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The air district said those projects would be chosen in a process involving residents, community groups, advocates and elected officials. Some $16 million of the penalty will be devoted to projects in other Bay Area communities identified by regulators as “overburdened” by air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This penalty sends a strong message; adherence to air quality standards is both necessary and expected, and failure to do so can lead to significant fines,” Steve Young, Benicia mayor and member of the air district board, said in a statement. “Benicia residents need to know that air quality violations are taken seriously.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25260383/valero-baaqmd-carb_agreement-241024.pdf\">32-page settlement \u003c/a>(PDF) released Thursday details dozens of alleged violations of air district regulations and state law, including a long history of unreported emissions of toxic chemicals that began in 2003 or earlier but were not discovered by the air district until 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district said the refinery systems that generate and channel hydrogen throughout the facility emitted substances, including organic compounds that worsen smog and particulate pollution, as well as benzene, toluene and other compounds that cause cancer, reproductive harm and other health concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators also accused the refinery of releasing an estimated 8,400 tons of these substances between 2003 and 2019. That’s about 2.7 tons for each day on which violations occurred, or 360 times the legal limit, the district said, adding that refinery management knew for years that its system contained the harmful contaminants “but did not report them or take any steps to prevent them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero said in the settlement document that it aimed to avoid litigation and that it “does not admit or necessarily agree with” the allegations against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.beniciarefinery.com/air-district-settlement\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">an online statement\u003c/a>, the company said it had “endeavored to comply with federal rules associated with the hydrogen system; however, the district has much more stringent regulations.” The company characterized the releases as “trace levels of organic compounds” and added that the air district’s own health risk assessment found they posed only “negligible” health risks. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905065/first-i-had-heard-of-it-valeros-benicia-refinery-secretly-released-toxic-chemicals-for-years\">As first reported by KQED in 2022\u003c/a>, the air district aroused the anger of Benicia residents and elected officials by failing to alert the community about the emissions for nearly three years after they became aware of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12010828 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/GETTYIMAGES-2053492564-KQED-e1729796821581-1020x683.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Philip Fine, the air district’s executive officer, called the settlement “historic” and said it shows “the air district’s unwavering commitment to holding polluters accountable and safeguarding the health of those living in refinery communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s initial failure to alert Benicia residents to the refinery’s unreported emissions was “frustrating and disturbing,” Mayor Young said in an interview Thursday. The Valero settlement “will go a long way to rebuilding that faith and trust in the air district’s operations going forward,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the monetary penalties, the settlement gives Valero 30 months to design, get permits for and install systems to prevent toxic releases from its hydrogen units. The company also agreed to train key employees on the air district regulations for the refinery’s various processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Valero settlement is the latest in a series of high-profile enforcement actions the district has undertaken against Bay Area refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, the agency hit Chevron with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975650/bay-air-district-hails-decisive-victory-in-battle-to-cut-refinery-pollution\">$20 million in penalties\u003c/a> for 678 violations of air district regulations at its Richmond refinery. The district also won an agreement from the oil company to drop its opposition to new regulations that require refineries to clean up particulate emissions. Chevron could face further penalties — more than $80 million — if it fails to implement measures to meet particulate emission standards within four years of a 2026 deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the agency fined the Marathon Martinez refinery \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/news-and-events/page-resources/2024-news/100224-ymarathon-penalty\">$5 million\u003c/a> for 59 air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Philip Fine, the air district’s executive officer, called the settlement “historic” and said it shows “the air district’s unwavering commitment to holding polluters accountable and safeguarding the health of those living in refinery communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s initial failure to alert Benicia residents to the refinery’s unreported emissions was “frustrating and disturbing,” Mayor Young said in an interview Thursday. The Valero settlement “will go a long way to rebuilding that faith and trust in the air district’s operations going forward,” he said. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the monetary penalties, the settlement gives Valero 30 months to design, get permits for and install systems to prevent toxic releases from its hydrogen units. The company also agreed to train key employees on the air district regulations for the refinery’s various processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Valero settlement is the latest in a series of high-profile enforcement actions the district has undertaken against Bay Area refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February, the agency hit Chevron with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11975650/bay-air-district-hails-decisive-victory-in-battle-to-cut-refinery-pollution\">$20 million in penalties\u003c/a> for 678 violations of air district regulations at its Richmond refinery. The district also won an agreement from the oil company to drop its opposition to new regulations that require refineries to clean up particulate emissions. Chevron could face further penalties — more than $80 million — if it fails to implement measures to meet particulate emission standards within four years of a 2026 deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, the agency fined the Marathon Martinez refinery \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/news-and-events/page-resources/2024-news/100224-ymarathon-penalty\">$5 million\u003c/a> for 59 air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "for-a-taste-of-the-old-west-head-to-this-tiny-bay-area-town",
"title": "The Bay Area Wild West Port Town That Reinvented Itself",
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"headTitle": "The Bay Area Wild West Port Town That Reinvented Itself | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa is a tiny, funky town on the Carquinez Strait that looks and feels like a time capsule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s way out at the end of a windy road. If you drive there, you won’t see anything along the way except oak trees and maybe a squirrel or some crows. It seems totally disconnected from the rest of the world. But if you could come by ship or by train — it would all make sense.[baycuriouspodcastinfo align=\"right\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks of the old transcontinental railroad run along the edge of town, and just offshore, the water is deep enough for merchant ships from Europe to have docked at what was once one of the busiest ports on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Growing Port Town\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the late 1800s, California was exporting huge quantities of wheat and barley, and Port Costa was in the perfect location: right on the main waterway connecting the food markets of Europe to the farms of the Central Valley. Soon, warehouses and wharves lined the shore, almost from Crockett to Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A train passes by the town of Port Costa in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They worked like a buffet table. Trains could pull up to the warehouses on one side and ships and barges on the other to load and unload grain. Businesses sprang up in between as thousands of people flocked to the growing town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1879, Port Costa became a major stop on the transcontinental railroad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largest ferry in the world called the Solano, carried entire trains across the water between Benicia and Port Costa. It had four tracks on it and could fit 48 freight cars or 24 passenger cars. Trains drove onto the deck, and a team uncoupled them and pushed the remaining sections onboard with a switching engine. On the other side, the team put the trains back together and they drove off. The entire operation, including the journey across the strait, took less than half an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1914, an even bigger ferry, called the Contra Costa, was added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa developed a reputation as a fun place to stop on the transcontinental route between New York and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Port Costa outside the town in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place was kind of the classic Wild West,” said Suzanne Statler of the Port Costa Conservation Society. “You’d get off the ferry, and you’d turn right, and you’d have a hotel . . . and a saloon . . . and a place to cash your money . . . and a saloon . . .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was quite the raucous scene! But it was short-lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s wheat market dropped off at the beginning of the 20th century. Fires kept destroying the wooden waterfront, and shipworms ate into the pilings that held up the wharves. In 1930 came the final blow: a train bridge was built between Benicia and Martinez, shifting passenger and freight traffic inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the activities around the trains, it all dried up,” Statler said. “The whole purpose of this town got kind of run over by time. So the town was dying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002238\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The town of Port Costa in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Town’s Next Chapter\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, all that was left of the waterfront was rotting pilings stretched along the shore (you can still see them today). Only the inland part of town was still standing when a Coors delivery driver named Bill Rich first saw it. He thought it could make for a cool, eclectic place for artists. He bought the downtown for a cheap price and revived some of the old establishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of them is the Burlington Hotel, a charming yellow three-story building from 1883. Each of its rooms has a lady’s name painted on the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urban legend is that these were sex workers in Port Costa’s wild heyday. But many of the townsfolk say these women were, in fact, Bill Rich’s artist friends who had little shops up here in the 1970s. Sarah Louise Humann, who owns the crystal shop next door to the hotel, thinks the place is too fancy to be a brothel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ‘Peggy’ room at the Burlington Hotel, which closed in 2020, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The center of town was what you wanted the investors to see,” Humann said. “All the ill repute was probably done closer to the water. But they may have snuck gentlemen out the back door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hotel’s hallway is a big mirror full of shifting shadows that seem to lead back into misty dimensions. It’s old enough to have been made with real silver behind the glass, which tarnishes with age and creates a dark, dripping look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This mirror is likely partially responsible for at least people’s illusion of ghosts in the hotel,” Humann said. “It’s extremely old and exudes that haunted ‘anything could be on the other side of it’ vibe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002224\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An antique mirror hangs on the third floor of the Burlington Hotel, which closed in 2020, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Humann says the rumor of haunting has attracted badly behaved ghost hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a little bit of a touchy subject for locals,” she said, “because there’s been vandalization and damage and disrespect done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humann hasn’t seen any ghosts, but Barbara Williams, who bartends across the street in the Warehouse Cafe, says she has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was in the bar. I was closing,” Williams said. “And I felt a breeze going past my face. And as I turned to tell the people that I was closed, I saw a woman look at me and walk through the door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The door, she said, was closed and locked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002158\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paintings hang above the entryway staircase at the Burlington Hotel in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Port Costa Today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, the Warehouse is a popular weekend hangout for motorcycle clubs. Bands play out front in what used to be the train yard. And inside, dilapidated, festive relics and bits of art cover the walls and ceiling. In the corner, an almost 9-foot-tall taxidermied polar bear looms over a baby seal. There’s also a water buffalo, a metal Medusa sculpture, circus masks and life preservers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002161\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002161\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Warehouse Cafe, a bar and restaurant, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The collection has taken on a momentum of its own, bartender Lary Dameron says. Just a few years ago, someone donated a Kodiak bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002159\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002159\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A taxidermy polar bear and bear are on display at The Warehouse Cafe, a bar and restaurant, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A guy who comes in on Sundays for music works at the wildlife museum, and they were cleaning out the basement, so he calls up, and he’s like, you guys interested in a Kodiak bear, you know, taxidermy?” Dameron said. “It’s like, ‘hell yeah, I want it.’ How often do people offer you a bear?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa still has the raucous character of its old port days. Only about 250 people live here now, and though \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/soleilho/article/california-san-francisco-bay-area-nimby-battle-19518620.php\">they don’t agree on everything\u003c/a>, they do share a devotion to this unique place along the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002162\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002162\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lary Dameron stands behind the bar at the Warehouse Cafe in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne Hockenberry has vivid memories of being a teenager and going on long bike rides with her mom. They’d often start in Crockett, ride along the Carquinez Strait to Martinez. And sometimes continue on all the way to Danville, some 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> And then my dad would follow us in, in the VA, in the VW bus. So we had a camper bus, and he biked sometimes, but he wasn’t into it like my mom was. And so yeah, then he would follow along. And so when we got tired, we could just like take a break and get in the bus in the VW.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Along these journeys — Marianne and her mom passed through some of the rural, golden hills of the Bay Area. And the towns nestled in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> She liked to tell me stories about Port Costa when we would go through there. We’d be eating at the warehouse…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> The Warehouse … an iconic building in the small town of Port Costa, and just across the street is an old Victorian hotel. It’s weather-worn but still charming with its chipped yellow and blue paint…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> … and, she would tell me this used to be, a brothel or used to be women of the night here like she would say, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne isn’t totally sure about the truth behind her mom’s stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> My mom was… she was a wonderful kind of crazy woman. And, you know, I don’t know, I, I pretty much take after her, I think. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne isn’t the only person curious about Port Costa. We’ve received a few questions over the years about this tiny, eclectic town sitting along the Carquinez Strait. Today, we’ll answer a slew of them! Did that old hotel used to be a brothel? Is it haunted? Was Port Costa once a port, as the name suggests?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That’s all just ahead on Bay Curious. The show that explores the hidden true stories of the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> To answer the questions from Marianne and other listeners about Port Costa, we first have to get there! KQED’s Katherine Monahan got the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> If you drive to Port Costa, it’s pretty hard to understand why it’s here. It’s way out at the end of a windy road. You won’t see anything along the way except oak trees and maybe a squirrel or some crows. It seems totally disconnected from the rest of the world. But if you could come by ship or by train — it would all make sense. So we’re going to cross the tracks, look to the left, look to the right. No trains. Let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Suzanne Statler with the Port Costa Conservation Society steps across the railroad tracks that run along the shoreline at the edge of town. She points out into the waters of the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> If you go just out, 50 feet. It drops down to 50 feet there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> That’s deep enough for merchant ships from Europe to have docked here . . . at what was once one of the busiest ports on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> In the late 1800s, California was exporting huge quantities of wheat and barley. And a businessman named George W. McNear realized that Port Costa was in the perfect location: right on the main waterway connecting the food markets of Europe to the farms of the Central Valley. So he bought a stretch of shoreline and started building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> All along the Carquinez Straits, you had warehouses that were built and burned down and rebuilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It worked like a buffet table. Trains could pull up to the warehouses on one side and ships and barges on the other and load and unload grain. Businesses sprang up in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> All along the waterfront there, that is where downtown was located at Port Costa. And it was quite a bustling place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Thousands of people flocked to the growing town — stevedores, railroad workers, fishermen. McNear, who became known as “The Wheat King,” started building inland as well, up a narrow valley, away from the wildness of the wharves. Port Costa grew into kind of a T-shape, with the waterfront as the top of the T, and then along the stem …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> The modern town was where people lived. So your boarding houses were there, your individual family homes were there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> In 1879, it became a major stop on the transcontinental railroad. The largest ferry in the world carried entire trains across the water between Benicia and Port Costa — 24 hours a day. It was called the Solano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> It was 425 feet long.