Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 8 Jul at 11:30pm.
Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 9 Jul at 10:06am.

On July 8, 2010, at 4:10 p.m., former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury trial in Los Angeles for the Jan. 1, 2009, shooting death of Oscar Grant. 

Oakland Local reporters have been gathering photos and videos of the city's reaction to this controversial verdict.

 

8:30 pm:

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 23 Apr at 10:47am.

Today at 3pm, community members will hold a vigil on the 1800 block of Telegraph Ave. in Oakland in remembrance of Tian Sheng Yu. On April 16, Yu was killed when he and and his adult son, Jin Cheng Yu, were attacked and beaten while shopping near the Fox Theater. Two suspects, Lavonte Drummer and Dominic Davis, are in custody without bail.

The local Chinese-American community has mobilized around the Yu murder -- packing the courtroom to overflow at the suspects' initial hearing, and organizing a fund to support the Yu family during this difficult time. The Yu attack is just one incident, and it's unknown whether race was a motivating factor (both suspects are African-American). But this incident has raised racial tensions....

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 16 Apr at 12:46pm.

Hey Oakland, what're you doing this weekend? In addition to all the Earth Day events, there's lots more cool stuff happening in and around Oakland.

Tonight, Oakland Local senior editor Amy Gahran will catch the W. Kamau Bell Curve comedy show at La Peña (3105 Shattuck, Berkeley). Shows at 8 and 10 pm, $22 -- but it's 2 for 1 if you bring a friend of a different race!

Here are a few more things to note from the Oakland Local community calendar...

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Wed, 14 Apr at 3:13am.

The struggle over the proposed North Oakland gang injunction continues. Yesterday the ACLU of Northern California, along with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Areafiled papers opposing the injunction with the Alameda County Superior Court. Among their complaints, the advocacy groups note: "There is no way out of the injunction. The injunction does not include an opt-out provision for people who are misidentified or who have turned their lives around. If community members are wrongfully labeled as gang members, they would be bound indefinitely by the restrictions of the injunction."

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Sun, 4 Apr at 12:22pm.

It's Easter Sunday and Oakland is celebrating. At Oakland Local, we're captivated by Troy Holden's updated flickr set, Oakland Funk.

Today we have for you some thoughts on the myriad religious observances this week, as well as meditations on coming home; along with some ideas on ways to give back - both today and next weekend.

Oakland is tweeting about a plethora of sailing ops. There's dragon boating and canoe, pedalboat and kayak rentals, family sailing and "whaleboat rowing" (whatever that could be). We're intrigued. And, in not-so-smooth sailing news, Bay Area jobs are predicted not to recover until 2015.

Blog entry by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Fri, 2 Apr at 11:35am.

Happy Friday, Oakland!

...OK, we were just kidding about the pigeon-serving restaurant yesterday. (On our Facebook Fan Page, some readers lobbied for a restaurant serving locally produced Canada geese instead. Yum.) Also, we were kidding about everything in yesterday's Daily Brief. Hopefully some of you followed the links we put in each of those stories to this list of the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the fun.

Speaking of our April Fools Daily Brief: We ribbed AC Transit in one item, "AC Transit gives up" -- about how the agency was sick of fielding rider complaints and had decided to quit. Actually, in the real world AC Transit has been doing a pretty good job of community outreach and communication regarding the recent budget-induced bus schedule and route changes. Including this: For five days recently, 85 administrative employees from all divisions at the agency covered nearly 200 shifts at major transit centers, distributing information directly to riders at their bus stops. AC Transit is doing what it can under challenging circumstances, and the buses are still running. Kudos for that.

Meanwhile, here's some of what Twitter has been saying about Oakland lately, and what's happening this weekend...

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...