On November 14, KQED broadcast a six-minute PBS report about a nonprofit called “The Living New Deal” that’s been actively documenting public works projects constructed during the heart of the Great Depression throughout the United States. This particular segment talks specifically about major projects in the Bay Area, including the Bay Bridge and Berkeley High, […]
Odds and Ends
Odds and Ends – November 2022
The City of Oakland celebrated the opening of an EVgo fast-charging station at 519 Lake Park Avenue in Oakland with a news conference on October 12. Partially located on a sliver of Splash Pad Park east of the parking lot entrance, the public electric vehicle charging station features six 200kW fast chargers, capable of charging […]
Odds and Ends – October 2022
This is the third straight month that we’ve gone down the rabbit-hole created by “Howard” — the mentally ill, homeless individual who’s been creating havoc in the Grand Lake business district for a very long time. In this latest installment, we’re sorry to report that Urban Indigo is closing and moving to Castro Valley. Cynthia […]
Odds and Ends – September 2022
Did you know that the City of Oakland has a Film Office whose website claims that “More and more, the film and television industries are deciding that Oakland is the right place for them”? Judging by what we’ve been seeing with our own eyes, that’s not an idle claim. A couple of weeks ago, a […]
Odds and Ends – August 2022
What Happened to Norman Needn’t Be Normal, the article I wrote for the October 2021 Splash Pad News, discussed the current state of affairs in which it’s nearly impossible to get medical assistance for people who are severely mentally ill, and clearly unable to care themselves. Governor Newsom’s proposal designed “to prod mentally ill homeless […]
Odds and Ends – July 2022
The EVgo Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the Lake Park parking lot were initially approved by the City Council in mid 2018 but the project was plagued by a string of obstacles (literally and figuratively), including PG&E delays, vandalism, an underground gasoline storage tank adjacent to Vegan Mob, and complications due to the pandemic. In […]
Odds and Ends – May 2022
On May 25, the Grand Lake Theatre will be hosting the Oakland premier of American Justice on Trial, followed by a panel discussion that includes producer/author Lise Pearlman and HueyNewton ‘s brother, Melvin. This documentary tells the untold story behind the murder trial of Huey Newton and the landmark case that put racism on the […]
Odds and Ends – April 2022
The Chronicle‘s Elena Kadvany scooped everybody on March 21 when she reported that Vegan Mob is going to relocate to 1500 Broadway but was unclear as to the circumstances of their moving. Tessa Quintanilla, the Project Manager for EAH Housing, responded to an inquiry from Eric Hughes, the Co-Chair of the Grand Lake Neighbors Group, […]
Odds and Ends – March 2022
Thumbing through early editions of the Splash Pad News, we recently came across the following note posted in 2006: “Week after this, look for a new hot food vendor–Tamearra Dyson’s Souley Vegan Catering.” Two years later, we reported this: “Over in the Plaza, a lot of dedicated customers are happy to see Souley Vegan back in the […]
Odds and Ends – January 2022
Last month, we shared Eric Hughes’ large photo of the new mural on the side and rear of the building that houses Walgreens and Trader Joe’s. A few days later, while the artist, Norman “Vogue” Chuck, was putting on the finishing touches, we took two more. The East Bay Express had an excellent article about […]