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> What!?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> Four, four football fields. Plus.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> That’s buck wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The Solano could carry 48 freight cars or 24 passenger cars. It had four tracks on it. Trains drove right up onto the deck, and a team uncoupled them and pushed the remaining sections onboard with a switching engine. On the other side, the team put the trains back together again and they drove off. The entire operation — including the journey across the strait — took less than half an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Port Costa developed a reputation as a fun place to stop on the transcontinental route, which ran between the East Coast and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> This place was kind of the classic Wild West. You’d get off the ferry, and you’d turn right, and you’d have a hotel and a saloon and a place to cash your money and a saloon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It was quite the raucous scene! But it was short-lived. California’s wheat market dropped off at the beginning of the 20th century. Fires kept destroying the wooden waterfront, and shipworms — small wood-burrowing mollusks — ate into the pilings that held up the wharves. In 1930 came the final blow — a train bridge was built a little ways inland, between Benicia and Martinez, rendering the Solano train ferry obsolete\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> People coming in and out of Port Costa and all the activities around the trains, it all dried up. The whole purpose of this town that had been built on, got kind of run over by time. So the town was dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Some thirty years passed, and by the 1960s, the place was almost a ghost town. The waterfront part, all the warehouses and saloons and such, was gone — just a bunch of rotting pilings stretched along the shore. Only the inland part was still standing when a man named Bill Rich first saw it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> He was a Coors delivery driver. And he said, you know what, this would be an awesome place to make into a really eclectic, funky, awesome place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> And he did it! Rich bought the downtown for cheap and revived some of the old establishments. One of them is the Burlington Hotel. It closed during the pandemic, but Sarah Humann, who owns a crystal shop next door, has the keys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Keys jingling]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So the doors to the Burlington Hotel are a very popular photo backdrop. Watch your step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Door opening]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Oh. my. Goodness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so everything in the hotel’s pretty creaky. Uh, we can head upstairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Stepping sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Through the carved wooden doors, up past the painted portraits mounted on the velvet embossed wallpaper, are the hotel rooms. And each has a lady’s name painted on the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So we have Hazel, Corrine, Victoria is a really pretty room. And I think I can get you in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The urban legend is that these were sex workers in Port Costa’s wild heyday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So this is Ethel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Keys opening the door]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> But many of the townsfolk say these women were, in fact, Bill Rich’s artist friends who had little shops up here in the 70s. Which seems like a more probable fit. I mean, maybe Ethel was a sexy name back in the 1800s. But . . . Fanny?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Fanny is a room that has purple maroon furniture set against an olive green wall color. There’s definitely some porcelain kitty cats and some cotton candy, pink, floral decorated lamps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Humann thinks this hotel was too fancy to be a brothel, and besides, it was in the more straight-laced, residential section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Just understanding how these old towns worked is, the center of town was what you wanted the investors to see. All the ill-repute was probably done closer to the water. But they may have snuck gentlemen out the back door. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Down the hallway, Humann points out the probable source of another popular rumor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> This mirror is likely partially responsible for at least people’s illusion of ghosts in the hotel. It’s extremely old and exudes that haunted, anything could be on the other side of it, vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It’s about 4 feet tall and wide and full of shifting shadows that seem to lead back into misty dimensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> The old mirrors have an actual layer of silver on the other side of the glass. And so, over time, that silver has tarnished. And you can kind of see how it all drips down. It’s very cool looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The hotel is old and creaky and has actual bats living in the walls. Humann says it’s not surprising that people like to think it’s haunted. But that the rumor has attracted badly behaved ghost hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> It is a little bit of a touchy subject for locals, because there’s been vandalization and damage and disrespect done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Humann hasn’t seen any ghosts. But Barbara Williams, who works across the street, says she has. She bartends in the Warehouse Cafe. It’s on the first floor of the last of the town’s grain warehouses, built in 1886.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> I was in the bar. I was closing. And I felt a breeze going past my face, and as I turned to tell the people that I was closed, I saw a woman look at me and walk through the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> And when you say walk through the door, was the door open?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> The door was locked. It was closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Another night, she says, she saw a man go into the back of the bar, and she went to tell him he wasn’t allowed there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> Got up, looked around. No one was here. So, I told the other bartender the next day about what happened. And she said you described Bill Rich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Bill Rich, the guy who bought the town in the 1960s, had passed away some years before that. But he used to own the Warehouse bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music of band playing outside Warehouse Cafe]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> These days, the Warehouse is a popular weekend hangout for motorcycle clubs. Bands play out front in what used to be the train yard. And daytrippers, along with some of the town’s 250 residents, come here to drink and chat. It’s nice. It’s sunny. A few cats are walking around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> And inside, it is seriously funky, with dilapidated, festive relics and bits of art all over the walls and ceiling. Lary Dameron has been bartending here for close to 20 years. He points to a taxidermied polar bear in a glass case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> He’s 8 foot, 8 inches tall. He’s standing up like he’s gonna swipe at you or something. But, um, the dead baby seal at his feet is unique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The polar bear is too weird and majestic to call the bar’s mascot, but it’s certainly part of its soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> It was payment for some work that Bill, the guy who bought the town … he did some work for this guy and that was how he paid him back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> With a polar bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> There’s also a water buffalo, a metal medusa sculpture, circus masks and giant candelabras and life preservers. And the collection has taken on a momentum of its own. Just a few years ago, someone donated a Kodiak bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> A guy who comes in on Sundays for music works at the wildlife museum and they were cleaning out the basement. So he calls up, and he’s like, “You guys interested in a Kodiak bear, you know, taxidermy?” I was like, “For free?” He’s like, “Yeah.” (sarcastically) I’m like, “No, no, I don’t want that…” It’s like, “hell yeah. I want it!” It’s like, how often do people offer you a bear?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Port Costa is a unique place. And the people who know about it really treasure it. Dameron walks outside to where the band is packing up at the end of their set, and a few residents and bikers are just enjoying the evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> You know, when the sun goes down, it’s kind of like this. It’s really nice. And you get, you know, boats go by, and ships go by, and trains and stuff. And it’s kind of cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It’s a time capsule. It’s still got that raucous character that it had in the beginning. And as Dameron points out, Port Costa is surrounded by designated parkland, so it won’t be growing any time soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> If the town doesn’t just disintegrate or something, it’ll be exactly how it is today because it’s not going to change. I mean, it can’t really change; as long as people maintain it and live here, it’ll be just like it is now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Sound of train going by]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That was KQED’s Katherine Monahan. Thanks to Marianne Hockenberry for asking the question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> We won’t be dropping an episode next week because the Bay Curious team is off for Labor Day (and I really hope you are, too.) We need all the rest we can get because when we return, we start work on Prop Fest — our podcast series that explains all those confuddling props on the statewide ballot. If there’s one on your radar you’ve got questions about, send ‘em our way! There’s a question box to fill out at BayCurious.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Are you a longtime listener who hasn’t gotten around to leaving us a rating and review? I get it — but please, do us a solid and take a few minutes today. Those ahem, five-star reviews keep us going and help other listeners find us, too!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> Bay Curious is made in SF at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Our show is produced by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, Ana De Almeida Amaral and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Extra support from Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family. I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a good one!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa is a tiny, funky town on the Carquinez Strait that looks and feels like a time capsule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s way out at the end of a windy road. If you drive there, you won’t see anything along the way except oak trees and maybe a squirrel or some crows. It seems totally disconnected from the rest of the world. But if you could come by ship or by train — it would all make sense.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tracks of the old transcontinental railroad run along the edge of town, and just offshore, the water is deep enough for merchant ships from Europe to have docked at what was once one of the busiest ports on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A Growing Port Town\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the late 1800s, California was exporting huge quantities of wheat and barley, and Port Costa was in the perfect location: right on the main waterway connecting the food markets of Europe to the farms of the Central Valley. Soon, warehouses and wharves lined the shore, almost from Crockett to Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002227\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002227\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-56-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A train passes by the town of Port Costa in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They worked like a buffet table. Trains could pull up to the warehouses on one side and ships and barges on the other to load and unload grain. Businesses sprang up in between as thousands of people flocked to the growing town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1879, Port Costa became a major stop on the transcontinental railroad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largest ferry in the world called the Solano, carried entire trains across the water between Benicia and Port Costa. It had four tracks on it and could fit 48 freight cars or 24 passenger cars. Trains drove onto the deck, and a team uncoupled them and pushed the remaining sections onboard with a switching engine. On the other side, the team put the trains back together and they drove off. The entire operation, including the journey across the strait, took less than half an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1914, an even bigger ferry, called the Contra Costa, was added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa developed a reputation as a fun place to stop on the transcontinental route between New York and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002240\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002240\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-72-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for Port Costa outside the town in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This place was kind of the classic Wild West,” said Suzanne Statler of the Port Costa Conservation Society. “You’d get off the ferry, and you’d turn right, and you’d have a hotel . . . and a saloon . . . and a place to cash your money . . . and a saloon . . .”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was quite the raucous scene! But it was short-lived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s wheat market dropped off at the beginning of the 20th century. Fires kept destroying the wooden waterfront, and shipworms ate into the pilings that held up the wharves. In 1930 came the final blow: a train bridge was built between Benicia and Martinez, shifting passenger and freight traffic inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All the activities around the trains, it all dried up,” Statler said. “The whole purpose of this town got kind of run over by time. So the town was dying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002238\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002238\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-61-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The town of Port Costa in Contra Costa County on Aug. 27, 2024.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Town’s Next Chapter\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, all that was left of the waterfront was rotting pilings stretched along the shore (you can still see them today). Only the inland part of town was still standing when a Coors delivery driver named Bill Rich first saw it. He thought it could make for a cool, eclectic place for artists. He bought the downtown for a cheap price and revived some of the old establishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of them is the Burlington Hotel, a charming yellow three-story building from 1883. Each of its rooms has a lady’s name painted on the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urban legend is that these were sex workers in Port Costa’s wild heyday. But many of the townsfolk say these women were, in fact, Bill Rich’s artist friends who had little shops up here in the 1970s. Sarah Louise Humann, who owns the crystal shop next door to the hotel, thinks the place is too fancy to be a brothel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002154\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002154\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ‘Peggy’ room at the Burlington Hotel, which closed in 2020, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The center of town was what you wanted the investors to see,” Humann said. “All the ill repute was probably done closer to the water. But they may have snuck gentlemen out the back door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the hotel’s hallway is a big mirror full of shifting shadows that seem to lead back into misty dimensions. It’s old enough to have been made with real silver behind the glass, which tarnishes with age and creates a dark, dripping look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This mirror is likely partially responsible for at least people’s illusion of ghosts in the hotel,” Humann said. “It’s extremely old and exudes that haunted ‘anything could be on the other side of it’ vibe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002224\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PortCosta-04-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An antique mirror hangs on the third floor of the Burlington Hotel, which closed in 2020, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Humann says the rumor of haunting has attracted badly behaved ghost hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a little bit of a touchy subject for locals,” she said, “because there’s been vandalization and damage and disrespect done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humann hasn’t seen any ghosts, but Barbara Williams, who bartends across the street in the Warehouse Cafe, says she has.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was in the bar. I was closing,” Williams said. “And I felt a breeze going past my face. And as I turned to tell the people that I was closed, I saw a woman look at me and walk through the door.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The door, she said, was closed and locked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002158\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002158\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-29-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paintings hang above the entryway staircase at the Burlington Hotel in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Port Costa Today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, the Warehouse is a popular weekend hangout for motorcycle clubs. Bands play out front in what used to be the train yard. And inside, dilapidated, festive relics and bits of art cover the walls and ceiling. In the corner, an almost 9-foot-tall taxidermied polar bear looms over a baby seal. There’s also a water buffalo, a metal Medusa sculpture, circus masks and life preservers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002161\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002161\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-39-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Warehouse Cafe, a bar and restaurant, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The collection has taken on a momentum of its own, bartender Lary Dameron says. Just a few years ago, someone donated a Kodiak bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002159\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002159\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-34-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A taxidermy polar bear and bear are on display at The Warehouse Cafe, a bar and restaurant, in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A guy who comes in on Sundays for music works at the wildlife museum, and they were cleaning out the basement, so he calls up, and he’s like, you guys interested in a Kodiak bear, you know, taxidermy?” Dameron said. “It’s like, ‘hell yeah, I want it.’ How often do people offer you a bear?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Port Costa still has the raucous character of its old port days. Only about 250 people live here now, and though \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/soleilho/article/california-san-francisco-bay-area-nimby-battle-19518620.php\">they don’t agree on everything\u003c/a>, they do share a devotion to this unique place along the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12002162\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12002162\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/240827-PORTCOSTA-44-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lary Dameron stands behind the bar at the Warehouse Cafe in Port Costa on Aug. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne Hockenberry has vivid memories of being a teenager and going on long bike rides with her mom. They’d often start in Crockett, ride along the Carquinez Strait to Martinez. And sometimes continue on all the way to Danville, some 25 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> And then my dad would follow us in, in the VA, in the VW bus. So we had a camper bus, and he biked sometimes, but he wasn’t into it like my mom was. And so yeah, then he would follow along. And so when we got tired, we could just like take a break and get in the bus in the VW.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Along these journeys — Marianne and her mom passed through some of the rural, golden hills of the Bay Area. And the towns nestled in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> She liked to tell me stories about Port Costa when we would go through there. We’d be eating at the warehouse…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> The Warehouse … an iconic building in the small town of Port Costa, and just across the street is an old Victorian hotel. It’s weather-worn but still charming with its chipped yellow and blue paint…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> … and, she would tell me this used to be, a brothel or used to be women of the night here like she would say, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne isn’t totally sure about the truth behind her mom’s stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> My mom was… she was a wonderful kind of crazy woman. And, you know, I don’t know, I, I pretty much take after her, I think. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Marianne isn’t the only person curious about Port Costa. We’ve received a few questions over the years about this tiny, eclectic town sitting along the Carquinez Strait. Today, we’ll answer a slew of them! Did that old hotel used to be a brothel? Is it haunted? Was Port Costa once a port, as the name suggests?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That’s all just ahead on Bay Curious. The show that explores the hidden true stories of the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> To answer the questions from Marianne and other listeners about Port Costa, we first have to get there! KQED’s Katherine Monahan got the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> If you drive to Port Costa, it’s pretty hard to understand why it’s here. It’s way out at the end of a windy road. You won’t see anything along the way except oak trees and maybe a squirrel or some crows. It seems totally disconnected from the rest of the world. But if you could come by ship or by train — it would all make sense. So we’re going to cross the tracks, look to the left, look to the right. No trains. Let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Suzanne Statler with the Port Costa Conservation Society steps across the railroad tracks that run along the shoreline at the edge of town. She points out into the waters of the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> If you go just out, 50 feet. It drops down to 50 feet there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> That’s deep enough for merchant ships from Europe to have docked here . . . at what was once one of the busiest ports on the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> In the late 1800s, California was exporting huge quantities of wheat and barley. And a businessman named George W. McNear realized that Port Costa was in the perfect location: right on the main waterway connecting the food markets of Europe to the farms of the Central Valley. So he bought a stretch of shoreline and started building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> All along the Carquinez Straits, you had warehouses that were built and burned down and rebuilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It worked like a buffet table. Trains could pull up to the warehouses on one side and ships and barges on the other and load and unload grain. Businesses sprang up in between.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> All along the waterfront there, that is where downtown was located at Port Costa. And it was quite a bustling place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Thousands of people flocked to the growing town — stevedores, railroad workers, fishermen. McNear, who became known as “The Wheat King,” started building inland as well, up a narrow valley, away from the wildness of the wharves. Port Costa grew into kind of a T-shape, with the waterfront as the top of the T, and then along the stem …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> The modern town was where people lived. So your boarding houses were there, your individual family homes were there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> In 1879, it became a major stop on the transcontinental railroad. The largest ferry in the world carried entire trains across the water between Benicia and Port Costa — 24 hours a day. It was called the Solano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> It was 425 feet long.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> What!?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> Four, four football fields. Plus.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> That’s buck wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The Solano could carry 48 freight cars or 24 passenger cars. It had four tracks on it. Trains drove right up onto the deck, and a team uncoupled them and pushed the remaining sections onboard with a switching engine. On the other side, the team put the trains back together again and they drove off. The entire operation — including the journey across the strait — took less than half an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Port Costa developed a reputation as a fun place to stop on the transcontinental route, which ran between the East Coast and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> This place was kind of the classic Wild West. You’d get off the ferry, and you’d turn right, and you’d have a hotel and a saloon and a place to cash your money and a saloon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It was quite the raucous scene! But it was short-lived. California’s wheat market dropped off at the beginning of the 20th century. Fires kept destroying the wooden waterfront, and shipworms — small wood-burrowing mollusks — ate into the pilings that held up the wharves. In 1930 came the final blow — a train bridge was built a little ways inland, between Benicia and Martinez, rendering the Solano train ferry obsolete\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> People coming in and out of Port Costa and all the activities around the trains, it all dried up. The whole purpose of this town that had been built on, got kind of run over by time. So the town was dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Some thirty years passed, and by the 1960s, the place was almost a ghost town. The waterfront part, all the warehouses and saloons and such, was gone — just a bunch of rotting pilings stretched along the shore. Only the inland part was still standing when a man named Bill Rich first saw it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Suzanne Statler:\u003c/strong> He was a Coors delivery driver. And he said, you know what, this would be an awesome place to make into a really eclectic, funky, awesome place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> And he did it! Rich bought the downtown for cheap and revived some of the old establishments. One of them is the Burlington Hotel. It closed during the pandemic, but Sarah Humann, who owns a crystal shop next door, has the keys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Keys jingling]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So the doors to the Burlington Hotel are a very popular photo backdrop. Watch your step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Door opening]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Oh. my. Goodness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Yeah, so everything in the hotel’s pretty creaky. Uh, we can head upstairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Stepping sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Through the carved wooden doors, up past the painted portraits mounted on the velvet embossed wallpaper, are the hotel rooms. And each has a lady’s name painted on the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So we have Hazel, Corrine, Victoria is a really pretty room. And I think I can get you in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The urban legend is that these were sex workers in Port Costa’s wild heyday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> So this is Ethel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Keys opening the door]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> But many of the townsfolk say these women were, in fact, Bill Rich’s artist friends who had little shops up here in the 70s. Which seems like a more probable fit. I mean, maybe Ethel was a sexy name back in the 1800s. But . . . Fanny?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Fanny is a room that has purple maroon furniture set against an olive green wall color. There’s definitely some porcelain kitty cats and some cotton candy, pink, floral decorated lamps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Humann thinks this hotel was too fancy to be a brothel, and besides, it was in the more straight-laced, residential section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> Just understanding how these old towns worked is, the center of town was what you wanted the investors to see. All the ill-repute was probably done closer to the water. But they may have snuck gentlemen out the back door. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Down the hallway, Humann points out the probable source of another popular rumor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> This mirror is likely partially responsible for at least people’s illusion of ghosts in the hotel. It’s extremely old and exudes that haunted, anything could be on the other side of it, vibe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It’s about 4 feet tall and wide and full of shifting shadows that seem to lead back into misty dimensions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> The old mirrors have an actual layer of silver on the other side of the glass. And so, over time, that silver has tarnished. And you can kind of see how it all drips down. It’s very cool looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The hotel is old and creaky and has actual bats living in the walls. Humann says it’s not surprising that people like to think it’s haunted. But that the rumor has attracted badly behaved ghost hunters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sarah Humann:\u003c/strong> It is a little bit of a touchy subject for locals, because there’s been vandalization and damage and disrespect done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Humann hasn’t seen any ghosts. But Barbara Williams, who works across the street, says she has. She bartends in the Warehouse Cafe. It’s on the first floor of the last of the town’s grain warehouses, built in 1886.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> I was in the bar. I was closing. And I felt a breeze going past my face, and as I turned to tell the people that I was closed, I saw a woman look at me and walk through the door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> And when you say walk through the door, was the door open?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> The door was locked. It was closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Another night, she says, she saw a man go into the back of the bar, and she went to tell him he wasn’t allowed there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Barbara Williams:\u003c/strong> Got up, looked around. No one was here. So, I told the other bartender the next day about what happened. And she said you described Bill Rich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Bill Rich, the guy who bought the town in the 1960s, had passed away some years before that. But he used to own the Warehouse bar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music of band playing outside Warehouse Cafe]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> These days, the Warehouse is a popular weekend hangout for motorcycle clubs. Bands play out front in what used to be the train yard. And daytrippers, along with some of the town’s 250 residents, come here to drink and chat. It’s nice. It’s sunny. A few cats are walking around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> And inside, it is seriously funky, with dilapidated, festive relics and bits of art all over the walls and ceiling. Lary Dameron has been bartending here for close to 20 years. He points to a taxidermied polar bear in a glass case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> He’s 8 foot, 8 inches tall. He’s standing up like he’s gonna swipe at you or something. But, um, the dead baby seal at his feet is unique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> The polar bear is too weird and majestic to call the bar’s mascot, but it’s certainly part of its soul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> It was payment for some work that Bill, the guy who bought the town … he did some work for this guy and that was how he paid him back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan (in tape):\u003c/strong> With a polar bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> There’s also a water buffalo, a metal medusa sculpture, circus masks and giant candelabras and life preservers. And the collection has taken on a momentum of its own. Just a few years ago, someone donated a Kodiak bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> A guy who comes in on Sundays for music works at the wildlife museum and they were cleaning out the basement. So he calls up, and he’s like, “You guys interested in a Kodiak bear, you know, taxidermy?” I was like, “For free?” He’s like, “Yeah.” (sarcastically) I’m like, “No, no, I don’t want that…” It’s like, “hell yeah. I want it!” It’s like, how often do people offer you a bear?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> Port Costa is a unique place. And the people who know about it really treasure it. Dameron walks outside to where the band is packing up at the end of their set, and a few residents and bikers are just enjoying the evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> You know, when the sun goes down, it’s kind of like this. It’s really nice. And you get, you know, boats go by, and ships go by, and trains and stuff. And it’s kind of cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Katherine Monahan:\u003c/strong> It’s a time capsule. It’s still got that raucous character that it had in the beginning. And as Dameron points out, Port Costa is surrounded by designated parkland, so it won’t be growing any time soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Lary Dameron:\u003c/strong> If the town doesn’t just disintegrate or something, it’ll be exactly how it is today because it’s not going to change. I mean, it can’t really change; as long as people maintain it and live here, it’ll be just like it is now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Sound of train going by]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That was KQED’s Katherine Monahan. Thanks to Marianne Hockenberry for asking the question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> We won’t be dropping an episode next week because the Bay Curious team is off for Labor Day (and I really hope you are, too.) We need all the rest we can get because when we return, we start work on Prop Fest — our podcast series that explains all those confuddling props on the statewide ballot. If there’s one on your radar you’ve got questions about, send ‘em our way! There’s a question box to fill out at BayCurious.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Are you a longtime listener who hasn’t gotten around to leaving us a rating and review? I get it — but please, do us a solid and take a few minutes today. Those ahem, five-star reviews keep us going and help other listeners find us, too!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Marianne Hockenberry:\u003c/strong> Bay Curious is made in SF at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> Our show is produced by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, Ana De Almeida Amaral and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Extra support from Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED Family. I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a good one!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>On Thanksgiving morning in 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/martinez\">Martinez\u003c/a> residents awoke to a powdery substance containing high levels of heavy metals, blanketing everything outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The release of toxic materials began the night before, but the \u003ca href=\"https://martinezrefiningcompany.com/refinery-events/#:~:text=The%20entire%20Martinez%20Refining%20Company,night%20of%20November%2024%2C%202022.