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Aug 19, 2024 | 
norcalpublicmedia.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
Mobile crisis teams in Sonoma County will now receive more support after county supervisors recently approved almost $4.5 million dollars in funding.
Mobile crisis teams are first responders who get sent to calls for mental health emergencies.
They are trained to de-escalate situations, often without the presence of police. Most of the new funding is provided via Measure O, passed by local voters in November of 2020.
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Aug 14, 2024 | 
norcalpublicmedia.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
An addiction recovery program in Santa Rosa was set to shut its doors in 2022, but instead of closing forever, the property was purchased and completely remodeled with the help of local donors.
KRCB’s Amaray Alvarez toured the newly remodeled Athena House and Hope Village to let us know what’s new.
Faced with financial troubles after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Athena House and Hope Village planned to close after the last five women staying there graduated.
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Aug 8, 2024 | 
norcalpublicmedia.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
Two Bay Area siblings recently bicycled from Seattle to Portland to raise money for a local nonprofit. KRCB’s Amaray Alvarez has more…
Brother and sister Jacob and Alexa Swartz each rode 209 miles in one day. That was in the Kaiser Permanente Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, commonly known as the STP.
They did it to raise money for Buckelew Programs, a nonprofit that provides mental health and addiction services in the North Bay.
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Jul 30, 2024 | 
norcalpublicmedia.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
224 acres of redwood forest near Guerneville won’t be logged. That's after a small group of local activists filed a lawsuit against CalFire.
KRCB’s Amaray Alvarez headed west to check out the forest known as the Russian River Redwoods and files this report.
[the sound of cars going by]
That’s traffic from State Route 116 between Guerneville and Monte Rio. The mostly second-growth redwood forest in question is right in the middle of a busy residential and recreational area.
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Jul 22, 2024 | 
norcalpublicmedia.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
President Joe Biden continues to recover after contracting COVID-19. So how are COVID numbers locally? KRCB News checked in with our local health department.
Sonoma County Health Officer, Dr. Tanya Phares said people are still dying from the virus.
"In Sonoma, we've had 39 COVID deaths in 2024, 15 in the past two months," Phares said in an interview July 18.
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Dec 8, 2023 | 
richmondconfidential.org | Julia Haney |Taylor Barton |Amaray D. Alvarez
Monday evening, Richmond residents noticed a sulfuric stink in the air. It lingered for two days and on Thursday, led to a notice of violation for the company that operates the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which issued the notice for a public nuisance violation, had recorded hydrogen sulfide levels Tuesday morning as high as 345.8 parts per billion on the south side of the Point Richmond plant, based on a five-minute average.
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Dec 5, 2023 | 
richmondconfidential.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
In the weeks since Richmond City Council passed its resolution in support of the Palestinian people, council members and city staff have become victims of doxxing and harassment, the mayor says. During a time of division between residents, politicians and world leaders, Richmond made national news in October when it became the first reported city to take a stance and condemn Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, bringing both praise and backlash.
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Nov 16, 2023 | 
richmondconfidential.org | Amaray D. Alvarez |Yichong Qiu |Choekyi Lhamo |Fernando Rocha Andrade
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Would you cross a picket line of striking workers to receive routine health care? “No I stand with the workers of Kaiser. My mom is a nurse so I understand their struggles.” (Kayla Chin, customer service manager, pictured above)“If I need to see a doctor, I’m going to go see a doctor.
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Oct 27, 2023 | 
richmondconfidential.org | Amaray D. Alvarez
Armed with a trash picker, plastic bag and garden gloves, Ahmaya Maroney, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, snagged the paper, wrappers, bottles and cans that dirtied the sidewalks and gutters along 23rd Street in Richmond Thursday evening. With a corps of about 25 other community members, Maroney picked up litter in preparation of the annual “Trick or Treat on 23rd Street” on Halloween, which is Tuesday.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
richmondconfidential.org | Fernando Rocha Andrade |Panashe Matemba-Mutasa |Amaray D. Alvarez
Over 200 people had signed in at the career fair within 30 minutes of its opening at the Richmond Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon. The large auditorium buzzed with the chatter of job-seekers mingling with recruiters from 50 companies and organizations.
