Safety
North Oakland’s NicNak Liquors closed in 2004 while owner Ashrious Pannell grappled with poor health. His strength now back, Pannell is fighting a city rule that may keep his store from reopening.
Amid calls for civility and compromise, members of the Oakland City Council apologized last night for their handling of unpopular parking hikes and voted to roll back meter hours from 8:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
In a six to one vote, the council passed a rollback proposal from two weeks ago, with the recommendation that the city recoup a reported one million dollars in lost revenues though parking and other endeavors—including a crackdown on the misuse of handicapped parking permits and the sale of new billboard space.
The lawyer for Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of Oscar Grant, is trying to persuade an Oakland judge that his client can’t receive a fair trial here. Story by Jake Schoneker/Oakland North.
It’s been just over a week since Typhoon Ketsana hit Luzon, in the northern part of the Philippines, before storming through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Amelia Desesto, 45, a masters student at Berkeley’s Franciscan School of Theology, has spent hours this week watching Filipino news on television, and checking for updates on the latest death counts, injuries, and cleanup efforts. She said that even her young nieces and nephews are reacting to the news. “They feel devastated with what they…
There were homemade brownies and ginger cookies at the town hall meeting Wednesday, where people had gathered to meet and ask questions of Tony Smith, the new superintendent of Oakland schools. School Board Director Jody London, who baked the goodies, had set up the event and welcomed the overflowing room of parents, administrators and district employees. When Smith took the floor he said he saw his job as “the most wonderful, incredible opportunity,” and though he was honest about the…
Officers aboard a Richmond train scanned for safety violations Wednesday as police teams stood by to issue citations. Story by Mary Flynn/Oakland North.
After a recent spate of crime, Golden Gate neighbors refused to retreat into their homes, instead walking the area’s streets in a show of solidarity. But fighting a neighborhood crime problem isn’t always easy.
A small wildfire in the Oakland Hills was contained by fire crews Tuesday afternoon, when the Bay Area also got a rare tsunami advisory from the National Weather Service. But damage from the two natural not-quite-disasters is thought to be minimal.
Oakland Police announced today that they had discovered four adult marijuana plants, small bags of marijuana, and eleven firearms, including assault weapons, at an apartment on Lakeshore Avenue. Oakland police officer Deandre Vantree arrived at the residence after OPD was alerted by a phone call reporting the sound of gunfire, police spokesman Jeff Thomason told reporters this afternoon. According to Thomason, a witness outside the apartment told police that gunfire broke a second-story window around 9:30 AM. Thomason said that after…