105 results for author: CESP

Environmental groups turn in paperwork for DMV fee to fund California state parks

By Paul Rogers, Mercury News Tuesday, November 03, 2009 Hoping to break the recent cycle of proposed state parks closures, a coalition of California environmental groups took the first major step Tuesday toward qualifying a measure for next November's ballot that would roughly double the state parks budget by imposing a new annual fee on vehicle registration. The text of the proposed ballot measure submitted to the attorney general's office for a title and summary reveals some new information: The fee would be $18 a year per vehicle, not $15 as previously reported. The fee would apply to nearly all vehicles, including motorcycles ...

Chevron Donates Easement To East Bay Regional Park District for Bay Trail

By Shelly Lewis and Brent Tippen Monday, November 2, 2009 Chevron is joining efforts with the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) to expand public access to Richmond's Point San Pablo Peninsula along the San Pablo Bay. Chevron agreed to donate an easement over a portion of its property to allow EBRPD to construct, operate and maintain a public multi-use recreational trail along the shoreline. At its upcoming November 3 board meeting, the EBRPD Board of Directors will formally accept the trail easement donation from Chevron located near its refinery operations in West Contra Costa County. The proposed easement donation consists of two ...

County ready to back Point Molate casino plan

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times Sunday, November 01, 2009 For $12 million a year, Contra Costa County would turn its staunch opposition to outright support for a major Indian casino-hotel resort on the Richmond waterfront, according to a draft of the pending deal. The agreement with the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians would erase the county's blanket opposition to urban gaming and halt its attack against a big Las Vegas-style casino planned at the former Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot. The Board of Supervisors plans to discuss the pending deal at its meeting Tuesday morning and likely will hold another public hearing before a decisi...

Golden Gate Fields to be auctioned in February

By Eric Young, San Francisco Business Times Thursday, October 29, 2009 The bankrupt owner of Albany's Golden Gate Fields will auction the horse racing track next February as part of ongoing effort to raise funds to repay creditors. Magna Entertainment Corp., which has been in Chapter 11 proceedings since March, got bankruptcy court approval to put Golden Gate Fields up for sale on Feb. 25, 2010. Bids are due Feb. 10. Other Magna tracks being offered at auction at the same time include Santa Anita Park, host to the 2009 Breeders Cup, and Gulfstream Park, home of the Florida Derby. The nation's biggest operator of horse racing tracks, ...

Tough restrictions passed on storm water trash

By Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, October 15, 2009 San Francisco Bay officials have approved an ambitious plan to force more than 70 Bay Area cities to drastically reduce the amount of trash that flows from their storm drains into the bay. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, after hearing more than four hours of testimony from environmental groups and local municipalities, voted 5-1 Wednesday to require a 40 percent reduction in storm water trash by July, 2014. "If a municipality only gets to 38 percent, we'll work with them. We are human," said Tom Mumley, assistant executive director of the water ...

Save Shoreline

Letter to the Editor By Zeva B. Longley, Richmond October 15, 2009 In planning for the future, I urge the Richmond general plan to include protecting the shoreline for the sake of the planet and for the general health of the folks who live in and around Richmond. I was lucky to grow up in a small beach town in Orange County. I am grateful my mother and other residents fought to keep the beaches and much of the land near it for the public. If they hadn't, it would have been be a disaster. Such a disaster could happen to Richmond unless city planners realize the value of the shore and protect it. originally published at: http://www.con...

Bay Area cities must cut trash in storm drains to protect SF Bay

By Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, October 14, 2009 More than 70 Bay Area cities from Fairfield to Los Gatos must slash the volume of trash flowing from their streets and storm drains into San Francisco Bay by 40 percent under a new permit plan from regional water quality regulators. The permit, touted as the first of its kind in the nation, is the most comprehensive effort yet to control the amount of litter that makes its way into the region's waterways and sets a long-term goal of zero trash discharge by 2022. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board is expected to approve the storm water permit ...

New rules passed to cut down on trash in S.F. Bay

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Dozens of cities surrounding San Francisco Bay are facing new rules intended to cut down on the amount of trash that ends up in bay. The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board voted in favor Wednesday of regulations that would require 70 cities to take steps to make sure that fewer plastic bags, chemicals and other pollutants get into storm drains and creeks, and ultimately into San Francisco Bay. The new rules require cities to reduce the amount of storm water trash by 40 percent by July, 2014. After seven years, the amount of trash would have to be reduced by 70 percent, with a 100 percent ...

Richmond Design Review Board, Planning Commission to look at Point Molate hotel-casino resort

By Katherine Tam, Contra Costa Times Wednesday, October 7, 2009 RICHMOND - Two citizen advisory bodies will make recommendations to the Richmond City Council on the hotel-casino resort proposed for the city's waterfront. The Design Review Board will review design review documents in December, and the Planning Commission will review the final environmental impact report by Dec. 31 at the earliest. The Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians and developer Upstream want to build a resort at the old Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Plans call for a 240,000-square-foot casino with 124,000 square feet of gaming; ...

New shoreline camp boosts Bay Water Trail

By Denis Cuff, Contra Costa Times Wednesday, October 7, 2009 It was just a two-hour kayak paddle from San Rafael to Richmond, but it was a big step forward for the San Francisco Bay Water Trail, a network of launching and camping spots for paddlers. A trio of kayakers paddled five miles across the Bay to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline in Richmond on Monday to become the first visitors to the first new campground for the Bay Water Trail since California lawmakers authorized its creation in 2005. The East Bay Regional Park District developed the group camp - its first shoreline one - cozily inside the sheltered earth and concrete walls of ...