Oaklanders march through downtown to protest Trump inauguration

A protestor marches in the rain protesting the presidency of Donald J. Trump at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza on Friday, January 20, 2017. (Yesica Prado/Oakland North)

Around noontime, as the newly-sworn in President Donald Trump prepared to join the parade that would take him to the White House, a crowd gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza outside of Oakland City Hall to protest his inauguration. The protest was the second one held downtown on Friday, following a small gathering outside the Ronald V.…

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Oakland turns out on Election Day 2016 to choose a new president

Gail Kaufman, 71, textbanks for Hillary Clinton at the campaign's Oakland office. Photo by Margaret Katcher.

Oakland voters hit the polls today to cast votes for, among other things, a new president, city council members, school board seats, a potential soda tax, and a citizens’ commission to oversee the Oakland Police Department. Many voters exiting Oakland polling stations said they had voted for Hillary Clinton; not surprising considering more than 57…

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Digesting Proposition 61: regulating drug prices

Data visualization by Margaret Katcher; Data source: Cal-Access, "Proposition 061 - State Prescription Drug Purchases. Pricing Standards. Initiative Statute.," accessed November 3, 2016

Proposition 61, appearing on the ballot November 8, would prohibit the state of California from purchasing prescription drugs from a manufacturer for any price higher than that paid by the US Department of Veteran Affairs, better known as the VA. This would effectively place a drug price cap on what pharmaceutical companies can charge California, limiting them to VA prices.

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