Government
On Tuesday night by the Richmond City Council unanimously voted to approve the issuing of municipal ID cards. The cards are intended to improve public safety, increase civic participation and support local commerce.
For more than a decade, one man has been the de facto elected representative of the nearly 3,000 residents of unincorporated North Richmond.
About 50 residents, Gompers High School students and local leaders gathered Thursday to mark the restoration of the Gompers Garden Mural, a massive swath of color and life that has imprinted a lush, vibrant jungle environment on a concrete wall.
Since a state citizens’ commission proposed new Congressional district boundaries earlier this summer that would divide Richmond, there’s been no shortage of opinions from Richmond residents and leaders – and most of them think it’s a bad idea.
Richmond has a new budget, and the outlook is mixed. The budget, approved by the city council Tuesday night, is close to balanced and leaves the city’s $10 million general fund reserve intact, but make cuts to already stretched city services and uses one-time measures that put off larger, structural issues until next year.
Activists, led by Barbara Becnel, gathered in Richmond to learn how to successfully advocate for the abolition of capital punishment. California leads the nation in awarding the death penalty, and Contra Costa County’s court system is among the state’s frequent users of the death sentence.
Last week Richmond city councilmember Corky Boozé, together with BART, gave 18 school children from across Richmond a once-in-a-lifetime experience by taking them on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Oakland Museum and San Francisco Airport as an opportunity to learn new life skills.
Richmond has seen a dramatic decrease in deadly gun violence in recent years, but anti-violence advocates and city officials believe only a sustained, multi-partner commitment to violence prevention and intervention in the coming years can make these gains permanent.
California’s prison population must by law get smaller, and that means more ex-convicts in local communities.