Safety

Young stars audition for roles of a lifetime

For talented 7-12 year olds in Oakland, October 5th was a big day. Fifteen of them were chosen from a group of thirty to become part of a hip-hop, dance and spoken word Junior theater company created through Destiny Arts Center, a North Oakland based non-profit that teaches hip-hop, kung fu and conflict resolution to youth.

Bicycle Master Plan, MacArthur BART project

Imagine it’s a warm summer evening after another monotonous day’s soul-crushing workplace tedium.  You get back to your North Oakland abode, slip into something more comfortable, and hop onto your fixie bike, fat-tired mountain bike, or tricked-out scraper bike. You cycle down through Emeryville, onto I-80, and over the Bay Bridge to watch the sunset from Treasure Island.  As orange light bleeds out from behind the San Francisco Financial District’s angular skyscrapers, you feel the cool bay breeze on your…

Where student was killed, hope and song fill the street

In early September, a small memorial formed at the intersection of 54th and Gaskill Streets in North Oakland, marking the site where bullets cut short the life of Desiree Davis. On Saturday, that subtle shrine turned into a soaring tribute to the 17-year-old’s life at a street fair held by members of Humanity Baptist Church.  Voices lifted from a stage just across the street, filling the air with songs of hope, and speakers made impassioned calls for an end to street…

North Oakland meets new police chief Batts

“The Wild West was not won by a guy riding in on a white horse,” new Oakland police chief Anthony Batts told the crowd that gathered to meet him today at Peralta Elementary. “It was won by communities that took a stand.”