Government
Just before Thanksgiving last year, a UPS Store employee turned over a box containing about 5 lbs. of marijuana to Richmond police officer Joe Avila. But the marijuana he carried from the shop that afternoon was never booked into evidence at the precinct. According to a search warrant issued by the Contra Costa Superior Court in September, the drugs didn’t make it to the Richmond Police Department’s property vault, but ended up at Avila’s home in Oakley, 44 miles away.
Up against Tom Butt and Nat Bates, two local politicians with a combined experience of 55 years, Uwahemu stands out as an outsider to Richmond’s politics. This is both a curse and a blessing. He presents Richmond a fresh candidate for mayor, yet has the challenge of facing two local stalwarts with widespread name recognition.
A lease agreement in May between Doctors Medical Center and the Lytton San Pablo Casino netted the troubled hospital $4.6 million. The deal keeps the hospital doors open for now, but was also the beginning of what may become a land grab by local investors.
In February, a slick new website showed up on Richmond’s media scene. Dubbed “Radio Free Richmond,” it promised to offer its readers “independent Richmond news, without fear or favor.” But behind Radio Free Richmond’s veneer of independence, a group of Chevron’s campaign consultants act as the website’s administrators.
West Contra Costa Unified School board candidates share last comments before Nov. 4th elections.
Political Action Committees (PACs) advocating for charter schools have spent more than $350,000 to date in the West Contra Costa County school board race, prompting protests from parents concerned that charter schools siphon funding away from public schools.
Richmond homicides have plummeted almost 70 percent over the last decade, and recent police data shows that the downward trend continues, with 12 homicides this year, the lowest in over three decades. Police and city officials credit community cooperation and outreach programs designed to help likely offenders.
As of Oct. 24, the National Association of Realtors Fund has reported spending $37,800 supporting Booze, $26,700 supporting Rogers, $26,700 supporting Bates and $26,700 supporting Powers. The expenditure covers the cost of polling, voter list, mailers, telephone calls and online ads.
Proposition 47, also known as the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” would downgrade six felony crimes, drug possession, grand theft, shoplifting, check forgery, receiving stolen property and writing bad checks.