Government
Despite all the eyes on the Richmond Chevron refinery before last August’s fire, the plant’s corroded crude pipe still went unnoticed, federal and state officials said Friday. Federal and state investigators have determined Chevron disregarded its own safety policies and knowingly failed to replace the corroded pipe that ultimately burst, leading to the leaking gas igniting. The blaze sent a column of toxic smoke into the air, endangering plant workers and causing thousands of local residents to seek medical attention…
Efforts to have Richmond Assistant City Attorney and Human Resources Director Leslie Knight removed from her position were deterred Tuesday evening, when a resolution calling for her dismissal was taken off the city council agenda shortly before the meeting. The resolution, introduced by Councilmember Jovanka Beckles, recommended that City Manager Bill Lindsay, who has the power to fire employees, terminate Knight for violating city policies, as found in a city-funded independent investigation. In a public statement Lindsay released in March,…
Rodrigo Dorador remembers the night he almost had a panic attack in Arizona. A sheriff’s car was trailing behind the van he rode in with his mother. They’d been at a football game — despite his undocumented status, Dorador attended one of the most prestigious Jesuit schools in the state, Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. His mother looked at him as the car trailed, inching closer and closer behind. Dorador returned her nervous glance. Wouldn’t it be ironic, they both…
Last week, BART officials launched a five-day pilot program to see if bikes and people could fit comfortably onto its trains at all times. Now they are asking the public to complete an online survey that seeks to measure whether the experiment was a success.
While waiting to leave for church on Monday night, January 30, 2006, Karen Jones worried about her unanswered phone calls to her son. It had been six hours since he’d left school. He should have been home by now. He usually called her back. Finally, her phone rang. But it wasn’t her son—it was one of his friends. “Did you hear…” the friend started to ask, but seven years later Jones can’t remember exactly what they said—or even who the…
Shweta Narayan, one of India’s leading environmentalists, paid the Bay Area a visit last week and presented information about the importance of environmental monitoring when it comes to toxic disasters. For the past nine years, Narayan, and Global Community Monitor, a group based in El Cerrito, have collaborated on air pollution awareness campaigns in India, where she coordinates Community Environmental Monitoring. Narayan spoke at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco and Center for Environmental Health in Oakland. “It’s…
Five years of abandonment left the house at 127 Chanslor Avenue in Richmond in terrible condition. It caught fire twice from squatters taking advantage of its neglect. (You can read Zach St. George’s previous story on the history of the property here.) As part of a plan to demolish such properties, Richmond’s Code Enforcement Department secured a warrant through the court to tear it down. The city’s Code Enforcement Manager Tim Higares has a list of four other homes he…
Before Tuesday night’s city council meeting, more than 20 people gathered on the chamber steps holding signs—“Richmond needs accountability,” “Investigate little luxuries in Richmond,” and “Richmond United Against Corruption”—in reference to assistant city manager Leslie Knight, who heads the human resources department. The results of a city-funded investigation released last week showed that she had violated city policy by accepting a monthly car allowance while driving a city vehicle, and by using city equipment, space, and employees’ time for things…
Dozens of palm-sized faces hang from the ceiling in Steve Mainini’s art classroom at Kennedy High School. The ceramic reflections of former students dangle in wire cages and defy gravity as if trapped in some sort of bad dream. But for the hundreds of students that have enrolled in Mainini’s art classes the past eight years, the art teacher with a crew cut is no Freddy Krueger—instead his students and peers regard him as an inspiration. “Soul Cages,” Mainini called…