Archive for January, 2013

Assemblyman Frazier comments on Governor Brown’s State of the State address

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Jim Frazier released the following statement today in response to Governor Edmund G. Brown’s State of the State address:

I appreciate the Governor’s vision and leadership, and his ongoing commitment to the long-term success of California.

I believe the Governor’s focus on education and job creation are the keys to restoring our fiscal health and getting California back on track. Working together, we can ensure that all California students receive a quality education, have access to affordable higher education, and can put their skills to work in good-paying jobs.

I look forward to engaging with the Governor on solutions to California’s water crisis that protect our most precious water resource – the Delta.

Frazier represents Antioch and most of Eastern Contra Costa County and Solano County in the California State Assembly. For more information click here.

You’re invited to join the MaxMuscle Running Team

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

How will you achieve your goals in 2013? Start with our Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Brentwood/Antioch Running TEAM!  We have teamed up with Road Runner Sports, the home of the world’s largest selection of running and walking gear. In a little more than one week from now, we will be holding a BY-INVITE-ONLY running clinic for the running enthusiasts!  LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE!  You MUST contact us and be confirmed in order to participate Inbox us or email MaxMuscleBrentwood@yahoo.com if you are interested!

*** LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE ***

MaxMuscle is located at 5887 Lone Tree Way, Antioch.

Council moving forward on annexation of Viera area, in spite of residents’ opposition

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

By James Ott

The 200 or so residents in unincorporated Northeast Antioch may still get absorbed into the city without being able to vote on the matter but Antioch City Council is still encouraging the county agency that handles annexations to reconsider.

But in the end if those people are annexed without representation, Antioch would also like to avoid being sued.

For years the City of Antioch and Contra Costa County have looked at bringing nearly 700 acres of land into the city because of obvious benefits to both parties. For the county, it will save money if the city takes over providing municipal services and potentially lives if they can have the city take over policing responsibilities, particularly in the area off of Viera Avenue, (what the county labels area 2b), because it is the only section that has a significant population. Policing issues in the area were famously brought to attention when the county-policed zone failed to notice Jaycee-Dugard being held and abused there because of a lack of police presence in the isolated region.

And according to a consultant for the City of Antioch Victor Camiglia, Antioch, “The annexation is definitely in the City’s best interest. It provides a significant amount of revenue both in the near term and the immediate near term once the GenOn power plant comes on line.”

In fact the city and the county both may still get their hands on a one million dollar bonus each courtesy of GenOn if they complete the annexation by a recently changed, and currently unspecified, date in the future.

Despite the potential financial windfall for Antioch, Camiglia and the city’s legal counsel are urging the city to be cautious in its move to annex Northeast Antioch because of a position taken by LAFCO this year to not allow the area’s population the ability to vote on their own annexation.

Under normal circumstances an unincorporated area with at least 12 registered voters, (2b has about 100), would have the ability to make a vote on whether or not they wanted to be annexed into a nearby city. A “no” vote among 50 percent or more of those voters would prevent the annexation from taking place.

The Local Agency Formation Commission, (LAFCO), however said that if Northeast Antioch were annexed without areas 2b and 2a, they would create an unincorporated “island” – in other words, it would become an area of land no larger than 150 acres that is mostly surrounded by a city. This creates more problems with policing and providing utilities to the area and so under state law LAFCO can annex the area without a vote.

The problem is that while legally Antioch, LAFCO, and the county can go ahead and annex the area without allowing its residents to vote on the matter, that doesn’t prevent lawsuits. And Antioch will worry even more about the risk of lawsuits in the event the annexation without representation is carried out after Camiglia reported that the State Attorney also agrees that the residents should be allowed a vote.

That’s why the council voted last Tuesday to ask LAFCO to remove the cities legal liability in such an event. LAFCO normally requires a city to sign an indemnity agreement that prevents LAFCO from being held responsible if there is a lawsuit after they approve an annexation.

So while the city and LAFCO agree that Northeast Antioch should be annexed,
Antioch City Council has long pushed for allowing the current residents to vote on the matter while LAFCO believes it isn’t legally necessary. So the City is asking LAFCO to waive their indemnity requirement.

