AP
After a two-week trial and one day of jury deliberations, Nathan Burris was found guilty Wednesday morning of two counts of first-degree murder in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. Burris murdered his ex-girlfriend Deborah Ann Ross, a tollbooth taker, and her friend Ersie “Chuckie” Everette Jr. in 2009 on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. The trial moved quickly, with Burris—who represented himself—repeatedly admitting in open court to the crimes, and not putting on much of a defense. He was…
West County voters came out strong for education Tuesday — both on a local and state level. Measure E, Measure G and Prop 30 passed. Todd Groves and Randy Enos will join the West Contra Costa School Board.
In a hotly contested City Council election, with millions of dollars at play and a recent push into the national spotlight, Richmond voters have elected Nat Bates, Tom Butt and Gary Bell to the three open seats on the council dais. The two RPA candidates, Eduardo Martinez and Marilyn Langlois, finished just outside the top three, with Martinez trailing Bell for the final council spot by 600 votes. The return of Bell after an eight-year hiatus and reelection of incumbents…
It’s Election Day in Richmond — and the only place safe from the constant barrage of campaign advertisements are the polls. Today Richmond joins the nation in deciding who will run the country for the next four years, but voters will also consider the fate of local issues that have garnered national attention, from the City Council to Measure N. Voters have been trickling into polling stations, like the one at Booker T Anderson Community Center on 47th Street, which…
On the eve of the election, seniors from the Richmond High School Health Academy debated the merits of Measure N, a controversial tax on the city ballot that would levy a one-cent-per-ounce fee on sugar-sweetened beverages. About 150 people—including Councilmember Jeff Ritterman, who crafted the measure, listened to the arguments from the 12 students, who had spent the last four weeks developing their positions on the issue. Richmond Academy students debate: Yes or No on Measure N? The idea to…
Take your pick: naïve anarchists, or corporate puppets. This is the face of Richmond’s hotly contested race for three council seats in the November 2012 election, at least going by the massive billboards and glossy mailers that have dominated the campaign season in this city of 100,000 residents. The majority of candidates running for council in Tuesday’s election are qualified and sincere public servants, but, on both sides, campaigns have created a parallel universe of never-ending caricatures, spending nearly $4…
From the beginning of questioning Monday in Contra Costa Superior Court it became clear that Nathan Burris, who is defending himself against charges he shot and killed two people at the Richmond San Rafael Bridge toll plaza in 2009, wasn’t going to cooperate with Senior Deputy District Attorney Harold Jewett. Jewett stood up to question Burris. “You forgot something,” Jewett said in reference to the binoculars he’d showed the court last week, that he said Burris used to scope out…
A group of students, teachers, parents, and politicians gathered at Harding Elementary, Saturday as a first step to help communication efforts between the Contra Costa LGBTQ community support groups and the school systems. Participants said it’s important to open lines of communication with schools, while the children are young.
Thousands of students, teachers and families — many proudly sporting Giants gear — poured into San Francisco’s AT&T Park to soak up some sun and science Saturday during the second annual Bay Area Science Festival sponsored by Chevron and organized by the University of California San Francisco. More than 500 Richmond students were bused to the event.