Tag: oakland

Tributes are pouring in for revered and legendary Oakland football coach John Beam.

Everyone from athletes to community members are honoring beam, who was shot and died yesterday.

The 66-year-old coach molded football players for 45 years, first at skyline high school, then at Laney College.

“I know coach John Beam and I’m really deeply saddened by his tragic death,” said Pastor Michael Wallace, with the Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

On Saturday, an event planned months ago took on more importance after Beam’s death and a shooting at Skyline High School on Tuesday.

The event is a gun buyback where the guns are made into garden tools.

“It’s absolutely critical to have this in our city of Oakland even though gun violence is down in the city of Oakland, in the last three days four days we have been saturated in the news with gun violence senseless gun killings,” Wallace said.

Mayor Barbara Lee came to the event too and she spoke about this moment in Oakland.

“First of all, [we] need to reflect upon his life and legacy and support his family and our community because people are feeling the weight of this and we also need to reflect on how he gave of himself to others,” Lee said.

Police arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving Jr. in connection with Beam’s death. Investigators say Irving knew Beam, but they did not have a relationship.

Now in its 29th year, the Arab Film Festival is underway across the Bay Area, bringing films and filmmakers from across the Arab world to local audiences. 

As Managing Director Maya Labban helped host a South Bay screening this week, she said the festival’s message matters now more than ever.

“The whole point of us is to show Americans, non-Americans, how Arabs actually are, and not what’s usually portrayed in the media, where we are always the terrorists or the damsels in distress,” Labban said.

The festival showcases stories and perspectives that are rarely seen on U.S. screens, highlighting both established and emerging voices from the region.

“I think movies, since forever, they just teach you that. They teach you the humanity. Art is about humanity. They teach you about different cultures and different stories all around for you to understand what’s going on,” Labban said.

This year’s lineup includes five Oscar entries, among them three Palestinian stories. 

Executive Director Serge Balkalian said the festival faced significant funding challenges, prompting organizers to find new ways to keep the program intact.

“The local community really stepped up for us, which was huge, so we didn’t have to cut programming. In fact, it turned into a banner year,” Balkalian said. “We had our Arab women’s showcase in the spring. We were at the Cannes Film Festival. First time for the organization.”

Festival leaders say the goal is not only to screen films but to make them accessible to as many people as possible.

“I want them to see that we are exactly humans, we are not the other, we are not someone that, we should feel shame when we say we’re Arab, or when people say they are Muslim Arab,” Labban said. “I want them to feel that they also are a fabric of the American society.”

Screenings continue in Oakland this weekend.

Firefighters responded Friday afternoon to a structure fire in Oakland.

The blaze was reported at a two-story, multi-family building in the 200 block of Louvain Avenue.

Firefighters said a vehicle in the garage of the building also caught fire.

The blaze was under control at 12:27 p.m. and there were no reports of injuries, firefighters said.

An investigation is ongoing.

A woman was arrested and a man is still outstanding following a pursuit that began in Oakland Friday afternoon, the California Highway Patrol said.

CHP said they initiated a pursuit of an alleged stolen vehicle reported out of Oakley just after 4 p.m.

Officials report the pursuit began in Oakland and continued through multiple jurisdictions and several major freeways, including I-880, I-238 and I-680. Multiple CHP Area offices, including Oakland, Hayward and Dublin assisted with the incident.

According to CHP, the vehicle was tracked to San Ramon, where two occupants, a man and a woman, ran way. The woman was arrested, and the man ran into a nearby apartment complex near the 8000 block of Calvert Circle and remains outstanding, authorities said.

Officials said the incident remains under investigation.

The FBI released images of a pair of suspects Monday who are wanted in connection with the theft of more than 1,000 items from the Oakland Museum of California.

The FBI and Oakland police hope that someone can help identify the men in the images, which were taken off security camera footage from the off-site storage facility where the theft took place.

The first suspect is described as a thin man who was wearing a black beanie, a white face mask, a plaid long-sleeve shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

The second is described as a heavier man who was wearing a blue hoodie with white letters on the chest, blue pants, white shoes with black details and black gloves.

The break-in, which happened at about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 15, is being investigated as a “crime of opportunity,” rather than a targeted effort to take anything in particular.

Missing items include political pins, award ribbons, souvenir tokens, six Native American baskets, several 19th-century scrimshaw objects, daguerreotypes, and modernist metalwork jewelry pieces, museum officials said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the Oakland Police Burglary Section at (510) 238-3951 or submit a tip to the FBI Art Crime Team at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). Tips may remain anonymous.

A portion of the security camera footage can be viewed below.

A 10-year-old Oakland boy celebrated Halloween in a way he thought was impossible — rolling around in a life-sized Mario Kart built around his wheelchair.

Asa Luo, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a stray bullet hit his spinal cord during a rolling gun battle on I-580 in July 2023, was left speechless when he saw the finished creation.

The 12-foot red Yoshi-themed kart, designed to fit perfectly around Asa’s wheelchair, was built in nearly four months by Oakland Police Officer Cory Hunt and a handful of volunteers, in partnership with the nonprofit Magic Wheelchair.

“The lighting underneath, it’s got ground effects lighting that actually flashes with the music and the sound effects,” Hunt said. “It’s got a button that is accessible in his [wheelchair] headrest that he can do all the sound effects with.  So that way, he can just tap it with his head.”

The costume also includes a remote-controlled red shell so a friend or sibling can join in the fun.

“I’m pretty excited, because I love Mario Kart,” Asa said, grinning as he explored his new ride.

Asa’s father, Caesar Luo, described the past two years as “the most incredibly trying time of our lives. But days like today — and with the support that we see from this community — put a very positive spin on a very negative thing.”

Melissa Neuwelt, Asa’s mother, said she feels “so grateful, because there were times in this journey when I didn’t know where it would end up.  And for him to be where he is now — with his friends, learning, being embraced by the community — that’s all I can ask for.”

The family thanked Magic Wheelchair, their school, Chabot Elementary, and the broader community for making the day possible.

Asa’s classmates helped count down to the big reveal, shouting “6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” and cheering as Asa rolled into his new kart. Caesar Luo said he’s thrilled that his son “gets to be a kid again. We need to do that as much as possible. This is one way to do that.”

Friends said Asa is already the most popular kid at Chabot Elementary. While he doesn’t crave the spotlight, the costume parade just outside of the campus allowed him to enjoy the festivities like any other child.

Officer Hunt, who retires from the Oakland Police Department at the end of the year after 27 years on the force, said he plans to continue volunteering with Magic Wheelchair to create more wheelchair costumes for Bay Area kids. Mario Kart was his fifth build. He said seeing the big smiles on Asa’s face made the long hours all worth it.