By Mateen Kaul
People dressed in traditional Indian clothes celebrated Diwali with food, music and prayers at Fremont’s Hindu Temple on Saturday night, October 25.

By Angela Kilduff
Halloween festivities combined with election-day fervor at “Abuzz for Obama” on Friday night. Berkeley resident and artist Stacey Moss celebrates Halloween each year with a candy corn-themed fête. For this, the seventh annual get-together, she transformed candy corn cutouts into honeybees abuzz for presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Photos and Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Robert Wesner, 39, sat hunched over his sewing machine, his waist-long hair pulled back in a half ponytail, while a topless woman laced up a leather corset behind him. Wesner, owner of Leather Mystics, began stitching together his sixth leather choker of the night. Laughing, he said that he never would have believed this is where his life would end up: “It’s not like you grow up thinking, ‘Geez, I think I’ll be a bondage leather specialist.”

Photos and Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Since 1961, the mission of the all-volunteer Pacific Locomotive Association (PLA) has been to operate a working railroad museum that preserves the physical aspects and atmosphere of Pacific Coast railroading from 1910 to 1960. Starting in 1984, the organization opened the Niles Canyon Railway as a living history museum.

Story by Angela Kilduff and photos by Casey Miner
Even before the polls closed on November 4, excitement – mixed with a bit of anxiety – permeated the streets of downtown Oakland.

By Casey Miner  At a chain clothing store on Telegraph Avenue, catching shoplifters isn’t just about ethics — it’s about making money.
On a recent weekday afternoon, one employee, who said he has worked at the store for about a year and a half, proudly displayed a row of stickers affixed to the back of his nametag – one for every thief caught. Once he catches ten, he said, the store gives him a $50 gift card.
“It’s annoying,” he said of the shoplifters. “But kids will be kids.”
Employees at …

Video by Will Jason, Angela Kilduff and Casey Miner
When you’re CodePink, even a moving-out sale attracts controversy.

By Adelaide Chen
A local nonprofit developer has purchased land in Oakland’s Eastlake area to build affordable rental units for low-income families. But some residents say the influx of new households will bring parking and traffic congestion to their relatively calm neighborhood.

By Adelaide Chen
Oakland’s ReGeneration Church is popular with college students and singles for its rock n’ roll sermons and acceptance of all denominations.
But lately, another program is becoming popular among families who live in the area but who are not officially part of the church — martial arts.
Known as the Taekwondo Ministry, the Korean martial arts class brings the gospel to youth as early as the age of five.

By Mateen Kaul
Presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain spent significant time in the two presidential debates discussing their potential Pakistan policies, if elected to the Oval Office. But many Pakistani-Americans see these policies as largely the same.