\">Martinez Refining Company (MRC) did not activate the county’s community warning system\u003c/a>, which would have notified those who signed up for the opt-in system. It was just one of 272 releases of hazardous materials that occurred in a 13-month period from the four fuel refineries in Contra Costa County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, on the heels of a grand jury report finding that the county’s alerts are failing to reach most residents for less-impactful chemical releases, officials are taking action. At its Tuesday meeting, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will vote to move forward with plans for a more robust warning system in response to the grand jury’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people like Heidi Taylor, the change would be a long time coming. She was among many who packed their local city council chambers after the Thanksgiving 2022 incident, and she went on to form the group \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthymartinez.org/\">Healthy Martinez\u003c/a> to hold the refinery accountable and continue to push for better warnings from Contra Costa County Health and Human Services and the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to be notified every time there is a flaring or any kind of release,” Taylor said. “And what’s been missing from the community warning system has been accountability. We know they’re releasing things. We are tired of living in this beautiful community and being showered with all kinds of toxic dust, toxic air. We deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cc-courts.org/civil/docs/grandjury/2023-2024/2404/2404-Final_Report.pdf\">Contra Costa grand jury report\u003c/a> in June found the county has no way to directly notify residents of smaller instances of hazardous releases from refineries, such as flaring events that last under 20 minutes. \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/plans-and-climate/air-quality-plans/flare-minimization-plans\">Flaring\u003c/a>, the intentional burning of hydrocarbon gasses to prevent larger malfunctions, represents the most common form of release from refineries in Contra Costa County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the county’s current \u003ca href=\"https://cwsalerts.com/\">community warning system\u003c/a> sends people alerts for only the most dangerous releases — but only about 30% of residents have signed up for it, the grand jury found. That system allows residents to pick which chemical facilities in the county they want notifications from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal recommended by the grand jury would modify the current system that notifies the public through phone calls, text messages and emails to include Level One releases, or those not expected to have health consequences outside the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the grand jury, the Board of Supervisors said that the recommendation has not been implemented, but the health department plans to bring the board its plans for doing so before the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[aside postID=news_11988025 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/231228-MARATHON-REFINERY-MD-04_qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor said she appreciates the improvements but wants a more rigorous warning system in place like the one PBF Energy — the owner of MRC — has for its Torrance facility. There, residents are notified every time a pollutant goes over a certain threshold. Taylor said the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is working on a similar requirement, but that’s taking some time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are constantly in a holding pattern, waiting, waiting for things to be the way they should have been a long time ago,” she said. “I’m tired of waiting. I want that information now, and I want it publicly accessible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill in the California Legislature, \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB674/id/2839409\">SB 674\u003c/a>, would go further, requiring all refineries to have air monitoring systems and requiring notice to the community when pollution goes over a threshold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who represents the area that includes Chevron’s Richmond refinery, said the county is working on letting people customize which events they’re alerted to in real time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People deserve to be notified if they see an industrial release and wonder what’s in question, what’s going on, even if there’s no off-site health impact,” Gioia said. “But if there’s a very minor flaring incident that you can’t see or smell, and there’s no impacts off-site, then we didn’t want those all pushed out because it’s like crying wolf.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gioia said the health department, which oversees hazardous materials, is working on guidance for the alerts for the sheriff’s department, which oversees the county’s warning system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, in response to the grand jury’s recommendations, the county increased the number of employees in its hazardous materials department, adding a few specialists and putting a toxicologist on retainer to help the public better understand potential health effects when the next release occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Thanksgiving morning in 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/martinez\">Martinez\u003c/a> residents awoke to a powdery substance containing high levels of heavy metals, blanketing everything outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The release of toxic materials began the night before, but the \u003ca href=\"https://martinezrefiningcompany.com/refinery-events/#:~:text=The%20entire%20Martinez%20Refining%20Company,night%20of%20November%2024%2C%202022.\">Martinez Refining Company (MRC) did not activate the county’s community warning system\u003c/a>, which would have notified those who signed up for the opt-in system. It was just one of 272 releases of hazardous materials that occurred in a 13-month period from the four fuel refineries in Contra Costa County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, on the heels of a grand jury report finding that the county’s alerts are failing to reach most residents for less-impactful chemical releases, officials are taking action. At its Tuesday meeting, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will vote to move forward with plans for a more robust warning system in response to the grand jury’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For people like Heidi Taylor, the change would be a long time coming. She was among many who packed their local city council chambers after the Thanksgiving 2022 incident, and she went on to form the group \u003ca href=\"https://www.healthymartinez.org/\">Healthy Martinez\u003c/a> to hold the refinery accountable and continue to push for better warnings from Contra Costa County Health and Human Services and the sheriff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to be notified every time there is a flaring or any kind of release,” Taylor said. “And what’s been missing from the community warning system has been accountability. We know they’re releasing things. We are tired of living in this beautiful community and being showered with all kinds of toxic dust, toxic air. We deserve better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.cc-courts.org/civil/docs/grandjury/2023-2024/2404/2404-Final_Report.pdf\">Contra Costa grand jury report\u003c/a> in June found the county has no way to directly notify residents of smaller instances of hazardous releases from refineries, such as flaring events that last under 20 minutes. \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/plans-and-climate/air-quality-plans/flare-minimization-plans\">Flaring\u003c/a>, the intentional burning of hydrocarbon gasses to prevent larger malfunctions, represents the most common form of release from refineries in Contra Costa County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, the county’s current \u003ca href=\"https://cwsalerts.com/\">community warning system\u003c/a> sends people alerts for only the most dangerous releases — but only about 30% of residents have signed up for it, the grand jury found. That system allows residents to pick which chemical facilities in the county they want notifications from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal recommended by the grand jury would modify the current system that notifies the public through phone calls, text messages and emails to include Level One releases, or those not expected to have health consequences outside the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the grand jury, the Board of Supervisors said that the recommendation has not been implemented, but the health department plans to bring the board its plans for doing so before the end of the year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor said she appreciates the improvements but wants a more rigorous warning system in place like the one PBF Energy — the owner of MRC — has for its Torrance facility. There, residents are notified every time a pollutant goes over a certain threshold. Taylor said the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is working on a similar requirement, but that’s taking some time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are constantly in a holding pattern, waiting, waiting for things to be the way they should have been a long time ago,” she said. “I’m tired of waiting. I want that information now, and I want it publicly accessible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A bill in the California Legislature, \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB674/id/2839409\">SB 674\u003c/a>, would go further, requiring all refineries to have air monitoring systems and requiring notice to the community when pollution goes over a threshold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who represents the area that includes Chevron’s Richmond refinery, said the county is working on letting people customize which events they’re alerted to in real time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People deserve to be notified if they see an industrial release and wonder what’s in question, what’s going on, even if there’s no off-site health impact,” Gioia said. “But if there’s a very minor flaring incident that you can’t see or smell, and there’s no impacts off-site, then we didn’t want those all pushed out because it’s like crying wolf.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gioia said the health department, which oversees hazardous materials, is working on guidance for the alerts for the sheriff’s department, which oversees the county’s warning system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, in response to the grand jury’s recommendations, the county increased the number of employees in its hazardous materials department, adding a few specialists and putting a toxicologist on retainer to help the public better understand potential health effects when the next release occurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Safety Agency Issues $1.75 Million in Fines Over Worker's Death at Valero Refinery",
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"content": "\u003cp>State workplace regulators have issued $1.75 million in fines to Valero and three other companies, alleging dozens of safety violations in connection with the death of a contract worker at Valero's Benicia refinery last fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health said the fines are the highest it's ever levied in connection with a refinery worker's death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA said it discovered the violations after investigating the Nov. 12 death of 35-year-old Luis Gutierrez. The agency said Gutierrez died from asphyxiation when a broken welding torch leaked argon gas into an enclosed \"oxygen-deficient\" area he had just entered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency issued a $528,000 fine to Valero and a $988,000 fine to the Houston-based company Total Safety, one of the outside firms that works in the refinery. It also issued a $135,000 fine to J.T. Thorpe and Son, the Richmond-based company that employed Gutierrez, and a $101,000 fine to T.R.S.C., a Vallejo-based firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firms were cited for varying numbers of violations, with three of the four companies alleged to have committed \"serious and willful\" violations — Cal/OSHA's most severe category of infraction. [aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"valero-refinery\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alleged safety breaches include failure to repair the broken welding apparatus; failure to test and monitor conditions in the enclosed space where Gutierrez died; and failure to equip the team that retrieved Gutierrez with the appropriate breathing apparatus and other safety equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It appears that this was a classic case of poor communications and poor attention to details,\" said Craig Peters, an attorney specializing in workplace accidents at San Francisco's Altair Law, who reviewed the state investigation's summary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The circumstances indicate a serious inattention to basic safety protocols when dealing with dangerous confined spaces and gases that can be deadly,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal/OSHA's summary of the incident, night-shift crews were getting ready to do welding in a part of the refinery called a regenerator, and the welding area needed to be cleaned up first. Gutierrez, a member of the union Laborers' Local 130, based in Southern California, entered the regenerator at about 11:15 p.m. to see how much cleanup was needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutierrez apparently lost consciousness as he climbed down a ladder into the regenerator. He fell backward, was caught by a retractable lanyard connected to his work harness, and was then suspended in midair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow workers tried to wake him by shaking the lanyard, Cal/OSHA's report said. They called a refinery emergency rescue team, who retrieved him. That team, along with Benicia firefighters, tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal workplace regulators say argon — the gas that allegedly leaked from a broken welding torch — \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA_FS-3647_Welding.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">can lead to suffocation\u003c/a>\" when it's used for welding in enclosed spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA said Valero knew at some point that an employee inside the enclosed area where the accident took place had felt dizzy. Regulators say the refinery failed to ensure the use of respiratory protective equipment in the area and failed to identify respiratory hazards in its workplace, among other violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said Total Safety failed to provide the proper equipment at the work site and did not ensure the area was safe for crews. It also said the company did not keep track of who was at the site and allowed unauthorized people in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators say T.R.S.C. should have made sure the welding torch was repaired or moved it away from where crews were working. They say J.T. Thorpe should have tested conditions in the area before allowing Gutierrez to enter the area where he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas B. Song, an attorney representing T.R.S.C., said in an email the company is \"currently considering its options, including appeal of the citations.\" He added that the company \"believes very strongly that the safety and health of its employees is of paramount importance and concern, and is confident in its safety protocols.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three other companies cited in Cal/OSHA's investigation did not reply immediately to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last fatal oil refinery incident in California took place in July 2019 at the Torrance Refining Co. facility in suburban Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that incident, a J.T. Thorpe worker was doing maintenance and repairs on a storage tank when part of a device used to lift the tank's roof struck and killed him. Cal/OSHA fined J.T. Thorpe $70,000. The company filed an appeal, which is ongoing.[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State workplace regulators have issued $1.75 million in fines to Valero and three other companies, alleging dozens of safety violations in connection with the death of a contract worker at Valero's Benicia refinery last fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health said the fines are the highest it's ever levied in connection with a refinery worker's death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA said it discovered the violations after investigating the Nov. 12 death of 35-year-old Luis Gutierrez. The agency said Gutierrez died from asphyxiation when a broken welding torch leaked argon gas into an enclosed \"oxygen-deficient\" area he had just entered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency issued a $528,000 fine to Valero and a $988,000 fine to the Houston-based company Total Safety, one of the outside firms that works in the refinery. It also issued a $135,000 fine to J.T. Thorpe and Son, the Richmond-based company that employed Gutierrez, and a $101,000 fine to T.R.S.C., a Vallejo-based firm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firms were cited for varying numbers of violations, with three of the four companies alleged to have committed \"serious and willful\" violations — Cal/OSHA's most severe category of infraction. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The alleged safety breaches include failure to repair the broken welding apparatus; failure to test and monitor conditions in the enclosed space where Gutierrez died; and failure to equip the team that retrieved Gutierrez with the appropriate breathing apparatus and other safety equipment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It appears that this was a classic case of poor communications and poor attention to details,\" said Craig Peters, an attorney specializing in workplace accidents at San Francisco's Altair Law, who reviewed the state investigation's summary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The circumstances indicate a serious inattention to basic safety protocols when dealing with dangerous confined spaces and gases that can be deadly,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal/OSHA's summary of the incident, night-shift crews were getting ready to do welding in a part of the refinery called a regenerator, and the welding area needed to be cleaned up first. Gutierrez, a member of the union Laborers' Local 130, based in Southern California, entered the regenerator at about 11:15 p.m. to see how much cleanup was needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutierrez apparently lost consciousness as he climbed down a ladder into the regenerator. He fell backward, was caught by a retractable lanyard connected to his work harness, and was then suspended in midair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fellow workers tried to wake him by shaking the lanyard, Cal/OSHA's report said. They called a refinery emergency rescue team, who retrieved him. That team, along with Benicia firefighters, tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal workplace regulators say argon — the gas that allegedly leaked from a broken welding torch — \"\u003ca href=\"https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA_FS-3647_Welding.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">can lead to suffocation\u003c/a>\" when it's used for welding in enclosed spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA said Valero knew at some point that an employee inside the enclosed area where the accident took place had felt dizzy. Regulators say the refinery failed to ensure the use of respiratory protective equipment in the area and failed to identify respiratory hazards in its workplace, among other violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said Total Safety failed to provide the proper equipment at the work site and did not ensure the area was safe for crews. It also said the company did not keep track of who was at the site and allowed unauthorized people in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators say T.R.S.C. should have made sure the welding torch was repaired or moved it away from where crews were working. They say J.T. Thorpe should have tested conditions in the area before allowing Gutierrez to enter the area where he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas B. Song, an attorney representing T.R.S.C., said in an email the company is \"currently considering its options, including appeal of the citations.\" He added that the company \"believes very strongly that the safety and health of its employees is of paramount importance and concern, and is confident in its safety protocols.