The project will turn Antioch Court from a regular street into a semi-permanent community space.
Author Archives: Ricky Rodas
Ricky Rodas is a member of the 2020 graduating class of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining The Oaklandside, he spent two years reporting on immigrant communities in the Bay Area as a reporter for the local news sites Oakland North, Mission Local, and Richmond Confidential. Rodas, who is Salvadoran American and bilingual, is on The Oaklandside team through a partnership with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
Posted inNosh
La Perla celebrates a year on Fruitvale Avenue
The Oakland Puerto Rican restaurant looks back on an intense first year.
Posted inHealth & Environment
People are fishing in Lake Merritt. Is that ok?
The history of angling in Oakland’s wildlife refuge is long, but the rules are murky.
Posted inBusiness
In Chinatown and Little Saigon, small businesses get ready for Lunar New Year
From the kumquat trees at Kelly Smoke Shop to the bahn tet at Pho Vy, local businesses have been a big part of many Oaklanders’ celebrations.
Posted inBusiness
Local businesses push back on attempt to waive contracting rules
With $40 million in city paving contracts up for grabs, minority biz owners say dropping the rules now would make existing inequities worse.
Posted inNature
Rare salmon sighting in creek near Lake Merritt is good news, experts say
Lake stewards say more salmon sightings are an exciting sign that conservation efforts are working, but there’s more to do.
Posted inNosh
This Queer Oakland cafe works to fight anti-immigrant sentiment
Cafe Gabriela serves up resistance and resilience alongside its menu of salads and sandwiches.
Posted inBusiness
The people behind the storefronts: Looking back at a year of small business reporting
The Oaklandside’s Ricky Rodas shares some of his favorite reporting moments of 2021.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Salmon in Lake Merritt? More rainfall is causing some fish to wander into Oakland’s lagoon
The fish are returning to East Bay streams for the first time in decades, and some are winding up in the unlikeliest of places.
Posted inBusiness
More liquor stores in Oakland are selling fresh produce, with help from Saba Grocers Initiative
Organizing within Oakland’s Arab and Yemeni communities sparked the initiative, which is now helping convenience store owners stock their shelves with healthy food options.
Posted inArts
Shock G’s jazz piano: The Digital Underground frontman’s musicianship will be featured in posthumous album
Gregory Jacobs knack for playing the piano will be on full display in his upcoming release “The Piano Man.”
Posted inNosh
For these Oakland restaurants, popularity is a blessing and a curse
Your favorite restaurant might have a line out the door, but that doesn’t mean it’s not struggling to stay afloat
Posted inArts & Community
Are these Oakland landmarks haunted?
Locals told us ghost stories about the Cohen Bray House, Camron-Stanford Home, and Mills College.
Posted inBusiness
Longtime Fruitvale restaurants cook their treasured family recipes for select Oaklanders
3 establishments—Los Cocos, Otaez, and El Huarache Azteca—were invited to make “off the menu” dishes to celebrate restaurant week in Fruitvale.
Posted inBusiness
A low-cost commercial kitchen is in the works for East Oakland
The City Council agreed on Tuesday to create a commercial cooking space at Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center, funded by a $100,000 gift from Google.
Posted inArts & Community
Oakland awards $100,000 in grants to help close digital divide
10 local organizations will receive funds to address disparities in internet access across the city.
Posted inOaklandside
Oaklanders speak on what the city’s guaranteed income program means to them
In the coming months, The Oaklandside will be periodically checking in with three participants in the city’s pilot initiative, to see how an extra $500 a month is impacting their lives.
Posted inBusiness
Meet the mother-son duo delivering cannabis and building community in Oakland
Tee Tee Brown and Bryce Savoy opened Euphorium Oakland with the help of Oakland’s Cannabis Equity Program. Now they’re giving back through a nonprofit, The Black Neighborhood.
Posted inBusiness
How community members are rallying to save Oakland’s only Black-owned hemp shop
Kim McAfee opened “All Things Hemp” in 2019 and did well, but the store has fallen on hard times during the pandemic.
Posted inArts & Community
The Oakland reverend using hip-hop to talk about gun violence
Reverend Harry “OG Rev” Williams talks with The Oaklandside about his urban ministering career and connecting with young people.