community
Over 100 students at Richmond’s Kennedy High School, many carrying “Free Palestine” banners, joined a nationwide walkout Wednesday to protest the bombings in Gaza, where thousands of people have been killed. Students took turns using a loudspeaker, as others formed a half circle around them, chanting: “Free Palestine” and “Occupation is a crime.” Carrying banners that said, “Save Palestine,” they gathered outside the school around 1:30 p.m. and remained for about half an hour. “I feel responsible to stop my state…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Have you seriously considered leaving Contra Costa County? “All the time. A lot of different reasons, the cost of living is a lot more expensive than other places in the U.S., like what you get for the money. I am concerned when I have a family and kids that I won’t be…
The Richmond Certified Farmers Market Association plans to open a new market in Marina Bay Park early next year. “It’s more than a dream now,” said Councilmember and former Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, who represents the Marina Bay neighborhood and has been a key advocate for the market. “It’s a work in progress that we expect to happen in a matter of months.” The Richmond Farmers Market, which has operated the original Friday venue for 40 years, also will be in…
Leftside Printing survived COVID-19, the Great Recession and the decline of print, and yet it is still here. A colorful shop on 15th Street and MacDonald Avenue, it has an unfamiliar smell of ink and a humming noise coming from the printing machines. “I started Leftside to change my life and my community,” Diego Garcia, Leftside CEO, said. “Things have been difficult, but here we are.” While the general consensus might be that screen printing is dead, Leftside has not…
On a crisp afternoon in early September, Melanie Estrada was walking alone on her usual route in a quiet Richmond suburb, picking up kids from school to bring them to after school care at the May Valley Community Center. Suddenly, she heard a loud crunch. Across the street, Estrada saw a mountain lion passing through the hillside’s tall brush. It was brown with dark gray spots on its shoulder, muscular, and 4-to-5 feet long. “I know we’re not supposed to…
A dirty red couch. An old pink baby stroller. Broken appliances. Rusted car parts. These are just some of the biggest pieces of illegally dumped trash spotted this month in a Richmond neighborhood. City crews can’t keep up with the work. “We go to a street and pick up garbage,” said Victor Mejia, a Richmond Public Works Department cleanup worker. “Then after 20 minutes, we go back to the same spot and they dumped it again.” To fight the problem,…
As the summer winds down, El Sobrante gears up for what it calls “The Best DAM Road Block Party in the East Bay.” The 28th El Sobrante Stroll, set to kick off with a parade at 11 a.m. Sunday at El Portal Drive and San Pablo Dam Road, features a dozen food booths and trucks, around 168 vendors, a car show with close to 200 entries, six live bands and a BMX bike show sponsored by The Pedaler Bike Shop…
Wellness centers. Mental health counseling. Youth leadership development. These are examples of community schools initiatives in practice. With passage of a new contract that specifically endorses community schools, the West Contra Costa Unified School District is poised to become a model for the strategy. United Teachers of Richmond considered community schools a must in the contract, alongside salary increases. According to UTR, community schools lead to lower absenteeism, better student work habits, grades, test scores and behaviors, higher enrollment in…
Rich City Rides is racing to raise $6 million in the next four months to secure its future in Richmond and expand services. The bike group launched a campaign in March to purchase three properties, including the longtime home of its bike shop at 1500 Macdonald Ave. The organization has received $1.2 million in donations so far and has been offered a $3.3 million loan from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, according to founder Najari Smith. The purchases…