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three other companies cited in Cal/OSHA's investigation did not reply immediately to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last fatal oil refinery incident in California took place in July 2019 at the Torrance Refining Co. facility in suburban Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that incident, a J.T. Thorpe worker was doing maintenance and repairs on a storage tank when part of a device used to lift the tank's roof struck and killed him. Cal/OSHA fined J.T. Thorpe $70,000. The company filed an appeal, which is ongoing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Officials in Benicia and Solano County want to know why Valero’s oil refinery there was able to release excessive levels of hazardous chemicals for more than 15 years before regional air regulators discovered the emissions — and why those regulators failed for another three years to alert local communities to the potential danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area Air Quality Management District investigation launched in November 2018 found that one refinery unit produced pollutant emissions that were, on average, hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emissions consisted of a variety of “precursor organic compounds,” or POCs, including benzene and other toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district rule limits the release of such compounds to 15 pounds a day and a maximum concentration of 300 parts per million. The district’s investigation found that from December 2015 through December 2018, POC emissions averaged 5,200 pounds a day — nearly 350 times the daily limit. The average POC concentration recorded during the first year of that period was 19,148 parts per million, more than 60 times the level set by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906319\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 940px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11906319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\" alt=\"Map showing location of Valero's Benicia refinery\" width=\"940\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png 940w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-800x839.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-160x168.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those findings led the air district to issue a notice of violation to Valero in March 2019. But it wasn’t until late last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2022/hbvalero_220124_2022_005-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the agency went public\u003c/a> and announced it would seek to impose \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21273425/baaqmd-valero-stipulated-order-of-abatement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an abatement order\u003c/a> requiring the refinery to halt the excessive pollution releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the first I had heard of it,” said Benicia Mayor Steve Young, one of four members of the city council who say they want to know why the community was not told earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been notified by the air district when this was first discovered in 2019, and certainly while negotiations with Valero were going on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County agency responsible for inspecting the Valero refinery and investigating incidents there says it was also left out of the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Ambrose, a hazardous materials specialist with the county’s Environmental Health Division, said in an email his agency “was never formally notified by or requested to participate in BAAQMD’s emissions investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A health risk assessment carried out by the air district in 2019 found that the refinery’s release of benzene and other pollutants posed an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health threats and violated several agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas told KQED that because the wind often pushes refinery emissions away from Benicia, the refinery’s prolonged pollution releases didn’t likely pose any extreme risk to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it doesn’t excuse the process. It doesn’t excuse the failure to adhere to standards and it doesn’t provide any excuse for the fact that the city of Benicia was put at some risk as a result of these emissions,” Matyas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district, which plans to hold a \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/news-and-events/workshops?event=d7aa32de-98c2-4541-8a5a-b8d1c7673fd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual public workshop\u003c/a> on the Valero releases on Thursday night, is defending its decision to not alert local officials earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To protect the integrity of the air district’s investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable, we were not able to notify the city of Benicia until the investigation was concluded,” district spokesperson Kristine Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward, the air district is committed to additional transparency around these types of ongoing violations, to putting companies in front of our hearing board in a public forum where information can be shared, and working to ensure these types of cases are brought into that forum as quickly as possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing board Roselius referred to is an independent panel created under state law to rule on issues that arise at individual facilities that the air district regulates. The board is scheduled to consider the district’s abatement order at \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/hearing-board/misc/valero-hearing-board-case-feb-2022/hearing-board-fact-sheet_2_14_22_proof-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an all-day public session on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Coverage\" tag=\"valero\"]At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but demand for it throughout the refinery fluctuates. When the supply of hydrogen in the system is higher than the demand for it, the refinery vents the unneeded gas into the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says that soon after it launched its investigation in late 2018, it discovered that Valero had known since 2003 that the refinery was venting hydrogen that contained a range of regulated pollutants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Valero devised a workaround that reduced emissions significantly but still failed to bring them within allowable limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s proposed abatement order would set up a timeline for the company to design and build a new vent system to bring the facility into compliance, with the work completed no later than the facility’s next “turnaround” — the industry term for a refinery-wide maintenance shutdown.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia City Council has asked Valero executives and air district officials to answer questions at its \u003ca href=\"https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/b50b09eaf4e7a188f73586983b664a010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 1 council meeting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and council members Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada all say they want to know how the emissions went undetected for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to know how it was missed when Valero has had two or three full plant turnarounds since 2003 and the air board is out there every week,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Valero representative responded to a request for comment by referring KQED to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Press_Release_-_BAAQMD_Valero_Stipulated_Order_01.25.22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a city of Benicia press release\u003c/a> that includes the air district’s proposed abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says it’s consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether the Valero releases violated federal law. It’s unclear when the EPA learned of the refinery problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia facility has been the subject of repeated scrutiny for past problems, leading to investigations by not only air regulators but also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11771298/solano-county-says-valero-violated-state-regulations-in-march-refinery-shutdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">county hazardous materials specialists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the California Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Local officials want to know why the refinery's excessive pollution releases went undetected for 15 years — and why air regulators didn't inform them. The air district plans to hold a virtual public workshop on the releases Thursday night. ",
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"title": "'First I Had Heard of It': Valero's Benicia Refinery Secretly Released Toxic Chemicals for Years | KQED",
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"headline": "'First I Had Heard of It': Valero's Benicia Refinery Secretly Released Toxic Chemicals for Years",
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"subhead": "The Air District is revealing more about Valero's years long refinery gases venting problem. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Officials in Benicia and Solano County want to know why Valero’s oil refinery there was able to release excessive levels of hazardous chemicals for more than 15 years before regional air regulators discovered the emissions — and why those regulators failed for another three years to alert local communities to the potential danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area Air Quality Management District investigation launched in November 2018 found that one refinery unit produced pollutant emissions that were, on average, hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emissions consisted of a variety of “precursor organic compounds,” or POCs, including benzene and other toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district rule limits the release of such compounds to 15 pounds a day and a maximum concentration of 300 parts per million. The district’s investigation found that from December 2015 through December 2018, POC emissions averaged 5,200 pounds a day — nearly 350 times the daily limit. The average POC concentration recorded during the first year of that period was 19,148 parts per million, more than 60 times the level set by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906319\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 940px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11906319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\" alt=\"Map showing location of Valero's Benicia refinery\" width=\"940\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png 940w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-800x839.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-160x168.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those findings led the air district to issue a notice of violation to Valero in March 2019. But it wasn’t until late last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2022/hbvalero_220124_2022_005-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the agency went public\u003c/a> and announced it would seek to impose \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21273425/baaqmd-valero-stipulated-order-of-abatement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an abatement order\u003c/a> requiring the refinery to halt the excessive pollution releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the first I had heard of it,” said Benicia Mayor Steve Young, one of four members of the city council who say they want to know why the community was not told earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been notified by the air district when this was first discovered in 2019, and certainly while negotiations with Valero were going on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County agency responsible for inspecting the Valero refinery and investigating incidents there says it was also left out of the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Ambrose, a hazardous materials specialist with the county’s Environmental Health Division, said in an email his agency “was never formally notified by or requested to participate in BAAQMD’s emissions investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A health risk assessment carried out by the air district in 2019 found that the refinery’s release of benzene and other pollutants posed an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health threats and violated several agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas told KQED that because the wind often pushes refinery emissions away from Benicia, the refinery’s prolonged pollution releases didn’t likely pose any extreme risk to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it doesn’t excuse the process. It doesn’t excuse the failure to adhere to standards and it doesn’t provide any excuse for the fact that the city of Benicia was put at some risk as a result of these emissions,” Matyas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district, which plans to hold a \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/news-and-events/workshops?event=d7aa32de-98c2-4541-8a5a-b8d1c7673fd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual public workshop\u003c/a> on the Valero releases on Thursday night, is defending its decision to not alert local officials earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To protect the integrity of the air district’s investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable, we were not able to notify the city of Benicia until the investigation was concluded,” district spokesperson Kristine Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward, the air district is committed to additional transparency around these types of ongoing violations, to putting companies in front of our hearing board in a public forum where information can be shared, and working to ensure these types of cases are brought into that forum as quickly as possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing board Roselius referred to is an independent panel created under state law to rule on issues that arise at individual facilities that the air district regulates. The board is scheduled to consider the district’s abatement order at \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/hearing-board/misc/valero-hearing-board-case-feb-2022/hearing-board-fact-sheet_2_14_22_proof-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an all-day public session on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but demand for it throughout the refinery fluctuates. When the supply of hydrogen in the system is higher than the demand for it, the refinery vents the unneeded gas into the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says that soon after it launched its investigation in late 2018, it discovered that Valero had known since 2003 that the refinery was venting hydrogen that contained a range of regulated pollutants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Valero devised a workaround that reduced emissions significantly but still failed to bring them within allowable limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s proposed abatement order would set up a timeline for the company to design and build a new vent system to bring the facility into compliance, with the work completed no later than the facility’s next “turnaround” — the industry term for a refinery-wide maintenance shutdown.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia City Council has asked Valero executives and air district officials to answer questions at its \u003ca href=\"https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/b50b09eaf4e7a188f73586983b664a010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 1 council meeting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and council members Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada all say they want to know how the emissions went undetected for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to know how it was missed when Valero has had two or three full plant turnarounds since 2003 and the air board is out there every week,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Valero representative responded to a request for comment by referring KQED to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Press_Release_-_BAAQMD_Valero_Stipulated_Order_01.25.22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a city of Benicia press release\u003c/a> that includes the air district’s proposed abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says it’s consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether the Valero releases violated federal law. It’s unclear when the EPA learned of the refinery problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia facility has been the subject of repeated scrutiny for past problems, leading to investigations by not only air regulators but also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11771298/solano-county-says-valero-violated-state-regulations-in-march-refinery-shutdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">county hazardous materials specialists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the California Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Benicia Considers Proposal for City Hall to Fact-Check Political Ads During Elections",
"title": "Benicia Considers Proposal for City Hall to Fact-Check Political Ads During Elections",
"headTitle": "KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Benicia lawmakers are considering a proposal that could eventually require the city to fact-check political campaign advertisements — a novel response to alleged election misinformation that could face legal scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance comes after a political action committee funded by Valero, the oil giant that runs a refinery in town, tried to influence voters in the last two city council elections. The company's involvement in city politics also came as the Valero plant experienced two of the region's worst refinery accidents in the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1094721/Staff_Report_-_Consider_Updates_to_Campaign_Ordinances.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ordinance\u003c/a> was co-authored by Mayor Steve Young, whom the Valero PAC opposed in the last election. He said the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Working_Families_for_a_Strong_Benicia_496_7.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">committee\u003c/a> put out ads that manipulated photos of him and distorted his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11843632\" label=\"Related Posts\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Young said, the city should consider whether its campaign regulations \"can be amended to prohibit digital or voice manipulation of images and whether any lying can be prohibited.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PAC, dubbed Working Families for a Strong Benicia, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 2018 and 2020 city council elections. Both votes revived debate between some city officials and environmentalists on one side, who want more regulations on the refinery, and oil executives and unionized refinery workers on the other, who say they fear the city's real motivation is to shut the plant down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two candidates backed by the PAC\u003c/a>, which is also funded by several labor organizations allied with the refinery, won seats on the Benicia City Council. Another candidate, an environmentalist who was opposed by the committee, lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Young won the mayor's race \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843632/valero-funded-pac-pours-more-than-250000-into-benicia-mayors-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">despite the PAC's opposition\u003c/a> to his candidacy. The ads said that he was against affordable housing and that he didn't need a job because he receives a pension from previous local government work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor said he does want cheaper housing and there's nothing wrong with receiving a pension. He said Valero's opposition to him began in 2016, when the Benicia Planning Commission, which Young was a member of, voted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2016/02/12/benicia-commissioners-deny-valeros-crude-by-rail-application/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reject the company's crude-by-rail proposal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young wants to turn Benicia into a place where young families can't afford to live and work,\" one flier stated. \"Who would vote against kids playing at the ballpark? Steve Young did,\" another one said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young and the proposal's co-author, Councilmember Tom Campbell, said the ads mean the city should do a better job of making sure future elections are fair and honest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jessica Levinson, Loyola Marymount University professor\"]'We know the First Amendment does in fact protect lies. I think this is absolutely open to a legal challenge the second they pass it, if they do.