Posts Tagged ‘Oakland’
Oakland historical tours are in season starting in May
The different tours include two which focus on the history and leaders of the Asian and African American communities
Read MoreSeniors find a second home at Chinatown Recreation Center
For the elderly, staying active can be difficult. But that’s not the case at the Lincoln Square Recreation Center in Oakland’s Chinatown.
Read MoreIn the Temescal, businesses push for a Telegraph Avenue pothole fix
A particular stretch of road is causing controversy in North Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood. Five blocks, from 45th to 51st Street, are facing scrutiny due to a recent campaign by the Temescal Business Improvement District to repave that portion of Telegraph Avenue. “We’re really eager. We want to get this repaved,” said Shifra de Benedictis-Kessner, executive…
Read MoreOakland launches OAK 311 for residents to report immediate maintenance problems
Next time you drive through a massive pothole in Oakland, remember to dial 311. On Monday, the city announced the launch of OAK 311, a new service that facilitates communication between Oakland residents and the city’s various maintenance crews in charge of city services. In a press release sent Monday, Mayor Libby Schaaf said that…
Read MoreFor East Bay immigrants, notary fraud is a common legal threat
Notary fraud is a common set-up in which notaries unlawfully give legal advice to immigrants, and in many cases, pretend to be immigration attorneys. The scam often involves the notary reviewing a victim’s case, choosing which legal documents are appropriate for their case, helping complete these documents, and submitting them to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Office—all acts only lawyers have the authority to do.
Immigration experts and advocates say that notary fraud is one of the biggest issues facing the undocumented community. “It is also a big problem in the East Bay and surrounding areas in Northern California,” said Barbara Pinto, an immigration senior staff attorney at the Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal service agency for immigrants’ rights, located in Oakland.
Read MoreRefugee group helps employ women in need
When Rafiullah Amiri, who had immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan, noticed that many women within his immigrant community were confined to their homes—shocked by the culture difference and unable to speak the language of their host country—he had an idea: They could earn money cooking.
Read MoreOakland schools run test to help students take mainstream English classes
Oakland schools are now in their second year of running a new testing process that will allow students who are identified as English Language Learners (ELL) and who have special needs to have better chances of joining mainstream English-language classrooms for students with and without disabilities. Currently, special education students who are also English learners…
Read MoreOakland Technical High students form group to advocate for library access
Oakland Technical High School has had a library with no librarian for years. Recently, a group of students turned a class assignment about social justice into a new group, which they called Students for Library Improvement.
Read MoreAs the nation responds to mass shootings, Oakland’s Teens on Target empowers students to end violence
While students and teachers across the nation stand up against school shootings, Oakland high school students are standing up to daily gun violence in their communities.
Read MoreIn picture and sound: First annual Black Joy Parade takes over downtown Oakland
Over 14,000 people attended, including two-time Olympic gold medalist Ruthie Bolton
Read MoreDeFremery Park in Oakland
DeFremery Park is an island. A two-story light blue Victorian sits alone in a massive yard, surrounded by fields of vibrant green grass. It’s quiet in the park on most days, the building’s stoic presence adding a layer of calm to the surrounding West Oakland neighborhood. The house sits next to a tennis court, a…
Read MoreAlem’s Coffee in Oakland
In the corner of Vicente Way and Claremont in Oakland lies what is a hidden treasure to many, but to others, a jewel in plain sight: Alem’s Coffee, which serves Eritrean food and is a gathering spot for the East African community. As you enter the strategically-placed corner coffee shop, the scent of coffee hits…
Read MoreRemember Them monument in Oakland
It is a very precise place. No plastic bags, no empty bottles, not even in the corners or under the bench. The red plastic edging seems to fence the monument in, to protect it from stranger things. The four bronzes inside are placed symmetrically on two sites framed by a gallery of little busts, bronzed…
Read MoreA village for the homeless
The City of Oakland approved a new experimental short-term housing solution, called The Village. After a year of negotiations, they’ve been granted land by the city, and are building houses for the homeless.
Read MoreRestore Oakland combines restorative justice and economics
Several Oakland organizations are uniting to bring economic growth to the city by opening a community advocacy and training center in a renovated building on International Boulevard, in the center of the Fruitvale community. Restore Oakland will provide community members with job preparation programs and offer services like a tenants’ rights clinic and a restaurant that will also be a work training site.
Read MoreGrammy-nominated hip hop group Alphabet Rockers inspire children to be “woke”
The children’s hip hop group attended the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in New York, where they were nominated for Best Children’s Album.
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