Life in violent and impoverished neighborhoods can be tough to comprehend. It can be a world of substandard schools, street loyalties, environmental pollution and infrastructure disinvestment. Often, the motley mix is also awash in guns. Go inside to hear the audio interview with a local 19-year-old describing his neighborhood.
Richmond Faces
The bloodhound
March 5, 2010 – 9:33 am
Mark Wassberg has lurked around local crime scenes for years, collecting reams of raw footage of the city as few see it. Driven by a near-obsession to document the city’s struggle with deadly violence, this aspiring documentary filmmaker hopes to author his own rags-to-riches tale.
City honors publisher of local black newspaper
February 24, 2010 – 6:00 am
When residents and city leaders spoke one-by-one of their admiration for Vernon Whitmore, they didn’t talk of racy scoops or screaming headlines. They talked about his steadfast consistency in telling their unique Richmond stories.
Local public activists honored for service
February 19, 2010 – 5:00 am
Corky Booze, Lillie Mae Jones, Rev. Phil Lawson and Eula Averhart were honored for “past and on-going commitment to positive social change” in a ceremony celebrating Black History Month.
Richmond Tale: Local building tells story on its wall
February 13, 2010 – 10:34 pm
Take a stroll down McDonald Avenue near Ninth Street west of downtown, and you might come face-to-face with a local legend.
Galileo guys gather for good times
January 22, 2010 – 6:00 am
Louis Fantin limped into the brightly painted building, as he often does on Tuesdays, and took a seat at a round table. At 85 years old, he dealt the cards and studied his hand a little slower than he used to.
Broker claims city owes $1.5 million for Point Molate
January 18, 2010 – 6:00 am
Commercial real estate broker John Troughton claims the City of Richmond agreed to pay him $1.5 million if the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians came to Point Molate. But no deal was signed, and no one at City Hall is talking.
Richmond man reconnects slave colony descendants
January 17, 2010 – 6:00 am
Nat Fitz doesn’t consider himself a history buff. The Richmond resident, who is 86, never talked to his parents about the family’s history and ancestors. It wasn’t until he was in his 70s that he started taking an interest in the past, after he discovered that members of his family were part of a colony for former slaves in Kansas.
Coffee roaster: neighborhood change starts with cafe
January 17, 2010 – 6:00 am
Tim Manhart, owner of Catahoula Coffee roasting, says the shop’s clientele has been a revelation, dispelling some widely-held notions not only about who drinks gourmet espresso, but about who makes up Richmond’s population in general.
A Richmond activist fights gangs and governors
January 12, 2010 – 6:00 am
It’s not hard to imagine how Barbara Becnel charmed her way into spending more than 12 hours a day with Los Angeles gangsters for a year and a half. Or befriended a former gangster on death row for murder. Or ran for governor of California.
