Development
As critics point out, the people behind Mortgage Resolution Partners bear some striking similarities to the Wall Street bankers they’re ostensibly fighting. Chairman Steven Gluckstern says that although all three of the firm’s partners have worked for financial institutions in various capacities, none of them have any connection to the mortgage-backed securities that created the financial crisis of the mid-2000s.
In forty years, a humble scattering of buildings along Richmond’s south shoreline could become an internationally recognized hub for scientific research. But presently the site remains just a small cluster of offices, warehouses, and labs, primarily used by UC Berkeley for engineering projects, and many in Richmond are asking when will the project get underway.
Ten years ago, the average East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) consumer was paying $26.09 per month for water. By July 1st of 2014, that number will have nearly doubled to $48.60. The next two years alone will see rates rise 9.75 percent ($3.96 per month) in 2014 and 9.5 percent ($4.19 per month) in 2015. At last week’s City Council meeting, Richmond resident Leonard Taylor complained about the hikes, saying he may have to stop doing his laundry and…
A marathon donation campaign is under way in Richmond, the first of its kind in California. At 6 a.m. Wednesday, the Richmond Community Foundation’s “We Give – 2013!” campaign kicked off, a 36-hour, non-stop social media donation drive to benefit city nonprofit organizations. The campaign is at the heart of the foundation’s mission to use philanthropy to build healthy, sustainable communities. “Nonprofit organizations … in Richmond struggle with reaching out to individual donors,” Jim Becker, Richmond Community Foundation’s vice president…
The pavement buckles up into a mound directly in front of the house where Elizabeth has lived for 47 years. The bump in the pavement is five feet long and one and a half feet wide—or the size of a small person lying down. “A few years ago that lady’s daughter tripped on that hump,” Elizabeth says motioning to her neighbor’s house on the left. “I called the city, and they dug up the hump, but it buckled up again…
The U.S Department of Justice has awarded $700,000 in federal grants to two organizations in Contra Costa County, paying for programs to enhance the services given to trafficking victims and battered women. “It is really huge for us and we are really rejoicing,” said Rebekah Truemper who works for STAND! For Families Free of Violence. “The grant will keep the transitional housing program going and it also allows us to use other funds to support crisis intervention, prevention and other…
Vicky Conway says she is stuck in a loan she can’t afford. She and her husband Rodney Conway bought a home in northeast Richmond in 2004 and, like many of the city’s residents, the couple’s home is “underwater,” meaning the amount they owe exceeds the market value of the house. “I know that we’re not going to be able to retire and continue with the same mortgage payments,” said Vicky Conway, 51. Now the Conways are banking on the city’s…
The 101-year-old Dornan Drive Tunnel was closed for repairs after Richmond’s engineering staff, and a hired construction team, discovered a room-sized void above the tunnel’s concrete lining. This Friday cars, bikes and people will once again zoom through a tunnel that acts as the main road to Miller Knox Regional Shoreline and Point Richmond.
Richmond residents cheered and clapped Tuesday night when the City Council rejected a proposal to move a medical marijuana dispensary from Richmond’s Hilltop area to 425 South Second Street, near the Santa Fe neighborhood. Residents expressed strong opposition about the move claiming that the dispensary would be too close to a residential area and that it would increase crime in the neighborhood.