As many as 60 people from Berkeley will now move indoors from shelters or tents.
Natalie Orenstein
Natalie Orenstein reports on housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. Natalie was a Berkeleyside staff reporter from early 2017 to May 2020. She had previously contributed to the site since 2012, when she started as an intern. Orenstein covered a range of beats for Berkeleyside, focusing primarily on education. Her 2018 three-part series "Beyond the Buses" explored the legacy of Berkeley’s historic voluntary school integration, earning her the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal’s long-form storytelling award and a finalist position in the Education Writers Association National Awards for Education Reporting. Orenstein's reporting has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the J Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and elsewhere. Natalie is a proud Berkeley native and only strayed from the Bay Area once, to attend Pomona College.
Posted inCommunity
Community leaders, including some doctors, say Alameda County might be reopening too fast
“We’re watching a future disparity in the making,” said one doctor pushing for more transparency.
Posted inOakland
Oakland’s old Lake Merritt Lodge will become a COVID-19 homeless shelter
Advocates hope Alameda County will buy other empty buildings to become housing for unsheltered Oaklanders, too.
Posted inOakland
Advocates push back on plan to spend parks and homeless services funds on Oakland police
The decision on how to spend Measure Q funds comes as activists are calling on local governments to “defund the police.”
Posted inSchools
BUSD prepares for ‘distance learning’ in fall, creating child care concerns for some families
The Berkeley School Board on Wednesday approved a general planning framework as the district gets ready for 2020-21.
Posted inSchools
Inside an inside joke: Berkeley High students share news, laughs and camaraderie through memes
Where IS Sam Pasarow?
Posted inCity
Berkeley bans all evictions during crisis, giving some tenants a year to pay back rent
The new “urgency ordinance” immediately expands Berkeley’s eviction moratorium, matching county rules.
Posted inSchools
School notebook: Gigantic budget cuts, principal turnover, mural gets a mask
Berkeley school news — in brief.
Posted inCity
From translation to meals, these groups are pushing for better outreach to Latinx community during crises
In Alameda County, Latinx residents are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Community groups say information and resources could be more accessible.
Posted inSchools
Orderly hallways, 12-person classes. Berkeley schools could be unrecognizable in the fall
At a town hall Wednesday, BUSD leaders painted a more vivid picture of how schools could be structured with kids staying 6 feet apart.
Posted inSchools
BUSD might have to cut millions from budget because of COVID-19
A grim new prediction of California’s education budget has sent BUSD leaders into a state of “despair.”
Posted inSchools
Berkeley 11-year-old tells state official he’s got the math wrong on COVID-19 sign
A King Middle School teacher thought an erroneous social-distancing sign was a teachable moment. She was right.