Oakland Dancer Samara Atkins Honored as Kaiser Earns 4.5 Stars

Oakland choreographer and educator Samara Atkins has been honored with a 2026 Alameda County Arts Leadership Award representing Supervisorial District 3, according to a profile by Lou Fancher in the East Bay Express. Across Oakland and Berkeley this week, The Daily Californian covered indie R&B artist Malcolm Todd’s two-night run at Oakland’s Fox Theater (review by Remi McKim) and Cal men’s soccer’s Senior Day finale against No. 1 SMU (report by Aidan Stecher), while Oakland-headquartered Kaiser Permanente earned a 4.5-star Medicare quality rating for 2027 (Antioch Herald).

Oakland Native Samara Atkins Receives District 3 Arts Leadership Award

Born and raised in a lively family home on Oakland’s MacArthur Boulevard, Atkins was selected by the Alameda County Arts Commission as the 2026 Arts Leadership Award recipient for District 3 and formally commended by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 20 alongside the county’s proclamations for California Arts and Culture Month and National Arts and Humanities Month.

In 2010, Atkins co-founded the all-women multi-ethnic dance collective Mix’d Ingrdnts with Jenay “ShinobiJaxx” Anolin to create inclusive performance and training spaces blending hip-hop, street styles, contemporary, and African diasporic movement. Atkins also serves as a senior teaching artist at Oakland’s Destiny Arts Center, teaches across public schools and community studios, and performs and choreographs with Grammy-winning Oakland collective Alphabet Rockers.

Malcolm Todd Headlines Two Nights at Oakland’s Fox Theater

In Uptown Oakland, 22-year-old singer-songwriter Malcolm Todd concluded a sold-out two-night stand at the Fox Theater on Oct. 21 on The Wholesome Rockstar Tour, joined by opener charliecityy (Charlie Besso) and lead guitarist Luke Tyler Shelton, according to The Daily Californian.

Performing songs from his self-titled debut and deluxe release Malcolm Todd (still), Todd moved from high-energy openers “4Me 4Me” and “Earrings” into an intimate acoustic couch set featuring “concrete” and “Lying” before closing with crowd favorites “Roommates,” “Bleed,” and his viral single “Chest Pain (I Love).”

Cal Men’s Soccer Honors 12 Seniors Against Unbeaten No. 1 SMU

At Edwards Stadium in Berkeley on Saturday, the California men’s soccer team (5-7-2, 1-5-1 ACC) celebrated Senior Day by honoring 12 graduating seniors—including four-year letterwinners Cesarozzi, Bracken Serra, and Gerranoughs—before taking on undefeated No. 1 SMU (11-0-3, 5-0-2 ACC), according to The Daily Californian.

The Bears outshot top-ranked SMU 8-4 during a scoreless first half before the Mustangs broke through on second-half goals by Slade Starnes in the 59th minute and Stephan Soghomonian in the 79th minute for a 2-0 final. Cal wraps up its regular season on Friday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. on the road against No. 6 Stanford.

Kaiser Permanente’s California Medicare Plan Earns 4.5 Stars for 17th Consecutive Year

Also in Oakland, Kaiser Permanente announced Tuesday that its California Medicare HMO health plan earned 4.5 out of 5 stars in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2027 Star Ratings, according to the Antioch Herald.

Serving nearly 1.5 million Medicare members in California, Kaiser Permanente’s California plan has earned 4.5 or 5 stars for 17 consecutive years (from 2011 through 2027). Kaiser Permanente Northern California Regional President Mike Bowers and The Permanente Medical Group CEO and Executive Director Dr. Maria Ansari credited the rating to integrated preventive screenings, chronic condition management, and coordinated physician-led care.