From the OL Editorial Team

Some of the Bay Area’s best-known women musicians will come together this Wednesday, Nov. 30, in Rise Up & Dance, a concert and dance party to support and benefit Laney College's CalWORKs - a program that helps families rise from poverty to careers through community college education.

Construction on the Laney College campus has reached a standstill as a result of a contractor bankruptcy—likely connected to a longstanding anti-discrimination lawsuit against the company. 

A new contractor has been assigned to the stagnating project, and work is set to resume, but students can expect another three to four months of disruption.

Is Oakland ready to get real about public safety?

That's the question Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts wants answered at the city's upcoming public safety summit on Oct. 15.

"Can Oakland really be honest with itself?" Batts asked. "Can Oakland have that conversation and say there are things we're doing (with public safety) that's not working?"

Youth Uprising, the powerhouse East Oakland nonprofit, didn't mark its sixth anniversary quietly.

Instead, the award-winning center used its celebration to raise awareness of the youth education crisis in East Oakland where 43 percent of residents over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma and the dropout rate is 40 percent.