LOVE AND HATE CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES, 129 First St., Suite D, an alternative clothing store, is carrying edgier lines, catering to those who like tattoos, rock n’ roll, extreme sports and motocross.

They’re also hoping to appeal to bikers, skaters and surfers, carrying clothing and accessories for men, women and children including T shirts, sweat shirts, hats, beanies, tank tops, bikinis, flip flops, handbags, belt buckles, and custom jewelry.

Love & Hate Clothing and Accessories is among the businesses that have moved into the brick Tannery, built in Benicia during the 1870s originally as office space for a leather processing company that operated across the street.

Also in the Tannery are a tattoo shop, art gallery, Irish pub, hamburger and hot dog restaurant, antique and furniture stores and other clothing retailers.

Republic Services celebrates Earth Day with natural gas trucks

Republic Services, parent company of Allied Waste Services, the company that has contracted to remove Benicia’s trash and recycled products, celebrated Earth Day April 24 with a ribbon cutting for the company’s new compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks.

The ribbon cutting took place at the company’s plant in Pacheco with a new front-loading CNG truck, a CNG “roll off” truck for large containers, and a vintage 1957 truck that dates from when cans were hauled by hand.

Multiple Contra Costa County officials attended the ceremony, as did Doug Cameron, business development manager of transit for Clean Energy, and Paul Ginochio, Republic Services facilities and plant manager.

Cameron said natural gas trucks produce as much as 22.8 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than comparable diesel models. The natural gas engines are quieter, he said, and about 98 percent of the natural gas used domestically comes from the United States.

Ginochio said the trucks cost about $330,000 each. He said they are easier to fuel and are less expensive to run because fuel costs are cheaper at off-peak hours. The new trucks are also designed for easier control for the driver.

Republic Services currently has 55 CNG trucks, with more on the way, Ginochio said.

Timothy Argenti, general manager of Republic Services, said this is one of several “green” measures his company is taking. “Seventy-five percent of the waste that is landfill bound must be diverted by 2020,” he said. “To accomplish that, we have to be innovative in our efforts to find new uses for what was considered waste.”

Argenti said the company has an aggressive recycling program in place, and it is “expanding our award-winning food waste program.”

Its Keller Canyon Landfill captures methane gas and generates enough energy to power 2,200 homes, Argenti said. “CNG trucks and fueling stations were a natural next step.”

“They are a Certified Green Business,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff. “Switching to CNG trucks shows they are a good environmental partner as well.”

SCC seeks aeronautics lab technician

Solano Community College needs an aeronautics lab technician, Mayra Loza, SCC classified recruiter, said.

Deadline to apply is May 11. The job lasts 10 months, Loza said.

The technician would provide administrative and technical support in the instructional lab.

Among the duties would be helping SCC students learn the proper and effective methods of checking in and out a variety of equipment and supplies used in the training of airframe and power plant mechanics.

The technician also would order, receive and store supplies and maintain a variety of records and reports. This person would answer to an SCC dean.

Salary is $18.34 an hour, and some benefits are offered.

Among specific duties, the technician would operate the instructional lab so it provides reinforcement to other instruction; maintain equipment so it is in good working order and is available for student use; maintain lab schedules; organize and conduct lab orientation; keep records; keep track of supplies and materials used by students and instructors; give students, teachers and the public information about the Federal Aviation Agency’s regulations and requirements; help the director of aeronautics with FAA examinations, such as proctoring and grading examinations; prepare student files; and assure that safety procedures are observed.

The technician would handle correspondence, requisitions, minutes, reports, course proposals, examinations, manuals, certificates and other materials.

In addition, the technician would provide some training to students, propose expenditures for the lab’s budget, help in the selection of supplies and meet with vendors; perform data entry and answer telephone inquiries.

Qualified candidates will have completed 1,900 hours of major course work as an aviation maintenance technician from a certified institution and have an airframe and power plant license or two years of work experience in general, airframe and power plant as a qualified aircraft mechanic.

Other skill and training qualifications are required, too, Loza said.

Those interested in applying may visit the Solano Community College website. Loza may be reached at the SCC Fairfield office at 707-864-7135.

The Benicia Herald’s weekly Benicia Business Beat column is an opportunity for local businesses and companies to tell our readers about such news as moves, grand openings, awards, promotion of employees, staff changes and changes in goods and services.

Submissions need to answer the questions who, what, when, where, why and how, preferably in the body of an email, and provide contact information.

Deadline is 3 p.m. Friday for news items that will appear in the next Tuesday edition’s Benicia Business Beat. Please email news releases and accompanying high-resolution photographs and logos to beniciaherald@gmail.com, and put “Attn. Business Beat” in the subject line, as well as the name of the business.

The Benicia Herald also appreciates area companies’ advertising patronage. For advertising services, call 707-745-0733 or email adsbenicia@yahoo.com.
—Donna Beth Weilenman