VALLEJOAN HONORED

Ruthe Catolico Ashley was one of five honorees at the virtual 2020 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards sponsored by the American Bar Association. One of the other honorees, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, is the wife of Vallejo native, Judge Robert Rigsby. Others include Deborah Epstein, Wendi Lazar and Regina Montoya.

ABA president Patricia Lee Refo called the honorees women trailblazers who have led the profession by example.

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession established the annual awards in 1991 to celebrate female lawyers for their professional accomplishments and support of other women in the legal profession.

Ashley is the executive director emeritus at California LAW, an organization that aims to diversify California’s legal profession by creating a pipeline of students from high schools, community colleges, undergraduate institutions and law schools into law or law-related careers. She previously served as the president and CEO of California ALL, another organization seeking to diversify the legal profession through the educational pipeline.

In 2014, she became the first Filipina and second Asian Pacific American woman elected to the ABA Board of Governors. She is a former chair of the State Bar of California Diversity Pipeline Task Force and helped create its Council on Access and Fairness. She graduated from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law when she was 41, after a successful career in nursing.

The awards are given in honor of Margaret Brent, recognized as the first female lawyer in North America, who arrived in the colonies in 1638. According to an ABA press release, she was involved in 124 court cases in more than eight years and won every one. She also demanded a vote and a voice in the Maryland Assembly, but was denied by the governor.

SOLTRANS GETS GRANT

Solano County Transit (SolTrans) was awarded $1.85 million, its second Federal Transit Administration Revitalize America’s Bus Infrastructure grant. It will provide funding to plan, construct, and install electrical charging infrastructure, including on route charging at the Vallejo Transit Center and Curtola Park and Ride Hub.

SolTrans currently has four all-electric BYD buses in their local fleet and are looking to add an all-electric bus to their SolanoExpress fleet in spring 2021. The new SolanoExprees bus will pilot the electric needs for the express fleet and moving towards the all-electric goal. The SolTrans and Maintenance Facility in Vallejo already houses four chargers, the future of the project includes in-route charging at the transit centers which will allow buses to charge up while they stop to load and unload passengers making service more efficient.

NEW OMBUDSMAN

Brenna Benjamin is the new Community Engagement Coordinator for Ombudsman Services of Contra Costa, Solano and Alameda. Brenna will also oversee the organization’s new Friendly Visiting and Telephone Reassurance Program in Solano County.

Ombudsman Services of Contra Costa, Solano and Alameda:Ombudsman Services is the only organization mandated by law to make unannounced visits to long-term care facilities to ensure that residents are free from abuse and are receiving quality care. All services are free of charge and serve Contra Costa, Solano and Alameda counties. For more information, visit www.ccombudsman.org.