Representative George Miller is an unabashedly left-leaning Democrat and Richmond’s congressional representative, who is currently focused on the national healthcare and budget debates.
There is great news for fishermen and salmon lovers. This year’s projected salmon count in watersheds around the bay is higher than it has been in years. Last year only about 115,000 salmon were counted swimming from the bay up the Sacramento River. This year the projected count is over 800,000.
Last month, the Richmond City Council joined Berkeley and San Francisco in asking local businesses to stop selling certain rat and mouse pesticides that are in pellet form, that are not packaged with bait stations, and that contain the chemicals bodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, and difenacoum.
After multiple spills from the city sewer system last Thursday and Saturday, residents began noticing warning signs in the Point Isabel region that the water may be contaminated. East Bay Regional Parks workers put the signs up as a precautionary measure to advise people to avoid any contact with the water. “The amount of discharge is unknown,” said Matthew Graul, Water Resources Manager for the parks district, “and that is why we are being protective.” Recent rainstorms overwhelmed the sewer…
The Lauritzen Channel has more DDT in it than before the 1996 cleanup, and some fish are turning up with DDT levels in their tissues hundreds of times higher than their counterparts in the rest of the San Francisco Bay. It took one company less than two decades to create a chemical mess in the Lauritzen Channel that will take almost half a century to identify and clean.
On a February weekend, Nick Despota and Nel Benningshof left their house in Richmond two to three times a day, sometimes at dawn, sometimes at dusk, strapping on their binoculars and carrying a notepad and a short, durable scope—12-15 inches long attached to a tripod.
Eighteen years ago, Doria Robinson, a third generation Richmond native, was studying Buddhism philosophy, and Tibetan language and culture in a monastery in Dharamsala, India. She was as far away from her hometown as she could be. Now she’s back in Richmond, helping residents gain access to healthy food and urban gardens.
The East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, SPCA, is hosting a spaying and neutering marathon on Saturday, February 28th, at both their TriValley and Oakland locations. Their goal is to spay and neuter one hundred Chihuahuas, pit bulls, and cats that belong to low-income families. “Our phones were ringing off the hook and we are filling up really fast,” said Laura Fulda, Director of Marketing and Development for the East Bay SPCA. While the East Bay…
Ohio-based filmmaker Andres Torres showed highlights Saturday at the Rialto in El Cerrito from a documentary series that she’s finishing that focuses in part on County Supervisor John Gioia. The series, “The New Metropolis,” covers the history of city planning, social justice, and environmental sustainability.
The North Richmond neighborhood hasn’t flooded since the Army Corps of Engineers erected levees decades ago around the two creeks. But although their record so far is good, the levees now don’t meet Federal Emergency Management Agency standards.
After nine years of service, Veolia will began the process of terminating its 10-year contract with Richmond, which will start the search for a viable alternative for its wastewater management plan. Residents in Richmond have voiced concerns about odor issues in relation to the plant, and Veolia cited a need for capital investment to improve the condition of the plant as a reason not to continue its contract. “It looks like we are negotiating a divorce,” Councilmember Jeff Ritterman said….
Over the last century, as industry grew and the population exploded in Richmond, conflicts between construction and restoration have been inevitable. Development and the natural landscape all over Richmond have been at odds.
The levels of hydrogen sulfide emitted from the Veolia wastewater treatment plant have been rising over the last few months, and if Tuesday’s City Council meeting was any evidence the plant’s neighbors have noticed. The minimum levels for emissions that Veolia has recently exceeded were set conservatively, said Chad Davisson, the wastewater management officer for the city, implying that there is no reason for concern. But that didn’t dissuade the vehement group of residents that showed up to talk about…