in downtown Oakland for what many feared would be a violent reaction to the verdict in the trial of former BART officer Johannes Mehserle. But following the verdict, several Oakland gathering spots offered an alternative to the mass downtown protest, where people could peacefully vent their feelings and talk about the future.
In a short meeting Tuesday night, the Oakland city council upheld a recommendation from the Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) to approve a development project for the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facility, located at the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue and Webster Street near the 580 freeway.