Marriage Equality—A Local Case
John Frando
Raul Sinense and Peter Gee married on November 1, 2008, during the nearly five-month window when same sex marriage was legal in California. They wed among family and close friends in a simple ceremony on a scenic beach in Big Sur.

Thank you
Sheila D’Amico
Thank you, readers. The response we received from our call for financial help in the November issue was heartening. We’ve learned that the community values the MacArthur Metro and wants to see the print publication continue.

Dimond Neighborhood News
Carrie Campbell and Kathleen Russell
Rising Oaks By Carrie Dern, Project Manager Established in 1891 as a Methodist orphanage by Duncan and Eunice Finch, the Fred Finch Youth Center (FFYC) is a...

Laurel Neighborhood News
Renais Winter
Clowns Walk Tightrope While Juggling Funds After ten years at Laurel Elementary School, the Prescott Circus Theatre may have to take out the clowns.

Leona Heights Neighborhood
Larry Laverty
Elfie Larkin grew up on the East Coast, with its cold winters. To her, the navel oranges in her local grocery store were a signaled that a better life awaited her ...

Redwood Heights Neighborhood News
Denise Davila
Are you aware of the controversial changes the City of Oakland is planning for Redwood Rd. and 35th Ave.? The proposal for slowing traffic in this area is to have ...

High Street Neighborhood News
Adelle Foley
An Oasis on Fairfax Ave. As I walked up the path into Home of Peace Cemetery, on Fairfax Ave., I heard the splash of water before I saw the fountain.

Light Up the Laurel
Support Our Local Small Businesses this Holiday Season
Tommy Wong, Director, Laurel District Association
Laurel Events and Holiday Happenings: First Fridays in the Laurel Friday, December 2, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. – Free Event Miliki Restaurant, 3725 MacArthur Blvd.

Maxwell Park Neighborhood News
Bryan Farley
On Wednesday October 26, Board of Education of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) approved the recommendation to close five district elementary schools.

Good Health After Retirement
Paulette Avery, RN, MSN, IBCLC
The topic of health after retirement seems like an appropriate choice because December 21 will be my last day of work as a regular employee at Kaiser Oakland.

ONIONS & ORCHIDS
Chrido Ononi
A Scallion to the operators of Chang Real Estate at 3901 MacArthur. We were about to give it an Onion, but at press time it looks as the storefront is being...

Metro Gets Around
WANTED Photos of you reading the MacArthur Metro in interesting places for a photo display in the December/January issue. Send print photos to MacArthur Metro, P.

Update on the McKillop Slide
Rochelle Rodgers
A couple of small shakers on the Hayward Fault this October and the impending rainy season are enough to alert us that we can never take for granted our fault-rid...

A WARDROBE FOR OPPORTUNITY
Teresa Miller
Maria-Rashna Bohm had a challenged start. Born in Germany as the child of an African American father and a German mother, she lived in a German orphanage until...

Creation by Brian Holmes