Given the kind of year we've had, celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King's memory and purpose this weekend in Oakland, CA seems like a pretty good idea.  Deep in the middle of a tough economy, city budget cuts,  a disaster in Haiti, and many local folks having a tough time getting by, celebrating King's purpose and spirit--and our own understanding of his work, might be just the thing.  Oakland Local takes a look at what's happening around town and hopes that at least one of these events can rock your world enough to get you out and into the spirit of the day.

Martha Rueca-Gustafsson, owner of Roland Rosario Cellars, will be pouring a selection of her wine at a benefit for Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park. This is your chance to taste a uniquely Oakland story.

Every first and third Tuesday, Oakland Local gives you top five to watch for the upcoming City Council meeting. However, Oakland has far more meetings than that.

Every second and fourth Tuesday, the city's public agencies participate in a bi-weekly marathon of discussion in the first floor of City Hall.

If you live in Louisiana, you start working your way to Mardi Gras on January 6, the Twelfth Night (feast of Epiphany)--and keep it going until Mardi Gras aka Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which is March 8th this year.