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But turning the government into a fact-checking body would be ripe for a legal challenge, according to Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University professor specializing in election law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We know the First Amendment does in fact protect lies,\" Levinson said in an interview. \"I think this is absolutely open to a legal challenge the second they pass it, if they do.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Who decides what's an embellishment, what's misleading, what's just an omission versus what's actually a lie?\" Levinson asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 2016 election and the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, misinformation has become one of the biggest issues in American politics, said Levinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are tackling a situation where there are more lies and there's more technology that allows us to lie than for sure the framers every dreamed of,\" she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the local news industry, which traditionally acts like a fact-checking body, has been decimated. Benicia gets some news coverage but is often overshadowed by larger Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jessica Levinson, Loyola Marymount University professor\"]'One of the things that keeps me up at night is not just misinformation and disinformation and the fact that people believe it, but the fact that we have a dwindling press corps and particularly in smaller jurisdictions.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"One of the things that keeps me up at night is not just misinformation and disinformation and the fact that people believe it, but the fact that we have a dwindling press corps and particularly in smaller jurisdictions,\" Levinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details over how the city would fact-check political ads has yet to be worked out. The proposal, set to go before the city council on Tuesday, would forward the issue to Benicia's Open Government Commission, a body that would consider changing the city's election campaign regulations. The commission would work on new rules and forward them to the city council next April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero fought with the city's last mayor, Elizabeth Patterson, after she called for more regulations to be placed on the refinery following a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 2017 power outage\u003c/a> that led to a major release of toxic sulfur dioxide and prompted emergency shelter-in-place orders. Less than two years later, the plant had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a series of malfunctions\u003c/a> that led to another significant pollution release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Kaune, the PAC's treasurer and head of political law at Nielsen Merksamer, a Sacramento-based lobbying firm, declined to comment. Representatives for Valero and unions that supported the committee did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The ordinance comes after a political action committee funded by Valero, the oil giant that runs a refinery in town, tried to influence voters in the last two city council elections. But turning the government into a fact-checking body would be ripe for a legal challenge, according to an elections expert.",
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"subhead": "Benicia's mayor says a Valero PAC lied in the last election.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Benicia lawmakers are considering a proposal that could eventually require the city to fact-check political campaign advertisements — a novel response to alleged election misinformation that could face legal scrutiny.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ordinance comes after a political action committee funded by Valero, the oil giant that runs a refinery in town, tried to influence voters in the last two city council elections. The company's involvement in city politics also came as the Valero plant experienced two of the region's worst refinery accidents in the last four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1094721/Staff_Report_-_Consider_Updates_to_Campaign_Ordinances.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ordinance\u003c/a> was co-authored by Mayor Steve Young, whom the Valero PAC opposed in the last election. He said the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Working_Families_for_a_Strong_Benicia_496_7.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">committee\u003c/a> put out ads that manipulated photos of him and distorted his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Young said, the city should consider whether its campaign regulations \"can be amended to prohibit digital or voice manipulation of images and whether any lying can be prohibited.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PAC, dubbed Working Families for a Strong Benicia, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 2018 and 2020 city council elections. Both votes revived debate between some city officials and environmentalists on one side, who want more regulations on the refinery, and oil executives and unionized refinery workers on the other, who say they fear the city's real motivation is to shut the plant down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two candidates backed by the PAC\u003c/a>, which is also funded by several labor organizations allied with the refinery, won seats on the Benicia City Council. Another candidate, an environmentalist who was opposed by the committee, lost.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Young won the mayor's race \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843632/valero-funded-pac-pours-more-than-250000-into-benicia-mayors-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">despite the PAC's opposition\u003c/a> to his candidacy. The ads said that he was against affordable housing and that he didn't need a job because he receives a pension from previous local government work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor said he does want cheaper housing and there's nothing wrong with receiving a pension. He said Valero's opposition to him began in 2016, when the Benicia Planning Commission, which Young was a member of, voted to \u003ca href=\"https://www.marinij.com/2016/02/12/benicia-commissioners-deny-valeros-crude-by-rail-application/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reject the company's crude-by-rail proposal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young wants to turn Benicia into a place where young families can't afford to live and work,\" one flier stated. \"Who would vote against kids playing at the ballpark? Steve Young did,\" another one said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young and the proposal's co-author, Councilmember Tom Campbell, said the ads mean the city should do a better job of making sure future elections are fair and honest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But turning the government into a fact-checking body would be ripe for a legal challenge, according to Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Marymount University professor specializing in election law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We know the First Amendment does in fact protect lies,\" Levinson said in an interview. \"I think this is absolutely open to a legal challenge the second they pass it, if they do.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Who decides what's an embellishment, what's misleading, what's just an omission versus what's actually a lie?\" Levinson asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 2016 election and the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency, misinformation has become one of the biggest issues in American politics, said Levinson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are tackling a situation where there are more lies and there's more technology that allows us to lie than for sure the framers every dreamed of,\" she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the local news industry, which traditionally acts like a fact-checking body, has been decimated. Benicia gets some news coverage but is often overshadowed by larger Bay Area cities like San Francisco and Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"One of the things that keeps me up at night is not just misinformation and disinformation and the fact that people believe it, but the fact that we have a dwindling press corps and particularly in smaller jurisdictions,\" Levinson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details over how the city would fact-check political ads has yet to be worked out. The proposal, set to go before the city council on Tuesday, would forward the issue to Benicia's Open Government Commission, a body that would consider changing the city's election campaign regulations. The commission would work on new rules and forward them to the city council next April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero fought with the city's last mayor, Elizabeth Patterson, after she called for more regulations to be placed on the refinery following a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 2017 power outage\u003c/a> that led to a major release of toxic sulfur dioxide and prompted emergency shelter-in-place orders. Less than two years later, the plant had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a series of malfunctions\u003c/a> that led to another significant pollution release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Kaune, the PAC's treasurer and head of political law at Nielsen Merksamer, a Sacramento-based lobbying firm, declined to comment. Representatives for Valero and unions that supported the committee did not respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "‘We Could Not Wait for the County': Benicia Passes Its Own Mask Mandate",
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"content": "\u003cp>In early August, 8 Bay Area counties reinstated mask mandates in indoor public spaces due to the spread of the Delta variant. Solano County was the only one that didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the city of Benicia broke with the county by approving — by a unanimous city council vote — its own indoor mask mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, we speak with the city’s mayor about this decision, and what it says about differences within Solano County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Guest\u003c/strong>: Steve Young, Mayor of Benicia\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Episode transcript \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/38oe6VJ\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC7241038231&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Follow \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/the-bay\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Bay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452?mt=2\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spotify\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stitcher\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, NPR One or via \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/KQED-The-Bay-Flash-Briefing/dp/B07H6YYV23\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alexa\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"description": "In early August, 8 Bay Area counties reinstated mask mandates in indoor public spaces due to the spread of the Delta variant. Solano County was the only one that didn't. Last week, the city of Benicia broke with the county by approving — by a unanimous city council vote — its own indoor mask mandate.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In early August, 8 Bay Area counties reinstated mask mandates in indoor public spaces due to the spread of the Delta variant. Solano County was the only one that didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the city of Benicia broke with the county by approving — by a unanimous city council vote — its own indoor mask mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, we speak with the city’s mayor about this decision, and what it says about differences within Solano County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Guest\u003c/strong>: Steve Young, Mayor of Benicia\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Episode transcript \u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/38oe6VJ\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Election 2020: State and Local Results\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before Election Day, more than 12 million ballots had already been cast in California, a record early turnout in an election year upended by a pandemic that led officials to mail ballots to all registered voters in the state. In addition to the presidential race, where Democratic candidate Joe Biden won roughly twice as many votes as President Trump, state voters also weighed in on a dozen state ballot measures on issues ranging from criminal justice reform to rent control and the gig economy. Voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 22, an initiative that app-based companies Uber, Lyft and DoorDash spent more than $200 million on to keep their drivers classified as independent contractors instead of employees. Voters also passed Proposition 17 to allow people on parole for felony convictions the right to vote, but they rejected Proposition 25, which would have ended cash bail in California. In the Bay Area, six criminal justice measures have large leads, potentially boosting public oversight and accountability of local law enforcement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Guests:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scott Shafer, KQED politics and government senior editor \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marisa Lagos, KQED politics and government correspondent \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Election 2020: Fight for the White House\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of Friday afternoon, the outcome of the presidential race was still too close to call as counting continued in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden led in all four states although his razor-thin lead in Georgia will trigger a recount, according to state officials. Biden also leads President Trump by more than 4 million in the popular vote and now boasts the largest number of votes cast for a U.S. presidential candidate, a record first set by Barack Obama in 2008. President Trump meanwhile has made baseless assertions from the White House and on Twitter alleging widespread voter fraud and accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election as his campaign has filed a flurry of lawsuits to halt or challenge ballot counting in battleground states, along with demanding a recount in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Democrats failed to expand their majority in the House and face an increasingly narrow path to winning control of the U.S. Senate despite flipping seats in Colorado and Arizona. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guests:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lanhee Chen, fellow, Hoover Institution\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jessica Levinson, professor, Loyola Law School \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Benicia\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We end the show this week with a visit to Benicia, a charming town in the North Bay that served as the state capital from 1853 to 1854 before it moved to Sacramento. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Election 2020: State and Local Results\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even before Election Day, more than 12 million ballots had already been cast in California, a record early turnout in an election year upended by a pandemic that led officials to mail ballots to all registered voters in the state. In addition to the presidential race, where Democratic candidate Joe Biden won roughly twice as many votes as President Trump, state voters also weighed in on a dozen state ballot measures on issues ranging from criminal justice reform to rent control and the gig economy. Voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 22, an initiative that app-based companies Uber, Lyft and DoorDash spent more than $200 million on to keep their drivers classified as independent contractors instead of employees. Voters also passed Proposition 17 to allow people on parole for felony convictions the right to vote, but they rejected Proposition 25, which would have ended cash bail in California. In the Bay Area, six criminal justice measures have large leads, potentially boosting public oversight and accountability of local law enforcement. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Guests:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scott Shafer, KQED politics and government senior editor \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Marisa Lagos, KQED politics and government correspondent \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Election 2020: Fight for the White House\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of Friday afternoon, the outcome of the presidential race was still too close to call as counting continued in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden led in all four states although his razor-thin lead in Georgia will trigger a recount, according to state officials. Biden also leads President Trump by more than 4 million in the popular vote and now boasts the largest number of votes cast for a U.S. presidential candidate, a record first set by Barack Obama in 2008. President Trump meanwhile has made baseless assertions from the White House and on Twitter alleging widespread voter fraud and accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election as his campaign has filed a flurry of lawsuits to halt or challenge ballot counting in battleground states, along with demanding a recount in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Democrats failed to expand their majority in the House and face an increasingly narrow path to winning control of the U.S. Senate despite flipping seats in Colorado and Arizona. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guests:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lanhee Chen, fellow, Hoover Institution\u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jessica Levinson, professor, Loyola Law School \u003c/span>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Something Beautiful: Benicia\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We end the show this week with a visit to Benicia, a charming town in the North Bay that served as the state capital from 1853 to 1854 before it moved to Sacramento. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Benicia Councilman Steve Young, a candidate attacked by a political action committee funded mainly by the Valero Energy company, will be the city’s new mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843632/valero-funded-pac-pours-more-than-250000-into-benicia-mayors-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Working Families for a Strong Benicia PAC\u003c/a> raised more than $250,000 to defeat Young and support Councilwoman Christina Strawbridge. The committee said Young would put blue collar jobs, like those at Valero’s Benicia refinery, at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city’s voters were not swayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Young leading the race with \u003ca href=\"https://www.livevoterturnout.com/SolanoCA/LiveResults/en/Index_6.