Rolando Barrero, an award-winning local artist, will be exhibiting his work at Benicia Plein Air Gallery for the eighth time. The topic of the show happens to be its very title, “Urban Landscapes,” which is a favorite subject of Barrero’s. Barrero began painting as a student at the Philippines’ Mapua Institute of Technology in 1966 […]
Virtual reality comes to Benicia Public Library
Walls of reality are collapsing at the Benicia Public Library. Well, not really, but the new virtual reality programs at the Benicia Library are blurring those lines. The Library began its virtual reality program through Califa Library Group, a nonprofit library membership consortium. Califa began sending California libraries emails asking libraries if their institutions would […]
Throwback Thursday: Herald headlines for the week of Feb. 4, 1943, 1968 and 1993
Compiled by Nick Sestanovich 75 years ago Formal Dance Planned For Soldiers (Feb. 4, 1943) The first formal dance for the enlisted men stationed here will be given Wednesday night, February 10, in the City Hall under the direction of Mrs. Olga Hettinger and her committee of workers. Miss Violet Molfino assisted by boys from […]
Benicia police obtain new tool to battle opiates
Benicia police are equipping themselves with the latest technology to battle the ever-growing opiate crisis in America. Last week, the Benicia Fire Department began training police to use Naloxone Hydrochloride, a drug designed to counteract the effects of opioids. Benicia Police said they began training to use Naloxone Hydrochloride, or Narcan as it is more […]
Semple teachers to face off in Lip Sync Battle fundraiser
(This post has been updated from the print edition.) Lip-syncing in music is often frowned upon (See: Milli Vanilli), but when it is turned into a competition, everybody wants to be a part of it. Lip-sync competitions certainly have become a sensation in the past couple of years. While simply mouthing the words to popular […]
BUSD trustees to vote on resolution requesting more money for California public schools
The superintendent of the Benicia Unified School District is asking school board trustees to support a resolution by the California School Boards Association (CSBA) requesting more money for state schools at Thursday’s BUSD Governing Board meeting. According to the resolution, “California has the sixth largest economy in the world and the largest Gross Domestic Product […]
Possible live grenade shuts down Benicia streets Sunday
A possible live grenade closed portions of downtown Benicia Sunday as police investigated the item. Around 5:15 p.m., a young boy found a grenade in the water at the bottom of First Street. The boy took the barnacle-covered grenade to show to his father who called the police immediately after discovering what was brought to […]
Letters: ISO and cannabis
Real-time air monitoring needed According to a May 23 KQED article regarding the May 5 Valero Benicia Refinery incident: “The refinery should be held to higher safety standards, the same standards that the four refineries in Contra Costa are held to,” Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia said. The number of serious refinery accidents in Contra […]
Benicia Letters Once More: The Hunter/Fisherman
The following “letter” is part of the continuing series from the unpublished novel by James Garrett, “Benicia Letters Once More”. He does not plan to publish the book but instead is choosing to share the letters with the readers of the Benicia Herald. The letters continue the storyline of Garrett’s first novel “Benicia and Letters […]
Year in Review 2017: City manager’s perspective
By Lorie Tinfow Special to the Herald “Nothing is constant but change,” and that has certainly been true for Benicia in 2017. My tenure began in April and I followed two interim managers who held down the fort after my predecessor left in 2016. There have been other staffing changes as well throughout the organization […]