Featured
Political differences were—mostly—set aside Tuesday night during the celebratory swearing-in of re-elected city council members Nat Bates and Tom Butt. But beneath the congratulatory speeches for Bates and Butt, and the appreciative acknowledgments of outgoing councilmember Jeff Ritterman, were concerns for councilmember-elect Gary Bell and worries about the council’s potential make-up now that Bell’s seat is formally vacant. Bell was hospitalized in early November and underwent two neurosurgeries for complications caused by a bacterial sinus infection, his family wrote in a…
For a moment, it looked like they had a chance. League opponent St. Joseph-Notre Dame High School from Alameda did not start out playing like other opponents the Richmond High girls’ soccer team had faced all year; the Pilots’ ball handing skills, passing, and intensity seemed to match that of the Oilers. The first eleven minutes featured back and forth play, resulting in scoreless soccer. But the even nature of the contest was broken by two goals in eight minutes for…
After a two-week break, the trial of Steven Miranda, 23, and Ignacio Ruiz, 31, for the 2009 double homicide in a Richmond restaurant continued Monday in the Contra Costa Superior Courthouse in Martinez with expert testimony on DNA and forensics. Miranda and Ruiz are each charged with two counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and gang offenses for their alleged roles in the shooting that left Alvarado Garcia-Pena, 23, and Intaz Ahmed, 32, dead inside Alvarado Bar and Grill….
When Oakland resident Debi Mason set out to prevent mortgage associates from the Bank of America from foreclosing on her sister Patricia’s Maxwell Park home in 2007, she had only a few friends, neighbors and advocacy groups to help fend off the foreclosure. But last week, Mason, along with thousands of homeowners in Bay Area cities like Oakland and Richmond that have been profoundly effected by foreclosures and the ensuing blight, welcomed the new Homeowner Bill of Rights, a state…
In a bare classroom at the Coronado YMCA in Richmond, a small group of women—and one man—dance around in a misshapen circle as they imitate activities from running to praying. The instructor, Sonjay Odds-Eggleton, sings out, “My name is Sonjay and I like to squat,” as she squats down and pops back up twice. The other people in the circle copy her movements and improvised lyrics. They move a bit slower, but after a couple times around they nearly have…
Councilmember-elect Gary Bell will not take office next week due to complications from a bacterial sinus infection, which was previously misreported in news accounts as a meningitis infection, according to a press release sent out Thursday night by Bell’s family. Next Tuesday, January 8, is the swearing in ceremony for the new councilmembers. Councilmember Nat Bates and Councilmember Tom Butt were re-elected in November—Bell won the third seat on the council with about 15 percent of the vote. This was…
From Richmond’s triumphant bid to host the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s second campus to worrying phases of gun violence earlier in the year and the historic November election, here are some of the stories that made the headlines on Richmond Confidential this year.
Days after a public meeting was held to discuss the repairing of piping, city staff gave the go-ahead for the approval of permits that allow for repairs on the No. 4 Crude Unit at Chevron’s Richmond refinery. Last Wednesday, City Manager Bill Lindsay held a public hearing to discuss the city’s approval of piping at the Chevron refinery in Richmond to replace the pipes that failed during the Aug. 6 fire. Approximately 150 people attended. Public speakers voiced their skepticism…
The decision to close La Perla Mexican Deli wasn’t made because of rising taxes, slim profits, or a change in the community. These are all things the family business has seen and overcome in the 63 years it’s been operating in the Iron Triangle. The building is owned by the family, the revenue is enough for them to pay their own bills, and through the riots of the ‘60s, the restaurant stayed put. Though time has made the family restaurant…