News

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Benicia is known for its numerous parades. Protest marches? Not as much. Until Saturday.

Around 800 residents braved an early morning chill led by students with a NEVER AGAIN banner, getting a jump on the national March for Our Lives with a walk up First Street and speeches at the City Park gazebo.

“Brave students have come together to say ‘enough is enough,’” said Assemblyman Tim Grayson, adding that he appeared in Benicia not as a politician, but as the father of a 16-year-old.

“A parent shouldn’t have to wonder if a child is going to be safe at school,” Grayson said.

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Friday, March 23, 2018

Nancy McFadden, who translated the sweeping agenda of Gov. Jerry Brown's return to power into legislative action and established law as his top advisor, died Thursday after battling ovarian cancer.

In January, she stepped away from her daily state Capitol duties to receive additional medical treatment. A spokesman for the governor said McFadden died Thursday night at her home in Sacramento, surrounded by family and friends.

 

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Thursday, February 15, 2018

For 37 students at Robert Semple Elementary in Benicia, Tina Tran and Robert Mitchum are super heroes.

No, they can’t fly. They don’t have super strength. They certainly can’t change the weather by blinking. And while Tran and Mitchum can’t see the future, they did their part Thursday to make sure the kids could — literally.

As optometrists for the non-profit Vision to Learn, the two were part of the team sent to Semple three weeks ago to screen students for free eyeglasses, returning Thursday afternoon to hand out the actual glasses with an assist from Assemblymember Tim Grayson.

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Thursday, February 1, 2018

A Bay Area lawmaker wants to knock down what he believes is a key barrier to California meeting its ambitious climate change goals: one of the state's most prominent environmental laws.

Assemblyman Tim Grayson (D-Concord) has introduced legislation that aims to make it harder for lawsuits filed under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, to stop construction of roads and public transit.

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Monday, January 29, 2018

Thumping music, balloons, and young women in boas and fairy wings greeted a line of schoolgirls as they filed into the cafeteria.

The mood was festive at Father Keith B. Kenny K-8 School in Oak Park, but the mission was serious: empower Sacramento girls and keep them out of the clutches of sex traffickers.

It was the year’s first meeting at the school for the Shine Program, which was launched three years ago by the nonprofit City of Refuge.

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

Californians experiencing workplace harassment and discrimination could get more time to take legal action.

Assembly Bill 1870, introduced Thursday by a bipartisan group of female lawmakers, would give victims up to three years after harassment occurs to file a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the state agency tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Currently, Californians have one year to submit a claim, the first step before an external investigation, mediation or a lawsuit.

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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Downtown Vallejo is home to a “one-stop” legislators’ shop, as the region’s elected officials now share office space on Virginia Street.

Rep. Mike Thompson, State Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblyman Tim Grayson officially moved in to their new digs at 420 Virginia St. on Tuesday.

“The reason I initiated this was because my Solano County constituents had to pay a toll to see their assembly representative, and that was unacceptable,” Grayson said. “So, I promised during my campaign that I’d have an office in Solano County; Vallejo in particular, so this was about keeping a promise.”

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