VALLEJO – California Forever announced today that the group has collected 20,472 petition signatures for their initiative that would change Solano County zoning laws to accommodate a new city of 400,000 people between Fairfield and Rio Vista. The Silicon Valley billionaire-funded development group turned the signatures in to the Solano County Registrar of Voters on Tuesday, according to county records. The registrar will count the signatures and verify a portion to determine if they are statistically valid. The group needs 13,062 valid signatures in order to qualify for the November ballot. C ..read more

VALLEJO – Civil rights attorneys representing a woman who was Tased by Vallejo police during a traffic stop in 2019 are seeking to depose a recently appointed Solano County Superior Court judge, alleging that during her previous job in the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office she worked to conceal evidence of Vallejo police misconduct. The attorneys are seeking to depose Judge Kelly Trujillo, who was appointed to the court by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year. Trujillo was an assistant city attorney in the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office from 2012 to 2020, where she worked closely with the Vallejo ..read more

VALLEJO – A Vallejo police officer who was arrested in February for allegedly threatening his ex-girlfriend’s life was awarded a “life saving medal” by the Vallejo Police Department this week, the department announced in a social media post. The award was one of several awards and promotions announced by the department on Saturday. An awards ceremony was held at the USA World Classics Event Center in Vallejo on Wednesday, department officials said. Officer Ronald Dupree was one of three recipients of a life-saving medal, according to the department. Dupree was arrested by Oakland police on Fe ..read more

VALLEJO – Walking into the Pergola is like casually stumbling upon a utopian colony. Located a stone’s throw away from Setterquist Park in North Vallejo, the Pergola is an all-age festival wrapped into the yard of a one-story, mid-sized bungalow.  LaRussell, Vallejo’s latest homegrown hip-hop sensation, has been performing in his childhood backyard for over two years. It’s now dubbed the Pergola, and includes a stage designed with the help of Vallejo artist Christian Alberto. During a recent show in April, there were caterers cooking up cajun chicken pasta, a mini merch tent selling crew ..read more

VALLEJO – When Jennifer Artz first heard that the U.S. Supreme Court was going to review a pivotal appellate court ruling that has prevented many cities from issuing citations or arresting people for sleeping on public property, she immediately knew she had to be there in person. On Monday, Artz attended a rally of about 700 people outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to send a message to the justices that criminalizing homelessness will not address the underlying problem, which is the lack of affordable housing across the country.  Artz is a social service worker with the Sola ..read more

VALLEJO — The first “Earth Daze” festival in downtown Vallejo, “Decked Out at the Quarters” on Mare Island,  and Carnalito’s Customs first annual BBQ and car show at Wilson Park all debut this weekend. The Earth Daze festival will celebrate sustainability on Virginia and Marin streets in downtown Vallejo Saturday. The festival will be hosted by OZCAT Radio and will feature cooking demonstrations, poetry readings, yoga classes, a drum circle, environmental vendors, kids’ crafts, and the Obtainium Works Robot Rumble. Also on Saturday, Carnalito’s Customs will host their First Annual BBQ an ..read more

VALLEJO – The Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum’s new board president Maria Stats is brimming with ideas on how to help the museum thrive. She’s emphasizing strong ties with community organizations and activating Vallejo’s youth, both as visitors and volunteers. Stats is also co-founder of On the Fringe Visual and Performing Arts, where for the last nine years she has sought to provide education in theater to Vallejo students and put on plays for adults that highlight marginalized or underrepresented people. On the Fringe has long used the museum as a venue, and now Stats has stepped down ..read more

VALLEJO – The city of Vallejo sued American Canyon and its city councilmembers earlier this month, claiming that a voter initiative inappropriately carved out a special process to sidestep environmental review for a new industrial development over the objections of Vallejo and two environmental groups.  The American Canyon City Council approved the project in March 2023, which would build the Giovannoni Logistics Center, a 163-acre industrial park and distribution hub that consists of 2.4 million square feet of warehouse space with truck bays and railroad access on 208 acres of undisturb ..read more

VALLEJO – As Martha Bolig was leaving a Vacaville Walmart last month, a man stopped her and asked her to sign two petitions. One was to allow a group known as California Forever to rewrite county zoning laws in eastern Solano County to build a new city of 400,000 residents. Bolig said she opposed it, but the man argued she should still sign the petition. “The only way we can for certain knock it down is if we vote and vote against it,” the man said, according to a video of the encounter Bolig posted on Facebook. “If we don’t vote on it, they can go to the courts and say, look, the voters won ..read more

VALLEJO — The annual Spring Carnival comes to Vallejo’s waterfront this week, plus a new play opens at Bay Area Stage, and the Vallejo Symphony will perform “Porgy and Bess” at the Empress Theatre. The carnival by Butler Amusements will open at the Barbara Kondylis Waterfront Park Thursday evening and will run through the weekend. The rides range from gentle merry-go-rounds to whiplash excitement. On Friday, Bay Area Stage Theatre will open the comic play, “The Foreigner,” which will run through May 5. Written by Larry Shue, the author of “The Nerd,” the play demonstrates what can happen when ..read more