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OUR NEIGHBORS: CHRIS TREADWAY Tour conjures up the native scenery Contra Costa Times Article Launched: 02/05/2008 03:09:22 AM PST THE FOURTH ANNUAL Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour isn't until May 4, but now is the best time to register because the tours fill up...
Voters Support Richmond Measure B
The only Richmond item on the ballot, Measure B (See Vote Yes on Richmond Measure B, February 2, 2008) passed with 13,865 Yes (73.93%) and 4,888 No (26.07%)
Vote Yes on Richmond Measure B
Shall an ordinance be adopted to reduce the rate of the City of Richmond's Telecommunications Users' Tax from 10% to 9.5%, and to revise the method for calculating and collecting the Telecommunications and Video Users' Tax to reflect technological advances and changes...
Design Review Board Conditionally Approves Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project
Despite pleas from the public in a packed City Council Chamber for the Design Review Board to insist on retaining experts to provide further analysis, the four-person Richmond Design Review Board approved the $1 billion project at the first public hearing on January...
One Hand Giveth; the Other Taketh Away
Despite letters to the editor and postcards mailed to Richmond residents promising that the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project will result in increased tax revenue to fund public services in Richmond, Chevron resumed its appeal of property taxes on the...
Chevron Reaps Massive Record Profits in 2007
Chevron posts record $18.7 billion profit David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, February 2, 2008 Soaring oil prices lifted Chevron Corp.'s annual profit to $18.7 billion in 2007, the fourth consecutive year that the San Ramon company made record amounts of...
Of Design Review, Code Enforcement and the City Attorney’s Priorities
I stopped by the Design Review Board meeting last Thursday for a few minutes between other events just to get a sense of how the meeting was going. Probably the scene that most impressed me was of three -- count "em -- three city attorneys in the staff box. I have...
Design Review, Chevron and the Bay Trail
The Chevron Energy & Hydrogen Renewal Project includes over 100 separate items of demolition, alteration, additions and new structures and equipment spread out over a mile in the existing 2,900 acre refinery property. This is a major project by any stretch of the...
Richmond/Rosie in the Chronicle Today
Today's San Francisco Chronicle features Richmond's Shoreline Parks, the Bay Trail, and our national park in the "Urban Outings" section of the 96 Hours pull-out magazine section. The hard copy includes photos that don't show up in the online version. It is accessible...
Historic Ford Plant Anchors Waterfront Economic Boom in Richmond
Even Steve Duran, who is quoted liberally in the story below, is getting the connection between historic preservation and economic development in Richmond. In 1984, my firm prepared the successful National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Ford Plant as a...
Air Board Community Meeting on the Chevron Energy & Hydrogen Renewal Project
Bay Area Air Quality Management District Community Meeting on the Chevron Energy & Hydrogen Renewal Project Permit Application, 6:00 PM, Wednesday, February 13, 2008, at the RRC Social Hall, 3230 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond, CA. For more information, see Chevron's...
Reception for New Rosie Chief of Interpretation
A reception Thursday will offer the community a chance to meet Naomi Torres, the new National Parks Service chief of interpretation for the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historic Park. The gathering will be Thursday, January 31, from 6 to 8 p.m....
Trees and the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project
The word "tree" is not mentioned even once in the 1,355 pages (excluding appendices) of the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project DEIR and FER in the context of a potential mitigation for greenhouse gases or any other impact, including visual impacts. The...
Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project and Solar Energy
The FEIR for the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project did not evaluate the potential use of solar generated electricity to displace what is presumed to be a 60 megawatt demand. Here is what the FEIR said: Although the Chevron Refinery site is approximately...
Whitewashing and Greenwashing the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project
With a scant five days before the Design Review Board hearing on the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project on January 31, the City of Richmond has released for the first time voluminous new documentation on the project. FINAL EIR The main document the public...
Chevron Project Goes to Design Review Board Without Final EIR
Despite the fact that the final EIR for the Chevron Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project is not yet available for public review, the City of Richmond (Chevron"s New Best Friend) is pushing ahead with processing the application with a hearing scheduled before the Design...
Tom Butt Elected Chair of Local Government Commission
At yesterday"s Board of Directors meeting of the Local Government Commission, I was elected chair of the board for 2008, and Councilmember Jean Quan of Oakland was elected vice-chair. Click here for a full list of the LGC Board of Directors, and click here for more...
Greenway Service Project Wildly Successful
Despite rain and cold, some 150 volunteers swarmed the Richmond Greenway on January 21 for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Piles of soil, compost and mulch were turned into extensive community gardens at "Berryland" and the "Lincoln School Farm." Hundreds of...
Bay Trail Updates and Activities
For the impressive and optimistic Richmond Bay Trail 2008 New Year Report just in from TRAC, Click here to download Page 1 & Page 2. For information on a special event Monday, January 21, 9:00 am, click on Bicycle Birding On The Bay Trail - Richmond to Emeryville...
New Home Front Oral Histories Available in Richmond and Bancroft Libraries
At the January 8, Richmond City Council meeting, Lucy Lawless, Resources Program Manager f Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, made a presentation from The National Park Service to the Richmond Public Library of 108 DVDs of a World War II Home...