Remote Controlled Locomotives in Store for Richmond?
For those of you who are frustrated with political officials at all levels of government having all but given up in finding any solution to the long trains and senseless horn blowing by railroads operating in Richmond, you ain"t seen nothing yet. Remote controlled...
ChevronTexaco Refinery Attracts Anti-War and Anti-WTO Demonstrators
According to Direct Action to Stop the war (DSAW), there will be a rally, expected to be attended by from 2,000 to 7,500 people, that will begin on West Cutting Boulevard 5:30 PM, Tuesday, September 9, 2003, and end at the ChevronTexaco Richmond Refinery front gate....
ChevronTexaco Chairman Disses Richmond CM, Blows Off City Council
On August 22, 2003, Richmond City Manager Isiah Turner wrote to his fellow CEO, David O"Reilly, out at ChevronTexaco headquarters just over the hill in San Ramon, requesting a tete-a-tete between some unnamed Richmond City Council members and the chairman. After all,...
A Fairy Tale
There was once, in a faraway land, an idyllic village called Dnomhcir (pronounced dee-nom-cir) situated next to a beautiful bay surrounded by velvety mountains. In that village lived a man named Gens Faisant. Gens was, perhaps, the best-known inhabitant of the...
Community Warning System Maintains Perfect Record
The Community Warning System maintained its perfect record this evening for not working as intended. At 6:39 PM today, there was a 4.1 earthquake that was, according to the media, centered. somewhere near Piedmont. Within a minute, sirens from the Community Warning...
ChevronTexaco Continues to Whine about Point Molate
ChevronTexaco continues its lobbying effort to foil the development of Point Molate to its highest and best use for the benefit of the citizens of Richmond. Gary Fisher, General Manager of External Affairs at the Richmond Refinery first wrote the City of Richmond on...
Planning Director’s Effort to Isolate Citizens from Review Process Proceeds in Fits and Starts
The full text of the proposed Design Review Ordinance amendment is now available and is attached at the end of this posting. There are three key changes proposed: The threshold for discretionary review of residential additions would be raised from the current 250 SF...
Star Scores Available
View school-by-school, district-by-district, and county-by-county comparisons of each STAR test. 2003 STAR test scores are now available for viewing on STARscores.com. The California Standardized Testing And Reporting (STAR) Program is the key component in the State...
Easter Hill, The Forgotten History
Easter Hill Village, administered by the Richmond Housing Authority, is about to become history. Over the last few decades, "Easter Hill" has become a metaphor for crime and poverty. It will shortly be torn down, to be replaced by a $100 million enlarged project...
Richmond News in the Chron, Up and Down
NIAD is up. I attended an inspiring Chamber of Commerce mixer at Richmond NIAD last week. What a great venue and a great program. The East Bay Center for Performing Arts is reeling from budget cuts and funding losses. It is one of Richmond"s treasures and deserves our...
State E-Waste Bill Moves Ahead But Needs Support
Richmond remains the only municipality in California to actually vote on an e-waste ordinance, but the second reading has yet to occur. Cities will be relieved of this burden if the California legislature passes AB-20. For a summary of the broad-based move to deal...
Design Review Board Seeks One Good Member
The Richmond Design Review Board, the body that determines what Richmond"s built environment will look like, currently has one vacant seat. The position need not be an architect or other design professional, but the applicant should be familiar with reading and...
City Staff Reorganization
Effective September 1, 2003, City Manager Isiah Turner has promoted Public Services Director Rich McCoy to Assistant City Manager in charge of Public Services (Richmond"s name for public works), Information Technology (IT and GIS) and Recreation and Parks. Previously,...
Richmond Music Blowout
THIS SATURDAY IS IT -- AUGUST 16 FROM 12:00 Noon to 7:30 PM. POINT RICHMOND MUSIC will put on its first all-day festival featuring the fabulous music of seven bands, great art by over 30 artists, a side-walk chalk event for young and old alike, and great food by the...
Chevron “Burps,” City Lurches
It was an interesting week that started with a threat by Chevron to shut its Richmond refinery unless workers could double their efforts and produce more profits. It ended with a "burp" that set off sirens, sent a "rotten egg" odor over Richmond, spawned 300 9-1-1...
Toxic Release and Siren Nuisance Ordinance Reintroduced
Attached as a PDF file is a copy of an ordinance to be on the September 9, 2003, Richmond City Council Agenda. siren_nuisance_ordinance.pdf
Navy Overwhelmed by Interest in Point Molate
The Navy was overwhelmed initially by the number of telephone requests to join the tour of historic Point Molate this Saturday from 10 AM to noon. By yesterday's deadline, over 120 people had called. As a result, some who telephoned a reservation request may have been...
Chevron-Texaco Poormouths Over Richmond Refinery
According to a story posted yesterday in the East Bay Business Times, ChevronTexaco is considering closing or selling its Richmond refinery or converting it into a terminal. After quadrupling profits in a year, ChevronTexaco aims to cut $150 million in costs at the...
More on ChevronTexaco Financial Whining
As background on the prospect of ChevronTexaco bailing out of the Richmond refinery, readers are directed to several stories carried in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 1 and 2....
Point Molate Featured in National Preservation Magazine
The following story, featured as "story of the week" appeared in the July 25, 2003, on-line edition of "Historic Preservation," the official magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The text follows this message, and the original can be found at...