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Twenty out of Richmond’s 25 city-based commissions and committees currently have empty seats, resulting in an approximately 30 percent vacancy rate. For these committees, this means more work and fewer opportunities to engage the public.
The Transient Occupancy Tax, typically paid by hotels, motels and tourists homes, may soon impact unincorporated areas like El Sobrante, Kensington and North Richmond, where there are no existing restrictions on short-term rentals, or the rules are not enforced.
Hilltop Mall is in limbo, suspended somewhere between the bustling commercial and social center it once was and the vision of what it could become.
The West Contra Costa Unified School District is expecting to receive more than $1 million to assist English-as-a-second-language instruction for this current school year. The state grant is part of a federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which allows each state to decide how to utilize federal funding to improve the quality of instruction and advance education equity. California’s draft plan was signed and submitted to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) by Gov. Jerry Brown last…
Over the decades, a sprawling network of shuttered chemical plants and oil refineries has left harmful pollutants in Richmond’s air, water, and soil. According to data collected by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, the city is home to more than a hundred hazardous waste sites, including two highly contaminated, federally designated Superfund locations. Richmond Confidential’s “Toxics Map,” updated in the fall of 2017, details where the state is cleaning up and evaluating hazardous-waste sites, where cleanup is voluntary,…
Instead of attending extravagant fundraisers, setting up political action committees or courting corporate donors, Gayle McLaughlin spends her days driving around California and speaking to small groups of people who want to bring back progressive politics. McLaughlin will be running as a third-party independent candidate in the race for California’s lieutenant governor next year. From small beginnings as a co-founder of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, she was elected to Richmond’s city council on a corporate-free platform. She served two terms…
Invictus Academy of Richmond is a different kind of charter school, one where students will take double periods of math and English along with communication classes like speech and debate. On September 27, the Contra Costa County Office of Education approved plans to open Invictus, a new public charter school. Invictus, which has been in the works since August 2016, will be open to students from grade 7 to 12 by fall 2018. Gautam Thapar, executive director and lead founder…
The RYSE Center is a hub of creativity for Richmond’s youth. Not only does the center’s staff offer music and multimedia classes, this Saturday they’ll also provide an opportunity for young people to exhibit their work. The pieces screened at the Truth Be Told: Justice Through My Eyes film festival will be “a glimpse into the complexities of social justice topics,” according to RYSE’s website. Young artists from ages 13-24 will showcase animation and documentaries that address serious topics such…
Eating rich doesn’t mean spending money on an expensive meal. Anyone can have a nutrition-rich diet of healthy foods. But knowing where to purchase affordable, and locally grown produce is not easy. Food Week, going on now in Richmond, seeks to build a stronger food movement, united by a vision of food that is healthy, affordable and culturally relevant. Events this week provide opportunities to learn how to grow and prepare home-cooked meals, and how to access healthy food at…