Does everyone know The Splashpad, Grand Lake's blog newsletter?  Here's some snippets from the April 4 edition, written by OL contributor and Grand Lake resident and booster Ken Katz:

GRAND LAKE MERCHANT NEWS

Want to make a difference in your city? Head out to City Hall this Saturday - March 10 - and learn about the wide range of opportunities for volunteering throughout Oakland's diverse communities.

Despite a near-torrential rainstorm, more than 600 people piled into the venerable Grand Lake Theater on Friday night, for the premiere of the WWII historical drama “Red Tails.” The sold-out crowd - a second screening drew about 400 people, for about 1,000 total - was attempting to send a message to Hollywood: African American movies can be boffo box office hits. 

Yeah, we all love food, but at Oakland Local, a lot of what we focus on in our food section are questions and news about food policy, food equity, food access.  This means we write about--okay, are sometimes obsessed with--what's happening wit local efforts to bring fresh, affordable food into a community, community gardens, local markets and