Executive director boona cheema reviews paperwork with a member of BOSS’s Community Organizing Team. Photos: Natalie Orenstein Executive director boona cheema reviews paperwork with a member of BOSS’s Community Organizing Team. Photos: Natalie Orenstein The multi-pronged approach to combating homelessness at Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) is based on the belief that society knows what works, […]
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 inBusiness
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
MELT IN YOUR MOUTH Its tag line is “Yup, It’s just cheese and bread,” but somehow we suspect the way MELT puts those two ingredients together is something special. How about fontina and provolone on garlic bread? Or pepper jack with jalapenos on sourdough? Those are only two of the options at MELT, the brainchild of Jonathan […]
Posted inCity, Nosh
Berkeley may join county and post food inspection scores
Berkeley food facilities like Phil’s Sliders may be required to post health inspection results in the future. Photos: Natalie Orenstein Berkeley food facilities like Phil’s Sliders may be required to post health inspection results in the future. Photos: Natalie Orenstein Under a color-coded grading system implemented in July, restaurants in Alameda County – but not […]
Posted inSchools
300 Japanese students at Cal for leadership program
Tomodachi Softbank participants show off their t-shirts on their second day in Berkeley. Photo: Natalie Orenstein Three hundred Japanese high school students walked through Sather Gate on Tuesday, snapping pictures of the UC Berkeley campus on their iPads and preparing for a three-week experience in community development, entrepreneurship, and cultural exchange. The teenagers are all […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley sitting ban goes to ballot after raucous meeting
City Councilmember Kriss Worthington left the dais to join the audience to sing a song protesting the sitting ban. Photo: Natalie Orenstein While three councilmembers were singing protest songs with the audience, the Berkeley City Council abruptly voted 6-0-3 early Wednesday morning to place a contentious sitting ban on the November ballot – a move […]
Posted inBusiness
Shop Talk: The ins and outs of Berkeley businesses
The Monkey House: in a secret location CLANDESTINE CLUB An all-in-one theater-nightclub-recording studio-writing workshop just opened its doors on University Avenue. It describes itself as “an intimate performance space… offering quality entertainment for adults and children.” The exact location can’t be disclosed since the venue is also musician Ira Marlowe’s private home, but email The […]
Posted inArts
Berkeley’s Thirstbusters release infectious new album
From left: Ryan Thomas, guitar; Forrest Mitchell, drums; Zach Sorgen, vocals, piano; Chase Jackson, bass Caught Between, the title of the Thirstbusters’ infectious sophomore album, is certainly apt. On one hand, the four-piece Berkeley band is securing a Canadian licensing deal and just won a national songwriting prize. On the other, their current tour bus […]
Posted inCommunity
Downtown Berkeley ambassadors help, monitor homeless
Carmen Francois, a downtown Berkeley Ambassador, talks to someone on Shattuck Avenue. Photo: Natalie Orenstein On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Carmen Francois was on a mission. “We’re supposed to say hi to 60 people in 60 minutes,” she said. Francois, one of Berkeley’s downtown “ambassadors,” didn’t have any trouble meeting the quota. She ducked into […]
Posted inSchools
Berkeley center for deaf students celebrates its alumni
CEID alum Jimmy Waller participated in Model United Nations, the diving team, and Student Court at Berkeley High. Photo: Natalie Orenstein Jimmy Waller is one of the unusually resourceful students who managed to swiftly navigate the crowded hallways at Berkeley High School and to graduate with high test scores, an entrance ticket to a top-tier […]
Posted inCity
Crackdown on massage parlors suspected of prostitution
Alouette Massage on University Avenue, one of three Berkeley massage parlors under scrutiny by the City of Berkeley. Photo: Natalie Orenstein The City Council will consider revoking the use permits of two Berkeley massage parlors that are suspected of operating as prostitution houses, and a third has relinquished its permit after the Zoning Adjustments Board recommended in late […]
Posted inNature
Deer charging people, dogs in the Berkeley hills
There have been many reports of deer charging people and their dogs in the Berkeley hills. Photo: Creative Commons Violent crime has been decreasing in Berkeley in recent years — that is, when the perpetrators in question are humans. Wildlife is another matter. Two Berkeleyside readers recently reported incidents of deer charging at pedestrians in […]