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Peralta Elementary honored with National Blue Ribbon School award

Alameda County supervisor Keith Carson honored the school during its sixth annual Ready to Learn Fun Fair on Saturday. Peralta was selected as a National Blue Ribbon School last month. Tom Torlakson, California’s superintendent of instruction, nominates schools for the award that demonstrate superior achievement, especially in disadvantaged communities. Peralta, with just over 300 students, is one of only two schools to receive this award in Alameda County.

Ethiopian families gather in Oakland to celebrate the Ethiopian Orthodox holiday of Meskel

Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants and their families from around the Bay Area gathered at the Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral on Mountain Boulevard Sunday for Meskel, or the finding of the True Cross, one of the most important holidays in the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar and a national holiday in Ethiopia. Wearing snow-white linen, worshippers congregated outside the church for much of the day while others prepared food which filled the air with the aromas of East African spices, turning the church parking lot into a scene out of their home country.

Oakland Museum of Children’s Art stumbles into Middle East fray

For 22 years, the Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) has focused on providing art instruction and community outreach for the children of Oakland. This month, the Old Oakland museum staff and board members found themselves embroiled in what one board member described as “the most contentious issue on the planet.”