General

Motion to kill Richmond’s eminent domain plan fails

Vicky Conway says she is stuck in a loan she can’t afford. She and her husband Rodney Conway bought a home in northeast Richmond in 2004 and, like many of the city’s residents, the couple’s home is “underwater,” meaning the amount they owe exceeds the market value of the house. “I know that we’re not going to be able to retire and continue with the same mortgage payments,” said Vicky Conway, 51. Now the Conways are banking on the city’s…

Full UC college scholarship awarded to Kennedy High student

Kennedy High School senior Kelssie Sontay has a hero, and it’s not Wonder Woman. It’s Sontay’s dad, a man who she said didn’t get the opportunity to finish elementary school. Sontay recently won a full scholarship to UC Santa Cruz, and says her father was her inspiration. “He’s been my motivation for everything he went through in his childhood,” she said. Her father, she said, taught her that “it doesn’t matter what I have right now.” Now, what the 17-year-old…

Chevron and Oakland A’s promote science education at Stege Elementary School

Oakland A’s mascot Stomper and second baseman Eric Sogard  made a special appearance at Stege Elementary School Friday before their game against the Kansas City Royals. The floppy-eared mascot and spectacled major leaguer were in town to celebrate the academic fields of science, technology, engineering and math. This is the second year the Oakland A’s have partnered with Chevron to promote the oil refinery’s scholastic workbook the “Science of the Game.” Last year the dynamic duo visited Lincoln Elementary School…

Oilers go out swinging, end season with summer plans

The Salesian Pride defeated the backyard rival Richmond Oilers 11-2 in the first round of the high school baseball playoffs Wednesday evening, ending the Oilers’ season. The Pride scored six runs in the first two innings off eight walks, seven stolen bases and one hit. After scoring one more run in the third, Salesian’s coaching staff stepped off the gas pedal and played several junior varsity players. After the game Oilers’ head coach Deryk Hudson told his lineup of 10th…

Birds on the Bay Bridge

Of all the birds that nest on or around the Bay Bridge—gulls, terns, pelicans, pigeons, falcons, hummingbirds—Lauren Bingham is most concerned with the cormorants. It’s not that they’re worse, bird by bird, more onerous or unruly than the other birds; it’s just that there’s so many of them. Standing on the unopened new span of the Bay Bridge, halfway to Yerba Buena Island, she points at the steel latticework right below the road deck on the old bridge, then gestures…

The Powerlifter

Kennedy High special education teacher Salvatore Morabito has seen plenty of powerlifters. The 71-year-old Belgium-born weightlifter has been pounding iron since he was eight years old. And now, at the crowning point of his career, the schoolteacher for students with severe disabilities has found the perfect training partner—someone who can out bench press him. “I taught weightlifting for many years,” Morabito said in his subtle European drawl. “[And] as you might guess,  I am a strong believer in weight training….