You may be aware that the suicide rate is currently higher than the homicide rate in this country. I am aware that I have written about the increase in depression. Now this.

While writing this piece, U.S. COVID-19 deaths surpassed 100,000, with nearly 1.7 million of our fellow countrymen infected.

Not to catapult an unsolicited opinion onto an unsuspecting public but, let it suffice to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has situated us at a fork — not a pothole — in the road. As Yogi Berra tried to warn us, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

The Everyone Belongs Here Poem and Poster Contest theme this year was how everyone still belongs here and belongs together, but how everyone needs to adapt to show unity. The winning poem and poster appear here. 

Thirteen in Quarantine

The mass protests in Alameda and in cities across the nation in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis has made one thing crystal clear in this time of pandemic: contrary to the universal mantra “we’re all in this together,” we are actually not “all in this together.” 

Mr. Eric Levitt:
I have just listened to and watched every minute of the audio and body-camera footage of Mali Watkins’ detention by five Alameda police officers. I am beyond angry and absolutely heart-sick about what I just witnessed: government-sponsored terrorism. 

Al’s Barbershop, like many other barbershops, has been feeling the pain of COVID-19. Although the shelter in place orders came fast, Al’s reacted just as quickly.

Each day we are risingup as a nation. We are protesting police violence and over-policing of Black people in our cities and communities. In response to the police murder of George Floyd last week, Black Lives Matter has called for nationwide protests every day this week. 

City attorney’s office offers insights into changes to legal process for rentals

Dear Mayor Ashcraft and City Councilmembers: