The Contra Costa College Culinary Academy's 15th Food and Wine Experience is this Sunday, April 21st from 11 am to 2:30 pm. It is a fun event that supports the top Culinary students to study abroad in Italy for 2 weeks. This will be the final Food & Wine as Chef...

Last week, Shirley and I joined four other board members of Rosie the Riveter Trust to attend presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to Rosie the Riveters (collectively). Rosies are loosely defined as women who did any kind of work to directly support the war...

Next Club Meeting Our next meeting will take place at the Richmond Country Club (address below) on Friday, April 19th at 12:30pm. Telling stories with Quilts Ora Clay Ora uses quilts to tell a story by using photos, sayings, and events from her cultural background....

The saga of the Craneway is strange indeed. After a highly touted and well-attended grand opening on March 23-24, there has been little sign of life at the Craneway, despite Darlene Vendegna declaring, “thousands of Richmond residents are thrilled to have this...

Richmond TOMORROW! Headed to work, school, or shopping in Richmond? You always have a way to get there. In case you missed it, check out the changes we’re rolling out starting tomorrow: Expanded service zone. No more limits to where you can go — you’ll be able to ride...

Next Club Meeting Our next meeting will take place at the Richmond Country Club (address below) on Friday, April 5, 12:30pm. Crime prevention and unhoused interventions Michelle Milam Learn about the Richmond Police Department crime prevention program, and the work...

Tom, don’t let MTC take away our pathway Join the Monthly Giving Circle to become a part of the ongoing movement for better biking! Dear Tom, Two weeks ago we were extremely disappointed and surprised to hear that the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is...

Vietnam Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families and is part of a national effort to recognize the men and women who were denied a proper welcome upon returning home more than 50 years ago. On this day in 1973, the last combat...

I don’t know who Sally Claire is, but she has been widely quoted about the failure of journalism. On journalism: "If someone says it's raining, and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the fucking window and find...

With the City Council set to discuss the future of the Craneway tonight, It may be helpful to explain one issue at the heart of the matter – the Public Trust Doctrine. In California, the arcane public trust doctrine arrived with statehood and lofty language in the...

I wrote this on March 26, 2017, when my father, Thomas Franklin (Tom) Butt, who died at the age of 83 in 2000, would have been 100 years old. His father (my grandfather) lived to be 97. I think my father inherited the family genes, but it was lung cancer that ended...

A lack of institutional memory and a motivation to avoid confrontation has resulted in an incomplete and misleading staff report for the March 26 City Council meeting Item Q-1, Update on the Craneway Pavilion Request. As a public service and as the only City-related...

Thank you to those who wished me happy birthday – and even those who didn’t -- it was a good one. We started the day before with some cake and Champagne at Interactive Resources, and then that evening, the whole family plus a Japanese exchange student staying with Kim...

On my birthday yesterday, I visited the Craneway to check out the opening of the pickleball operation. I have to say, it was impressive. On a rainy and windy day, the Craneway and Assemble Restaurant were both packed with at least a couple hundred people. With 12...

City "still has concerns" as pickleball opening looms Linda Hemmila Mar 20, 2024 — 5 min read A couple of pickleballers test out the newly installed courts March 9 at the Craneway Pavilion. Photo/ Linda Hemmila City Attorney David Aleshire speaking at the city council...

As we get closer to the advertised grand opening of pickleball at the Craneway, the issue and conflicts are expanding exponentially. With the grand opening just three days away, concerned citizens are planning to picket the venue to protest, not a good start. Darlene...

The only vestige of elected office I have hung on to is CivicWell, formerly the Local Government Commission. The City of Richmond has been a member since before I was first elected in 1995. Former Mayor Rosemery Corbin urged me to get involved, and it was some of the...

54 years ago this week, in 1970, I had completed my year as a combat engineer and arranged an Army discharge while still in Vietnam so that I could visit the famous temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, still a “neutral” country in March of 1970, whose eastern border...