California Waste Solutions was accused of wrongfully inflating collection rates. A separate lawsuit filed by landlords against the city moves ahead.
Author Archives: Natalie Orenstein
Natalie Orenstein covers housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. She was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where her extensive reporting on the legacy of school desegregation received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal and the Education Writers Association. Natalie’s reporting has also appeared in The J Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, and she’s written about public policy for a number of research institutes and think tanks. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Maps: Where are the cheapest and priciest places to rent in Oakland?
Some East Oakland neighborhoods have the lowest-cost housing, but that doesn’t mean they’re affordable to the people living there.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland renters living in cold and darkness after fire 2 weeks ago
Tenants on 26th Avenue in the San Antonio neighborhood said they’re concerned about conditions as they wait for power and heat to be restored.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
District attorney aims to stop real estate scams with new notification program
Alameda County DA Pamela Price hopes to reveal and prosecute fraud targeting older homeowners.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
A former Black Panther’s affordable housing project succeeds where other developers struggle
Several major developments around West Oakland BART have run into roadblocks, but one low-income project is nearly complete.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Street Spirit homeless newspaper returns to print in March
The “touchstone” publication and job program for Berkeley and Oakland lost funding last year but has raised enough to resume operations this spring.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
What does it actually cost to rent a home in Oakland?
For the first time ever, Oakland is tracking rent prices in a new rental registry. We looked at median costs and the impact of rent control.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
7-Eleven security guard killed in Oakland had gotten on his feet after homelessness
Friends of James Johnson mourn the loss of a “teddy bear” who worked to improve his own life and others’.
Posted inArts & Community
9 new library cards will honor the contributions of Black artists in Oakland
The Oakland Public Library announced the winners of its design contest this week. They feature graffiti art, the Black Panther Party, banned books, and more.
Posted inNosh
Oakland cafe confrontation over anti-Zionist graffiti leads to staff firings, boycott call
A tense customer-employee argument at Farley’s East is the latest case of political tensions erupting in an Oakland coffee shop.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland seeking volunteers for homeless count in January
The biennial Point-in-Time Count, which found 5,055 unhoused people living in Oakland in 2022, gathers critical data for policy and funding decisions.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland can establish ‘safe work zones’ around homeless camps, council says
The new policy—applauded by unions—makes some work sites off-limits to the public, raising concerns from homeless advocates.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Residents at Oakland homeless housing facility haven’t had heat for several winters
The city-owned Henry Robinson transitional housing site helps medically vulnerable people off the streets, but leaves some in the cold.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Tenants protest no heat, leaks, cockroaches at apartments owned by KP Market grocer
The Uptown renters and landlord will hash it out at a hearing Monday with the city, which has found habitability violations at the property.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Highland Hospital’s new vending machine offers free socks, tampons, and drug test kits
The “harm-reduction vending machine” at the Oakland hospital provides basic supplies and connects patients to substance-use treatment.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Who lives in downtown Oakland’s shiny new apartment towers?
Oakland’s gone through a building boom. How many people are living in this new housing, and what’s life like downtown?
Posted inCity Hall
Jewish protesters occupy federal building in Oakland to demand ceasefire in Gaza
Hundreds demonstrated and scores were arrested in one of the largest acts of Jewish civil disobedience in Bay Area history.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland is getting $15M from the state to turn a Temescal motel into housing
The latest “Homekey” grant will be used to convert the Imperial Inn into supportive housing for homeless residents.
Posted inArts & Community
Library card design contest celebrates Black artists in Oakland
Kids and adults can submit art for the limited-edition Oakland Public Library cards, which will launch during Black History Month.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Oakland is dumpster-diving to audit how you sort trash
With the annual inspection of trash, recycling, and compost containers, the city wants to educate households and businesses on proper disposal.
