The ground of my second-floor room trembled as trains rumbled over the tracks and horned their approach at every minute. Dogs barked continuously from someplace in a distance and what sounded like a series of rapid gunshots went off. All within the first five minutes of my arrival.
Three young Richmond boxers from the Richmond Police Activities League boxed last Saturday at an exhibition hosted by the RPAL. The exhibition, which welcomed fighters from different boxing clubs and gyms, featured 15 bouts with varying age and weight divisions. RPAL’s Anthony J. Bryant, Vonnie Davison and Delleon Brown are all local talent groomed by John Island, the head coach and coordinator of the boxing program. For some it was their first bout. “These guys were already ready, they train…
With billboards from the Nov. 6 election still standing around the city and councilmembers-elect yet to begin their newest terms, community organizers and elected officials met Thursday night at the Richmond Progressive Alliance to start planning for campaigns in 2014 and beyond.
The Richmond Oilers capped off the season with their second win, taking home the Richmond Cup in a 14-6 home victory over the De Anza Dons. For senior Devonte Anderson, the win fulfilled a goal he set in last year’s dispiriting loss to De Anza. “I wasn’t going to forget that moment,” Anderson said. He said he promised himself he would win the cup back for the Oilers. “I kept my word,” he said. “I kept my promise. That’s my…
A group of progressive city leaders that have never shied from social engineering are now trying to pull off a first-in-the-nation challenge: get voters to approve a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. Councilmember Jeff Ritterman and the Richmond Progressive Alliance have fiercely advocated for Measure N, which would tax businesses one cent per ounce of sugar-sweetened beverages they have in stock. The money would go into the city’s general fund, but a nonbinding companion Measure O would advise the City Council…
Johnny Valdepena, a 46-year-old Richmond resident who has spent more of his life in prison than out of it, will vote for the first time next week. It wouldn’t have happened, he says, without a lot of help and encouragement – and now he and his fellow Safe Return Project members want to spread that encouragement to others. On a recent Saturday morning at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, volunteers from the Safe Return Project and CLOUD, CCISCO’s group of undocumented…
In this year’s dead heat Presidential election, both candidates are vying for the Latino vote. Last Tuesday, President Obama told Iowa’s Des Moines Register that his re-election rests in the hands of Latino voters.
It’s 9:10 a.m. and school started two hours ago. Antonio Medrano stands in Richmond High School’s foyer giving a slightly disapproving look to three students who walk in late. “Buenos tardes,” says Medrano, smiling. “Buenos tardes,” say the kids as they sheepishly grin back. He tells them to get to class and strolls into the front office. He checks with the late students to see that they are making their way to class. Medrano’s easy demeanor with students shows a…
A frozen bottle of Coca Cola rolled, fizzed and melted as it lay cold in a miniature casket mounted on a table at the corner of Richmond’s Macdonald Avenue and 37th Street.