Source: Temperature from Apple Weather app and notice from City of Antioch.
4 PM “parade and festivities are moving forward as planned”
City will offer options to beat the heat
By Allen Payton
In a post on its Facebook page today, Tuesday, July 2, 2024, the City of Antioch wrote, “We’re excited to celebrate Independence Day with you this year. Despite the expected high temperatures, our July 4th parade and festivities are moving forward as planned.
That’s in spite of the temperature forecast of 104 degrees that day.
Marijuana tax proceeds given to law enforcement agencies, crime labs & nonprofits
Three Contra Costa agencies benefit
By Synthia Ramirez, CHP Media Relations
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced today more than $25 million in grant funding to 102 California law enforcement agencies, crime laboratories, local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to help address the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
The grants are the result of Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which tasked the CHP with administering grants for education, prevention, and enforcement programs to help communities combat impaired driving. Money is also available to crime laboratories conducting forensic toxicology testing. Funding for the grants comes from a tax on the sale of cannabis and cannabis products sold in California.
“The substantial increase in the amount of grant funds being dispersed this year to even more recipients will help make California’s roadways safer for all who use them,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “The funds will be allocated to enhance traffic safety by educating the public about the dangers of impaired driving, conducting enforcement operations to remove impaired drivers from the roads, and advancing research on this critical issue.”
Eighty-two recipients of law enforcement grants will use funds to address impaired driving within their communities. In addition to traditional impaired driving enforcement, funds will also be used for drug recognition evaluator training to enhance their respective agency’s ability to detect drug-impaired drivers. Additionally, funding will allow for public outreach campaigns, including educational presentations and community events.
Listed below are the law enforcement grant recipients for state fiscal year 2024-2025, which begins July 1:
Angels Camp Police
Arroyo Grande Police Department
Auburn Police Department
Azusa Police Department
Baldwin Park Police Department
Barstow Police Department
Bell Gardens Police Department
Berkeley Police Department
Brawley Police Department
Brea Police Department
Burbank Police Department
Calexico Police Department
Calistoga Police Department
Chula Vista Police Department
Citrus Heights Police Department
City of Corona Police Department
City of El Monte Police Department
City of Fullerton Police Department
City of Glendale Police Department
City of Huron Police Department
City of Lodi Police Department
City of Montebello Police Department
City of Palo Alto Police Department
City of Visalia Police Department
Claremont Police Department
Covina Police Department
Danville Police Department
Dixon Police Department
Dublin Police Services
El Cajon Police Department
El Centro Police Department
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office
Emeryville Police Department
Folsom Police Department
Galt Police Department
Garden Grove Police Department
Gilroy Police Department
Greenfield Police Department
Grover Beach Police Department
Hanford Police Department
Hayward Police Department
Huntington Beach Police Department
Imperial County Sheriff’s Office
Irvine Police Department
La Habra Police Department
La Mesa Police Department
La Palma Police Department
Lakeport Police Department
Lincoln Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
Manteca Police Department
Marysville Police Department
Menifee Police Department
Modoc County Sheriff’s Office
Montebello School Police
Monterey Park Police Department
Morgan Hill Police Department
Napa Police Department
Oceanside Police Department
Oakland Police Department
Ontario Police Department
Orange Police Department
Oxnard Police Department
Pacifica Police Department
Petaluma Police Department
Pismo Beach Police Department
Pittsburg Police Department
Riverside Police Department
Rocklin Police Department
San Bruno Police Department
San Diego Police Department
San Fernando Police Department
San Gabriel Police Department
San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office
Shasta County Sheriff’s Office
Sierra Madre Police Department
Simi Valley Police Department
Soledad Police Department
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department
Sutter County Sheriff’s Office
Union City Police Department
Wheatland Police Department
Nine recipients of education grants will use funds to teach local communities about impaired driving laws, while highlighting the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Below are the education grant recipients for state fiscal year 2024-2025:
Amador County Sheriff’s Office
Chino Police Department
City of Lancaster
City of Long Beach
County of Solano-District Attorney’s Office
Imperial County Sheriff’s Office
Sacramento County District Attorney Laboratory of Forensic Services
Solano County Office of Education
Tulare County Office of Education
Eight recipients of two-year toxicology crime laboratory grants will use funds to eliminate backlogs in the analysis of forensic science evidence and to purchase and/or upgrade laboratory equipment to improve testing capabilities.
