Posts Tagged ‘Oakland’
Oakland Unified School District celebrates low teacher vacancies
The talent recruiters at the Oakland Unified School District worked around the clock this summer to make sure all students in Oakland would have a teacher waiting to welcome them back to school. They had to. Last year, students returned to find as many as 77 of their classrooms manned by an improvised crew of…
Read MoreFruitvale neighborhood hosts Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day celebration
On May 7, people gathered in Oakland’s Fruitvale district to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, commemorating the Mexican Army’s victory, despite the odds, against the French at the Battle in Puebla in 1862. The event, hosted by Oakland City Councilmember Noel Gallo (District 5) and the City of Oakland, began with a Mother’s Day mural dedication.
Read MoreFor refugees, resettling in the Bay Area comes at a high price
How the high cost of housing is affecting refugee resettlement in Oakland
Read MoreTales of Two Cities Episode 7: Loss
In this week’s episode of the Tales of Two Cities podcast, hosts Brad Bailey and Matt Beagle will be discussing loss, and stories about people moving on when something or someone important is taken away. We’ll hear about a lost Oakland bus stop so important to bus riders that they’re trying to bring it back.…
Read MoreBenioff Children’s Hospital hosts benefit concert, Chris Martin headlines
Some 1,600 people filled the Fox Theatre for this year’s Notes & Words concert. The concert, in its seventh year, benefited the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland and featured local talent like the Oakland School for the Arts choir, as well as high-profile authors and musicians, such as actor BJ Novak and Coldplay’s front man Chris Martin.
Read MoreCharter association sues district over quality of facilities
Proposition 39, also known as the “Smaller Classes, Safer Schools and Financial Accountability Act,” was passed by voters in 2000, and requires all California school districts to provide equivalent facilities to charter schools and the students who choose to attend them. The ballot initiative was based on the premise that students who attend charter schools would have otherwise attended district schools, so the district should have planned to accommodate those students with space and resources. To be “equivalent” means that the district must provide resources and facilities to a charter school that match what they provide children at schools in the same part of the district, and according to the proposition’s text, they must be “contiguous, furnished and equipped, and shall remain the property of the school district.”
Read MoreTales of Two Cities Episode 6: Music in the East Bay
Host, Brad Bailey, explores music ranging from innovative music education programs in Oakland to some of the city’s most passionate Springsteen fans.
Read MoreSchool Board approves charter renewals for two charter schools
The Oakland Unified School District called a special meeting on Wednesday, voting to approve charter renewals for Vincent Academy and American Indian Charter Schools.
Read MoreBus stop on Broadway and 30th Street to return, location still unclear
In a meeting Tuesday morning, the Oakland Public Works Committee concluded the southbound bus stop on Broadway and 30th Street, which was removed last year, would be reinstated, but it is still unclear if it will return to its original location or be moved south of 30th Street to be in front of Summit Bank.
Read MoreAfricana studies community research center has a welcome debut
Guests could hear music and laughter the moment they walked through the entrance of Building L at Merritt College one chilly March evening. They were here for the community open house for the new Africana Studies Community Research Center and Curriculum, which focuses on educating the public on African-American Studies and history. Every inch of…
Read MoreEast Bay businesses and politicians react to new state minimum wage
Today in Los Angeles, Governor Jerry Brown signed off on a new minimum wage bill that will make California the state with the highest in the country at $15 an hour by 2022. The bill cleared the state legislature last Thursday.
Read MoreAt “Fiber Florist,” a local artist creates everlasting bouquets
In the window display of Vivian Truong’s studio there are rose petals as soft as a newborn’s hair, tulips as vibrantly colored as wild birds, and daffodils as bright as the early morning sun. It may appear that Truong has finally found the trick for keeping fresh-cut plants alive longer than a week. But a closer look reveals that these flowers are actually carefully handcrafted out of felt and fabric—Truong is a “fiber florist.”
Read MoreIs this Oakland startup an Etsy for home-cooked food?
This startup’s goal is to ensure the future of home-cooking, connecting local chefs to a hungry community.
Read MoreCapturing Bay Area houses with watercolors and a brush
Watercolor illustrator Pamela Baron has set out to capture Oakland’s unique neighborhoods through her hand-painted images of people’s homes, a project she calls “The House Portrait Commission.”
Read MoreIn new collection, librarian-poet pens odes to Oakland
Throughout the years, Oakland librarian Nina Lindsay shelved books, helped cardholders with reference questions, and aided children in interpreting their school assignments, sometimes with instructions from teachers that were somewhat lost in translation. As she helped other people, slowly but surely she was collecting something of her own: poems.
Read MoreOakland native documents forgotten communities
When Brittani Sensabaugh walks down the streets of East Oakland, she notices a combination of characteristics among those who live there—strength, struggles and power. It is those features she wants to capture in her photography. Sensabaugh, better known as “Britt Sense,” is a documentarian whose project “222ForgottenCities,” is currently exhibiting in New York. Last month,…
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