Video

Temescal’s own amusement park

One of Temescal’s oldest subdivisions was once of the state’s grandest amusement parks. On the blocks of what are now Spanish stucco-styled homes bordered by Shattuck and Telegraph Avenues to the east and west and between 56th and 58th Streets, Oakland’s Idora Park at one time brought thousands of visitors from near and far for its myriad attractions. Built in 1903 by railroad baron and borax king Rodney Ingersoll, the park was open about 30 weeks a year and boasted…

Tall ships on Oakland’s horizon

Historic tall ships The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain have returned to Oakland’s Jack London Square for nearly two weeks of tours, sailing activities and educational programming.

Bandwidth: Welcome to The 21st Century

Meet The 21st Century, a a eight-piece indie pop band from Oakland, who released their first album “The City” earlier this month at The Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco. A fan-funded endeavor several years and $11,000 in the making, the album features catchy harmonies relating the challenges of youth, adulthood, dating and everyday hardship.

Oakland at Work: A sailor’s life for me

Though Mary Swift-Swan has traversed the Bay Area’s many estuaries and coastlines since she was 3 years old, she didn’t settle into the nonstop, unpredictable life of a sailor until she was well into her 30s. Now, as a licensed captain and the owner of Afterguard Sailing Academy, located near Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin, she spends almost every day on the water

A father remembers his daughter, who was shot after a tattoo party

When Roger Kiel allowed his daughter Shanice, 19, to attend a tattoo party in San Leandro this October, he did not expect the early morning call telling him that his daughter had been killed after two gunmen opened fire on her vehicle.  Three of the six passengers were killed, including Shanice, who died almost instantly from a gunshot wound to the heart. One suspect has yet to be identified but the other gunman was arrested  in Oakland days after the shooting….