Below are the toxicology crime laboratory grant recipients for state fiscal years 2024-2026:
Contra Costa County, Office of the Sheriff, Forensic Services Division
Imperial County Sheriff’s Office
Oakland Police Department Crime Lab
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City and County of San Francisco
Orange County (CA) Crime Laboratory
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office
Ventura County Forensic Services Bureau
Three recipients of two-year toxicology medical examiners/coroner’s office grants will use funds to help improve and advance the data collection in cases involving driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Below is the medical examiners/coroner’s office grant recipient for state fiscal year 2024-2026:
Imperial County Sheriff’s Office
Orange County Sheriff’s Department Coroner’s Division
San Diego Medical Examiner Department
The application process for future grant funding is expected to open again in early 2025. Additional information is available on the CHP website, at CHP’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program.
The mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide safety, service, and security.
On Monday, July 1, 2024, Officer Smith and his K9 partner, “Kona”, were providing extra patrol to the Slatten Ranch shopping center hoping to deter would-be criminals from victimizing the businesses in the area.
While in the area, Officer Smith heard the distinct sounds of a vehicle spinning donuts behind the Best Buy store. Officer Smith was able to locate the vehicle mid-donut and put a halt to the reckless behavior. The driver was arrested, and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days!
Malaya (left) is one of Antioch Animal Services’ longest canine residents, who has been with them 157 days. Photo: Antioch Animal Services
“We hope that this free adoption fee event will help…find new homes for the plethora of wonderful pets in our care.” – Acting Animal Services Manager Cat Cottle
Antioch Animal Services is excited to announce that we are participating in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Summer National Empty the Shelters™ reduced-fee adoption event, taking place from July 8th to July 31st. This event aims to find loving homes for deserving pets by offering reduced adoption fees and promoting pet adoptions. As the nation’s largest funded adoption event, Empty the Shelters has helped more than 253,000 pets find loving homes. During each nationwide event, BISSELL Pet Foundation sponsors reduced adoption fees of $50 or less to make adoption affordable for prospective pet owners.
Antioch Animal Services will participate July 8-31 offering $0 adoption fees for all dogs and cats.
Our business hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10am to 5pm
All pets are listed at 24petconnect.com, and are spayed/neutered, microchipped & vaccinated
Walk ins are welcome, appointments will get priority, phone lines open at 830am, (925) 779-6989
“Shelters are struggling with a variety of challenges right now – some are evacuating pets because of wildfires, tornadoes, or even loss of air conditioning in extreme heat, and others are overcrowded and having to euthanize highly adoptable pets to make space, a tragic situation,” said Cathy Bissell, Founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation. “BISSELL Pet Foundation’s upcoming Summer National Empty the Shelters event is a crucial opportunity for people to make a real difference in their community through adoption. Every single adoption saves a life and creates space to save another. Please adopt and give a pet a chance it might otherwise not have. If you can’t adopt, fostering saves lives when shelters are full. Deserving pets across the country are counting on all of us.”
Following are key points and additional facts about BISSELL Pet Foundation and Antioch Animal Services:
Empty the Shelters is the nation’s largest funded adoption event and has helped more than 233,000 pets find homes
across the country and in Canada since its inception in 2016.
Empty the Shelters provides reduced adoption fees at shelters, typically ranging from $0 to $50 per animal adoption.
Each participating organization has their own adoption process and requirements.
Our nation’s shelters need your support. Please consider fostering or donating if you unable to add a pet to your family.
Antioch Animal Services has been a party of the Bissell Empty the Shelters™ event since 2016.
All of our adoptable pets are listed at 24petconnect.com, filter by zip code 94509.
“Our little shelter by the Delta is not escaping the effects of the rising cost of living, the increased cost of veterinary care and the restrictions placed on rentals / leases that require hefty deposits or don’t allow any pets to live in them and so, we have many owners requesting surrender of their pets or not coming to get them if they have come in as stray,” said Acting Animal Services Manager Cat Cottle. “With 4th of July fast approaching we know we will be seeing a spike in the number of stray animals that get loose after being spooked by the fireworks and so we will be waiving redemption fees for anyone’s pet that arrives at Antioch Animal Services between July 2nd and July 7th.”
“We hope that this free adoption fee event will help alleviate the overcrowding we have been experiencing and find new homes for the plethora of wonderful pets in our care,” she added.
State’s excise tax on gasoline increased July 1 from 57.9 to 59.6 cents per gallon and from 44.1 to 45.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel.
