New: Civilian body that oversees Oakland police will consider a new proposal by Chief Floyd Mitchell to loosen restrictions on high-speed chases. Community is still grieving Marvin Boomer, beloved Castlemont teacher killed in May by driver fleeing CHP www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...

Great way to become a morning person www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/22/e...

New: Oakland Coliseum has been pumping groundwater into the bay for years — without a permit www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/09/19/o...

Diocese of Oakland seeks to pull plug on bankruptcy, send sex abuse cases back to court www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/11/o...

New: An Oakland mural depicting Native-American genocide was defaced. It led to a debate on the street. www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/09/05/a...

Oakland’s cherished amusement park, Children’s Fairyland, turns 75. Can it go 75 years more? www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...

Mother of ICE detainee prays for ‘miracle’ as stunned East Oakland neighbors reckon with arrests www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/08/20/o...

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee calls Trump’s latest attack 'wrong' and 'cheap' + reax from former Black Panther Party chair & other civil-rights voices Trump said this morning he will send National Guard to D.C., naming Oakland among cities he may target www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/08/11/t...

Oakland’s animal shelter no longer mandated to take all animals amid surge in drop-offs, reduced staff www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/08/02/o...

there’s a rich history to that odd-looking, boarded-up old building in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood for years, it housed the town’s most iconic fast-food institution, Original Kasper’s Hot Dogs but now comes a new biz looking to build its own hot dog legacy: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/05/14/w...

Barbara Lee elected Oakland’s next mayor over Loren Taylor www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/18/o...

🗳️ THURS at 9AM: We're speaking w/Oakland news reporters: @darwinbondgraham.bsky.social, @shomik.bsky.social and Alex Hall to talk about this unusual race and the future of Oakland. ❓Oakland voters, what issues were you thinking about when you voted in Tuesday's special election? buff.ly/MN3lNBG

How Oakland’s tight mayoral race may reach the finish line --> Everything we know about the Loren Taylor-Barbara Lee showdown on Wednesday: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/16/h...

Election night results showed Loren Taylor holding a very slim advantage over Barbara Lee in the Oakland mayoral race: 51% to 49% in ranked-choice votes. Thousands more ballots left to count. This is a race! www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/15/o...

First results in Oakland's special election! - Loren Taylor holds early advantage over Barbara Lee to be the town's next mayor - Charlene Wang in the lead for City Council D2 seat - Voters favoring new sales tax Thousands more votes to count: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/15/o...

New: Loren Taylor is narrowly outspending Barbara Lee in the Oakland mayoral race, both thru campaign cash and independent committees supporting him. One group backing Taylor got $70K from an SF tech founder who in 2016 co-launched Neuralink w/ Elon Musk www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/09/o...

NEW: Sheng Thao considered using Oakland’s funds to cover her campaign debt, new documents suggest (!) from me and Jakob Rodgers: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/04/o...

Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao directed top administrator to talk shop with alleged bribers, records reveal Jakob Rodgers reports w me www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/03/e...

NEW: Thousands of docs seized from Oakland by the feds last year reveal the inner workings of ex-Mayor Sheng Thao’s orbit www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

New: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has endorsed Loren Taylor in next month’s Oakland mayoral election His support bucks a trend of near-unanimous support among Bay Area politicians for Taylor’s opponent, Barbara Lee. (story will be updated) www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/27/s...

Oakland’s mayoral candidates still trying to get out of Sheng Thao’s shadow www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/23/o...

The latest FBI raid of an East Bay political player’s home brought the feds to Concord, where consultant Mary Jo Rossi has built quite the reputation. Here’s what we know about Rossi, the feared power broker in suburban Contra Costa County: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/19/m...

The FBI raided the home of Mary Jo Rossi, an influential political consultant who has represented many of the most powerful politicians around the region, @nategartrell.bsky.social reports w/ me www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/14/f...

#NEW: Ex-Antioch K9 cop Morteza Amiri NOT GUILTY of conspiracy and two civil rights violations, but GUILTY of one civil rights violation charge and falsifying reports: www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/14/v...

A jury will decide if an ex-cop in Antioch gleefully conspired to prey on residents in a racist "blood for blood" campaign, reports East Bay Times' Jakob Rodgers: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/12/f...

