Economy
Nathan Eberly walks less than a mile to work from his Marina Bay condo. He rarely requires a car. But if he needs to drive on a weekend, he goes online and within two minutes, reserves the same Honda Civic Hybrid to take him to the farmers’ market or down to San Jose on business. Eberly, 23, is among more than a thousand Richmond residents and businesses that are increasingly using the city’s “Easy Go Richmond” program. The sustainable transportation…
Efforts to eliminate free plastic bags from Richmond’s retail outlets are picking up speed. The West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority (Recyclemore) this week completed a 30-day study into a proposed ban on the distribution of free plastic bags by businesses in Richmond and four other cities. The study sought public input and comments on the proposed ordinance, which would ban all retail establishments within the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole and San Pablo and unincorporated sections…
Over the next eight weeks, trucks will be dropping off load after load of dirt in Point Pinole Regional Park before returning to Berkeley for more. As part of the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline project, about 70,000 cubic yards of dirt will be relocated from a giant mound on University Avenue just off Interstate 80. Most of it will be used to build a bridge over the railroad tracks. The dirt will also be used to create more park space…
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,…
More than 50 protesters gathered …
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.
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,…