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">close to 52% of the vote\u003c/a>, Strawbridge, who garnered about 31%, conceded the election Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe the voters reacted strongly against the negative ads and mailers that the Valero-funded PAC tried to use against me,” Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hopefully, Valero will learn the obvious lesson from this result: Interference in Benicia elections will be rejected in the future as well,” Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/TedrickG/status/1324030762966900737?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge called Young’s election a “decisive victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Congratulations to him,” Strawbridge said, adding that the two lawmakers exchanged text messages Wednesday morning. “Even though it was a tough election, we have and will work together for Benicia.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Valero has donated $240,000 to the political action committee targeting Young. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 549 donated some $50,000 as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same PAC \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spent thousands\u003c/a> to help Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada win seats on the Benicia City Council, and to defeat Kari Birdseye, who chairs the city’s Planning Commission and was a member of the same panel that denied Valero’s crude-by-rail expansion project in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young will take over from Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, a critic of Valero who has served in Benicia city government for two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson had become increasingly outspoken about efforts to place more regulations on the Valero plant, scene of the two worst refinery accidents in the Bay Area in the last three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that Young withstood the Valero PAC’s campaign is hugely significant, according to Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, who focuses on oil politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means that Benicia voters are willing to take their climate future into their own hands and are going to resist efforts by oil companies to control local politics,” Mildenberger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>— Ted Goldberg (\u003ca href=\"http://@TedrickG\">@TedrickG\u003c/a>)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Benicia Councilman Steve Young, a candidate attacked by a political action committee funded mainly by the Valero Energy company, will be the city’s new mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11843632/valero-funded-pac-pours-more-than-250000-into-benicia-mayors-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Working Families for a Strong Benicia PAC\u003c/a> raised more than $250,000 to defeat Young and support Councilwoman Christina Strawbridge. The committee said Young would put blue collar jobs, like those at Valero’s Benicia refinery, at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city’s voters were not swayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Young leading the race with \u003ca href=\"https://www.livevoterturnout.com/SolanoCA/LiveResults/en/Index_6.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">close to 52% of the vote\u003c/a>, Strawbridge, who garnered about 31%, conceded the election Wednesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe the voters reacted strongly against the negative ads and mailers that the Valero-funded PAC tried to use against me,” Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hopefully, Valero will learn the obvious lesson from this result: Interference in Benicia elections will be rejected in the future as well,” Young said.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge called Young’s election a “decisive victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Congratulations to him,” Strawbridge said, adding that the two lawmakers exchanged text messages Wednesday morning. “Even though it was a tough election, we have and will work together for Benicia.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Valero has donated $240,000 to the political action committee targeting Young. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 549 donated some $50,000 as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same PAC \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spent thousands\u003c/a> to help Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada win seats on the Benicia City Council, and to defeat Kari Birdseye, who chairs the city’s Planning Commission and was a member of the same panel that denied Valero’s crude-by-rail expansion project in 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young will take over from Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, a critic of Valero who has served in Benicia city government for two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson had become increasingly outspoken about efforts to place more regulations on the Valero plant, scene of the two worst refinery accidents in the Bay Area in the last three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that Young withstood the Valero PAC’s campaign is hugely significant, according to Matto Mildenberger, an assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, who focuses on oil politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It means that Benicia voters are willing to take their climate future into their own hands and are going to resist efforts by oil companies to control local politics,” Mildenberger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>— Ted Goldberg (\u003ca href=\"http://@TedrickG\">@TedrickG\u003c/a>)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A political action committee funded mainly by the Valero Energy company has raised more than a quarter-million dollars to convince Benicia residents to vote for its preferred candidate in the city's mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Antonio-based oil giant runs the Benicia refinery, one of California's largest, which is located in the small Solano County city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Christina Strawbridge, Benicia city councilwoman and mayoral candidate\"]'Once again, Valero has gone after my opponent with negative ads. That does not work in Benicia.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contributions to the Working Families for a Strong Benicia PAC represent four times the total combined amount raised from individual donations by the city's three mayoral candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the mayor's race, Valero and one of its allied unions are supporting \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Christina_Strawbridge_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christina Strawbridge\u003c/a>, a councilwoman and vice mayor, against Councilman \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Steve_Young_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Young\u003c/a> — both Democrats — funding phone polls, digital ads and mailers and reigniting a debate over the city's future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Valero has donated $240,000 to the committee. The donations come two years after the Valero-funded PAC spent thousands to help Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">win seats\u003c/a> on the Benicia City Council and defeat Kari Birdseye, an environmentalist candidate who supported tighter regulation of the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PAC also received a $25,000 contribution from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Lodge 549 in what the union calls an effort to stop \"coastal politicians\" from killing manufacturing jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young wants Benicia to be a town where tech professionals buy a latte and telecommute. Christina Strawbridge wants it to be a place where our members who live in Benicia, who come home from work dirty and tired, can continue to raise their families, too,\" said Timothy Jefferies, the union's business manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia's current mayor and one of Valero's leading critics, is leaving office after serving in that position for 13 years and on the City Council for 17 years prior to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The election arrives as Valero and other oil companies that produce and process petroleum in California face declining sales because of the coronavirus pandemic and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11841676/behind-the-battle-for-the-future-of-californias-oil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">increasing calls\u003c/a> for the state to move away from fossil fuels as it battles climate change-driven wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839077/strong-california-gas-demand-unlikely-to-return-as-even-refineries-go-renewable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">gasoline demand dropping\u003c/a>, two of the Bay Area's refineries, the Marathon plant in Martinez and Phillips 66 in Rodeo, are shifting to producing renewable fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Thursday, Valero announced a \u003ca href=\"https://investorvalero.com/news/news-details/2020/Valero-Energy-Reports-Third-Quarter-2020-Results/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">loss of $464 million in the third quarter\u003c/a> of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two worst refinery accidents in the Bay Area in the last three years took place at Valero's Benicia refinery. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A May 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power outage at the refinery\u003c/a> led to a major release of toxic sulfur, prompting city leaders to call for an industrial safety ordinance. In March 2019, the plant had a series of malfunctions that led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another significant pollution release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson and Young have since pushed for the city to have more regulatory control over the refinery. Attacks from the Valero PAC followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young doesn't need a job because he is supported by the taxpayers of California. He has no reason to protect Benicia's jobs and tax base,\" states one of the recent mailers from the Valero PAC that was widely distributed to Benicia voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Christina is a local business owner and knows how important it is to keep Benicia working. Now, more than ever, we need leaders like Christina Strawbridge,\" it states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia residents have also received several rounds of calls paid for by the Valero-funded PAC, aimed at convincing voters to back Strawbridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Young: 'Leave it to Benicia Voters'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Young says he's not against the refinery, noting that it's a major part of Benicia's economy and that Valero frequently contributes to \"worthy local causes.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the PAC is targeting him because he led a Planning Commission vote several years ago that ultimately led to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=B7EDC93A-FFF0-4A14-9B1A-1C8563BC256A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejection of Valero's crude-by-rail application\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Their ongoing attempts to influence the makeup of the City Council go far beyond normal corporate interest in local affairs,\" Young said in an email. \"Leave it to Benicia voters to elect their own representatives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says he wants the company to be more transparent about problems and accidents at the refinery and to send out immediate alerts to Benicia residents when accidents occur. He also says the city should have stronger air quality monitoring systems in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The relationship between Valero and the community is strained,\" Young said, adding that city officials and refinery executives can change that by holding monthly meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says he's a stronger candidate than Strawbridge because of his career working in local government and his better understanding of how to address problems facing the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Strawbridge: 'Heal the Divide'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge says that since she was elected to the City Council in 2018, relations between Benicia and the refinery have improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She notes that while the city did not put in place the more stringent regulations that Young and Patterson wanted, Benicia reached an agreement with Valero that includes the addition of portable air monitors, notifications during hazardous material incidents and increased disclosure on incident investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"valero\"]But she also acknowledges that the campaign work by the company's PAC is not helping the two sides get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The relationship needs to improve and may have had a setback with this election cycle and Valero's formation of a PAC,\" Strawbridge said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There is now a continued lack of trust within the community about the methods used during the election that were similar to 2018,\" she added. \"Once again, Valero has gone after my opponent with negative ads. That does not work in Benicia.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge believes the pushback from Valero's critics has also gone too far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There has been a concerted effort to discredit me on social media and the local paper by supporters of my opponent,\" Strawbridge said. \"As mayor of Benicia, I plan to heal the divide our city has experienced for many years.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge touts her experience promoting nonprofits, preserving historic buildings and advocating for parks and local tourism. She says her background in small business will help guide the city through the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third mayoral candidate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Jason_Diavatis_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Diavatis\u003c/a>, who has not been supported or opposed by the Valero PAC, did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Influence in California\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Valero's donations to the PAC represent just one place the oil company has made campaign contributions to influence California races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil giant and its various political action committees have contributed at least $14.1 million to California groups and congressional candidates in the state since 2015, according to a review of state and federal campaign finance data by \u003ca href=\"https://maplight.org/data/\">MapLight\u003c/a>, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that follows money in politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Kaune, the Benicia PAC's treasurer and head of political law at Nielsen Merksamer, a Sacramento-based lobbying firm, declined to comment. A Valero spokeswoman also did not return a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11700855/valero-backed-group-spends-heavily-to-sway-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">work of a similar PAC in the 2018 election\u003c/a> led to a significant divide in Benicia, pitting environmentalists against refinery workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that election, the city filed a complaint with state campaign finance regulators, alleging that Valero sponsored a so-called push poll intended to negatively characterize Birdseye, the environmental candidate. The state's Fair Political Practices Commission, though, declined to investigate the calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute led the City Council to approve stronger disclosure rules for political committees involved in local elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Two years ago, a political action committee funded mostly by the oil giant targeted a Benicia City Council contest. Now it's focused on the mayor's race, with a war chest aimed at electing a candidate friendlier to its interests.",
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"description": "Two years ago, a political action committee funded mostly by the oil giant targeted a Benicia City Council contest. Now it's focused on the mayor's race, with a war chest aimed at electing a candidate friendlier to its interests.",
"title": "Valero-Funded PAC Pours More Than $250,000 Into Benicia Mayor's Race | KQED",
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"headline": "Valero-Funded PAC Pours More Than $250,000 Into Benicia Mayor's Race",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A political action committee funded mainly by the Valero Energy company has raised more than a quarter-million dollars to convince Benicia residents to vote for its preferred candidate in the city's mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Antonio-based oil giant runs the Benicia refinery, one of California's largest, which is located in the small Solano County city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "'Once again, Valero has gone after my opponent with negative ads. That does not work in Benicia.'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contributions to the Working Families for a Strong Benicia PAC represent four times the total combined amount raised from individual donations by the city's three mayoral candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the mayor's race, Valero and one of its allied unions are supporting \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Christina_Strawbridge_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christina Strawbridge\u003c/a>, a councilwoman and vice mayor, against Councilman \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Steve_Young_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Young\u003c/a> — both Democrats — funding phone polls, digital ads and mailers and reigniting a debate over the city's future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Valero has donated $240,000 to the committee. The donations come two years after the Valero-funded PAC spent thousands to help Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11704576/valero-backed-candidates-win-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">win seats\u003c/a> on the Benicia City Council and defeat Kari Birdseye, an environmentalist candidate who supported tighter regulation of the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PAC also received a $25,000 contribution from the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Lodge 549 in what the union calls an effort to stop \"coastal politicians\" from killing manufacturing jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young wants Benicia to be a town where tech professionals buy a latte and telecommute. Christina Strawbridge wants it to be a place where our members who live in Benicia, who come home from work dirty and tired, can continue to raise their families, too,\" said Timothy Jefferies, the union's business manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elizabeth Patterson, Benicia's current mayor and one of Valero's leading critics, is leaving office after serving in that position for 13 years and on the City Council for 17 years prior to that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The election arrives as Valero and other oil companies that produce and process petroleum in California face declining sales because of the coronavirus pandemic and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11841676/behind-the-battle-for-the-future-of-californias-oil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">increasing calls\u003c/a> for the state to move away from fossil fuels as it battles climate change-driven wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839077/strong-california-gas-demand-unlikely-to-return-as-even-refineries-go-renewable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">gasoline demand dropping\u003c/a>, two of the Bay Area's refineries, the Marathon plant in Martinez and Phillips 66 in Rodeo, are shifting to producing renewable fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Thursday, Valero announced a \u003ca href=\"https://investorvalero.com/news/news-details/2020/Valero-Energy-Reports-Third-Quarter-2020-Results/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">loss of $464 million in the third quarter\u003c/a> of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two worst refinery accidents in the Bay Area in the last three years took place at Valero's Benicia refinery. