Government
Efforts to eliminate free plastic bags from Richmond’s retail outlets are picking up speed. The West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority (Recyclemore) this week completed a 30-day study into a proposed ban on the distribution of free plastic bags by businesses in Richmond and four other cities. The study sought public input and comments on the proposed ordinance, which would ban all retail establishments within the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole and San Pablo and unincorporated sections…
Over the next eight weeks, trucks will be dropping off load after load of dirt in Point Pinole Regional Park before returning to Berkeley for more. As part of the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline project, about 70,000 cubic yards of dirt will be relocated from a giant mound on University Avenue just off Interstate 80. Most of it will be used to build a bridge over the railroad tracks. The dirt will also be used to create more park space…
Two former Richmond Police Department officers were sentenced to probation and time in a halfway house and home detention respectively for illegally supplying minors with firearms. The judgment, delivered by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken on Tuesday, August 23, followed the conviction of Danny Harris, Jr. and Raymond Thomas, Jr. on charges filed in July 2011 that both men deliberately obstructed justice and tampered with evidence in the investigation of charges that Harris purchased firearms for two underage individuals while…
Contra Costa County officials are expected to vote tomorrow morning on how to spend a $19 million grant from the state to help deal with crowded county prisons. The funding follows the state’s decision last year to transfer responsibility for many non-violent offenders to local agencies. Members of the Contra Costa County Community Corrections Partnership have come up with several options for spending the money. Part of it, County Sheriff David Livingston and Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus agreed, should…
Health workers, politicians and residents celebrated on Tuesday the opening of a $45 million, LEED-silver certified medical center that will serve West County residents and replace the aging Richmond Health Center. Located within a block of Doctors Hospital and Brookside Health Center in San Pablo, the state-of-the-art facility completes a medical hub.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says investigations into Chevron’s August 7 fire in Richmond will take at least a year, and it’s premature to discuss prosecution or fines. At an August 27 public briefing on the investigations, Dan Meer, the assistant director of the EPA’s Region 9 Superfund Division, said the EPA would prosecute to the fullest extent possible if it finds that Chevron violated the law. In an interview this week Meer qualified his remarks. “It is very early in…
About 125 tons of toxic debris cluttering the shoreline between Point Molate and Point San Pablo will be removed this fall by the San Francisco marine watchdog Baykeeper. With the help of volunteers and some heavy machinery, the nonprofit group plans to clean up trash and take out hundreds of pilings soaked with creosote, a wood preservative and possible human carcinogen, starting in late September or early October. “There are old derelict docks and piers along Point Richmond and Point…
Eleven people successfully filed and qualified to be on the Nov. 6 ballot for the City Council. Nine out of the eleven candidates also submitted statements of qualifications by the Aug. 15 deadline. These statements are limited to 200 words, and they are an opportunity for candidates to provide personal information and also write why they are qualified for the specific position. The submitted statements are available to view online and deputy City Clerk Ursula Deloa said in an email,…
More than 50 protesters gathered …