Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is forcing an unprecedented $1 trillion cut to Medicaid spending. At the East Bay’s safety-net healthcare provider, staff cuts are in motion.
Author Archives: Darwin BondGraham
Before joining The Oaklandside as News Editor, Darwin BondGraham was a freelance investigative reporter covering police and prosecutorial misconduct. He has reported on gun violence for The Guardian and was a staff writer for the East Bay Express. He holds a doctorate in sociology from UC Santa Barbara and was the co-recipient of the George Polk Award for local reporting in 2017. He is also the co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night, a book examining the Oakland Police Department's history of corruption and reform.
Posted inMass Transit
Updated: BART is recovering from ‘power issue’ and major delays
Bay Area Rapid Transit issued several service alerts this morning, including no Red Line and Green Line service in the East Bay.
Posted inCity Hall
Mayor Barbara Lee says Oakland has ‘momentum’ at real estate industry event
Lee also plans to host a Chinese trade delegation tomorrow to talk partnerships.
Posted inCity Hall
The FBI’s Oakland corruption case relies heavily on the word of one man with a ‘checkered past’
Mario Juarez appears to be “Co-conspirator 1,” a key informant in the federal criminal case against Sheng Thao. For decades he’s been at the center of bitter legal disputes — and the subject of criminal investigations — all while maintaining high-level political connections.
Posted inPublic Safety
What are Flock cameras, and why are they controversial in Oakland?
Police can track the movements of vehicles with these powerful license plate reader surveillance cameras. But critics say they’re ripe for abuse.
Posted inImmigration
ICE targeted Oakland man dropping off his grandchild at school, witness says
District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife says the ICE operation took place near Hoover Elementary School in West Oakland.
Posted inArts & Community
51 shrubs stolen from Morcom Rose Garden
The October theft has been deeply upsetting to volunteers at the Oakland botanical park.
Posted inPublic Safety
A federal agent shot a pastor in the face with a chemical weapon. What can California do about it?
A violent response to an Oakland protest raises the same legal questions other states are grappling with as Trump’s immigration crackdown intensifies.
Posted inImmigration
Oakland mayor, sheriff say CBP ‘surge’ operation canceled for East Bay
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that federal officials have paused the operation in the East Bay.
Posted inPublic Safety
Alameda County DA says her staff ‘will not assist federal agents’
District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson also urged the public not to physically engage with federal law enforcement.
Posted inImmigration
Law enforcement shoot into truck at Oakland immigration protest
Federal authorities say they opened fire on a vehicle that drove toward them at the entrance to Coast Guard Island, where federal agents were supposed to stage for an immigration crackdown.
Posted inImmigration
Trump says federal agents ‘will not surge San Francisco’
In a Truth Social post, the president said calls with San Francisco’s mayor and some tech titans convinced him to wait, for now.
Posted inImmigration
Major federal immigration operation will begin tomorrow in the Bay Area
Customs and Border Protection agents are headed to the Bay Area to target “illegal aliens,” the agency has confirmed. OUSD has received “official reports” of stepped up ICE activity as soon as Saturday.
Posted inCity Hall
Former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong’s whistleblower lawsuit rejected
Armstrong’s claims against the city over his firing by Sheng Thao “do not rise to the level” of legal violations, a state judge ruled last week.
Posted inArts & Community
Oakland turns out for ‘No Kings’ protest against Trump
“We will not bow,” Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee told the thousands of East Bay residents who marched.
Posted inPublic Safety
Oakland Mayor Lee hosts Bay Area mayors at gun violence prevention conference
Regional leaders said they want to collaborate and focus on the “supply side” problem of too many guns in their communities.
Posted inPublic Safety
Legal battles over tainted death penalty cases continue in Alameda County
A judge recently decided District Attorney Jones Dickson’s decision to withdraw a resentencing wasn’t politically motivated. Defense attorneys say the new DA has abandoned efforts to confront prosecutorial misconduct.
Posted inCity Hall
Oakland Mayor Lee’s State of the City speech is today. Here’s what we’re listening for
Fixing city finances, spurring the local economy, housing the homeless: What priorities will Mayor Barbara Lee highlight?
Posted inPublic Safety
Oakland’s MACRO non-emergency response team gets $1M in state support
State Senator Jesse Arreguín helped secure the funding for Oakland’s civilian responder program as part of California’s recently approved budget.
Posted inCity Hall
Key figure in Oakland FBI corruption case sought $225,000 in city grants
Three years before an alleged plot to bribe Oakland’s mayor surfaced, Mario Juarez applied for city funds to invest in properties — alarming at least one city staffer.
