Brett Murphy

The Hacienda housing project was declared uninhabitable. Why are tenants still living there?

The troubles at the Hacienda housing project were made public in February. The Richmond Housing Authority promised a tenant relocation in April. The initial application was sent in May. It’s now October—and mice still crawl at residents’ feet and cracks still spider up the walls. “I thought this place was coming down on my head during that Napa quake,” said Clarence Malbrough, a 16-year resident of the notorious Iron Triangle apartment complex on Roosevelt Ave. Residents and city council have…

RPD Ride-Along: Night on the Richmond beat

Officers Brandon Ruffin and Jennifer Cortez patrol the central beat, an area comprising Richmond’s inner city and high crime Iron Triangle neighborhood. Some shifts pop with energy and danger – including reports of sometimes deadly gunfire – while others are placid.

“It comes in waves,” Ruffin, 28, says as he slides the cruiser through a back alley. “The key is to keep the bad waves small and quick.”