2012 Year in Review

From Richmond’s triumphant bid to host the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s second campus to worrying phases of gun violence earlier in the year and the historic November election, here are some of the stories that made the headlines on Richmond Confidential this year.

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Maps show support for City Council winners

Voter Turnout Map

More than 31,300 voters in Richmond cast a ballot this year, a 10 percent decrease from the last presidential election, according to numbers updated on the Contra Costa County’s election division site on Nov. 17. In 2008, more than 35,000 voters in the city cast a ballot, which was 84 percent of registered voters. This…

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Election recap: Voters seek familiar faces

When the official returns came in on Wednesday morning, Richmond voters had decided that after the most expensive campaign in city history, what they wanted was familiar faces. Incumbents Nat Bates and Tom Butt were re-elected to the City Council, and Gary Bell, who will return to the dais after an eight-year hiatus, will take…

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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…

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Bates, Butt and Bell win council race

In a hotly contested City Council election, with millions of dollars at play and a recent push into the national spotlight, Richmond voters have elected Nat Bates, Tom Butt and Gary Bell to the three open seats on the council dais. The two RPA candidates, Eduardo Martinez and Marilyn Langlois, finished just outside the top…

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Richmond residents vote down Measure N

A billboard in Richmond shows No on 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…

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Election 2012: Richmond Votes

people leaving polling station

It’s Election Day in Richmond — and the only place safe from the constant barrage of campaign advertisements are the polls. Today Richmond joins the nation in deciding who will run the country for the next four years, but voters will also consider the fate of local issues that have garnered national attention, from the…

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High school students play out real Measure N debate

Students debate the sugar tax

On the eve of the election, seniors from the Richmond High School Health Academy debated the merits of Measure N, a controversial tax on the city ballot that would levy a one-cent-per-ounce fee on sugar-sweetened beverages. About 150 people—including Councilmember Jeff Ritterman, who crafted the measure, listened to the arguments from the 12 students, who…

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Citizens Outspent: Inside Richmond’s $4m Election Campaign

Moving Forward billboards

Take your pick: naïve anarchists, or corporate puppets. This is the face of Richmond’s hotly contested race for three council seats in the November 2012 election, at least going by the massive billboards and glossy mailers that have dominated the campaign season in this city of 100,000 residents. The majority of candidates running for council…

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