By center stage in the auditorium of the Craneway Pavillion in Richmond, 5-year-old Malina Maravilla walked up cautiously to Beth Horner as she was taking her acoustic guitar out of the case to tune it. Horner was getting ready to perform soon. “Can I touch your guitar?” asked Maravilla. Horner smiled. “Of course,” she said. “Do you want to help me play a song?” “Oh yeah!” said Maravilla, sitting down next to Horner and stroking the different guitar strings with…
On Thursday afternoon at Richmond High School’s football stadium, the air was filled with cheers and applause as racers took their mark on the track field. But instead of relays, hurdles, and sprints, the racers were on electric bicycles they had built from scratch. Technology students at Richmond High School’s Engineering Partnership Academy participated in the first annual E-Bike Challenge funded by Chevron Corp. The oil refining company donated $550 to each of the four teams consisting of five to…
City council leaders In Richmond voted 5-2 on Tuesday night to put a special soda tax proposal on the November 6 ballot. The soda tax would add a one cent per ounce surcharge to soda and other sugary fruit drinks that contain less than ten percent juice.
Contra Costa College has received a $325,000 grant from the Gateway to College National Network to implement a small learning community model for high school dropouts. Designed for young adults between the of ages 16 and 21 who have dropped out of high school or are behind in credits and unlikely to graduate, the program will enable students to complete their high school diploma requirements while also earning college credit toward an associate degree or certificate. Contra Costa College, located…
Image comics changed the face of the industry with the success of titles like “Spawn” and the “Walking Dead.” At Image, the idea was to create a company where comic creators could bring new ideas to the table and the creators would own their intellectual property without worrying about being underpaid. Spencer Whitney tells us the story of the Berkeley-based Image Comics and how they became one of the largest independent comic book publishers in the industry. 20120419_IMAGE_whitney/Image_Comics_Story.mp3
Defense attorneys Arthur A. Hartinger and Geoffrey Spellberg, representing Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus, began their closing arguments on Wednesday morning in the discrimination suit filed by seven police officers against the chief and the city. The courtroom was packed to capacity with observers, including the families of the plaintiffs as well as police officers and local council members.
On Thursday afternoon at Kennedy High School, players, parents, and coaches filed in to the library to celebrate signing day for two football athletes. A signing day refers to the day that a high school senior can sign a binding letter of intent to play college football with a school. Lenard Walden and Eric Mims received athletic scholarships from Texas College, a historically black institution in Tyler, Texas. Walden will be playing defensive tackle, and Mims will be playing wide…
While other sports such as football and basketball often get the most attention, the track and field team at Richmond’s Kennedy High School has been the most successful in improving each season and sending student athletes to higher education. So far, the Eagles track and field team has reached the California Interscholastic Federation state track and field championships for three straight years in the 110-meter hurdles, placing sixth the past two years.
It was a Friday night in Richmond, and more than 50 teenagers from Kennedy High School and Richmond High School got ready to square off against each other. But instead of fighting, students from their respective schools put their dance moves to the test at the RYSE Center’s launch of their “First Friday” event series. “Who’s ready to party tonight?” yelled host Gemikia Henderson into the microphone to applause by the screaming crowd and the sound of record scratching by…
These graphs display data showing the gender and racial demographics of all the promotions made to the positions of deputy chief, captain, sergeant, and lieutenant positions under Chief of Police Chris Magnus in Richmond since January, 2006 through January, 2012.
W. Allen Taylor has brought his search for his father back to the front stage in Richmond. Taylor, the son of “Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins,”one of the first black disc jockeys in the country, takes his audience on his quest to find out more about his father.
On his second day of testimony in the racial discrimination lawsuit filed against him, Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus made some memorable statements to the court.
On the sixth day of testimony Thursday, Sergeant James Jenkins, a plaintiff in the discrimination lawsuit against the city of Richmond, police Chief Chris Magnus and former Deputy Chief Lori Ritter, testified that there was a buddy system in place when it came to picking candidates for the Richmond Police Department’s Investigative Services Division. In 2007, eight high-ranking African American police officers sued the city of Richmond, accusing Magnus and Ritter of racial discrimination through blocking the advancement of black…