August shooting at downtown Para Diso club alarms neighbors

During a tense meeting near Oakland’s downtown last week, residents of the 23rd Street and Telegraph area voiced their concerns over recent violence at the Para Diso Lounge. On the community meeting agenda was a shooting on Saturday, August 27, which left the neighborhood shaken and two cars riddled with bullets. But previous incidents related to the club added to residents’ concerns over the Para Diso’s place in their neighborhood.

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Families remember loved ones lost to violence

Laughter, prayer, song and tears marked Saturday night’s third annual PURPLE Fundraising Gala for the families and friends of those who have lost their lives to violence. The event, organized by the Oakland-based advocacy group 1,000 Mothers to Prevent Violence, recognized two Oakland police investigators and a retired schoolteacher for having gone “beyond the call of duty to bring healing to surviving families.”

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After Oakland police cuts, residents dialing Piedmont police

A Piedmont police car

With a rash of non-violent crimes occurring shortly after the layoff of 80 Oakland police officers—and after the police department changed its strategy for handling non-emergency crimes—some Upper Rockridge and Montclair residents have been calling another city’s police department for help: Piedmont’s.

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