Customer service isn’t supposed to work this way. A man goes into Wheels of Justice Cyclery in Montclair and buys a $600 mountain bike. Later, realizing he’s not riding it much, he decides to return it. But he doesn’t want a refund, and he doesn’t want store credit. The customer just gives the bike back.
Oakland activist Van Jones is on a mission to bring green-collar jobs to the urban poor. His mightiest weapon: His mouth. … More than any other single figure, he has ushered the phrase “green-collar jobs” into the political lexicon — and economic reality. Last year, Jones led a coalition of business, labor, and environmental groups that persuaded the Oakland City Council to provide $250,000 in seed money for the country’s first green-collar-jobs corps, which will train low-income youth in the renewable-energy, organic-food, and green-construction industries.
Lorie Alemania, president of Portfolio Property Investors — which, along with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation represents the third partner in JLG Associates — said Fresh & Easy’s decision was disappointing, but not wholly unexpected, given its announcement this month that the company would not open any new stores for three months.
On Saturday, Jackson will be honored for her contributions and commitment to the Oakland community along with 10 other Bishop O’Dowd High School alumni for their achievement in athletics, arts and science. The 11 alumni will be inducted into the Bishop O’Dowd Hall of Fame.
The East Bay has more than four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as it does grocery stores and produce vendors, according to “Designed for Disease,” a study released Tuesday by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, PolicyLink and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The location seems great. It’s visible from the freeway, easy to get to, and there’s plenty of parking — not to mention a large community full of potential customers.
But Fresh & Easy, the U.S.-based division of British grocer Tesco, has decided against opening a grocery store at the Jack London Gateway shopping center in West Oakland, disappointing residents who long for a grocery store in the neighborhood, and sending the shopping center’s landlords back to the drawing board.
On Saturday, the Oakland Zoo offers visitors a once-a-year, behind-the-scenes tour of the elephant barn and an opportunity to learn about the zoo’s progressive elephant management program. Zoo spokesman Nicky Mora said people will see the daily care and feeding inside the elephant barn, which normally is not visible to the public.
Oakland, Calif., has made headway in recent years to throw off its gritty image and emerge from the shadow of San Francisco. … But, as in many cities, a deteriorating economy and a slumping housing market are raising questions about whether the pace of redevelopment can be sustained.
As the trucks power at low speeds across the plates, they compress a tank of hydraulic fluid under the road, which in turn creates a series of pumping actions that turns a generator to produce electricity. By June, Kenney projects the apparatus, which he dubbed the “Dragon Power Station,” will be producing 5,000 to 7,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each day—enough to power up to 1,750 homes.
The energy produced will be sold to SSA, the Oakland terminal operator that hosts the Dragon, at a discounted rate.
Oakland faces a crime crisis. In response, the City Council allocated $7.7 million for the recruitment of police officers, and mandated that the police chief produce an aggressive plan for reducing crime.
The police chief has just made a year-old strategic plan public, and it features hundreds of good ideas - yet it doesn’t set clear priorities, establish a time line, or include measurable outcomes.
James Chong, Bob Lee and Albert Loh saw a market opportunity and they pounced on it. Close to a year ago, when eBay’s core auction business was showing signs of weakness, Chong, Lee and Loh (all former Charles Schwab execs) were plotting a new commerce site that would rival eBay. They talked to hoards of eBay users, and today they’ve launched their baby: Wigix (the “Want It, Got It Exchange”).
While risky fire conditions have prompted state firefighters to begin early training this week, Oakland officials Tuesday said they are not ready to declare that the fire season has begun.
“We don’t anticipate needing to start fire season early,” Lt. David Brue of the Oakland Fire Department said. “Typically, we don’t start until June. “
Parents at the school have worked hard to convince community residents the school is safe and worthy of sending their children to instead of private school, said Dave and Caitlin Martindale, who have a kindergartener at the school. “It’s hopefully not going to set things back,” Dave Martindale said, adding, “but people believe what they read in the newspapers.”
Father Jesus Nieto-Ruiz is the pastor of the church where a 13-year-old was shot last month while attending the funeral of a 15-year-old. “These are our kids,” said Nieto-Ruiz to a hushed room of about 200 adults assembled by Catholic Charities and the Catholic Diocese of Oakland at a policy forum about youth violence held Tuesday.
Driving down the 880 freeway in Oakland, you’ve probably seen a gorgeous brick warehouse towering over the freeway. Local history buffs will know this building as the Cotton Mill, one of the area’s oldest living landmarks. Originally a 1900’s manufacturing plant, the Cotton Mill Studios was renovated into work live lofts that house many diverse eclectic artists and businesses. It is a creative nexus that is fast becoming a hub of the surrounding Jingletown district.
On display at the artist owned and operated FLOAT Gallery will be hand-picked group of Cotton Mill artists who live and work in the building: Keiko Nelson, internationally accomplished sculptor. Bill Stoneham, painter, sculptor and animator, Elizabeth Tennant, painter and Susan Tuttle photographer and mixed media artist.
When Rabbi Mark Bloom bought memberships to JDate.com for his single congregants at Oakland’s Temple Beth Abraham, he had one goal in mind: They should find their beshert — Yiddish for one’s intended — within the tribe. “It’s about the continuity of the Jewish people, nothing less,” he said. “It’s fairly mathematical,” Bloom said. “Half the weddings I do, the people met on JDate.”
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