AP
Contra Costa County officials are expected to vote tomorrow morning on how to spend a $19 million grant from the state to help deal with crowded county prisons. The funding follows the state’s decision last year to transfer responsibility for many non-violent offenders to local agencies. Members of the Contra Costa County Community Corrections Partnership have come up with several options for spending the money. Part of it, County Sheriff David Livingston and Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus agreed, should…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says investigations into Chevron’s August 7 fire in Richmond will take at least a year, and it’s premature to discuss prosecution or fines. At an August 27 public briefing on the investigations, Dan Meer, the assistant director of the EPA’s Region 9 Superfund Division, said the EPA would prosecute to the fullest extent possible if it finds that Chevron violated the law. In an interview this week Meer qualified his remarks. “It is very early in…
Eleven people successfully filed and qualified to be on the Nov. 6 ballot for the City Council. Nine out of the eleven candidates also submitted statements of qualifications by the Aug. 15 deadline. These statements are limited to 200 words, and they are an opportunity for candidates to provide personal information and also write why they are qualified for the specific position. The submitted statements are available to view online and deputy City Clerk Ursula Deloa said in an email,…
The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s Community Day School Program will start school in a new location at the Richmond Police Activities League this fall, a little more than a month after an ACLU-led lawsuit challenged the District’s funding and handling of the school. But the move didn’t placate critics, who argue the District has utterly neglected its CDSP. The Northern California chapter of the civil liberties group and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit July…
There are five separate investigations into the Aug. 6 Chevron refinery fire, but if Monday’s meeting was any indication, many Richmond residents doubt even that will be enough.
Speakers from local environmental and community groups blasted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which is charged with regulating air pollution, and called for accountability from Chevron.
After the Chevron refinery fire sent plumes of black smoke laden with chemicals into the air, Urban Tilth, one of Richmond’s urban agriculture organizations, wants the soil it uses to grow food tested for heavy metals. Though the Contra Costa Health Services say Richmond-grown fruits and vegetables are safe to eat and that they don’t expect any impact from the fire on soil or compost, Doria Robinson, the executive director of Urban Tilth, said she worries about heavy metals like…
Results from a Bay Area Air Quality Management District analysis of particulate matter in the air over Richmond following the Aug. 6 Chevron refinery fire show slightly elevated levels of elemental carbon, which is common after a fire. Those levels are still well below state and federal air quality standards, the BAAQMD announced Thursday. Although the official analysis showed low levels, the smoke plume went several thousand feet into the air and the wind blew it east, said Wendel Brunner,…
The city council Tuesday night approved two contentious campaign finance ordinances that, taken together, limit the influence of people and businesses that contribute to a candidate or sitting councilmember. These ordinances will likely reshape the way candidates approach fundraising in this year’s election.