Public Policy
At a commemorative interfaith service in Oakland, supporters of gay marriage gathered to reflect on the year since state voters approved the ballot initiative restricting marriage in California to man-woman couples.
In Mosswood Park’s community garden, two local businessmen have installed a growing area that displays their new eco-technology. It’s got vegetables, goldfish, and self-contained watering–and it’s set off deep divisions among the neighbors.
Golden Gate residents hear officials from Oakland’s Redevelopment Agency explain how becoming part of a city redevelopment area could change the neighborhood.
County D.A Nancy O’Malley and Assemblymember Sandre Swanson, who wrote the legislation, joined other officials yesterday to explain a new state law quadrupling penalties for sex trafficking of young people.
“What I have to do is take what I have and make that as efficient as I possibly can, ” new police chief Anthony Batts told reporters. “We can’t do twenty things. But we can do the top two or three or four or five that this city says it wants to do.”
Newly appointed Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, who comes from a Bay Area family of judges and prosecutors, steps into the job at a time of budget cuts and high-profile homicide cases. “It’s still looked at as one of the best D.A. offices in the country,” she said during an extensive interview last week. “I take the job very, very seriously.”
In old age homes and residential care facilities across the country, low-income seniors are already part of a government-run healthcare system–through MediCal, the state benefits program for the poor; and Medicare, the federal program for those over 65. But for some seniors those benefits don’t necessarily provide easy access to medical care either. A special Oakland North radio podcast.
This Saturday, October 24th, North Oakland will join over 4,500 community events will be staged across 181 countries and all seven continents as part of the International Day of Climate Action.
Even as states decriminalize marijuana use through programs for medical purposes, continued arrests for marijuana cultivation, possession and distribution are seen by legalization advocates in Oakland and beyond as both an obstacle and a sign of hope in the drive to legalize marijuana.