Public Policy

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.

More than forty people gathered in a conference room this morning to listen to physicians– from La Clinica de la Raza, Asian Health Services from Oakland’s Chinatown, and LifeLong Medical Care from Berkeley–talk about the need for health care reform. “They made a choice to pay college for their daughter, rather than health insurance,” one physician said of his own aunt and uncle. “So they’re making a gamble on their life.”

Midway through the Bay Bridge retrofit, what are the environmental consequences of a major construction project in the middle of the bay?

For water carriers in a precipitation-finicky state such as California, a stormy day like Tuesday can save or deceive. The rain doesn’t make promises, and that’s how the East Bay Municipal Utility District got caught in a bind during this last water year…

Every president since John F. Kennedy has answered to Helen Thomas, the political reporter staked out in the front row at White House press conferences for the last half-century. But last night at Mills College, Thomas was answering questions instead of asking them.

North Oakland residents react to President Barack Obama’s reception of the Nobel Peace Prize.

After a long session of impassioned public debate stretching into early Wednesday morning, the Oakland City Council yesterday passed a largely symbolic resolution in support of the Oakland Airport Connector.