AP
Two bills introduced in the State Legislature Friday take aim at Chevron in direct response to the August refinery fire. Berkeley Democrats State Senator Loni Hancock and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner co-announced legislation Monday that would impose higher fines against air quality polluters and ensure more timely corrections to unsafe workplace conditions. Hancock authored a bill that would quadruple the civil penalties large polluters must pay for air quality regulations violations. In a news release, Hancock said current penalties “are far…
As they have every Sunday for the last 70 years, members of the Davis Chapel filed into church on a recent weekend and took their seats in the red-cushioned pews. The first sunlight of the day streamed in through the stained-glass windows and members of the choir took their positions behind the altar. Clapping their hands and stepping side-to-side in rhythm, the white-robed choir raised its voice in harmony and sang: “Oh to the blood of Jeee—sus. To the blood…
An international treaty recently recognized the San Francisco Bay estuary — California’s largest wetland — as a “wetland of importance,” but while conservation groups called the news a victory, the designation won’t directly halt development that has threatened the area for years. The 1,600 square mile region is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals, including many that can’t be found anywhere else, such as the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, San Francisco garter snake and the Delta…
The Richmond Police Department confirmed Thursday that three of its officers fired at an armed suspect in the officer-involved shooting on February 11, the city’s first such shooting since December 2011. Police Capt. Mark Gagan said the man, identified as Elston Young, 30, was “brandishing a firearm” and pointed it at the officers, but did not fire. Young was hit multiple times. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, said Richmond Det. Nicole Abetkov. The department is not releasing the names…
Richmond is in good fiscal shape, according to the city’s mid-year review, presented to the city council at Tuesday night’s meeting, which also included talk of bringing a new call center to Richmond, deciding on further development of a Richmond hillside and requiring registration of vacant buildings. Foreclosures have dropped sharply, the city’s unemployment rate is down 6 percent from a high in 2009 of over 19 percent, and taxes on property and sales are higher than mid-year projections. “The…
Every holiday season Nancy DeWeese and her husband, Gary, host a Christmas party. But it’s not your average family gathering, because this is not your average family. At these parties, three dozen children from all walks of life, including the couple’s four biological kids, gather to share in a common experience: Each child has spent part of their lives growing up at the DeWeese family home in Moraga. “They see each other and they’re like, ‘Oh, we started out as…
After a month of arguing over how best to fill the seat left empty by Gary Bell’s illness, the Richmond City Council met on February 4 for a one-item agenda. The council could either choose to wait for a special election in June, or it could appoint one of the 12 people who applied for the position. Two factions had emerged—councilmembers Corky Booze and Nat Bates were publicly in favor of a special election, while Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and councilmembers Jovanka Beckles…
Federal investigators have concluded an aged and severely corroded pipe caused the Aug. 6 Chevron Refinery fire. Investigators and elected officials were quick to blame the oil giant for the explosion, arguing the corporation knew the pipe should have been replaced years ago. The findings, released by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on Feb. 13, are consistent with months-old reports that blame the incident on high sulfidation corrosion and low silicon content in the 36-year-old steel pipe…
Bibliophiles from throughout the Bay Area gathered Sunday at Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion for the first day of the Codex International Book Fair, which will be open until Wednesday, February 13. The fair was hosted by the Codex Foundation, a not-for-profit group that partners with book arts organizations around the world to preserve the hand-made book as a form of art. The fair featured 180 exhibitors who came to Richmond from around the world to display and sell their creations. The…