General
Contra Costa County certified the 2024 election counts on Dec. 5. At the county level, voter turnout was 72%, with 519,078 ballots cast out of 722,861 registered voters. This high level of engagement was reflected in the presidential race, where Contra Costa County voters showed strong support for Alameda County native Vice President Kamala Harris, with 67.3% casting their ballots for the Democratic candidate. Here’s how Richmond voted on city, school board, county and state ballots: City Council seats went…
The Richmond Art Center buzzed Sunday with visitors, as they explored handcrafted goods and engaged with artists and artisans at the Holiday Arts Festival. The festival began 62 years ago as a craft-focused event and has blossomed into an annual tradition, celebrating the spirit of creativity, said Amy Spencer, the community engagement director who helps organize the event. Richmond Art Center has expanded its vision of bringing the community together to support independent artists and small businesses. “Nearly half the participating…
It’s been more than 80 years since former Richmond resident Bruce Howard Brown was killed in a plane crash during World War II. But after spending decades in a grave for unknown soldiers in France, 2nd Lt. Brown finally returns today, to Houston National Cemetery. “You know, it’s celebratory and sad at the same time,” said Winnifred McNamara, a Houston resident who is one of Brown’s sole surviving relatives and the organizer of the service. “But I’m so happy that…
If the West Contra Costa Unified School District doesn’t pass a Local Control Accountability Plan by Aug. 15, it’s not clear what would happen next because the school board’s decision to reject the plan last week was “unprecedented,” said Contra Costa County Schools Superintendent Lynn Mackey. The parent-led plan sets the course for about $64.8 million in district spending, particularly for the most vulnerable students. Without an LCAP, the board could not pass the proposed $509 million operating budget, which…
For the fifth straight year, the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and The CC Pulse are giving aspiring journalists an opportunity to hone their skills in the classroom and on the beat. Applications are now being accepted for the Reporter in Residence program, which is open to Contra Costa County residents with a strong interest in journalism and a willingness to share their knowledge of the community with Berkeley Journalism students. No job experience or journalism training is required….
Richmond has an image problem. And its residents are well aware of it. They see it in outsiders’ faces, hear it in their derogatory comments and sense it when they tell others where they are from. The image of Richmond as a rough-and-tumble town was solidified in the movie “Coach Carter,” about a Richmond basketball coach who inspires his scrappy but talented players to succeed athletically and academically, against all odds. That descriptor, apt as it may have been, also…
In 1897, Isaburu Adachi left Gifu, Japan, for California at the age of 25. Eight years later, Isaburo managed to buy five acres of land in El Cerrito. That land turned into 12 greenhouses before the first world war broke out. The Adachi Florist and Nursery survived into the 21st century, closing its last nursery five years ago. Isaburo’s granddaughter Wendy Adachi wanted to honor her family’s legacy — and that of the other Japanese Americans who opened nurseries in…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new recommendation for infants and people above the age of 60 to receive a single-dose of the RSV vaccine, which was approved earlier this year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The CDC, in a September health advisory, found that the respiratory syncytial virus was spreading in the southeastern part of the country. Cases have steadily increased in California in October and November. The risk of infection from RSV,…
Aboard the Mare Island vessel en route to Oakland, it’s easy to sit back, relax and enjoy a jaunt across the bay. Yet the journey of ferry transportation in the Bay Area hasn’t always been so smooth, and the COVID-19 pandemic reversed strides made in recent years. To recoup riders, the service, which is administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority, cut fares by 30%, reworked schedules to address new commuting trends and weekend demand, and…