Sukey Lewis

Costos del agua seguirán aumentando

Hace diez años, el promedio East Bay Municipal District—Distrito Municipal del Este de la Bahía— (EBMUD) consumidor estaba pagando $26.09 por mes de agua. Para julio 1 del 2014, ese número se duplicará casi a $48.40. Tan solo los próximos dos años veremos cifras elevarse en un 9.75 por ciento ($3.96 por mes) en 2014 y 9.5 por ciento ($4.19 por mes) en 2015. En la junta del Consejo de la Ciudad la semana pasada, el residente de Richmond Leonard…

Food stamp bill would cut deep in Richmond

A bill passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives on Thursday aims to cut food stamps or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) by $40 billion. An estimated 4,522 Richmond households might be affected if the federal food stamps program were to be dramatically cut back.

Water costs will continue to rise

Ten years ago, the average East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) consumer was paying $26.09 per month for water. By July 1st of 2014, that number will have nearly doubled to $48.60. The next two years alone will see rates rise 9.75 percent ($3.96 per month) in 2014 and 9.5 percent ($4.19 per month) in 2015. At last week’s City Council meeting, Richmond resident Leonard Taylor complained about the hikes, saying he may have to stop doing his laundry and…

State of the streets

The pavement buckles up into a mound directly in front of the house where Elizabeth has lived for 47 years.  The bump in the pavement is five feet long and one and a half feet wide—or the size of a small person lying down. “A few years ago that lady’s daughter tripped on that hump,” Elizabeth says motioning to her neighbor’s house on the left. “I called the city, and they dug up the hump, but it buckled up again…

Motion to kill Richmond’s eminent domain plan fails

Vicky Conway says she is stuck in a loan she can’t afford. She and her husband Rodney Conway bought a home in northeast Richmond in 2004 and, like many of the city’s residents, the couple’s home is “underwater,” meaning the amount they owe exceeds the market value of the house. “I know that we’re not going to be able to retire and continue with the same mortgage payments,” said Vicky Conway, 51. Now the Conways are banking on the city’s…