Month: November 2018

Oakland opens third Tuff Shed camp

By Lulu Orozco on
News
The city of Oakland opened its third Tuff Shed site at Lake Merritt in early October. The new site, which is located in the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center parking lot, has 20 insulated cabins, approximately 8-by-15 feet each, designed to house two residents for up to six months. Together, they can accommodate 40 residents. As of late October, there are 14 open spaces remaining.

New Berkeley anti-homeless law aims to clear sidewalks

By Darwin BondGraham and Daniel Lempres on
News
Last Thursday, city of Berkeley and BART officials heralded the opening of downtown Berkeley’s new BART plaza. Mayor Jesse Arreguin cut a ribbon to ceremonially inaugurate the space, which was reconstructed out of shining stone, and features sparkling glass and metal. From the BART station’s wave-shaped entranceway, the Berkeley Symphony emerged trumpeting the culmination of years of planning, while new public artworks were unveiled, including a massive metal globe sculpture by Michael Christian titled, “Home.”

No more encampment evictions?

By Kheven LaGrone on
Commentary
On September 4, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that cities may not punish homeless people for sleeping outside in public spaces if they do not have access to shelter elsewhere. The case—Martin v. Boise—started way back in 2009, when six current and formerly homeless residents of Boise, Idaho sued the city for giving citations to people who were sleeping outside. The lawsuit rested on the notion that these citations violated the Eighth Amendment rights of Boise’s homeless residents, amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.

Footsteps in the Rain

By Claire J. Baker on
Poetry
We’ve hurried pastthe huddled homeless heaped like potato sacks along city sidewalks.  We never envisioned a saintor savior might sleep under plastic over

No Stars in the Sky

By Perry Terrell on
Poetry
We can lay down on our backsin the grassand look for starsto wish uponwe can wish for world peaceto abolishhatredprejudicepovertyhomelessnesschild

San Francisco’s safe injection sites: down but not out

By Robert Stanford on
Commentary   Opinion
Assembly Bill 186 would have provided safe injection sites for the intravenous drug-using population of San Francisco. It began its uphill battle three years ago. After years of trial and error, the bill finally passed the State Assembly and Senate in August, this time allowing just San Francisco to run three pilot safe injection sites for a trial period of three years.