ISO town hall discussion panel tonight The city of Benicia is the only refinery town in the Bay Area not protected by an Industrial Safety Ordinance. In Contra Costa County, the Hazardous Materials Division of the Health Department is responsible for enforcing an ISO that governs the three refineries in the county’s unincorporated areas – […]
Letters: Submariners and ISO
Benicia needs an ISO As a long-time advocate for local measures and policies that aim to protect public health and safety, I urge everyone who shares this concern to attend the panel discussion, to be held this coming Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Benicia Public Library, about what adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance [“ISO”] […]
Letters: LWV forum and ISO
Learn about open government at LWV forum Current local news and discussion is rife with concern about elected officials being “paid off” by corporate interests or wealthy donors. While our election system has some definite flaws, it does have required procedures and penalties for reporting campaign financing. Just last week, the Fair Political Practices Commission […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Readers & Writers
A first order of business: a large Thank You to Georgia T. Benedict of Benicia for her positive response to my column of last week, “Mad Dog & Bozos.” It’s always a pleasure to hear that somebody appreciates reading my column. We are a small town and this is a limited edition newspaper, but we […]
Stan Houston: The corn oil maze
The adage “Liars use statistics but statistics never lie” and other axioms that emphasize the use of statistics to support an argument that contrasts with prevailing truths and often obfuscates the bigger picture is well at work these days. Get a load of Mazola’s newest ad campaign hitting print and television over the past month. […]
Letters: ISO, cannabis and more
Why Benicia needs an ISO On Nov. 14, we all have a chance to learn more about the need for an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) for Benicia. At 7 p.m. there will be a panel discussion at the Benicia Library with experts from Cal/OSHA, Cal/EPA, and Contra Costa County ISO officials on why and how […]
Letters: ISO panel and kudos to Peter Bray
Come to ISO panel at Library The May 5 major flaring event at the Valero Refinery in Benicia was another indicator of the continuing need for local oversight and verification of safe refinery operations. Benicia is the only refinery town in the Bay Area without the protection of an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) that protects […]
Craig Snider: Time for sensible approach to cannabis ordinance
I’ve been following Benicia’s progress toward implementing the 2016 Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Proposition 64). Californians passed the act with a 57 percent majority, with 42 percent voting against. In Benicia, it passed with 63 percent of voters in favor. After decades of debate over the pros and cons of cannabis use, we’ve finally […]
The A Cappella Handyman: ‘Mad Dog’ & Bozos
‘Mad Dog’ & Bozos So illegitimate President Trump is still too fearful of the voting U.S. public to learn his real net worth and sources of his income, so he still refuses to show us his income taxes. And he refuses to put his wealth into a real blind trust where he can’t monitor and/or […]
Letter: Thank a retired teacher
Thank a retired teacher! The first week of November has been designated to honor retired teachers. Each teacher impacted hundreds of lives during his or her teaching career. Think about who helped you learn to read this, to balance your checkbook, to learn from history, to appreciate the contributions of others and to write your […]