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EPA says it’s premature to discuss prosecuting Chevron

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…

Baykeeper to launch massive toxic debris cleanup at Point Molate

About 125 tons of toxic debris cluttering the shoreline between Point Molate and Point San Pablo will be removed this fall by the San Francisco marine watchdog Baykeeper. With the help of volunteers and some heavy machinery, the nonprofit group plans to clean up trash and take out hundreds of pilings soaked with creosote, a wood preservative and possible human carcinogen, starting in late September or early October. “There are old derelict docks and piers along Point Richmond and Point…

A first look at the November City Council candidates

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,…

ACLU sues School District over alleged inadequacies

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…

Kennedy comes up just short, loses tough one to Joseph Bethel

Joseph Bethel defeated Kennedy 27-16 in Vallejo Friday night, as both teams tried to shake off some early season rust. On its first two possessions of the game, Kennedy fumbled the ball deep in its own territory. The two turnovers lead to an early 6-0 Bethel lead. In the second quarter both teams struggled to muster much offense. The game went back and forth with a couple quick punts by Kennedy and a lost fumble by Bethel. As the first-half…

Oilers hang tough in home loss to Mt. Eden

The Richmond High School football team suffered its second loss of the season on Friday night, 17-8 to Mt. Eden, but Oilers players and coaches said after the game that the close score showed that maybe after a few tough seasons the team was starting to turn the corner.

Playing in the park

SF MIME returned to Richmond Thursday night, with a live outdoor performance in Nicholl Park. About 50 people braved chilly weather and a stiff wind to watch the play,  a political satire poking fun at both investment bankers and Occupy Wall Street. Written and directed by Michael Gene Sullivan, the play had the full title, “For the Greater Good, or The Last Election: A Melodrama of Farcical Proportions,” and included live music, plenty of singing and slapstick. “They definitely have…

Gary Bell throws name into Richmond political hat

Gary Bell knows how to make people feel at ease. He also knows a little bit about money and business principles. And at a campaign kickoff Thursday night at the Courtyard Marriott at Hilltop Mall, the president and CEO of Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union in Berkeley declared his intent to bring civility and leadership back to the City Council. This isn’t Bell’s first political rodeo. He was a Richmond city councilmember in 1999, and ran for mayor in 2006….