Health

The table is set: Free holiday meals

For those without a place to stay or food to eat, Thanksgiving may conjure mixed emotions. Several Richmond churches and non-profits are fostering togetherness and nourishment by offering free meals for the community this Thursday. The following locations are linked above. Greater Richmond Inter-Faith Program GRIP will serve Thanksgiving Brunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Thursday Nov. 22. GRIP is located at 165 22nd Street Richmond, CA 94801. Bay Area Rescue Mission Bay Area Rescue Mission will serve…

A Richmond legacy of giving continues

Every day nearly two hundred of Richmond’s hungry are served free meals by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Project volunteers. This Thanksgiving, GRIP seeks to feed hundreds more. “We just want to help somebody,” volunteer Barbara Scott said. “We have all been blessed and this is our way to give back.” Scott is one of 8-10 volunteers from St. John Missionary Baptist Church, some of whom have been serving for more than 20 years. Volunteers like Scott make up the strong…

A Marine veteran in the Iron Triangle goes solar

Aside from the four years he served in the Marine Corps, Henry Avila has spent his life in Richmond’s Iron Triangle. Avila, 59, says that it hasn’t always been easy for him—growing up there was a lot of crime in the neighborhood and a work-site accident in his late 20s left him permanently disabled. The years and experiences are etched in the lines on his face. His salt and pepper hair is bunched in a haphazard ponytail that grazes his…

Chevron to replace pipes, union workers to discuss Cal/OSHA

Chevron will replace all piping in the damaged sections of the Richmond refinery with chrome alloy, the company said in a letter Wednesday to the city of Richmond and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The move comes six weeks after Chevron announced that it believed the Aug. 6 fire may have occurred because of thinning and corrosion in a piping component that may have had low silicon content. “Before the restart of the crude unit, Chevron will complete…

Nutiva CEO announces next step in campaign for GMO-free world

On the day after the election, as folks were picking themselves up after a night spent celebrating or grieving, Nutiva CEO John Roulac, a major financial supporter of the failed genetically-modified-food-labeling Prop. 37, was putting his best GMO-free foot forward. “Obviously, I would have loved to have won, but 47 percent is respectable and demonstrates that 47 percent of Californians want the right to know what’s in their food,” Roulac said, referring to the 4.3 million Californians who voted yes…

Restoring Richmond’s Tree Canopy

W hat is the solution to Richmond’s environmental woes? Trees, some say. More than one hundred trees have been planted in Richmond soil in the last month and last weekend nearly 60 volunteers transplanted 30 trees to Roosevelt Avenue and surrounding streets. Richmond Trees and Groundwork Richmond hosted Saturday’s harvest festival, complete with art and crafts, live entertainment — and even a giant radish — to set the tone of community and environmental awareness. PG&E representatives shoveled with Watershed Project…

County votes with state on most Props, differs on death penalty

Contra Costa voters generally sided with the rest of California Tuesday night, voting in favor of successful measures to harshen penalties against human traffickers and soften the Three Strikes law, while rejecting a genetically engineered food labeling bill and a proposition that would limit campaign contributions from unions and corporations.

Richmond residents vote down Measure N

Measure N was defeated in Tuesday’s election with an overwhelming two-thirds of voters saying no to the one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Of the roughly 25,000 votes cast, more than 16,000 went against the measure. Championed by the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the proposed tax attracted national media attention, and drew the ire of local pro-business groups and the national soda industry, which spent more than $2.6 million to defeat the measure. A victory would have made Richmond the first city…