A parade of African-American cowboys from Oakland, corvettes from around the bay, local youth associations and sports leagues and a host of others paraded through central Richmond Saturday in the city’s long-running annual Juneteenth festival. The parade was led by grand marshal Fred Jackson, a long-time community activist, and ended in Nicholl Park.
On Saturday, Richmond will kick off its annual Juneteenth festival with a parade, two stages of music, activities for kids and a host of food vendors in Nicholl Park.
Big ideas about education and emotion flowed through the Craneway Pavillion at the TEDxGoldenGateED conference over the weekend. The ideas found a receptive audience in the roughly 700 in attendance at the Saturday conference that attracted teachers, parents, therapists and others from throughout the Bay Area. The day included a packed schedule of speakers, performers and workshops that revolved around the central theme of compassion.
Rates of whooping cough in California have continued to climb this year, and in Contra Costa County, infection rates are lining up to top last year’s record-breaking number of cases, according to the county’s health department. There have been 83 confirmed cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, since January. Last year, the county saw more than 200 infections.
In July the city will approve a new general plan, a huge policy document that will shape the future of the city for the next couple decades. The draft plan adds a unique element to the plan that focuses city policy on efforts to improve the health of Richmond residents, putting the city at the forefront of combining city policy and public health.
There’s good news and bad news for the city’s budget for 2011-2012. In the positive column, the city’s credit ratings remains strong, there’s money in the bank—$10 million in general fund reserves, essentially a rainy day fund—and funding for the city’s services will for the most part remain intact. The bad news is that every part of city government will experience cuts of some kind, while programs that rely on state funding are under threat of a drastically constricted state budget, and part of the city’s budget relies on ballot measures, which are risky.
While most people were taking advantage of an extra day off yesterday by sleeping in or getting an early start prepping food for a Memorial Day barbeque, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from across western Contra Costa County were heading to the Rolling Hills Memorial Park and Funeral Home on Hilltop Road. Dressed in official uniforms, they set to work at 8 o’clock sharp placing thousands of flags on gravesites belonging to veterans of American armed services.
On June 7, Richmond residents will go to the polls to vote on Measures C and D, both tax-related measures that are meant to make up for shortfalls in the budget stemming from Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget cuts. But opponents say the measures are a bad idea, and could potentially expose the city to costly lawsuits.
Ready to move forward after the first quashed attempt, Chevron’s Richmond refinery began the process to restart its embattled Renewal Project on Monday by filing a new conditional use permit application. This will be the second attempt to complete the project, which was halted by a county appellate court in 2009 after it was narrowly approved by the city council. The project is meant to upgrade equipment at the refinery and replace aging components.
John F. Kennedy High School students, parents and teachers got a first-person history of the Freedom Rides when Alameda Contra Costa Transit District’s Freedom Bus rolled up at the school Thursday. The presentation took place at an open house for Kennedy High parents.
A bevy of state, county and local officials donned hard hats and grabbed shiny new shovels to break ground for the West Contra Costa County Health Center in San Pablo. The shovels were ceremonial, but real work will begin soon on the new clinic that will serve real needs in the community.
In a complex and dynamic world where scientific certainty is hard to come by and new technologies, chemicals and industrial processes are being introduced into the world, Richmond’s City Council decided that it is best to take a cautious approach to making policies and city planning. At least, that’s the aim of a resolution passed at last night’s city council meeting.
Richmond Police Sergeant DeWayne Williams and community activist Naomi Williams were recognized for their work combating alcohol and substance abuse at the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.