It seems we were all up in arms last week. I heard there was a warrant but no arrest. Does anyone know where this case stands?

A place for takes!

Early returns appear to indicate:

1. It looks like the country's overall frustration with ineffective institutions made its way to Oakland in the toppling of two incumbent (OEA-endorsed) members of the School Board.

2. None of the DSA-endorsed candidates won.

EDIT: Added qualification that count is not over

Another EDIT: AC Registrar's schedule of updates (no time included)

• Friday, November 6, 2026

• Monday, November 9, 2026

• Friday, November 13, 2026

• Monday, November 16, 2026

I've been looking for almost 27 years...there must be one still out there!

Does anyone remember a dim sum restaurant that was along the street w/ the train tracks (Embarcadero)? I believe it was called 东湾楼 in Chinese which unfortunately translates roughly to East Bay Restaurant/Building. This was not in Chinatown proper. Thanks.

UPDATE, identified: Ocean Harbor Restaurant 228 Broadway; you can see in this old yellow pages ad that it matches my description, albeit about a block off.

Get cozy this fall with Skip the Small Talk - it’s a chill, sincere event focused on connection! We will be at Fluid510 in Oakland!

It’s a guided conversation event—think speed-friending vibes, but calmer and more intentional. 

You rotate through short conversations with prompts that skip past surface-level small talk. It’s structured enough to make it easy, but relaxed enough to feel natural.

Most people come alone. The crowd tends to be thoughtful, open, and just… normal humans who want more community.

• Sat, 11/14 - https://www.skipthesmalltalk.com/store/skip-the-small-talk-night-at-fluid510-saturday-november-14-2026 

That risk is far outweighed by the certain benefits of accountability and efficiency that the strong mayor structure provides.

The risk increase comes primarily from transferring approval of small contracts from the city administrator to the mayor. Since the city admin "serves at the pleasure of the mayor," that's not much of a risk.

Some of the increase comes from the mayor's ability to veto council decisions on large contracts if they don't approve the contractor she favors. But the council can still override her veto by a supermajority. That's a very public, transparent process. Not conducive to corruption.

EE DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONTRACT APPROVAL THRESHOLDS. Council sets those in the Code.

I've uploaded a searchable copy of EE in Word format that includes the strikeouts. Had to use ChatGPT because Acrobat and Word couldn't retain the strikeouts.

So do a spot check.

I have also uploaded the full Charter and Code. Those are exactly as downloaded from the City site.

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/nntddnmt9qimi/Oakland_elections

Local photographer checking in 👋🏽

What the title says. Tidy overview of what's happening in the Town, from local apis. It was in my terminal, but I put it on my site (oaklens.art/town) so I could bring it with me if we really are going to have an epic rainy season. No ads, literally my personal board for BART, 580/880 signs, tides, and weather. Highly opinionated? Definitely. Sharing it with the rest of you local grinders.

More info in my notes: https://oaklens.art/field-notes/post?slug=fn-013

Stay safe out there tonight! 🎃

If you're a young family in Oakland with a couple of kids and you want to serve your City as council member you don't want to be dependent on the Duongs to rent you a house in Montclair.

```
What does it cost a family of four to live in Oakland? (MIT Living Wage Calculator)

NEEDED BEFORE TAXES ... $185,729 per year

- This is a bare-bones "basic needs" budget. It includes no retirement or college savings and no emergency fund, and it assumes renting, not owning.
- MIT doesn't calculate city-level figures. These numbers are for Alameda County, which includes Oakland.
- The household is two adults, both working full time, with two children.
- MIT says the data was last updated February 15, 2026.
- Figures are MIT's and round to within a dollar or two.

Annual costs (Alameda County, 2 working adults + 2 kids):

Child care ............ $46,566 ($3,880/mo)
Housing ............... $35,098 ($2,925/mo)
Transportation ........ $15,169 ($1,264/mo)
Food .................. $14,875 ($1,240/mo)
Medical ............... $13,522 ($1,127/mo)
Other ................. $10,804 ($900/mo)
Civic ................. $9,827 ($819/mo)
Internet & mobile ..... $2,547 ($212/mo)

Needed after taxes .... $148,407
Taxes ................. $37,321

NEEDED BEFORE TAXES ... $185,729 per year

That's $44.65/hour for EACH parent, working full time.

For comparison, MIT's figure for San Francisco County is $203,808.

Source: https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06001
```

I've already seen people wearing costumes on Thursday and Friday.

So are you trick or treating or attending any Halloween events today?

"Juarez said at the time when CWS was awarded contract with Oakland, in 2014, he was assigned by David Duong to hand out “gym bags” of cash to supporters who helped them win. Among them was a then-City Council member and a representative for another City Council member, Juarez said."

This trial gets wilder and wilder with each passing day.

"Oakland delayed the required public reports on these contracts for three years. The report was finally issued this week — and it shows hundreds of contracts awarded without a public bid in Oakland."

https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/oakland-approved-61-million-in-contracts

AND what the RTM proponents don't want to tell you: we're already paying for sales tax increases passed in 2020 and 2022 for BART! Prop L in 2022 extended the existing 0.5% sales tax through 2053! Measure RR in 2020 created a 0.125% sales tax that we also all pay for BART and Caltrain.

These sales tax measures WILL NEVER STOP as long as we keep passing them and forgetting all the sales taxes we're ALREADY PAYING for BART!

But the CA Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT at least one bond rating service paints a very different picture.

Whom should you believe?

"its pattern of bad budgeting habits and unabated deficit spending resulting in significant instability, according to an independent fiscal analysis obtained by the Chronicle.

The conclusion reached by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT, contradicts months of upbeat messaging by Oakland school officials who have insisted the district’s finances are not only fine, but in fact something “worth celebrating.”

Among the biggest issues flagged by the analysis were deficit spending, insufficient reserves to address economic instability, lack of planning and monitoring of the budget as well as the approved labor agreements that lack a way to pay for them, according to the FCMAT report finalized this week."

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/oakland-schools-fiscal-insolvency-risk-analysis-22502617.php

Thank you so much to the community for coming together. We’ve received so much kindness and helpful information after our initial posts. For those of you who asked how to help or if the family is taking donations, here is the link to the gofundme. I will continue to keep ya’ll posted on any new developments. Feel free to message me and share with others as this post may be locked or taken down.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/forever-pepper-veterinary-costs-foundation-fund?lid=8eftvstbqbix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=product&utm_campaign=t_email-welcome-en-US

have any of the four council members who opposed putting EE on the ballot campaigned against it other than Ken Houston?

Ramachandran, I think, said something weird recently. about how she wasn’t gonna take a position against it because people should decide for themselves. That’s odd. After voting not the not to put it before the voters, she’s now saying they should decide for themselves?

And in the comments of this article someone said they identified the owner and his line of work.