In the Media

Richmond group teaches construction skills for employment

By Nicholas Kusnetz 

By Alec Yoshio MacDonald
Nichi Bei Times

When racism makes headlines, it's often in the form of a singular incident - a hate crime, a prejudiced remark, an inappropriate joke. A familiar script unfolds in the aftermath, as the press and civil rights groups ring the alarm, the public reacts and the perpetrators face retribution.

If you live or work in Richmond, California, you quickly learn that it is not a good idea to ignore the sirens that periodically send a piercing alarm throughout the city. These sirens are not mounted on ambulances or fire trucks. Instead, they are part of a network of 17 devices, mounted on high towers throughout Richmond, that sound an ominous and unmistakable warning whenever the city of 100,000 experiences a chemical accident, a toxic cloud, an oil fire, or some other hazardous materials incident.

Richmond’s community warning system is a necessity because the city, located 16 miles north of San Francisco, is home to more than its fair share of potentially dangerous industries, including chemical manufacturing plants and oil refineries, and a roadway and rail network that carries a significant amount of high-speed, commercial traffic. When the city’s sirens blare, it is time for residents to shelter in place—that is, to get inside, close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all ventilation systems, and stay put until they receive the all-clear signal.

In addition to protecting residents from imminent environmental harm, the sirens have become an uncomfortable symbol that identifies Richmond as an industrial and environmentally vulnerable community. In light of its reputation, it may have come as a pleasant surprise to some observers when the city passed a resolution in February 2006 in support of green economic development. In that resolution, the city, whose main employer is Chevron USA, went on record with its intention to attract environmentally friendly industries as a way to improve its environment and add clean jobs to the local economy.

Agency agrees to seek more data before considering changes

By Erik Nelson

AC Transit directors have decided unanimously to delay consideration of a proposed fare increase in order to collect more data on how it would affect ridership.

Riders told the East Bay bus agency's directors Wednesday evening what they thought of proposals to raise fares by 25 cents, to a base fare of $2.

Angela Greene has a tough job: she and her workcrew scale the rooftops of Richmond, California to run wires, lay racks, and bend metal piping. Yet in the end, when she unfurls a gleaming solar panel over her community, it feels easy to save the planet.

After being laid off from her former job at a printing business, Greene went through a vocational training program and then joined Solar Richmond, an organization that is bringing sustainable energy along with new jobs to the heavily black and Latino port city.