April has been designated Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the first week in April is California Teen Safe Driving Week — and law enforcement officers and others across the state are taking both designations seriously. The California Office of Traffic Safety, California Highway Patrol, Impact Teen Drivers and more than 200 police departments statewide, including […]
Another twist in strange abduction case
Amid kidnapping investigation, anonymous emails threaten police Emails to the San Francisco Chronicle sent anonymously from those identifying themselves as the abductors of Denise Huskins suggested Vallejo police could come to harm if the department didn’t issue an apology by noon Tuesday for calling her reported abduction “an orchestrated event” and not a kidnapping. But […]
Fire damages Cooper Drive home; none hurt
■ Blaze spread from garage to house; cause still under investigation, Benicia fire official says A fire that started Monday afternoon in a garage on the 500 block of Cooper Drive spread to the home and caused minor damage, Benicia Fire Division Chief K.C. Smith said. No one was hurt, he said. Smith said his […]
Guv: Water woes to continue
Jerry Brown renews call for conservation; Benicia lawn-watering, other limits begin Wednesday Saying it’s only one approach to California’s severe drought, Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed two pieces of emergency legislation, Assembly Bills 91 and 92, that he said will speed up access to more than $1 billion in funding and critical water infrastructure […]
Soroptimists give annual awards
Benicia’s Soroptimists recently awarded checks to two domestic violence awareness groups and gave their annual “Live Your Dream” cash grant to a woman who is changing careers after a back injury. SafeQuest Solano and STAND! For Families Free of Violence received $700 checks Thursday at the group’s annual awards luncheon from Mary Ellen Hayes, owner […]
Benicia Biz Beat: Children invited to color Easter pictures in Herald
CHILDREN FROM PRESCHOOL AGE TO SIXTH GRADE may enter the “Color the Easter Picture” contest, using illustrations that have been published in The Herald’s March issues. The winning pictures will be published April 5. Prizes will be awarded to first, second and third place in four categories: preschool, kindergarten through first grade, second and third […]
Citywide call to conserve renewed
As drought outlook worsens, Public Works asks residents to further cut back on water use Benicia city officials are reminding residents and business owners to conserve water during the state’s multi-year serious drought, and described spring and summer water restrictions that will start Wednesday. The 2014-15 winter brought less than normal rainfall, and the Sierra […]
At safety forum, area refinery realities explained
Shipments of crude oil by rail have dropped in California, Gordon Schremp, California Energy Commission senior fuel specialist, said in Crockett on Thursday at a forum organized by the California Interagency Refinery Task Force. In 2013, he said, refineries throughout the state received 6.3 million barrels of crude oil to process. That declined to 5.7 […]
Attention filmmakers: Benicia is calling you
Organizers of the second annual Benicia Film Festival are issuing a call for filmmakers to submit their work by the May 1 deadline. Helaine Bowles, volunteer and outreach coordinator for Benicia Public Library, said the festival “seeks to expand the arts and culture offerings of the city by providing an opportunity for individuals and organizations […]
Attorney: Huskins victimized by police
Denise Huskins has been “the victim of a very serious assault,” her San Franciso attorney, Doug Rappaport, said Thursday, the day when his client returned to Vallejo to speak with investigators who are looking into the report that the 29-year-old woman was abducted for $8,500 ransom early Monday morning. And she was victimized again by […]