General
Contra Costa Health Services is now offering the new omicron booster shots in Richmond. “This Omicron booster will offer vaccinated people renewed protection against new variants such as BA.5, which is now dominant, before fall and winter,” said Will Harper, a Health Services spokesperson. The World Health Organization’s initial reports on omicron have found it is lesssevere than other forms of the virus, such as the delta variant. However, omicron is much more contagious, which is why development of a…
Police have arrested four juveniles and are looking for others who they say are connected to break-ins at five West Contra Costa Unified School District buildings last month, smashing windows and electronics and ransacking classrooms. The juveniles who were arrested late in July and early this month ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old, said Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy of the Richmond Police Department. He said police are still gathering evidence and working to identify other suspects. Richmond Police…
Richmond Police Chief Bisa French returned to work on Monday, nine months after being put on administrative leave because of an assault accusation, Assistant Chief Louie Tirona confirmed Wednesday. French rose through the ranks to become the city’s first female police chief in July 2020. Last October, then-City Manager Laura Snideman put her on paid leave after an 18-year-old family member requested restraining orders against French and her husband, Lee French, an Oakland police sergeant who was put on leave…
Kristen Pursley has been teaching adult education full time in the West Contra Costa Unified School District for 19 years. So it came as a shock on June 8 when she received an email from Human Resources telling her she was laid off. When she heard that co-worker Ken Ryan, who has been teaching adult education for 28 years, received the same notice, Pursley grew suspicious. Ryan is president and Pursley vice president of a new union representing around 61…
Fifteen months after about 800 gallons of diesel spilled into San Francisco Bay from a leaking pipe at the Richmond Chevron Refinery, the public is still waiting for a promised investigation by Contra Costa County Chevron has filed a half dozen follow-up reports with the county between February and October 2021, as required by law. But Contra Costa Health Services has not produced the independent investigation that county officials said would take six to 12 months. In fact, the contractor Health…
The celebration began with a standing ovation and hundreds of people chanting in unison, “Betty! Betty! Betty! Betty,” as recently retired National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin approached the stage Saturday at the Rosie the Riveter museum in Richmond. Soskin greeted the cheering crowd in her uniforrm: a forest green blazer, a brimmed hat and a smile across her face. Her family sat in the first row, supporting her many achievements. When Soskin retired last month from Rosie the…
With a flare in COVID-19 cases keeping many students and teachers out of school this week, the West Contra Costa Unified School District has decided to shut down on Friday and Monday. The district will take two “smoke days” that the state allows superintendents to use at their discretion, to deep clean its buildings, Superintendent Kenneth “Chris” Hurst said in a news release Wednesday. Hurst attributed the high absentee rate to the omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is raging…
Three more COVID-19 testing sites opened up this week for students and staff in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which resumed in-person classes on Monday amid a coronavirus spike propelled by the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus. The district already was offering tests at most schools and on Tuesday, added the Alvarado Adult School in Richmond, the Ohlone Elementary School campus in Hercules, and the district central office in Richmond to that list. Those sites are…
Contra Costa Health Services reported Monday that it has identified the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 in three people in Contra Costa County. “We knew it was just a matter of time before the omicron variant appeared in Contra Costa County,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County health officer, said in a news release. “We’ve been encouraging anyone who is eligible to get a booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to do so. With today’s news…