■ Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Bach to highlight full schedule By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor It seems so long ago that the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Ramadanoff had to cancel the final two shows of a season because of lack of funding. Yet only three years after that disastrous end to its 79th season, […]
Crafts fair, 40, draws big crowds to Benicia
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor The weekend has arrived when vendors by the dozen will line First Street to sell crafted goods, art and foodstuffs in a show that has filled downtown for four decades. One hundred and fifty vendors will fill downtown Saturday from G to C streets for the Benicia Chamber of Commerce’s […]
Benicia art nonprofit preps for ‘one of the biggest social events of the year’
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor The walls of Arts Benicia are covered with the work of artists from the community and beyond that will be auctioned Saturday in Arts Benicia’s 21st annual Benefit Art Auction, the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser that supports the exhibitions, educational programs and classes it offers around the calendar. It’s not just […]
Industrial Park Internet conundrum back on EDB slate
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Chad Coester, appointed last month, will be welcomed Wednesday as the newest member of the Economic Development Board. Coester, a resident of Benicia for more than nine years, is the director of specialty and international food business for the grocery chain Safeway’s 1,500 stores nationwide. He was appointed to fill […]
Big day for downtown as Art, Wine Walks coincide
Dozens of Benicia businesses to lure pedestrians Saturday By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Art. Wine. Walking. Benicia on a sunny day. What more can you ask? First Street is gearing up for a pair of overlapping events Saturday that, organizers hope, will complement each other and enhance the downtown experience for Benicians and visitors alike. […]
Author, former Benician to return for book signing
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Writer Carla Norton’s first foray into fiction, “The Edge of Normal,” was released Tuesday. And on Thursday the former journalist will be at Bookshop Benicia for the only California stop on a tour to promote the novel. It’s fitting that Norton would choose Benicia as the only California stop on […]
DBA OKs Art Walk partnership
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor The Downtown Benicia Alliance approved a request Monday that would ally them with the Benicia Art Walk Committee in obtaining special day licenses from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Art Walk committee member Pat Ryll asked the DBA last month to serve as a nonprofit umbrella in helping […]
Trustees OK absenteeism resolution, tree planting
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor A resolution to support a countywide initiative to combat chronic absenteeism was revisited and approved Thursday by the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees. The board also approved projects proposed by the Benicia Tree Foundation. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Gardner gave the board clarification on measures the district has […]
Benicia fundraiser planned for boy, 10, mauled by dogs
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Ten-year-old Hunter Kilbourn was playing video games at a friend’s Antioch home on Aug. 11 when he was attacked and mauled by two pit bulls. Hunter’s injuries were so extensive that he had to be airlifted to the University of California-Davis Trauma Center. He spent nine days in the hospital, […]
Uplifting, eminent, tall — in a word, ‘Altitudinous’
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Many of the pieces in Joseph Mele’s new exhibit, “Altitudinous,” have elements of collage. All are remarkable for their texture. And all follow from the artist’s emotions. “My work really is emotional work,” Mele said last week in describing the exhibit that opens at downtown’s Gallery 621 on Thursday. “I […]