By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor In a meeting that marks its second year of formation, the Downtown Benicia Alliance will meet Monday morning at the Rellik Tavern. The DBA’s top order of business will be the ratification of the service agreement with the city of Benicia.
Vallejo revs up for NorCal Knockout
Annual vintage vehicle show to draw crowd to Fairgrounds on Saturday By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Kustoms, bombs, gassers, old hot rods and muscle cars — what better way to round out the Independence Day weekend than with a nostalgic motorized feast for the eyes? Thousands who dig old bikes and boats, choppers from the […]
School board to vote on initial 2013-14 budget
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Crunch time has arrived at Benicia Unified School District, and Chief Business Official Tim Rahill will ask BUSD trustees Thursday to adopt the 2013-14 budget.
EDB to elevate member to vice chair, hear presentation on Valero crude-by-rail project
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor After the resignation of its chair and elevation of its vice chair last month, the Economic Development Board will need a new vice chair, and one will be appointed Wednesday at the panel’s regular meeting. The positions of chair and vice chair are one-year terms from January to December.
School district budget still up in the air, trustees told
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Chief Business Officer Tim Rahill presented the draft budget information for the 2013-14 school year at a special meeting of the Benicia Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday. Most of the $33.8 million in the draft budget comes from the state, Rahill said, with about $1.1 million coming […]
Liberty valedictorian reflects on moving on
❒ Katelyn Wolfe: Continuation school is ‘very close, tight-knit’; credits special programs By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Katelyn “Kia” Wolfe moved to Benicia to live with her mother a couple of years ago. She’d dropped out of high school in Reno, and when she tried to register at Benicia High she was told she didn’t […]
Shop or show, nature provides
❒ ‘Figure, Form, Function,’ exhibit of local wood sculptor’s work, opens Saturday By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Jack Ruszel, close to finishing a large spiral piece of artwork that dominates the main room of downtown’s Gallery 621, speaks as he works. The piece, constructed of about 140 wedge-cut pieces of wood, is fitted together with […]
2013-14 budget earns special meeting of BUSD trustees
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Students only got out of school last week, but preparation is already under way for the 2013-14 Benicia Unified School District budget, which will be the focus Thursday of a special Board of Trustees meeting. Affecting the outlook this year, as it does every year, is uncertainty at the state […]
Benicia High valedictorian: ‘Never give up’
By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Benicia High School’s Class of 2013 has walked across the stage, sending the next generation of teenagers into young adulthood. As he prepared last week to give his speech, Valedictorian Nimarit Singh Walia, 17, worried a little about the outcome. “I’ve never been in front of such a large crowd […]
Love of land, captured in brush strokes
Mark Monsarrat is Plein Air Gallery’s June featured artist By Keri Luiz Assistant Editor Ten of San Francisco-based painter Mark Monsarrat’s paintings adorn the feature wall at Benicia Plein Air Gallery, accompanied by more in the window, in addition to the artist’s regular space in the gallery itself. The oil paintings, done in traditional Craftsman-style […]