Activism

Richmond Fire Chief Advocates for Education Over Fines for At-Risk Properties

The City Council voted to form an ad-hoc committee of councilmembers and city staff to work on wildfire preparedness and mitigation, to conduct community outreach and to assess what is needed to best prepare city neighborhoods impacted by wildfires, including possible enforcement on at-risk properties.

Published

5 months ago

January 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio. Image via KCRT Media.

The Richmond Standard

Richmond Fire Chief Aaron Osorio advocated for community education over enforcement when it comes to city properties that are at risk for wildland fires.

The chief made this recommendation at Richmond City Council on Tuesday while summarizing how his department is addressing the potential for destructive wildfires, a topic that is on everyone’s minds amid the devastating Greater Los Angeles wildfires.

Osorio says a lot is already being done in terms of wildfire preparedness in the city. He advocated to increase community education on wildfire risks, prevention, and response, particularly at a time when the nation’s attention is on the subject.

“I think we need to balance what we’re seeing on TV, what we’re seeing in the media,” the chief said. “There’s a lot of misinformation that has gone on about how [the Greater LA fires were] handled. So, I think really being able to have the community ask questions would solve a lot of the concerns.”

According to the state, areas designated within the “high severity zone” for wildfires exist primarily in the Carriage Hills and May Valley areas of Richmond.

Areas considered at high risk for wildfires encompass about 8% of the city, Chief Osorio said. He noted other areas of the city face different emergency risks, such as industrial incidents, shoreline and marine responses and the impacts of earthquakes including liquefaction.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

6 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.