North Richmond
Two witnesses took the stand Monday to talk about being the victims of violent crimes, but neither implicated the man prosecutors say was the perpetrator. “How did that feel, being shot,” Deputy District Attorney Derek Butts asked one witness, a 32-year-old man Richmond Police have said is a central Richmond gang member. “I didn’t feel it,” the man said, referring to the bullets that ripped through his right arm and into the right side of his chest, nearly killing him…
Wallace Jensen and his partner Kristian Palma were in the dark, guns drawn. The Richmond police officers had moments earlier sprinted down Cutting Boulevard, hopped a retaining wall and plunged into a narrow alcove in the 500 block of South 18th Street. The city had been rocked by brazen shootings throughout the day, and the officers had just chased a man they say had a gun into a dark, dead-end corridor. Palma was about 10 feet from the man, who…
By the time for the Richmond Police Department’s evening shift change, the city was on high alert. Bloodshed had started just before 9 a.m., when gunfire at the Pullman Apartment complex sent two alleged gang members to Kaiser Hospital. About two hours later, a 30-year-old man and his 10-year-old niece sitting in a green Buick at Eighth and Adeline streets in Oakland came under fire. The man, who had no gang affiliations, was shot five times while shielding his niece…
Opening statements were delivered Tuesday in the trial of a Richmond man accused of commiting a 2009 crime spree that left four people wounded and a 21-year-old rap artist dead in incidents six months apart. Jose Blacknell III, age 21, whom prosecutors say is a member of the Easter Hill Boys gang and goes by the nickname “Fatter,” is charged with 22 felony counts in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez, including first-degree murder for the March, 2009 killing…
The residents who marched in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Saturday morning looked to emphasize a particular aspect of his teachings: Unity. “We are moving in the direction of breaking down the barriers that separate us,” said Otheree Christian, president of the Iron Triangle Neighborhood Association, “barriers that contribute to unnecessary violence.” About 200 residents participated marches that began at Nevin Community Center in central Richmond and in Parchester Village. The groups converged at Shields-Reid Park in North Richmond,…
George Livingston liked looking back. His hindsight wasn’t marred by what-ifs or dubious intentions. He gave it all he had, and there’s no shame in that. “What I am proud of is I was able to help integrate the city,” Livingston said during a lengthy chat in his Richmond home in February, 2011. “I gave people a chance that didn’t have a chance.” History will remember Livingston for many things. He was the city’s second African American City council member…
Four hours of debate Tuesday night brought elected leaders no closer to resolving a decade-long dispute over the future of the city’s North Shoreline. The Richmond City Council deadlocked on three separate development guidelines, finally agreeing only to return the measure to the Planning Commission to craft a fresh approach. The north shoreline is a mix of a parkland, open beach, dormant industrial land and marsh. Owners there have offered several ideas for what they may develop there, including a…
Richmond continues to make gains in reducing most crimes, but a deadly summer contributed to an uptick in homicides, according to year-end statistics released by police Friday.
What do you get when you put 50 church ministers and two city councilmen in a room together for three hours? A few sermons, frequent choruses of “A-men!” and some lively discussion about how to improve the City of Richmond. Saturday morning’s second “Annual Informational Community Breakfast,” hosted by councilmen Corky Booze and Nat Bates, created an open forum for local church representatives to voice their concerns about the community. The group discussed issues such as the need for better…