Education
The results of the state’s high school exit exams, released near the end of August, show that students in the West Contra Costa County School District lag behind the state average in combined English and math scores. On the English Language Arts part of the test, 58 percent of Kennedy High seniors, 66 percent of Richmond High seniors, and 72 percent of De Anza seniors passed. On the math part, 51 percent of Kennedy seniors, 61 percent of Richmond seniors…
Dodging guitars, cords and speakers scattered throughout the room, Noel Perez makes a beeline to the small padded booth in the RYSE center. He squares himself with the microphone, phone clenched in hand, awaiting the go-ahead from his producer. Music floods the small space, almost bursting from the room. The bass pounds like the heartbeat of the song, while sweeter melodies, ribbons of piano notes and guitar riffs, layer upon the foundation — a fusion of notes, rhythm and beats…
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…
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of kids and parents descended on the Richmond Police Activities League (PAL) gymnasium for a giveaway of free backpack full of school supplies. Kids were able to play on the two inflatable jump houses while music was provided by band members from the Richmond PAL center.
On Friday, 16 West County high school students completed a paid summer internship program at Doctors Medical Center and were awarded certificates of proficiency by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The five-week Summer Youth Employment Program acquainted students with the kind of work done in different hospital departments such as human resources, food and nutrition, the sleep lab and the cancer center.
On Saturday night in downtown Richmond, the unmistakable beats of Latin Jazz, followed by cheers and laughter, poured out of a small office tucked away in a row of other non-descript offices. The little space on Macdonald Avenue by the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts was illuminated with ambient lighting and filled with people. In the back corner the band played while people twirled on the dance floor. This is how the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) was helping two of its own candidates—Marilyn Langlois and Eduardo Martinez—raise money.
During a heated meeting on Tuesday night, Richmond council members tackled two items that drew out many members of the public: the teachers’ union’s concerns about Teach for America members employed in Richmond and the formation of the city’s first business improvement district. But the most heated exchange of the night came when council members Corky Booze and Jovanka Beckles got into a dust-up over Booze’s request for a legal opinion regarding his concerns about the possible civil rights violations of public speakers during past meetings.
Richmond resident Cordell Hindler is already taking shorter showers and turning off the lights. He said he’s tired of seeing his water and heating bills shoot through the roof. “I live in a house where everything is not up to date,” Hindler said about his heater, stove and light fixtures. “My bills are getting out of control. I’m here trying to learn how to keep my utility bills down.”