Oakland

In ‘Deep East’ Oakland, youths pegged as criminals say police harassment spurs more violence

Crosscurrents on KALW Public Radio — Oct 7 2009 - 4:39pm

For many, the police are here to serve and protect. The men and women in blue are those we call when we’re in trouble. And no part of Oakland is more in need of policing than the streets between the East 70s avenues and the East 100s avenues — stretching from the base of the hills to the bottom of the flatlands — or what residents call the “Deep East.”

It is where over one-third of the city’s 124 homicides occurred last year. But many of the youths living on these dangerous streets don’t welcome the police as protectors — they consider them the enemy.

Green hip-hop group pruned by budget cuts

Ambika Kandasamy, SF Public Press — Aug 20 2010 - 2:50pm

A local organization that promotes environmental consciousness through hip-hop culture is going on hiatus this fall after losing major funding from the city of San Francisco. Grind for the Grind hosted its first — and final — “eco-music festival” of the year in Oakland last weekend. The event, FreshFest, brought local hip-hop musicians, artists and sustainable food producers together for a day of solar-powered live jamming, healthy eats and green-themed crafts. After losing its San Francisco grant, the festival was free to move from Yerba Buena Gardens, where it had been for two years, to Oakland’s Mosswood Park. But there still wasn’t enough money to put on the usual four summer festivals.

Response in Oakland to jury verdict in BART shooting death

Jul 8 2010 - 6:01pm

Oakland spent the afternoon bracing for news of and reaction to the impending verdict in the trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III on Jan. 1, 2009. The jury announced its verdict of involuntary manslaughter today shortly after 4 p.m. in Los Angeles. Reporters from Oakland Local and The Bay Citizen are in downtown Oakland and around the city documenting public response. Visit the their websites sites for breaking news coverage. (Click headline for links.)

Why the Bay? Because it’s nuts

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, SF Public Press — Jul 6 2010 - 2:50pm

As the BART train exited the east side of the Transbay Tube, I looked back at the skyline of San Francisco. I couldn’t help but smile. Although it’s been almost five years since I moved to the Bay — after living 40 years in Arizona — there’s not a time that I don’t feel at one with it. But not everyone understands my affinity for the “City by the Bay” and all that surrounds it.

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Bay Bridge crossing more expensive than ever

Theresa Seiger, SF Public Press — Jun 30 2010 - 5:40pm

Commuters on the Bay Bridge will have to shell out more cash starting Thursday, a result of toll hikes on all seven state-owned bridges in the region. Prices will go up based on rush hour during the week while weekend fees will rise regardless of the time of crossing. Carpooling across the bridge will also cost commuters money, a big change from previous years, and require a FasTrak.

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Oakland teachers and families’ one-day strike (photo gallery)

Monica Jensen, SF Public Press — Apr 29 2010 - 10:06pm

Oakland teachers and families picketed outside schools Thursday. According to various reports, few students attended school.

How BART lost $70 million in federal grants

Nathanael Johnson, KALW Public Radio — Feb 22 2010 - 3:40pm

When the federal government announced that BART would not be getting $70 million for extending its rail service to Oakland International Airport, it seemed puzzling. Wasn't this just the kind of project that the stimulus funds were meant to help? It turns out that the project was derailed by not following the Civil Rights Act. Project boosters and foes tell what happened in this report from KALW-FM.

East Bay children’s theater company makes debut in San Francisco

Ambika Kandasamy, SF Public Press — Feb 17 2010 - 5:59pm

In its second, and final weekend, the Active Arts children’s theater company is staging its first San Francisco production with “Ramona Quimby” at the Zeum Theater.

A possible path to bikes on the Bay Bridge

Gianmaria Franchini, SF Public Press — Jan 28 2010 - 1:03pm

While the Bay Area Toll Authority met on Wednesday morning to vote on Bay Area bridge toll increases, dozens of bicycle activists demonstrated support for the building of a bicycle and pedestrian pathway addition to the Bay Bridge’s western span. They are pressing bridge officials to pave the way for a cross-bay bike lane. But construction of the pathway, which could double as a maintenance and safety shoulder, remains hung up in a bureaucratic no-man’s land: it has garnered some public support, but it is not clear who has legislative power to funnel toll revenue to new projects.

Unparalleled bridge, unprecedented cost

Patricia Decker and Robert Porterfield, McSweeney's San Francisco Panorama/SF Public Press — Dec 8 2009 - 1:50pm

When completed, the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be not only the most complex engineering feat in California history, but also the most expensive, with a cost never subjected to public scrutiny. Although today’s price tag stands at $6.3 billion, the figure accounts for only salaries and hard materials—things like concrete and steel and cranes. When all is said and done, the new Bay Bridge will wind up costing tax- and toll-payers more than $12 billion—a figure that leaves even the officials in charge “staggered.”