Blog entry by Pamela Drake.
Last updated at Sat, 28 Jan at 6:55am.

Occupy Oakland took over the City Council meeting again Wednesday night and railed at our local government, which was in the middle of grappling with a huge state take back that threatens many of our jobs and future economic development. Funny, I can still remember when the Occupy movement gave us all hope and breathed fresh air into our stagnant political environment.

Article by CB Smith-Dahl.
Last updated at Tue, 4 Oct at 7:28am.

Two years after Newsdesk.org first examined high levels of air pollution in West Oakland, progress towards helping this community breathe easier is moving slowly. Thorny projects, including cleanups at the port and a local Superfund site, are hard to keep moving.

Article by Jennifer Inez Ward.
Last updated at Mon, 15 Aug at 7:53am.

After a hard day of volunteering across Oakland cleaning up, planting gardens and helping at libraries, hundreds of Oaklanders got their boogie on Saturday at Mosswood Park for the first "Throw Down for the Town" put on by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Thu, 11 Nov at 6:42am.

Oakland Local was incredibly excited to hear that two long-time Oakland activists - Ellen Choy and Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont - are being honored by the Redford Center in San Francisco as two exceptional activists, creating change in Oakland. 

Article by Tehea Robie.
Last updated at Thu, 9 Sep at 7:06pm.

(Editor's note: The following is the first piece in a weekly column by OL staffer Tehea Robie that highlights lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and intersex issues and people in and around Oakland.)

Robbie Clark, of Causa Justa::Just Cause and Urban Congress 2010

Years ago - when the sun was in Pisces, the moon was in Sagittarius and Cancer was just ascending the horizon - an inquisitive, artistic, gender-queer defender of urban justice was born.

Article by Kwan Booth.
Last updated at Fri, 23 Apr at 1:31pm.

Even though the environmental movement’s been around for decades, it’s safe to say that Oakland’s community activism and emphasis on green collar jobs, urban farming and organic, healthy foods has established us as a leader in the the nationwide resurgence.

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 2 Apr at 11:11am.

(UPDATE Apr. 2: Yes, this post was indeed a joke. Happy April Fool's Day, Oakland!)

Hello, Oakland. It's Thursday, the week's nearly done. Hang in there. Here's a quick roundup of what's going on in and around Oakland...

Climate activists allege city government forced them to caulk. As the lead photo in Ryan Van Lenning's article yesterday about the city's climate action plan indicates, some local climate activists have taken to waving unlicensed caulk guns in public. Claiming that this represents a threat to public safety, last night members of the city Public Ethics Commission detained 41 caulk gun-wielding activists. They were later released without charges -- but Oakland Local has learned that while detained, the Commission allegedly forced the activists to weatherize four floors of city hall. We're investigating and will follow up later.

And in the comments to our story today on a possible pigeon-serving restaurant for Jack London Square, reader JM raised the idea that since pigeons are considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, perhaps the city's environment and economy might improve by supporting a local pigeon export business. What's your take? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

In other local news...

Blog entry by Tracy Rosenberg.
Last updated at Mon, 22 Mar at 9:33pm.

As we arrive at the end of the long health care reform battle with something less than nirvana, media activists have been waiting with bated breath for the release of the long-awaited National Broadband Plan from the Federal Communications Commission.