Oakland mayoral election: Barbara Lee, Loren Taylor campaigns raise hundreds of thousands of dollars www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/10/o...

The same criminal investigation that led Oakland's former mayor to be indicted has spread to San Leandro. City officials there have been ordered by the U.S. Attorney's Office to turn over numerous records in an apparent public corruption probe: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/07/s...

‘I was in so much pain’: Alleged victims of Antioch police brutality speak out in court @nategartrell.bsky.social www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/03/04/i...

NEW: Spent the past few weeks trying to verify key details of some weighty allegations lodged by Oakland mayoral candidate Renia Webb against her former boss, Sheng Thao. It's a strange story. And the facts don't seem to add up. (free link, no paywall): www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...

story on Oakland laying off nearly 100 city workers www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/01/31/o...

NEW: The recycling company at the center of Oakland’s FBI case might owe you a refund -- as much as $100K, even. California Waste Solutions' payouts aren't related to the felony charges, but looks like the company was overcharging customers for years: www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/01/27/o...

NEW: Remember the FBI raid at the San Leandro councilman’s home 2 days before felony indictments were rolled out against Oakland’s ex-mayor + others? We peeled back what’s been going on in the Dro and its parallels w/ Oakland (w/ Jakob Rodgers, Chase Hunter): www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/01/23/o...

NEW: A top Oakland official says he had to promote a city staffer to appease ex-Mayor Sheng Thao. Thao's accused by feds of being bribed to appoint the staffer to a high-level leadership position. New details illuminate how things went down @ City Hall. www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/01/21/o...

Andre Jones, the romantic partner of Oakland's ex-Mayor Sheng Thao, has also been indicted, Jakob Rodgers reports w/ me and @nategartrell.bsky.social

Feds raid San Leandro city councilman's home, as this massive corruption probe appears to be coming to a head: www.mercurynews.com/2025/01/15/f...

New: Oakland Coliseum sale may finally be on track to closing. Alameda County leaders set to consider new terms that would fully divorce county from the property and close door on the A’s ties to their former home: www.mercurynews.com/2025/01/14/o...

I wrote about wind and smoke for New York Mag: nymag.com/intelligence...

rollout by former Rep. Barbara Lee's camp -- a fundraising committee formed days ahead of this morning's formal announcement -- allows the new Oakland mayoral candidate to begin receiving $$ right away. also generated lots of buzz!

NEW: Barbara Lee, newly retired from Congress, announces run for Oakland mayor www.mercurynews.com/2025/01/08/b...

Former Rep. Barbara Lee forms committee to run for Oakland mayor www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/01/06/b...

Former Mayor Sheng Thao promised a revived Ceasefire strategy would bring down crime. On Monday, city leaders took a victory lap in her absence -- with a couple days left in 2024, homicides are at a five-year low: www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/30/o...

Bay Area cities w/ lowest incomes — San Pablo, Richmond, Antioch, Oakland, San Leandro, Pittsburg and East Palo Alto — all tallied at least 50% more Trump votes in 2024. Highest-income cities and towns showed the least change overall, Harriet Rowan reports: www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/28/t...

Dave Kaval, whose promises that the Athletics would remain “Rooted in Oakland” when he took over as team president in 2016, is out as of Tuesday. According to the team, Kaval is resigning.

OpenAI whistleblower death: Parents want to know what happened to Suchir Balaji after apparent suicide Jakob Rodgers follows up his investigation: www.mercurynews.com/2024/12/26/o...

Israeli strike kills 5 Palestinian journalists in Gaza, officials say https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-news-12-26-2024-2e8c33648410c2da94ae7d0d73c0b1a1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

“My wife and I will go to Tokyo or Mexico City and we’ll wander into a cool craft bar scene and feel like we have more in common with those people than we do with some NASCAR, evangelical kid from Mississippi.”

Most of the likely candidates to be Oakland's mayor are holding off to see what Rep. Barbara Lee decides. Privately, the congresswoman is meeting w/ officials to understand budget and other local policy issues, sources told me. More on the standstill: www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/23/o...

Rickey Henderson wasn’t just one of the greatest to play baseball, as he once acknowledged about himself. He was certifiably cool, radiating with the swagger Oakland residents see in themselves and their town. w/ Jakob Rodgers and Rick Hurd: www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/12/21/r...