Jason Jaacks

WhipOut brings gourmet sliders to Richmond

Last year, Rob John, who spent more than 20 years teaching first grade in Kensington, decided to leave teaching and try his hand at starting a small business. He loved food and enjoyed the fare he found at gourmet food trucks, so he raised money to buy an old courier truck (think UPS), found an outfitter in Hayward, and voila: the WhipOut food truck was born. “Richard Branson chose to build spaceships,” John said. “I wanted a food truck.” On…

Kennedy Eagles soar into first place

The Kennedy Eagles soared into first place in the league at their Homecoming game on Friday night, crushing the John Swett Indians 30-7. Late in the first quarter, the Eagles’ Takkarist Mckinley scored on a short run, putting Kennedy on the board. They failed to make the two point conversion, but they were up, 6-0. It stayed that way through much of the second quarter as each team failed to make third down conversions. A small but spirited Kennedy crowd…

City Council Election 2012: Mark Wassberg

Mark Wassberg finishes the knot with his teeth and steps back from the chain-link fence. He stands quietly for a moment and inspects his work as a wave of cars passes by. It’s a warm cloudless afternoon a month before Election Day and two posters emblazoned with the message MARK WASSBERG 4 CITY COUNCIL gleam in the sun. Wassberg is running a decidedly low-budget, low-profile campaign for City Council. On the ballot, he left his candidate statement blank. He’s raised…

Nutiva hosts grand opening

Terry Harris spent the last four years bouncing between temp agencies and commuting to the South Bay to find work, never able to find a full-time job. Then Nutiva, an organic “superfood” company, arrived in Richmond and started hiring Richmond residents – including Harris, a forklift operator. Now, he said, he can ride his bike to work. Thursday afternoon Harris walked through the cavernous 105,000-square-foot warehouse, mixing with business owners, residents, politicians — and his new coworkers – at a…

LBNL unveils long term plan for new Richmond Bay Campus

Representatives from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab unveiled long term plans for the Richmond Bay Campus, including ideas on how to involve surrounding neighborhoods, at a workshop at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium Thursday night. The lab’s Long Range Development Plan will consolidate existing bioscience facilities associated with LBNL from around the East Bay. The research goals at the Richmond campus will include bioscience solutions for carbon-neutral fuels, reduced human environmental footprint, and improved human health. The presentation Thursday highlighted the…

Scientists announce research focus for LBNL

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Richmond Bay Campus will focus on biosciences that affect energy production, environment, and human health scientists from the lab and the University of California said Thursday. The scientists explained the highlights of research projects to come for an audience of more than 100 people at the Memorial Auditorium. Research proposals included a range of topics, from local rainwater catchment and filtration systems to biofuel development. Jay Keasling, a professor of chemical and biomolecular…