Coffee and enthusiasm flowed at Emerson Elementary School in north Oakland on Saturday morning where District 1 parents, teachers and educators brainstormed how to improve their schools.

With early morning rallies, a district-wide fire drill and sporadic walkouts, Oakland Technical High School students joined protestors throughout California to demand more money for education.

Members of the North Side Oakland gang will face severe restrictions on activity within a proposed "safety zone" that covers about 100 blocks between Interstate 580, Emeryville, Berkeley and Telegraph Avenue, if a judge approves a court order against them in the coming weeks.

Jody London, District 1 director of the Oakland Unified School District, will hold a workshop this Saturday to help parents learn how to get more involved in their children’s education.

A group of concerned parents at an Oakland elementary school are raising concerns about a possible decision to place nine Verizon cellular antennas across the street from the school and an adjacent park.

Update: February 7, 2010:  Afua is home and safe.

Fifteen year old Oakland girl Afua Ayana Vinson has been missing for over 24 hours. She was last on getting on the AC Transit Line 15 bus at 58th and Martin Luther King heading towards downtown Oakland Wed. Feb 3 at 9:30 p.m., according to her family.

Are school gardens a crock or what? is the question writer Caitlin Flanagan asks in the latest issue of The Atlantic Magazine and its online site.

It looked like the people spilling out of the Actual Cafe and onto the sidewalks on 65th Street and San Pablo on Friday night weren't feel bad at all about having to squeeze past their fellow revellers to nab a bit of a free empanada with fiery chimichurri sauce, or a bit of a turkey sandwich.

"Oakland has maintained a steadfast presence in the creation of my art, and in my personal development.

North Oakland residents gathered Thursday night, December 17, at the North Oakland Senior Center with OPD Captain Anthony Toribio, City Council President Jane Brunner, and several Problem-Solving Officers.  The purpose of the meeting was to share information on recent crimes, OPD's strategy for public safety in the area, and discuss how to improve communication between the OPD and the

Now that food activist, forager ad artist Asiya Wadud is back in North Oakland, the web site and forager's group she started, Forage Oakland, is thriving once again.  Back from a semester in Rome as an art fellow,  Wadud's returned to her concept of  building neighborhood community and sustainability through a local fruit exchange.  Some forty-odd people gathered at Scott Wh

In this season of giving, and of giving thanks, many folks feel strapped for resources. No doubt about it, these are lean times for just about all of us. However, perhaps nothing reminds us better of all we have to give, and all we have to be thankful for, than giving of ourselves.