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More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! | Visit YouTube | Visit UShow.com Apparently someone was paying attention to my call for videos from last week's Richmond City Council meeting where I reported that California Attorney General Jerry Brown visited a packed council hearing room and got passed a resolution to allow him to get involved in the issue of the stopped Chevron plant construction order. A number of comments on my blogs pointed to video links but then out-of-the-blue, Chevron itself stepped forward with their video, and it's a good one: The video shows the workers impacted telling their stories in much the same way that laid off plant construction electrician Dennis Roos told his story to me. The video was apparently created last Tuesday, at the Richmond City Council hearing. One worker in the video said "I've got a family. I've got four girls. I've got a house payment. A car payment. I was really depend...

This story below reminds me -- in a remote way -- of a small but disturbing matter that happened at Cafe Van Kleef and to me. I was talking to a couple of fellow Cal grad friends who were both white and female when I made a motion that accidentally bumped into this person as he walked by. No big deal, to me. But this guy said "That was intentional" and after I said it wasn't and he was reacting weirdly, then said "It's reverse discrimination in Oakland" -- he was White. I told him to go away as that was sick. This matter r eported in the Sf Chronicle is worse: (02-01) 18:40 PST -- Brandon Manning says he never saw it coming. One minute he was hanging out with seven seemingly friendly guys in a park, the next he said he was on the ground, the blows coming from all sides, a fist or foot landing hard enough to fracture six bones in his face. But it was the words accompanying the blows that made Manning, 24, think he was about to die. ...

More at Inside Bay Area : “RICHMOND — News this week of arrests in the Dec. 13 gang rape of a lesbian brought relief to many in the community, some of whom were so outraged that they led police to breaks in the case. But even as the resolution is lauded, gay-rights advocates and local and national crime statistics portray a gloomy truth about hate crimes against people based on their sexual orientation. Until the root causes of bias toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are addressed, "we'll continue to have hate perpetrated against us," said Shawna Virago, a program director for the San Francisco-based advocacy group Community United Against Violence. The group reported 304 crimes against Bay Area gays in 2007, the latest year for which complete statistics were available. That amounted to an approximate 6 percent increase from 2006.” -- What I want to know is who's doing this and why? What's the deal?

More in SFGate : “(12-20) 23:34 PST RICHMOND -- Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of four men who allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped for nearly an hour a 28-year-old Richmond woman, who was left naked when they fled in her car.”

Some of you have asked for the basic information on the Chevron refinery project. Well, here it is, right from the Chevron website and the City of Richmond's website: This is from Chevron: Key Facts Chevron is proposing to upgrade and replace equipment at the Richmond Refinery. The Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project is part of our on-going commitment to reliable and efficient operations. The project does not cost local government or local taxpayers any money. Chevron is responsible for the entire cost. In addition, the improvements are expected to create direct benefits to the City of Richmond and the surrounding community including: Reducing overall emissions, making Richmond's air quality even better Replacing existing equipment with new equipment that is more energy efficient and includes enhanced environmental controls Generating millions in new tax revenues for Richmond that could be used to fund essential public services including public safety, street repairs, librarie...