Schools across the West Contra Costa district welcomed back students on Tuesday with officials saying that safety of students is a top priority.
A surprise gift awaited children who visited Hilltop Mall in Richmond on Saturday: backpacks filled with school supplies just in time for the first day of school on Aug. 20. Volunteers with the Richmond Police Activities League (RPAL), a non-profit organization, partnered with Pacific Gas & Electric and KTVU to hand out 300 backpacks. Larry Lewis, the police league’s executive director, said the goal of the event was to build better community relations with the people of Richmond. “That’s what…
Growing up in Richmond, Chioke Jelani Clanton never thought about becoming an actor. “I stumbled into acting. It wasn’t my dream,” says the actor who is starring in “Red Sleep,” a web series premiering this fall.
At 8:14 p.m., on Monday the mosque on San Pablo Avenue in Richmond suddenly bustles with activity. Adhan, the Islamic call for prayer, is said. When the men wrap up their Quran reading and spring from their seats, it is time to break the 16-hour fast that started at 4:45 a.m. Worshippers walk to a narrow alley inside the mosque and sit together to break their fast. With their first bite of the fruits and dates spread out on a…
Richmond Confidential reports live from Richmond Civic Center, where a memorial for the victims of last year’s oil refinery fire is being held. [View the story “LIVE COVERAGE: One-Year Anniversary of Chevron Fire” on Storify]
More than 2,000 people took part in the rally that started at Richmond BART station and ended with a sit-in at the main gate of the Chevron refinery at Richmond Point. When 90-year-old protestor Ellen Small was arrested at the sit-in, some people in the crowd started chanting “Let the people go, arrest the CEO.”
Confusion and concern: That’s what most of the 50 Richmond residents expressed last week during a workshop about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Obama’s subsidized health coverage that’s commonly called Obamacare.
Richmond residents cheered and clapped Tuesday night when the City Council rejected a proposal to move a medical marijuana dispensary from Richmond’s Hilltop area to 425 South Second Street, near the Santa Fe neighborhood. Residents expressed strong opposition about the move claiming that the dispensary would be too close to a residential area and that it would increase crime in the neighborhood.
It’s noon at Richmond’s Regatta Boulevard police station. A few police officers are sitting in front of their computers working. Amit Nath, one of the city’s 187 officers, interrogates a 15-year-old girl who was picked up for prostitution on 23rd Street. In a juvenile processing room Nath, 31, sits in front of her. The girl looks down as the officer asks her questions. At times she gets emotional and doesn’t answer them. When Nath asks her whether she has sex…
Marceles Peter, 20, and Jose Montano, 22, were both found guilty on three counts today by juries at the Contra Costa County Superior Court. The men face life in prison in connection with the Oct. 24, 2009 Richmond High School gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl.
In 30 years as husband and wife, Mearn Leepom, 56, and Bounkeo Viengvilai, 50, were inseparable. “They never lived away from each other. They were together in death too,” said their daughter, Kerry Viengvilai, who is mourning the loss of her parents and her brother. All three died in a house fire Friday on 21st Street. When the fire broke out early Friday morning, the victims were sleeping in a garage structure they had converted into a bedroom. The rest…
A small group of residents interrupted a Richmond City Council meeting Tuesday demanding that Chevron compensate the city and its residents for damage caused by the August 2012 refinery fire. The group also announced two events that will be held next month to commemorate the anniversary of the fire. Six refinery employees sustained minor injuries in the fire at Richmond’s Chevron refinery, and 15,000 Richmond residents sought medical treatment after breathing polluted air. The reputation of the City of Richmond has suffered because…
A young man previously convicted in the group rape of a 16-year-old girl four years ago testified against two other suspects on Thursday. Ari Morales, 19, never testified during his own trial in January. His comments last week marked the first time his version of events has been recorded in court. The testimony is part of a new trial against suspects Marcelles Peter, 20, and Jose Montano, 22, both of whom were charged with rape, rape with a foreign object…