No end in the lawto annual increases based on state CPI
By Allen D. Payton
If you’re not already aware, the State of California gas tax increased today, July 1, 2024 according to the announcement in May by the Department of Tax and Fee Assessment (CDTFA). According to that notice as reported by the California Taxpayers Association, the state’s excise tax* on gasoline increased today “from 57.9 cents per gallon to 59.6 cents per gallon and from 44.1 cents per gallon to 45.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel.”
According to the California Transportation Commission, “the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1 (Beall, 2017)…increasing transportation funding and instituting much-needed reforms. SB 1 provides the first significant, stable, and on-going increase in state transportation funding in more than two decades.”
Contra Costa’s representatives at that time split on the bill, with then-Assemblyman Jim Frazier, who was chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, and Assemblyman Tim Grayson voting in favor, and State Senator Steve Glazer voting against.
Source: AAA
As of Monday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which updates prices daily, drivers in Contra Costa County are paying an average of $4.869 per gallon of regular unleaded gas, while today’s Bay Area average is $4.943, California’s average is $4.794 and the national average is $3.491 per gallon.
Taxes & Fees in the Price for a Gallon of Gas
According to data from the California Energy Commission, drivers are now paying 90 cents in taxes per gallon of gas:
$0.596 on state excise tax
$0.184 on the federal excise tax
$0.10 cents on more state and local sales taxes
$0.02 for a state underground storage tank fee
Plus, $0.51 for state environmental programs fee for a total of $1.41 in taxes and fees per gallon of gas.
Source: CA Dept of Tax & Fee Assessment
But why does the state gas tax keep increasing each year? It’s due to the passage of a bill in 2017, not a vote of the people, as some folks misremember. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), State Senate Bill 1 (SB1) entitled the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, “was passed by a two-thirds majority in the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in 2017. As the largest transportation investment in California history, SB 1 is expected to raise $52.4 billion for transportation investments statewide over the next decade.” It marked “the first increase in the state excise tax on gasoline since 1994.”
It requires the CDTFA to annually adjust the rate by the increase in the California Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is as calculated by the Department of Finance (CDFI). According to the CADFI, the CPI “measures price changes in goods and services purchased by urban consumers. The all urban consumer (CPI-U) represents the spending patterns of the majority of the population which includes professionals, the self-employed, the poor, the unemployed, and retired people, as well as urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles and publishes the CPI for the Los Angeles area monthly, the Riverside area bimonthly, San Diego County bimonthly, the San Francisco area bimonthly, and the nation each month. A California CPI is calculated…as a population-weighted average of the BLS-published local area CPIs. The California CPI formula was developed by the California Department of Industrial Relations (CADIR).”
According to the CDIR, the CPI “Is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and services. The CPI provides a way to compare what this market basket of goods and services costs this month with what the same market basket cost, say, a month or year ago.” This year, the California CIP was determined to be 3.3% in February and 3.8% in April.
History of Recent CA Gas Tax Increases
In addition, according to details provided by the CDTFA, “*Effective July 1, 2010, under the Fuel Tax Swap Law, purchases and sales of gasoline are exempt from the state portion of the sales and use tax rate (then 6 percent), and a corresponding increase in the excise tax rate on that gasoline was imposed.” Then, “Effective November 1, 2017, Senate Bill 1 imposed an additional $0.12-per-gallon gasoline tax.” Finally, “Effective July 1, 2020, Senate Bill 1…requires CDTFA to annually adjust the rate by the increase in the California Consumer Price Index.”
Proposed Use of Funds
The majority of the revenue from the state gas tax is intended for “Local Street and Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation” at $1.5 billion per year over 10 years and $1.9 billion for “State Highway Maintenance and Rehabilitation.”
Also, according to the MTC, “In the Bay Area, most of this money will be directed to cities, counties and public transit agencies to tackle the enormous backlog of maintenance and repairs for local streets, roads and transit systems. SB 1 money also will be available for new projects, including bicycle and pedestrian improvements.”
Asked if the law sunsets and the annual increases end or if they continue indefinitely a staff member for CDTFA responded, “CDTFA is required by law to adjust the motor vehicle fuel and diesel fuel excise tax rates annually based on the California Consumer Price Index as calculated by the Department of Finance. SB1 did not include a sunset date.”
For additional information on SB1 see the answers by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to the Frequently Asked Questions, here and by the California State Controller’s Office, here.
First of four on Fridays in July, passes include swimming
Get your tickets, get your tickets! Come one, come all to the first Antioch Water Park After Dark of the summer on Friday, July 5th for Carnival Night!
Enjoy an evening filled with fun and excitement featuring a clown, a mesmerizing magician and a variety of engaging games for all ages including a dunk tank!