If the annexation of Northeast Antioch does eventually take place Antioch will have to spend money to provide infrastructure to the area, but taxes from the region will more than make up for that said Camiglia.

All four city council members support the annexation but Councilmember Gary Agopian pointed out that Antioch initially just tried to annex the uninhabited areas of Northeast Antioch that just included the GenOn and PG&E power plants – it was LAFCO who forced Antioch to add the populated areas of 2a and 2b to avoid creating an “island.”

New Antioch Mayor Wade Harper also made a point to lend his support to finding a way to annex the area.

“I strongly support this,” he said. “This is going to mean so much to the economic development of the city of Antioch. We need to go and remove all of the obstacles and roadblocks.”

It’s also worth noting that Antioch surveyed the residents of the annexation area in 2007. About 60 percent of those residents responded – a full 75 percent of those said that they did not support being annexed.

Antioch council bans medical marijuana shops

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

By James Ott

Antioch City Council voted to permanently ban medical marijuana facilities from the city after saying there are continuing concerns over problems with regulation and possible increases in crime.

The move makes permanent a temporary ban that had passed in April 2011 citing similar concerns.

At Tuesday’s meeting council members said that they don’t have necessarily have a problem with marijuana as a medicine but they believe it should be dispensed only by medical facilities and pharmacies.

“I don’t have a horse in this race,” said Agopian. “If doctors decide that they want to give to their patients a particular type of medicine that they need then I want doctors to be able to do that. [But] they can do it through… pharmacies.”

City Attorney Tracy Nerland pointed out that the ban would do just that – only prevent marijuana dispensaries and cooperatives from selling and growing marijuana. Patients would still be able to get marijuana for medicinal purposes from licensed medical facilities such as clinics, health care facilities and residential care facilities.

Agopian also said that he would like to see research done on the medical benefits of cannabis.

There are in fact, many published studies that show that marijuana – particularly through the compound THC – has produced medical benefits to patients suffering from a variety of diseases including chronic pain, ALS, Alzheimer’s, cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS , and multiple sclerosis. It has also been shown to be measurably safer than most other prescription drugs.

It was on the strength of such studies that California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use through the “Passionate Use Act” or Prop 215 in 1996.

After the passage of Senate Bill 420, the state allowed patients to get a medical marijuana card through their doctor and made legal the medical marijuana dispensaries that Antioch is currently banning.

Community Development Director Tina Wehrmeister said that the city is in a particularly precarious situation because while California has legalized medical cannabis – the federal government still classifies marijuana as a schedule one drug with no medicinal benefits.

“U.S. attorneys have stated that California cities and their officials face possible criminal prosecution for enabling medical marijuana facilities to operate in violation of federal law,” said Wehrmeister.

Both council member Mary Rocha and Mayor Wade Harper – who is a former Drug Abuse Resistance Education, (D.A.R.E.), instructor – said that they are concerned that loose regulations on medical marijuana facilities might allow cannabis to get in the hands of those who don’t need it, particularly among the youth where it is a popular recreational drug.

Two members of the community spoke up against the ban including mixed martial artist Dan Black and Ed Breslin of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Cannabis Division that represents workers in the medical marijuana industry.

Both Black and Breslin asked the city to do more research and consider alternatives before banning dispensaries outright. They cited the large revenue the city might generate from such businesses.

According to the New York Times, California’s medical marijuana industry pumped about $2 billion into the state economy in 2008 and brought in $100 million in sales tax that same year.

Council member Tony Tiscareno – who was the only one to vote against the ban – agreed somewhat, saying that he wanted to hear more before he ruled out a potential large revenue source for struggling Antioch.

Mayor Wade Harper disagreed saying he had a moral problem with making money from the medical dispensaries.

“I’m one who believes that all money isn’t good money,” he said.

The final vote was four to one in favor of the ban.

Dow to host annual Martin Luther King celebration

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

Dow’s 13th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration takes place on Thursday, January 17th and it promises to be a time of reflection and inspiration for invited community members, public officials and employees.

Working for nearly 30 years as one of the most recognizable newscasters on CBS 5 Eyewitness News in San Francisco, retired news anchor Barbara Rodgers will deliver the keynote speech.

