The annual Holiday Arts Festival will return to the Richmond Art Center for its 62nd year on Sunday, with over 50 local arts and crafts vendors, live music, food, and art activities to create your own holiday gifts. Everything from ceramics to knitwear will be showcased by artists from across the Bay Area, including many from Richmond. This year, the festival will include the Zine Zone for the first time, spotlighting independent zines, comics and prints. Amy Spencer, community engagement…
Festive music and welcoming smiles filled the parking lot of the Bay Area Rescue Mission’s food distribution center in Richmond Tuesday, where hundreds of people gathered under a gray sky for the annual turkey giveaway. The Rescue Mission, which provides emergency shelter, fresh meals, warm clothing, and support services to the unhoused and those in need, has upheld this Thanksgiving tradition for over 40 years. Bram Begonia, CEO of the Rescue Mission, said between 500 and 1,000 families would get…
Richmond aims to become the first Bay Area city to advance a neighborhood green energy initiative, with plans to convert homes in a pilot neighborhood from gas to electric energy. The Richmond Clean Energy and Healthy Homes Project calls for replacing gas appliances with high-efficiency electric ones in a low-income neighborhood that PG&E would help the city identify. Upgrades will include heat pumps, electric panel enhancements, onsite solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery storage. The pilot would include…
As polling wrapped up Tuesday night, Richmond voters talked about what issues swayed their vote. Gloria Space said her concern was about local rent control getting more affordable, low-income housing. “They need to focus on the reform of landlords, so tenants are not treated any kind of way,” she said. The need for affordable housing was reiterated by Philip Slater ,who voted in Marina Bay Harbor. “We have a lot of empty lots in this city, and a lot of…
“Knock knock, is anybody home? It’s SOS,” says Leyla Williams as she approaches one of the many hidden makeshift houses along Wildcat Creek. “Does anyone need services?” she asks, scaling the homemade stairs that lead to the tents and tarpaulin shelters. “I don’t think anyone is home.” This was the second stop of the day for the team at of Safe Organized Spaces Richmond, a nonprofit service provider for unhoused people. Their first stop was the extensive encampment where tents…