Looks Like Moxion is Toast
See BCDC Prepared to Approve Portside Commerce Center (Moxion) in Richmond Without a Public Hearing , July 22, 2024. At least, the building is configured so that it could house a port-related business at some point. Bay Area battery maker that had raised $110M...
The Bell Rings Again at Sierra City’s Historic Old Schoolhouse
The Butt family purchased the historic Sierra City School in 2022. It served as the town’s public school from 1883 until 1952, when an avalanche blew out the front wall, and its remaining six students were subsequently moved, first to the local Masonic Lodge and later...
Who Will Bear the Cost of Ongoing Point Molate Litigation?
As the City of Richmond and the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) proceed to close a sale of 82 acres of Point Molate, no one is addressing the specter of ongoing litigation that could bankrupt the City or severely impact the EBRPD. The lawsuit Winehaven...
Another Good Summer Read
Imagine -- it is 1940, and you are 18 years old, just out of high school and stuck for the hot and humid summer in a tiny town (population 904) in eastern Arkansas. “How would you like to visit Uncle Ed and Aunt Susan in Hawaii for a year,” your parents ask? She was...
National Night Out
BCDC Prepared to Approve Portside Commerce Center (Moxion) in Richmond Without a Public Hearing
With no public hearing, BCDC is prepared to approve a permit for the “Portside Commerce Center.” The announcement states: From: Amezcua, Reyna@BCDC <reyna.amezcua@bcdc.ca.gov> Sent: Friday, July 19, 2024 1:15 PM To: Amezcua, Reyna@BCDC...
A Good Summer Read — Now Available on Kindle or Paperback
What was it like to serve as an Army engineer in Vietnam? I was trained as a combat engineer (MOS 1331 – Combat Engineer Unit Commander) but assigned to the headquarters of a construction engineer group consisting of over 3,000 troops with a lot of equipment and...
This Friday – Pogo Park Carnival
July 16, 2024 Hello Everyone, A quick reminder that you are invited to Pogo Park's "Carnival" on July 19th 2024. Bring your friends and family to a free, fun-packed community event at Elm Playlot (Pogo Park #1) that includes a jumper, mechanical bull, choo-choo train,...
Crying Over Spilled Water
Earlier this year, we discovered that we were mysteriously losing tens of thousands of gallons of water from our storage tanks at East Brother Island. We depend on winter rains to leave us with 70,000 gallons of water, 50,000 in a cistern and 20,000 in a redwood water...
Exonerated: Bay Area leaders react after Navy clears Black sailors convicted in World War II Port Chicago explosion
Exonerated: Bay Area leaders react after Navy clears Black sailors convicted in World War II Port Chicago explosion Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced the decision Wednesday 1998 FILE PHOTO–William Mundon of Ohio, a survivor of the 1944 Port Chicago Explosion...
Iconic Hotel Mac Up For Sale
Richmond’s iconic Hotel Mac building, along with three other nearby properties that expand its lodging accommodations, is for sale for $2,400,000. For a full presentation, see https://50washingtonavenue1813542mls.f8re.com/Website/Index#VIDEOS. The Hotel Mac was built...
Roger Dickinson Fundraiser in El Cerrito
Roger Dickinson is a long-time member of the Civic Well (formerly Local Government Commission) team with which I was affiliated for many years. He is a former county supervisor and California Assembly member, running for Sacramento City Council in the November runoff....
News in Richmond?
I couldn’t help responding to the article https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/oil-company-bay-area-city-news-change-19566016.php about Richmond news and Richmondside. While I welcome Richmondside enthusiastically, it is hardly the first or the only news source to...
Remembering Martin Andrew Butt 1947-1969
My younger brother by three years, Martin, joined the Marines and survived Vietnam in 1966-67 with a purple heart but suffered a fatal automobile accident less than two years after coming home. He would have been 77 years old tomorrow, Bastille Day, but he is,...
Press Coverage of Point Molate Deal Falls Short
Not unexpectedly, press coverage of the proposed Point Molate falls dramatically short by not providing the complete context and ignoring highly important issues, including the future of Winehaven, how a park would be funded, what improvement would be provided and...
Point Molate Special Meeting Posted
The agenda item has now been posted for 9:30 AM tomorrow. The entire staff report is available on the City website, but the action item is copied below. The primary action of the City Council is to agree to forego the City’s $20 million share of the sales price. The...
City Council Special Meeting on Point Molate
Even though it hasn’t even yet shown up on the City Council agenda notice (only 24 hours is required for a special meeting), the RPA has announced on Facebook a special session for 9:00 AM tomorrow, July 12, and is urging its supporters to show up and get a free yard...
Richmond City Council Race Developments
District 5 In District 5, Daniel Heiss has apparently agreed to stand down and allow only one candidate, Ahmad Anderson, to challenge RPA candidate Sue Wilson. In the past 20 years or so, with 2020 as an exception, the RPA has ascended to full City Council control,...
City Council Ready to Walk Away From Point Molate With No Compensation
A credible source tells me that the City Council will call a special meeting this Friday to approve a deal whereby the East Bay Regional Parks District will purchase the developable portion (30 percent) of Point Molate from the Guidiville Rancheria of California (The...
Halfway Through 2024, Richmond Homicides Surpass 2023
When Richmond experienced perhaps the lowest ever homicide rate in 2023, City Council members were quick to take credit, citing such “progressive” policies of defunding police and rent control as contributors. Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin, who has been on the...