General
On certain Friday nights, patrons entering Biancoverde restaurant at Point Richmond’s Hotel Mac are serenaded with arias from an operatic voice in a cozy alcove lounge. A vibrato breaks through the low din of the packed bar and dining room. Patrons, some opera aficionados, some neophytes, sit with rapt attention while a real opera diva performs, returning to their drinks, meals, and conversations between the solo numbers she alternates with the evening’s divo. Such a scene plays out the first…
A record number of people showed up on Thanksgiving to enjoy turkey, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, cake and pie at two Richmond shelters. Among the 30 to 40 volunteers serving meals at the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program was Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris, who spent time at the shelter when he was a child. GRIP and the Bay Area Rescue Mission each served both lunch and dinner to shelter residents, people in encampments, former clients…
Inside the “wellness center” at Rich City Kickback, the air is fragrant with copal incense as people roam from booth to booth at the Richmond Recreation Center, visiting with various healers. “If you come here, it’s like another version of therapy,” said Silver Parker, after finishing her first ever reiki session and waiting for an astrology reading. Silver, 22, said that her generation is struggling to navigate a stressful world and looking for ways to relieve that stress. “You can…
A year ago, after reaching a $550 million settlement with Chevron, Richmond City Council promised residents it would seek their input to determine how that money would be spent. But three months after the first $50 million installment landed in the city’s coffers, community leaders who understood the money would be used for residents’ immediate benefit are still waiting for the city to come aknockin’. They’re not waiting anymore. Diego Garcia stood up at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting…
With 98% of its members approving, the union representing teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District voted Tuesday to authorize its leaders to call a strike. Since January, United Teachers of Richmond has been negotiating a new contract with the district. On Aug. 19, the UTR declared an impasse, triggering third party mediation from the California Public Employment Relations Board. Since then, the sides have been in mediation sessions and are currently in the midst of a fact-finding…
Local artist Julia LaChica guided the hands of eager kids at the Richmond Art Center on Saturday as they pulled a squeegee across a stencil: “LAND BACK, THIS LAND IS HUICHIN.” Huichin refers to the land of the Ohlone people, what is now commonly called the Bay Area. LaChica helped youth attendees peel paper away from the wooden screenprint frame to reveal the bold words on a take-home poster. “In designing this, I was thinking about the land, the Indigenous…
Colorful portraits of ancestral traditions and spirits, and delicate hanging sculptures of everyday objects are just some of the offerings on display at the Richmond Art Center this fall. Three new exhibits — “Seeds of Tradition,” “Big Feelings,” and “Unsettled Things/Things I Had to Leave Behind” — opened last month and will run through Nov. 20. The center will host free events for the public to meet the artists and engage in hands-on workshops over the next six weeks. “The…
Hundreds of people enjoyed food trucks, a rock wall, and live performances at Nicholl Park on Saturday for YES Fest, sponsored by the Richmond nonprofit YES Nature to Neighborhoods. Kids ran around playing soccer, trying archery with velcro arrows and making mango smoothies with a bicycle-powered blender. Participants waved their arms toward the sky in a group Nia dance, meant to ground them. And everyone jammed to live music by the youth group Voices of Reason. The festival opened under…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: How do you de-stress in Richmond? Tiffany Jenkins (administrative analyst) “I like to go on hikes and go on walks. There are some really nice neighborhoods, and I really enjoy the beach.” Andrew Clark (rancher and construction worker) “I’m the type of person that likes the water. It is relaxing, therapeutic.” (Pictured…