Safety

The Oakland Unified School District has issued a letter to the school community, offering information to parents and teachers about how to talk to children about the school shooting that took place in Connecticut on December 14, and how to help children cope with anxiety and fear. The letter also addresses safety protocols within the school district here. With the district’s permission, Oakland North is reprinting it in its entirety, with links at the end to resources geared for parents, students, teachers and other…

Oakland city officials and police officials, along with the attorneys bringing suit to push oversight of the police department’s reform efforts, agreed Wednesday on a settlement proposing that a new mutually agreed upon, court-appointed director take charge of department reforms.

The incident isn’t something that is new in Gutierrez’s generation or in Oakland. The Mentoring Center, a non-profit organization located in Oakland’s Preservation Parkway, focuses on community change through working with previously incarcerated youth. The organization looks to end cycles of disrespect, starting with teaching others to respect themselves.

Inside the gym of the Rainbow Recreation Center, on 58th Avenue in East Oakland, the lights dim and a PowerPoint begins. Thirteen people are in attendance—another six will filter in during the presentation—for AC Transit’s presentation about the stations for its $174 million Bus Rapid Transit project, which will run from downtown San Leandro to downtown Oakland beginning in 2016. It’s another round in a series of neighborhood meetings this month, in which the rapid transit planners are inviting East…

Oakland’s premier cultural event is in flux. Can a grassroots community effort come together to organize and fund First Friday before the city steps out of its planning role?

In the Oakland Police Department’s latest attempt to deal with shrinking resources and fewer staff, Oakland police officers are now getting some help from the CHP to enforce traffic laws.

The five candidates vying for Oakland’s at-large seat on the City Council are revving up their campaigning and making their cases for how to tackle what they all agree is the city’s number one issue: crime.