Local artist Alan Leon and all of us wish you a very Merry Christmas!!! Here, his original view of Christmas on Grand Avenue, drawn exclusively for OaklandSeen.

Did you miss the amazing winter solstice lunar eclipse last night? You don’t have to wait until 2094, just watch this video. For 72 minutes of eerie totality, an amber light played across the landscape of North America, throwing landscapes into an unusual state of ruddy shadow.

A report issued by the California Dept of Education unveiled new statistics about high school dropout rates throughout California. Oakland’s rate stands out.

With your help, we can build on OaklandSeen’s success.

Jean Quan becomes Oakland’s next mayor – the first woman in the city’s history and first female Asian-American mayor of a major city, beating Don Perata.

The ranked choice voting results of the mayoral race have changed politics in Oakland; big money is down, participation is up, and coalitions are the name of the game.

On the eve of sentencing for convicted Bart office Johannes Mehserle, Oscar Grant’s family and activists fight for the maximum sentence in the court of public opinion. They believe a convicted criminal should not be given a platform to speak to the public, and the judge.

First-choice votes are counted and although Don Perata is leading, it’s anyone’s guess how second- and third-choice votes will impact the results.

Think your vote doesn’t matter? Well, it does. What’s more, the city needs you to cast your vote today.

The results of the OaklandSeen mayoral poll are in. Will this election be a game changer – with ranked choice voting in the mix? Um, it’s not likely after all.