OAKLAND -- The small gray tombstone over the hill on the far side of the Evergreen Cemetery near Mills College in Oakland looks just like the hundreds of other stones crowded into the lot.

But underneath this granite marker, almost half of the victims of cult leader Jim Jones rest anonymously, 409 former members of the People's Temple buried together in a single grave that lists no names.

MEMO from OAKLAND -- Barry Donelan looks down from his six foot height, places his hand on his hip right above his Oakland Police Department handgun, and explains in a thick Irish brogue how he found himself one day trying to keep the peace on the streets of an American city so far from his Dublin home:

"I'm just a blue collar lad that needed a blue collar job to support his family," he says. "And Oakland hires Irish people."

OAKLAND -- A 32 year-old Oakland man was arraigned on six counts of murder and attempted murder today in Alameda County Superior Court in connection with the Nov. 21 armed robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Berkeley in which a Brink's armored car guard was slain.

Prosecutors said the charges fall under special circumstances clauses and could carry the death penalty if the suspect is convicted.

OAKLAND -- Doctors, researchers and community leaders gathering at a summit here today called for greater attention to the special plight and needs of Asians and Pacific Islanders suffering from the HIV virus and AIDS, claiming that these groups largely have been ignored in expert dialogues about the fatal disease.

OAKLAND -- Our investigation into one of Oakland's most historic buildings began in the sterile offices of a modern downtown building and ended in the loft of a dusty pipe organ.

OAKLAND -- Elvira de La Cruz lost 18 pounds over the past 12 months and all it took was some fresh air and Tai Chi.

MEMO from OAKLAND -- International Boulevard in Oakland is more exciting than Saudi Arabia, according to Sean Bowling, a former military police officer turned Oakland cop.

Bowling, a 27-year-old rookie, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force two months after he turned 18. He was also stationed in Turkey and Germany, but two years ago he joined the Oakland P.D., averaging an annual 150 arrests, give or take a few, he says.

MEMO from OAKLAND -- Police work was not Oakland Police Officer Simon Rhee's first career choice. Growing up in the safety of suburban Castro Valley he never really thought about -- or experienced -- crime or violence in any fashion.

OAKLAND -- A Hayward resident was shot to death and his body discovered inside his car yesterday in the Oakland Hills, police reported.

OAKLAND – Eric Schlosser, author of the best-selling "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," today blasted the meat packing industry for putting profits before nutrition and worker safety at a fundraiser for KPFA radio station and Mother Jones magazine at the First Congregational Church of Oakland

OAKLAND -- Edward Sullivan, the 29-year old Oakland man accused of four counts of felony prostitution, pimping underage girls, and statutory rape, underwent exhaustive questioning today in Alameda County Superior Court about the nature of his relationship with a series of underage women. In her cross examination Deputy District Attorney Delia Trevino tried to prove the women were working as his prostitutes.

OAKLAND — Oakland police academy coordinator Sgt. Anthony Banks testified yesterday that Officer Clarence Mabanag violated training protocols while serving as mentor to former Oakland police officer Keith Batt, the whistle blower in the “Riders” case.

OAKLAND —Three police officers testified for the prosecution Tuesday in the sex trial of a 29-year old Oakland man charged with four felony counts associated with operating an underage escort service from his home.

OAKLAND - The murder trial of three men charged with the 1998 killing of an Alameda County Sheriff’s deputy continued here yesterday as a forensic pathologist testified that the officer died “within a few minutes” of being shot multiple times.

OAKLAND -- For Danielle Hilton, Fridays at the District Attorney’s Office are a breeze: Head four flights downstairs inside the Alameda County Courthouse, send a few hardened criminals to prison on a good day and make it home by dinner.

OAKLAND --If Angela Backers weren’t courageous, she wouldn’t last a week on the job. Each year the 44 year-old Alameda County death penalty prosecutor must try some of the most emotionally wrenching murder cases the region has to offer.

OAKLAND — Zakiya Hooker loves to wear stiletto heels. At 55, she’s not too shy to admit that she likes "hoochy" clothes, too. But that’s all for the stage, from where she peforms her bluesy ballads in nightclubs throughout the East Bay.

OAKLAND — In California’s courtrooms more than 80 different languages are spoken daily. To make sense out of the confusion people like Gloria Contreras, a Spanish interpreter, lend their expertise.

OAKLAND —Steve Fort has been busier than usual the past few weeks. With two high-profile trials underway in the courtrooms above his ground floor snack shop at the Renee C. Davidson courthouse in Oakland, the 56-year-old’s customer flow has increased substantially.

OAKLAND -- In a modest storefront gallery in North Oakland, Arnold White depicts the beauty and pain of African-American life in technicolored acrylic paints. One painting expresses the joyous liberation of music. Another conveys the grief of urban displacement. By making strong statements about social and political issues, White's art is meant to challenge and inspire or, as he says, "to wake people up."

OAKLAND -- Since Assistant Sheriff Robert J.P. Maginnis took a position at the Alameda County Coroner?s Office, he has probably seen more gruesome imagery than he would like: Dismemberments, decapitations and general carnage are all a part of his daily routine. He also examined corpses literally squashed flat by falling debris during 1989?s Loma Prieta Earthquake.

OAKLAND -- With its muted colors and cozy chairs, the lobby of the Coroner?s Office on Washington Street in downtown Oakland is as unassuming as the waiting room of a doctor?s office. It is hard to imagine that just one floor below the office of the bubbly front desk receptionist lay the pulverized bodies of Oakland?s latest homicide victims.

The Times visits the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau in Oakland to tour the facilities and hear a talk by Deputy Coroner Lt. David Hoig and Assistant Sheriff Robert Maginnis about the Bureau's role in the community. Here are two reports:

OAKLAND -- Oakland Police Chief Richard L. Word said today that local media coverage of his department needs better balance. During a discussion with journalists at KTVU television station here, Chief Word denounced continual press attention on the city's homicides and the ongoing "Riders" trial of former city police accused of abusive arrests and kidnappings.

OAKLAND -- An Alameda County jury began deliberations Monday at the conclusion of a five-week civil court trial in which NBA stars Gary Payton and Brian Shaw are being sued for fraud by the former minority owners of a defunct Emeryville billiard club.

OAKLAND -- Alameda County prosecutors, citing a lack of sufficient evidence, dropped sexual assault and rape charges against Oakland Raider Darrell Russell yesterday, apparently ending the latest chapter in the athlete’s troubled history in the Bay Area. Russell was facing felony charges for allegedly drugging a 28-year-old Sunnyvale woman with the date-rape drug GHB and videotaping two of his friends having sex with her in late January.

OAKLAND --- The Oakland Museum of California commemorated the first anniversary of September 11 last night with “Report from Ground Zero,” a remarkable panel discussion that brought together an Oakland firefighter, a structural engineer, and two journalists to recall their lifechanging experiences amid the ruins of the terror attacks in New York City.