OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The founder of a ramshackle collective who officials say illegally converted an Oakland warehouse into residences for artists and musicians saw himself as a guru and benevolent landlord trying to help people struggling to survive in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, court documents say his reckless actions created “a […]
The founder of a ramshackle Oakland artists’ colony where dozens of people burned to death saw himself as a kind of guru and loved to surround himself with followers but showed chilling disregard for their well-being, according to relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. Derick Ion Almena, 46, leased and operated the cluttered warehouse where a […]
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The death toll from a fire that tore through a warehouse hosting a late-night dance party climbed to 33 on Sunday as firefighters painstakingly combed through rubble for others believed to still be missing. Less than half of the charred remains of the partly collapsed structure had been searched, and crews […]
