Bay Area

Marin City Market Owner Nita Hayden Vasquez, 80

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes. She was 80 years old. Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Nita Hayden Vasquez. Photo provided by Sheri Murphy for Marin IJ.

By Godfrey Lee

Nita Hayden Vasquez, who owned Hayden’s Market in Marin City, died Jan. 11, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., of natural causes.

She was 80 years old.

Vasquez made many friends when she lived in Marin City. The small market also allowed people to forge community bonds, reported the Marin IJ.

“Nita was the first Black businesswoman that I ever met and she inspired me to do law enforcement, be very independent, and not back down,” said Valanza Wilson-Parker, a cashier who worked in the market. “Everyone didn’t agree with her, and she didn’t care. She danced to her own beat.”

Royce McLemore, said that Vasquez “set herself apart from any Black woman in Marin City, and showed all her hard work from her store. She was business savvy.”

Felecia Gaston, executive director of Performing Stars, and founder of the Marin City Historical and Preservation Society, described Vasquez as a trailblazer, role model and business leader. “Nita Hayden Vasquez exemplified hard work, pride, and loyalty to help in keeping her parents’ business alive, which in turn contributed to the legacy of Marin City,” Gaston said.

Hayden’s Market was located at the intersection of Cole Drive and Drake Avenue. Locals used to gather outside the store in an area they called “The Front,” McLemore said

Vasquez’s father, Daniel Hayden, founded the Market in 1956. The familyhad moved to California from Louisiana during World War II in 1943 to seek work and a new life near the shipyards, said Bea Stephens, Vasquez’s sister.

After the war, Daniel Hayden settled in Marin City, and operated the store until he passed away in 1982. Vasquez took over until the mid-1990s when the land was sold to developers by its owner, the Tamalpais High School District.

It was the only commercial business in Marin City, a Black-owned business in a predominantly Black-owned town,” Wilson-Parker said to the SF Gate. “It had the first and only arcade and Pac-Man. The kids can come, have pizza and burritos, and actually sit there and have something to do.”

The late rapper Tupac Shakur, who grew up in Marin City, also visited the store, and told Vasquez: “I love how you keep your head up, Nita.” Shakur later returned to Marin City and said that Vasquez had inspired some of his lyrics.

Hayden’s Market was located across from the housing project since 1962, giving people in the community a place to meet and socialize. It was torn down when the (Gateway) Shopping Center was built in Marin City. The developers, which include the San Francisco-based Martin Group, insisted they had no obligation to provide space in the new shopping center to Hayden’s Market or other existing businesses.

Vasquez said that while it was time for Marin City to be developed, she was also treated unfairly by the developers, and was bitter that she was denied her livelihood when she did not become a part of the new center.

Ms. Hayden Vasquez is survived by her daughter Sheri Murphy and a granddaughter; sisters Bea Stephens and Flo Hamilton and brother Daniel Hayden Jr.

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

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3 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.