Government

Half-Steppers’ final tune-up for Junior Olympics

Half-Stepper head coach Johnny Holmes stood around Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park track Wednesday evening waiting for Moses “Bullet” Baker, age 8, — the first leg of his nationally ranked relay team—to arrive for practice. Teammate Josh Johnson, 8, was waiting, too, and had already loosened up when coach Holmes spotted him. This would be their last chance to iron out their hand-offs and make sure everything was correct before they jumped on a bus Friday night for New…

Community members, leaders meet, cross lines

Roughly 100 residents of Richmond and unincorporated North Richmond gathered at the Civic Center Monday to hear an assortment of city, county and industry leaders weight in on how to ease the unemployment and crime that plagues their communities.

Richmond puts best foot forward to wow lab

It’s rare that a project can seemingly unite every sector across a city, but Richmond’s bid for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory expansion brought out 700 people from all corners of the city to show support Thursday for the campus, as the city put its best foot forward to showcase what it has to offer the lab.

Police, civic leaders announce gang task force

Less than two days after Daryl Russell, 20, was gunned down in plain daylight and only a stone’s throw away from a community center, Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus and officials from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office stood near the blood-stained site and announced a new joint gang task force.

Thirty years after first AIDS diagnosis, screening for HIV is easier than ever

This summer marks thirty years since the first AIDS diagnosis. Since then, advancements in anti-retroviral drugs used to treat the disease and better disease management practices have rolled out every few years. But until 2004, the way that health providers tested for HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, remained the same. Now, clinics can deliver results instantly, and that has big implications.