City attorney Randy Riddle will step down

Richmond City Attorney Randy Riddle — who became the city’s attorney after a protracted search that ended in 2007 — will be leaving his position early next year. The city has hired an executive search firm to find a replacement. “Randy has been a great city attorney,” Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay said on Tuesday. “He…

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Contra Costa homeless shelters unsure about effects of realignment

As the state starts to release prisoners into the supervision of the counties, Contra Costa County’s homeless shelters – where former prisoners often end up because they don’t have family or their identity reestablished upon their release – aren’t sure what to expect. Cynthia Belon, the Contra Costa Director of Behavioral Health Services, said it’s…

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Changing California’s prison population

Continued overcrowding in California’s state prisons brought about a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that the state’s efforts to cram in more prisoners constituted cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the Eighth Amendment. The state responded with legislation that shifts responsibility for state parolees to counties and redefines what constitutes a prison-worthy offense. That realignment…

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Surrender ROW comes to Richmond

In life, people makes choices, both good and bad, but what is often ignored is how these choices affect family, friends and others in the long run.

The notion of how decisions impact others is explored in-depth through the eyes of an African-American woman…

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North Richmond’s struggle to decide who will lead

saleem bey and marena brown

North Richmond is no stranger to conflict, but this is a strange conflict for North Richmond. The small community, which straddles the boundary separating the city of Richmond and unincorporated Contra Costa County, has become the site of an acrimonious power struggle between ambitious community leaders.

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Woman found dead in Richmond restaurant

richmond police

A 30-year-old woman was found dead in a local restaurant Tuesday night in what police are investigating as a homicide. Officers responding to a 7:30 p.m. call found Jensy Romero dead inside Angie’s Restaurant and Bakery in the 12000 block of San Pablo Avenue, police said. An employee discovered the body and placed the emergency…

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