General
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…
Students in the West Contra Costa Unified School District have until Feb. 18 to get vaccinated against COVID-19, after the School Board extended the deadline by more than six weeks. The School Board agreed to push back the deadline last week, as Contra Costa County reported that only about 1 in 4 children under 12 had been fully vaccinated, and fewer than half had received a dose of the vaccine. Q&A: What WCCUSD parents want to know about the COVID-19…
Julia Brady, an English teacher at Pinole Valley High School, has seen the impact that a lack of stable internet access can have on students. She recalled a student a few years ago who couldn’t do an online assignment because their family decided to pay for emergency dental work instead of the internet that month. That student’s family is among many for whom Wi-Fi is a luxury. Almost 2 million households with children across the state lack consistent internet access,…
Damien Grace made a harrowing discovery at Pinole Creek in November. A portion of a 3-foot-long PVC pipe was lodged in the muddy bed. Grace and five other volunteers picking up trash that day knew where the pipe had come from. Pipes like this are typically found on construction sites, not buried in a creek. Grace had to lie on the bank and stretch to reach the pipe. “I found the biggest treasure of the day!” Grace shouted. The team…
Administrators at Vista Virtual Academy, West Contra Costa Unified School District’s virtual K-12 independent study program, are scrambling to fill teacher positions ahead of a January deadline when unvaccinated students will no longer be allowed to attend in-person classes. If students at district schools are not vaccinated against COVID-19. by Jan. 3, they will be transferred to Vista Virtual by Jan. 17. The only other options for unvaccinated students are a medical exemption or to unenroll from the district, according…