John Klopotowski

Jan 4, 2024 | oaklandside.org | Lisa Plachy |John Klopotowski |Darwin BondGraham

Downtown is a large and important piece of Oakland’s economic puzzle. It’s the city’s financial center, home to corporations and a myriad of small businesses and community organizations. It’s where our public officials and administrators go to work every day and a destination for commuting office workers. And it’s a residential neighborhood with an increasing number of urban dwellings and high rises.

Nov 8, 2023 | oaklandside.org | Brian Krans |John Klopotowski |Jacob Simas

Your support is powering our newsroom! Thank you for supporting The Oaklandside and being a part of our community. Since 2015, the city of Oakland has been hashing out the details of a massive plan meant to guide future development and revamp downtown—and it could be landing in front of the City Council for approval as soon as early next year.

Oct 18, 2023 | oaklandside.org | John Klopotowski |Jacob Simas

Your support is powering our newsroom! Thank you for supporting The Oaklandside and being a part of our community. Members of St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church start wrapping sarma in May for their annual October food festival. Sarma—brined grape leaves stuffed with rice and spices—is more commonly called dolma in the U.S. I’ve always had an affinity for this mezze. In the 1960s, my grandmother, Ardemis, was profiled in The Trenton Times for her recipe.

Oct 12, 2023 | oaklandnorth.net | John Klopotowski |Luiz H. Monticelli

Pecolia Manigo believes her ultimate hope for Oakland — what she calls “equitable democracy” — is attainable. For evidence, she points to her own experience: Manigo was unemployed when she moved to Oakland with her infant daughter two decades ago. Now she’s the political director of Oakland Rising, an organization that helped bring to Oakland’s 2022 ballot Measure W, which passed with 74% approval from voters.

Oct 4, 2023 | oaklandnorth.net | John Klopotowski |Zane Karram

Beirut. Yerevan. Moscow. Cairo. Buenos Aires. Oakland. These cities were among the first havens for survivors of the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century. Today, Oakland’s St. Vartan Apostolic Church remains a meeting place for the region’s Armenian community nearly a century after its founding in 1924.