Wendi Jonassen

Youth come out en masse to clean Richmond’s waterways

Roughly 2,500 people collected 25,500 pounds of trash from the Contra Costa County shoreline and creeks during Saturday’s annual coastal cleanup day, said The Watershed Project, the event’s local host. Shimada Friendship Park was the main cleanup station for Richmond’s 26th annual event, which saw about 400 volunteers collect more than 1,774 pounds of trash and 400 pounds of recyclables. “When people come together to work on something that impacts us all, it empowers community, it helps people engage with…

Baxter Creek is getting a bad reputation

Baxter Creek in Richmond received some negative attention this week after it was highlighted on Save the Bay’s list of most polluted creeks in the Bay Area. But while the creek has a history of pollution problems, a considerable amount of conservation work has made many portions of it cleaner than other creeks in the Bay Area, said Juliana Gonzalez, Healthy Watersheds Program Manager of The Watershed Project. The creeks on Save the Bay’s list were chosen to highlight creeks…

Wastewater management may be leaving in 90 days

After a series of foul odors released from its sewage treatment plant over the last year, the multinational company Veolia may only have 90 days left in Richmond. Although the City Council had considered terminating the contract immediately at the council meeting Tuesday, council members opted to consider the arguments and the possibility of alternatives, and set a decision on the contract for Dec. 6. Mark Russell, a lawyer who is providing the city with outside legal counsel, said Tuesday…

Eagles defeated after weather interruption

Kennedy High had plenty of time to think about the second half of its football game against Miramonte – a full weekend, in fact, after the game was postponed Friday night by lightning and not resumed again until Monday. And although the Eagles lost to the Matadors, 42-22, they finished that second half strong to carry some positives into this week’s rivalry contest against Richmond.

Coastal cleanup in Richmond next weekend

Last year, on California’s annual coastal cleanup day, about 600 volunteers picked up 75,000 pounds of trash off of the Contra Costa coastline, said Linda Hunter, executive director of The Watershed Project. On Saturday, Sept. 17, the event arrives again, and this year Hunter said she wants to “change the dialogue” — to make those volunteers someday unnecessary by preventing trash buildup to begin with.