North Richmond mourns slain rap artist Rene ‘Lil G’ Garcia

rene garcia and tita davis

In life, Rene Garcia’s youthful good looks and rugged raps made for a compelling persona, one that played out in several slickly-produced rap videos that netted thousands of clicks on YouTube.com. On Wednesday, the Facebook page for his rapping name, “Lil G,” was a memorial wall, flooded with odes and rumors of the circumstances surrounding…

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Richmond 2011: The year in review

rhonda harris richmond

2011 was quite a year, to borrow a favorite phrase from longtime resident Sims Thompson, in “our fair city.” I know that’s vague, but it’s tough to turn a pithy phrase that sums up a year in a vibrant, bustling and changing city. We had tragedy and triumph, tumult and harmony. Alliances and rivalries. Echoes of the past and glimmers from the future.

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Public safety leaders seek peace – among themselves

chris magnus, corky booze, ons

City Manager Bill Lindsay said late Wednesday he’ll order an investigation into who leaked information to the press and a councilmember about a non-criminal Sheriff’s stop involving an Office of Neighborhood Safety staff member. The move is aimed in part at easing the concerns of ONS staff, who have complained publicly and privately about what…

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North Richmond mourns Marquis Hamilton

marquis hamilton funeral at new hope in north richmond

Mourners and clergy remembered Hamilton, 20, as a fun-loving prankster who snatched the bed covers off his seven brothers and five sisters and borrowed friends’ bicycles without their knowledge – only to return them with a laugh.

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North Richmond man slain, city police on alert

rancho market and deli, where marquis hamilton killed

Marquis Hamilton was smiling when he coaxed a store cashier into giving him a cigarette before wandering back to the street corner a few ticks past 8 p.m. on Friday night. Moments later, after an exchange of rapid gunfire at the corner of Market Avenue and Fifth Street, Hamilton was back.

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Police Chief Magnus visits Richmond Confidential

Richmond Police Department Chief Chris Magnus and Captain Mark Gagan came to the Richmond Confidential newsroom Friday to discuss police-media relations and answer questions. Magnus has been chief of the RPD since January 2006. He served as a cop in Lansing, Michigan for 18 years and then as the chief of police in Fargo, North…

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Richmond police provide back up at Occupy Oakland general strike

The Richmond Police Department assisted with crowd control at the Occupy Oakland “general strike” Wednesday evening, marking the second time in two weeks that they have provided back up to the Oakland Police Department. Captain Mark Gagan said 12 Richmond officers were sent with the Contra Costa County Mutual Aid Mobile Field Force to support…

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