Earn tickets and redeem them at our prize table.* Don’t miss this night of family-friendly entertainment, the first of four each Friday in July! (See related article)
Pre-Sale tickets are $11 per person and $13 at the door or purchase an After Dark Pass for all four nights for just $35 per person at AntiochWaterPark.com. Each pass includes swimming.
The Antioch Water Park is located inside Prewett Family Park at 4701 Lone Tree Way.
Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations can offer meals for dine-in, delivery and takeout and with limits, in addition to Cottage Food Operations already allowed
By Contra Costa Health
Contra Costa residents interested in selling home-cooked food to the public can now get a health permit to do so, an affordable option for entrepreneurs that ensures the safety of their customers.
Beginning July 1, Contra Costa Health (CCH) offers a new type of food permit for small-scale, home-based restaurants operated inside private homes by their residents. Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs) can offer meals for dine-in, delivery and takeout. MEHKOs can offer meals for dine-in, take-out, and/or delivery, and can also be used as a commissary for permitted food carts.
“By providing this option we ensure that people who sell food out of their homes do so in a safe manner that protects the health of our community,” said Federal Glover, chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. “We also open the door for neighborhood businesses, and for more access to healthy, nutritious food in areas where options may be limited.”
The board unanimously adopted an ordinance in May authorizing the county to offer the permit under terms of a 2018 state law. Several other Bay Area jurisdictions already do so, including Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties, and the City of Berkeley.
The permit allows meals to be stored, handled, and prepared to be served or delivered in a private residence. Most other food permits require a commercial kitchen in a restaurant or similar facility.
A permitted home can also serve as a space to prepare food for sale on street carts, a requirement to obtain a cart vendor health permit that has proven to be a significant barrier in Contra Costa.
As with holders of standard commercial food permits, MEHKO permit holders must meet requirements relating both to the spaces where their businesses operate and the food-safety training of operators. CCH will inspect each permit holder annually or more often.
The MEHKO permits do limit the holder to selling no more than 30 meals per day and 90 meals per week, and no more than $100,000 in gross annual sales. There are also some limitations regarding the type of food that may be served.
CCH will schedule workshops throughout the county later this year for potential applicants.
“This permit is great for new entrepreneurs who are just getting started,” CCH Environmental Health Director Kristian Lucas said. “It’s also a way for the public to know that a seller advertising on social media is complying with food safety regulations.”
MEHKO permit holders will be required to display their permits at their homes, and their health inspection records will be available to the public at cchealth.org.
Cottage Food Operations Already Allowed
Contra Costa Health offers two kinds of permits for home-based food operations. In addition, to the new MEHKO, the county also allows Cottage Food Operations (CFO) which “is a home-based operation that allows limited amounts of certain foods to be prepared in a home kitchen for retail sale. A CFO can prepare and package non-potentially hazardous foods from home. The California Department of Public Health maintains a listing of foods approved to be sold from a private residence. Some examples of these foods include cookies, candies, jams/jellies, muffins, cakes, and pies. Only foods on the state listing are approved as cottage food products.
Class A: This type of CFO can sell home-kitchen prepared foods directly to the public. This includes transactions made via the phone, internet, and any other digital method. A direct sale may be fulfilled in person, via mail delivery, or using any other third-party delivery service. A Class A operator’s current maximum gross annual sales are $75,000.
Class B: This type of CFO can sell home-kitchen prepared foods directly to the public or indirectly through restaurants and food markets. A direct sale may be fulfilled in person, via mail delivery, or using any other third-party delivery service. An indirect sale may be fulfilled in person, via mail delivery, or third-party delivery service. The current gross annual sales for a Class B operator are $150,000.
In Antioch, home-based business owners are also required to obtain a Home Occupation Use Permit from the City.
For more information about the new and CFO permits, including how to apply, visit cchealth.org/homekitchens.
Due to the excessive heat warning, the City of Antioch is providing cooling centers for your convenience. Residents without home air conditioning or with health conditions made worse with extreme heat and poor air quality are encouraged to seek out the cooling centers.
Cooling centers will be held:
Tuesday, July 2nd through Monday, July 8th from 12:00pm-8:00pm at the Nick Rodriguez Community Center in Rivertown, and the Antioch Community Center in Prewett Family Park except for Thursday, July 4th.
On Thursday, July 4th, cooling centers will be held at the Nick Rodriguez Community Center and Antioch Water Park in Prewett Family Park. The Antioch Community Center will be closed.
Nick Rodriguez Community Center is located at 213 F Street
