Aubrey Ilasco, a first-grader at Matthew Turner Elementary School, won first place for a letter she had written to Sen. Kamala Harris in the 2017 Growing Up Asian in America contest. The contest, put on by the San Francisco-based community foundation Asian Pacific Fund, is put on annually during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and […]
Pups ‘N’ Purrz to host Mother’s Day-themed adoption event
Six Chihuahua mix puppies among animals available Sunday is Mother’s Day, and those looking to get a special gift can go to Pups ’N’ Purrz the day before to bring home a four-legged friend. Umbrella of Hope, the Pittsburg-based animal rescue group, will be hosting a special Mother’s Day-themed adoption event at Pups ’N’ Purrz. […]
Benicia High School teacher, husband establish fundraising campaign for newborn baby
Daughter Josie born with heart defects The past month has been a wave of experiences for Jennifer and Jay Rooney. The Berkeley couple became first-time parents on April 4 when their daughter Josie was born at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. For the first day, everything seemed normal. Jennifer, an English teacher at Benicia High […]
Benicia High announces new bell schedule for 2017-18
After nearly two years of research, receiving feedback and visiting other high schools for inspiration and receiving approval by teachers via a Benicia Teachers Association agreement Friday, Benicia High School finally has a new bell schedule set for the 2017-18 school year. For three of the five days, students will experience little change. They will […]
Benicia High School unveils new Career Technical Education classes
New courses to be offered in welding, construction trade and medical careers Benicia High School’s Career Technical Education (CTE) department has long been a way for students to get hands-on experience in select fields before they have even set foot in college. This goal will continue on a bigger level, as the department will offer […]
Funding plan discussed at Thursday’s school board meeting
The Governing Board of the Benicia Unified School District heard an update on the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) at Thursday’s meeting. In 2013, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the Local Control Funding Formula, which allows school districts to decide which programs and services to spend state funding on. The LCAP is slowly […]
BREAKING: Valero flareup prompts evacuation of Industrial Park
A power outage at the Valero Benicia Refinery at 6:30 a.m. this morning resulted in a massive flare up releasing a large plume of black smoke and prompting an evacuation at the Industrial Park. At 6:46 a.m., the city was notified of the flaring and made the decision to evacuate businesses and residents in […]
Public Works employee kiled in solo vehicle accident
An employee of the city of Benicia was killed Wednesday morning when his vehicle overturned. Michael Ferrara, a 59-year-old maintenance employee with the Public Works Department for 13 years, was driving an asphalt concrete truck used to fix streets after water leak repairs. The vehicle crashed and rolled over at the corner of Lake Herman […]
Poetry, paintings join forces at new library exhibit
The newest exhibition at the Benicia Public Library combines the work of a painter with the work of a poet. “My Town is a River Town at the Edge of Land” is a showcase of the work of artist Tom Stanton and poet Joel Fallon, who was appointed as Benicia’s first poet laureate in 2005, […]
Council adopts mini pig pet ordinance
Good and bad news for pig enthusiasts in Benicia. The bad news is they still cannot fly. The good news is the Benicia City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance that would allow miniature pigs to be kept as pets within the city limits. Although the ownership of mini pigs is still not legal in many […]