40 years ago today, The Rolling Stones played two concerts at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. In the darkness of the audience was a man known to history only as "Dub"... [audio auto-plays] [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Nov 9, 2009 - 13 comments

"There's people from literally across the world making these bikes, from Portland, Oregon, to Japan to Australia to Jamaica." The "Scraper Bike King" talks about the DIY community-oriented movement (YT), which started in Oakland was popularized with this video and covered by NPR.
posted by aniola on Oct 25, 2009 - 35 comments

The San Francisco Bay Bridge has been shut down for the weekend to allow workers to roll a section of the old bridge away, and roll in a temporary section, while they build the new permanent bridge. Download the video here showing how they'll do it. [more inside]
posted by gingerbeer on Sep 3, 2009 - 61 comments

The current federal and state budget woes have lead many to create their ideal budgets to keep it all in balance, and now you can try your hand at the push and pull of budgets large and larger. You can be a nation-wide budget hero (toggle-able music) at Marketplace for American Media. The LA Times makes the California budget into buttons, where you can add and subtract whole segments of the budget in a quick-and-dirty attempt at making things even out. Next 10 have created a more detailed budgeting system in their California budget simulator and localized Oakland variation. Too much information to handle? Stockton's budget balancing options cover police, fire community service and public works, with sliding scales of money to spend on each.
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 6, 2009 - 48 comments

I really didn't want to be the one to post this, but there are riots raging in Oakland.
posted by MaxK on Jan 8, 2009 - 362 comments

Is Oakland supposed to...ripple like that? [more inside]
posted by rtha on Nov 12, 2008 - 63 comments

Hans Reiser leads police to the body of his wife. Software engineer Hans Reiser, who was convicted in the murder of his wife, Nina, long denied he killed her. His defense was based on the theory that she was hiding out in her native Russia and her body could not be found. Today, in a possible exchange for a shorter sentence he led police to the shallow grave of Nina Reiser, just a moment's drive from the house he lived in with his mother and two children. Previously, previously.
posted by parmanparman on Jul 7, 2008 - 131 comments

Oakland Crimespotting: If you hear sirens in your neighborhood, you should know why.
posted by fandango_matt on Sep 10, 2007 - 41 comments

At 5 am today, Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland was raided (video). The hub of Yusuf Bey's empire and religious sect, it has a checkered history involving murders, child rape, political corruption, vigilante justice, liquor store vandalism (previously), and internecine killings. Is today's raid related to yesterday's assassination of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey?
posted by salvia on Aug 3, 2007 - 117 comments

Chop it down and steam it up! (work in progress)
posted by ...possums on May 25, 2007 - 2 comments

4/29 Truth Movement. As already noted within three minutes of the post on the Oakland highway collapse going up this weekend, the successful melting of steel by fire has riled up the 9/11 skeptic-baiters. See also: the entire internet.
posted by pokeydonut on May 1, 2007 - 114 comments

At Organic City you can contribute your Oakland stories, or use their map to find stories around town. And if you're into Oakland history, check out Oakland Chinatown history, go on the Black Panther legacy tour, look at Oakland history in pictures, or Dorothea Lange's negatives, or check out a general view of Oakland history. Why should you care? Oakland is a microcosm of the world. Previously.
posted by serazin on Jan 5, 2007 - 13 comments

A memorial to the many dead. Here in Oakland, California, the murder rate has gone out of control. The incoming mayor has not articulated any clear plan for reducing violence. And the current one, having only seen violence increase here, is going on to become the state Attorney General. Amid the challenges Oaklanders face - gentrification, a lack of meaningful work opportunities, and a history of a devistating drug trade, there are some efforts to make change: here, here, here, and here.
posted by serazin on Dec 19, 2006 - 60 comments

October 20, 1991 - the Oakland Hills weathered a massive firestorm, destroying almost 2,500 homes and taking 25 lives. For many years, it remained the biggest urban disaster in US history.
posted by drstein on Apr 14, 2006 - 29 comments

Recent surveys show that fast-food packaging makes up about 20 percent of all litter, with snack foods comprising another 20 percent. Oakland, CA is the first city to tax companies who create "Fast-Food Trash".
posted by stbalbach on Feb 8, 2006 - 30 comments

The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, California takes the impeachment question directly to the local street and neighborhood and asks the following question on it's marquee. What is an impeachable offense? Lying to wage war? Or lying about sex? Across the country billboards and marquees have been commonly used to express political sentiment (original link from Buzzflash)
posted by thedailygrowl on Jul 28, 2003 - 11 comments

Area residents speak of hearing their cries late in the night, a hellish screeching and squealing. Some even have seen them personally, appearing from nowhere in the dark hours... then scattering... Police came through, but now they're gone / In other words, the sideshow's on. A peek into the infamous Oakland sideshow. (Quicktime videos 1,2,3)
posted by eddydamascene on Mar 15, 2003 - 25 comments

go raiders just dont move to my city!
posted by specialk420 on Jan 27, 2003 - 72 comments

Ahh....community spirit. "Some people on the street, noticing the brewing trouble pulled over and got out of their cars to participate in the ruckus", said Sam Cook, 25, of Oakland.
posted by th3ph17 on Oct 16, 2000 - 7 comments

Oakland, CA has a pretty cool application of GIS on the web. You can look up crime statistics and analyze the data by overlaying it with community information (where police districts are, where liquor stores are located). It only runs in Netscape for windows, so here's a screenshot.
posted by mathowie on Dec 29, 1999 - 0 comments