#alameda-county

#alameda-county

The outlook is unpleasant right now. It is going to be a challenge that we're getting through, but I would also add that this is what food banks are built for, said Michael Altfest, communications director for Alameda County Community Food Bank. What it's going to require is support. So the fact that the county is recognizing this and really believes food is a basic human right shows they're doing what they can.

"For every one meal the food bank provides, SNAP generally provides nine," said Lee, who said she relied on CalFresh benefits while raising her two children. "We usually think of food insecurity, famine in other countries. Here we are in this country, the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, talking about how we mobilize to feed people," she continued. "Shame and disgrace."

Alameda County officials have raised another $1.5 million in food assistance as uncertainty about November SNAP benefits persists. On Friday, two federal judges separately ruled that the Trump administration has acted unlawfully by withholding SNAP during the government shutdown and by refusing to tap into a $6 billion emergency reserve. But it's still unclear whether SNAP recipients will wake up tomorrow with their funds loaded or whether there will be further delays or only partial payments.

Andrea Zambrana no longer leads the Court Appointed Attorneys Program, the Alameda County Bar Association's leaders confirmed this week. The program, which is administered by the bar association, pays for private attorneys to represent defendants who cannot be represented by the Alameda County Public Defender's Office due to conflicts of interest. The change was first announced in an internal email - obtained by this news organization - to several members of the program on Sept. 10.

The attorney for a former San Leandro police officer charged with manslaughter in a 2020 death of Steven Taylor wants a judge to toss the case, amid claims of unscrupulous behavior by a since-departed Alameda County prosecutor. The request on behalf of Jason Fletcher who has since retired from the San Leandro Police Department comes less than two months after the officer's attorney, Michael Rains, accused one Alameda County prosecutor of unethical behavior.

People who gather to watch sideshows garnered an unusual legal win, as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just did donuts all over Alameda County's law saying that it's a crime to even watch a sideshow, and they struck that law down. City governments all over the Bay Area have been grasping at straws for ways they can discourage or prevent sideshows from happening nigh every weekend during the warm-weather months.

Since Measure W started collecting revenue in 2021, the general sales tax has accrued $810 million. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors decided to spend most of it on housing and homelessness services.

The city bulldozed homes and razed approximately 700 parcels, displacing an estimated 1,400 people from a once-thriving community for Black and Latino families.

Ava Community Energy is putting $10 million toward helping around 8,000 to 9,000 Alameda County residents pay for an e-bike purchased from a local shop.

"We're very grateful for the county's investment to date, but I think we all know $700,000 is not enough to set up an infrastructure that covers an entire county."

The latest settlement includes about $2.3 million for Monk's 22-year-old daughter, along with $250,000 for his 18-year-old son.

"The decision does not preclude the district attorney from seeking criminal charges against the company and its employees in the future, or pursuing a civil case against them."

Audits into Wellpath's services have routinely found that the company has continuously fallen short of standards, raising serious concerns about inmate care and safety.

"That all takes a bunch of time and it's very manual," Dupuis said. "You've opened up mail at your own home; imagine doing that 42,000 times."