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A May 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power outage at the refinery\u003c/a> led to a major release of toxic sulfur, prompting city leaders to call for an industrial safety ordinance. In March 2019, the plant had a series of malfunctions that led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">another significant pollution release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patterson and Young have since pushed for the city to have more regulatory control over the refinery. Attacks from the Valero PAC followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Steve Young doesn't need a job because he is supported by the taxpayers of California. He has no reason to protect Benicia's jobs and tax base,\" states one of the recent mailers from the Valero PAC that was widely distributed to Benicia voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Christina is a local business owner and knows how important it is to keep Benicia working. Now, more than ever, we need leaders like Christina Strawbridge,\" it states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia residents have also received several rounds of calls paid for by the Valero-funded PAC, aimed at convincing voters to back Strawbridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Young: 'Leave it to Benicia Voters'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Young says he's not against the refinery, noting that it's a major part of Benicia's economy and that Valero frequently contributes to \"worthy local causes.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the PAC is targeting him because he led a Planning Commission vote several years ago that ultimately led to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?SEC=B7EDC93A-FFF0-4A14-9B1A-1C8563BC256A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rejection of Valero's crude-by-rail application\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Their ongoing attempts to influence the makeup of the City Council go far beyond normal corporate interest in local affairs,\" Young said in an email. \"Leave it to Benicia voters to elect their own representatives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says he wants the company to be more transparent about problems and accidents at the refinery and to send out immediate alerts to Benicia residents when accidents occur. He also says the city should have stronger air quality monitoring systems in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The relationship between Valero and the community is strained,\" Young said, adding that city officials and refinery executives can change that by holding monthly meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young says he's a stronger candidate than Strawbridge because of his career working in local government and his better understanding of how to address problems facing the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Strawbridge: 'Heal the Divide'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge says that since she was elected to the City Council in 2018, relations between Benicia and the refinery have improved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She notes that while the city did not put in place the more stringent regulations that Young and Patterson wanted, Benicia reached an agreement with Valero that includes the addition of portable air monitors, notifications during hazardous material incidents and increased disclosure on incident investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But she also acknowledges that the campaign work by the company's PAC is not helping the two sides get along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The relationship needs to improve and may have had a setback with this election cycle and Valero's formation of a PAC,\" Strawbridge said in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There is now a continued lack of trust within the community about the methods used during the election that were similar to 2018,\" she added. \"Once again, Valero has gone after my opponent with negative ads. That does not work in Benicia.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge believes the pushback from Valero's critics has also gone too far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There has been a concerted effort to discredit me on social media and the local paper by supporters of my opponent,\" Strawbridge said. \"As mayor of Benicia, I plan to heal the divide our city has experienced for many years.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strawbridge touts her experience promoting nonprofits, preserving historic buildings and advocating for parks and local tourism. She says her background in small business will help guide the city through the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third mayoral candidate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Jason_Diavatis_Candidate_Statement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Diavatis\u003c/a>, who has not been supported or opposed by the Valero PAC, did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Influence in California\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Valero's donations to the PAC represent just one place the oil company has made campaign contributions to influence California races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil giant and its various political action committees have contributed at least $14.1 million to California groups and congressional candidates in the state since 2015, according to a review of state and federal campaign finance data by \u003ca href=\"https://maplight.org/data/\">MapLight\u003c/a>, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that follows money in politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jason Kaune, the Benicia PAC's treasurer and head of political law at Nielsen Merksamer, a Sacramento-based lobbying firm, declined to comment. A Valero spokeswoman also did not return a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11700855/valero-backed-group-spends-heavily-to-sway-benicia-city-council-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">work of a similar PAC in the 2018 election\u003c/a> led to a significant divide in Benicia, pitting environmentalists against refinery workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that election, the city filed a complaint with state campaign finance regulators, alleging that Valero sponsored a so-called push poll intended to negatively characterize Birdseye, the environmental candidate. The state's Fair Political Practices Commission, though, declined to investigate the calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute led the City Council to approve stronger disclosure rules for political committees involved in local elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "Solano County Says Valero Violated State Regulations in March Refinery Shutdown",
"title": "Solano County Says Valero Violated State Regulations in March Refinery Shutdown",
"headTitle": "The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Solano County inspectors documented a long list of shortcomings and inadequate procedures at Valero's Benicia oil refinery that contributed to a major pollution release from the facility earlier this year, newly released county documents show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county's Department of Resource Management documented violations of eight separate state regulations. The infractions included failure to fix important sensors in a refinery furnace unit, infrequent inspections of key equipment, and failure to have an operating plan in place to deal with unexpected refinery conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano's probe relied in part on \u003ca href=\"http://solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=30736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Valero's root cause analysis\u003c/a> of the shutdown, which found that one of the worst refinery incidents in the Bay Area in years was caused by a mistake made months earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both reports focused on tubes in the refinery's furnace that heat up crude oil before it's routed to other parts of the facility for processing. County and refinery officials say those furnace tubes were damaged during maintenance work last November, which caused the devices to fail and contributed to the plant's malfunctions in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Valero complex ended up belching out a massive amount of black sooty smoke, which led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health concerns\u003c/a> for people living nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[documentcloud url=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6382447-Valero-Benicia-Exceedance-Investigation-Report.html\" responsive=true text=false]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[documentcloud url=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6382464-Solano-County-Valero-Inspection.html\" responsive=true text=false]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refinery's subsequent closure contributed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11745576/valero-restarts-benicia-refinery-helping-to-slow-statewide-gas-price-hike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statewide spike in gasoline prices\u003c/a> and prompted investigations by several government agencies, renewing attention on the refinery two years after a power outage caused a major release of toxic sulfur dioxide in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas declined to comment directly on the company's violations. Instead, she pointed to the company's May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11746990/valero-says-it-faces-342000-in-penalties-over-benicia-refinery-pollution-incident\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it's facing more than $342,000 in fines\u003c/a> in connection with the incident. The company told the SEC it expects to face $242,840 in proposed penalties from Solano County and $100,000 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero's root cause analysis, completed in July, examines a series of problems that led to the refinery malfunctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Company inspections during the refinery shutdown found that furnace tubes were bulging and leaking. Valero says when the facility was restarting a unit last November, a safety valve improperly \"lifted,\" allowing crude oil to bypass one of the refinery's furnaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero says \"it was not appreciated at the time\" that allowing the bypass \"exposed the furnace tubes to elevated temperatures.\" Extreme heat gradually deformed the tubes and allowed a solid substance called petroleum coke to form inside. Valero's analysis concedes that the deteriorating conditions were \"not timely identified and mitigated, leading to the tubes' subsequent failure\" and the March refinery malfunctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County's investigation reported that carbon monoxide and oxygen sensors in the refinery furnace were not operational for at least three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Proper functioning sensors would have provided an indication that the furnace was malfunctioning to Valero staff, allowing them to act sooner to correct the condition and prevent additional release,\" said Terry Schmidtbauer, the county's assistant director of resource management, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The issue with the furnace upset the system,\" Schmidtbauer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those system issues became more evident in early March as two other refinery components experienced problems. One was a fluid coker, which heats up and \"cracks\" the thickest components of crude oil processed at the refinery. Another, a flue gas scrubber, removes fine particles before gases are released from the facility's smokestacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malfunctions with those devices led to an increase in carbon monoxide levels, according to Valero, To reduce those levels, refinery crews ended up increasing the temperature on the furnace tubes, thus accelerating their deterioration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=\"valero\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was little liquid in the tubes, which puts them at risk of damage, according to Professor Eric Smith of Tulane University's Energy Institute, who specializes in refinery operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"One result is thermal degradation of the metal tube,\" said Smith, who reviewed company and county findings. \"Another effect is that the liquid that does make it through the tube is converted into petroleum coke.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That dynamic led to the release of sooty smoke and resulted in elevated levels of particulate matter and a health advisory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County inspectors discovered several problems with lines that carry petroleum coke. On the day the refinery was shut down, one was leaking. Valero staff told Solano officials in April another line had failed five times in the last three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county's Department of Resource Management has ordered Valero to make a series of changes, some of which it has already completed. They include orders to reduce petroleum coke releases, new procedures for preventing the overheating of furnace tubes and increased training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County's Schmidtbauer said the department was still assessing what penalties it will levy against the refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local air regulators issued 12 notices of violation against Valero. Ralph Borrmann, a spokesman for the air district, said the agency's probe is not yet complete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An investigation by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA, is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, according to agency spokesman Frank Polizzi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Solano County inspectors documented a long list of shortcomings and inadequate procedures at Valero's Benicia oil refinery that contributed to a major pollution release from the facility earlier this year, newly released county documents show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county's Department of Resource Management documented violations of eight separate state regulations. The infractions included failure to fix important sensors in a refinery furnace unit, infrequent inspections of key equipment, and failure to have an operating plan in place to deal with unexpected refinery conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano's probe relied in part on \u003ca href=\"http://solanocounty.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=30736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Valero's root cause analysis\u003c/a> of the shutdown, which found that one of the worst refinery incidents in the Bay Area in years was caused by a mistake made months earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both reports focused on tubes in the refinery's furnace that heat up crude oil before it's routed to other parts of the facility for processing. County and refinery officials say those furnace tubes were damaged during maintenance work last November, which caused the devices to fail and contributed to the plant's malfunctions in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Valero complex ended up belching out a massive amount of black sooty smoke, which led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11737076/valeros-pollution-release-exposes-weaknesses-in-benicias-air-monitoring-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health concerns\u003c/a> for people living nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refinery's subsequent closure contributed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11745576/valero-restarts-benicia-refinery-helping-to-slow-statewide-gas-price-hike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statewide spike in gasoline prices\u003c/a> and prompted investigations by several government agencies, renewing attention on the refinery two years after a power outage caused a major release of toxic sulfur dioxide in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero spokeswoman Lillian Riojas declined to comment directly on the company's violations. Instead, she pointed to the company's May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it reported \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11746990/valero-says-it-faces-342000-in-penalties-over-benicia-refinery-pollution-incident\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it's facing more than $342,000 in fines\u003c/a> in connection with the incident. The company told the SEC it expects to face $242,840 in proposed penalties from Solano County and $100,000 from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero's root cause analysis, completed in July, examines a series of problems that led to the refinery malfunctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Company inspections during the refinery shutdown found that furnace tubes were bulging and leaking. Valero says when the facility was restarting a unit last November, a safety valve improperly \"lifted,\" allowing crude oil to bypass one of the refinery's furnaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero says \"it was not appreciated at the time\" that allowing the bypass \"exposed the furnace tubes to elevated temperatures.\" Extreme heat gradually deformed the tubes and allowed a solid substance called petroleum coke to form inside. Valero's analysis concedes that the deteriorating conditions were \"not timely identified and mitigated, leading to the tubes' subsequent failure\" and the March refinery malfunctions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County's investigation reported that carbon monoxide and oxygen sensors in the refinery furnace were not operational for at least three years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Proper functioning sensors would have provided an indication that the furnace was malfunctioning to Valero staff, allowing them to act sooner to correct the condition and prevent additional release,\" said Terry Schmidtbauer, the county's assistant director of resource management, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The issue with the furnace upset the system,\" Schmidtbauer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those system issues became more evident in early March as two other refinery components experienced problems. One was a fluid coker, which heats up and \"cracks\" the thickest components of crude oil processed at the refinery. Another, a flue gas scrubber, removes fine particles before gases are released from the facility's smokestacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Malfunctions with those devices led to an increase in carbon monoxide levels, according to Valero, To reduce those levels, refinery crews ended up increasing the temperature on the furnace tubes, thus accelerating their deterioration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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