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West County school leaders are anxiously awaiting the vote on the state’s Proposition 30, a tax increase proposal written by Governor Jerry Brown that if passed would mean millions of dollars for the West Contra Costa Unified School District — money the district says it desperately needs. “If the election is not successful for Prop 30 we estimate that the cuts will be $12 million for our school district,” said Sherri Gamba, the district’s associate superintendent of business services. That’s…
On a sunbaked October afternoon, as shoppers munched on sliced apple samples and children dug into bags of kettle corn at the Main Street Farmers’ Market at Nevin Plaza, artist Malik Seneferu took a break from daubing paint on canvas to explain why he plans to vote for the state’s Proposition 37, which requires labeling food that is genetically engineered or contains genetically modified organisms. “People may say that GMOs are safe, but safe and healthy are two different things,”…
Sometime this year, all BART police officers will begin wearing cameras to record their actions. The policy is in the process of being finalized, but Shante Barnes, a training specialist officer, said that trainers travelled to Arizona in mid-October to study proper usage and video storage of the camera. After the official launch date each BART patrol officer will be assigned a camera to wear on duty, and once they engage with a person they must turn on the camera…
Throughout October and November, the West Contra Costa Unified School District is bringing the play “OutSpoken” put on by the YouthAware Education Theater program, into middle and high schools to expand the conversation about bullying.
Johnny Valdepena, a 46-year-old Richmond resident who has spent more of his life in prison than out of it, will vote for the first time next week. It wouldn’t have happened, he says, without a lot of help and encouragement – and now he and his fellow Safe Return Project members want to spread that encouragement to others. On a recent Saturday morning at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, volunteers from the Safe Return Project and CLOUD, CCISCO’s group of undocumented…
The Craneway Pavilion on Richmond’s marina harbor echoed to the sounds of steins clinking, beer pong balls pinging, Bayern Maiden’s guitar twanging and dirndl and lederhosen-clad dancers from the Golden Gate Bavarian Club delivering stompingly hot performances of peasant dances at the first East Bay Oktoberfest on Saturday. Amy Higgins, who was manning a booth as community manager for Google + Local, estimated that 1,000 people turned out for the fest. Across the cavernous room, attendees were being given free…
Richmond Artists With Talent, part of Richmond’s Making Waves Education Program, are creating their own take on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet using a mix of modern language, Shakespearean verse and spoken-word poetry. The production will also be the subject of a documentary film.
Gunshots fired close to Richmond High School on Friday night put an abrupt end to the school’s homecoming dance and football game against the Kennedy Eagles. Eight minutes were left in the game and the Eagles were up 16-6 when a gun was fired near 23rd and Maricopa, a stone’s throw from school grounds. Police stationed at the school for the game responded immediately, but by the time they got to the scene, everyone had scattered, Lt. Michael Booker said. No…
The debate surrounding Richmond’s proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages intensified this week, with a prominent Richmond doctor, Brazell Carter, speaking out against the measure in fliers distributed by the Community Coalition Against Beverage Taxes.