The Mike Rose Quartet will also be entertaining the audience with several musical selections.

For the fifth year, Dow hosted an essay contest for local high school students. This year students were asked to think about an event that shaped their life and how being silent had (or could have had) an impact. The winning essay will be read by its author, Bernardo Zepeda, a senior at Black Diamond High School. In addition, a community award and an employee award will be given to two indeviduals who most exemplify the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The recipient of the Community Award is Frances Wilson, Executive Director of the East Bay Junior National Society of Black Engineers. 

The recipient of the Dow Employee Award is Ivan Elizondo, a Mechanical Engineer who has demonstrated a true commitment to diversity in the workplace.

LOGISTICS:

Date: Thursday, January 17, 2013

Time: 8:00am – 9:30am

Place: The Dow Chemical Company, 901 Loveridge Rd., Pittsburg, CA

Please plan to arrive no later than 7:45am to clear security and take a shuttle to the Dow Cafeteria.

About Dow’s Pittsburg Operations

The Dow Chemical Company purchased the Pittsburg facility in 1939 from the Great Western Electrochemical Company. It is one of more than 150 manufacturing sites located in 37 countries around the world and supports two of Dow’s eight global businesses – Dow AgroSciences and Performance Chemicals. The Pittsburg facility produces a variety of products used in personal care products as well as a variety of crop protection products and intermediates. www.dowpittsburg.com

Real Estate Answers: It’s a Sellers Market and a Great Time to Sell

Monday, January 14th, 2013

By Patrick McCarran, Prudential California Realty

Inventory is at an all time low. I can almost count the available homes on one hand. With values on the rise it may be an excellent time to put your house on the market and make that move you have been delaying. There are several contributing factors that account for the current lack of inventory. The primary reason is that a major source of homes has been through the banks either as foreclosures or investor flips. This past year the banks have significantly lowered the number of homes making it on the open market largely due to an increase in modifications as well as an increase in the willingness to approve short sales.

While inventory has been scarce buyers have not. East Contra Costa is as most of us here realize an attractive area. It is centrally located to the North Bay as well as the South Bay and also the Sacramento area and the Central Valley. This makes it desirable to a number of different types of buyers and demographics. The market has seen a steady flow of investors continuing to buy homes, often multiple purchases, In addition there has been a great deal of second home buyers, individuals wishing to plan for an eventual move at retirement or a future career change. First time home buyers who for the last few years have been largely on the sidelines are also steadily increasing.

A major contributing factor to the current market is the fact that money is cheap. With interest rates at historic lows return on investment is at historic highs through monthly return as well as future appreciation, from an owner occupied point of view it is often significantly cheaper to own than to rent.

What does the future hold? That is the million dollar question. In my opinion interest rates will definitely rise and this will slow the market, I do not believe we will see a crash or deflation but a nature slow down. The uncertainty of the future is what makes today the right time to sell whether you are upside down or have equity.

If you would kike a current market analysis of your home or need any information concerning real estate do not hesitate to call or contact me directly.

Patrick McCarran is a local Realtor and can be reached at (925) 899-5536 or www.CALLPATRICK.com. Prudential California Realty is an independently owned and operated member of The Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential company. Equal Housing Opportunity.

The Phantom of the Opera comes to Antioch

Monday, January 14th, 2013

Kudos to El Campanil Theatre for landing this classic performance!

Franc D’Ambrosio’s Broadway – Songs of The Great White Way

Sunday January 20, 2013, 3:00 pm matinee

El Campanil Theatre

602 W. Second Street, Antioch, in historic downtown Rivertown

Don’t miss Broadway star Franc D’Ambrosio as he performs live at El Campanil Theatre this Sunday, February 20 at 3 p.m. D’Ambrosio is best known for his impressive portrayal of the “Phantom” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony award-winning musical “The Phantom of the Opera.” D’Ambrosio’s resume also includes his role as Anthony Corleone in the Academy Award nominated film, “Godfather III,” and his performance as Tony in Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” for which he received a National Theatre Award nomination for Best Male Performer in a Musical.

D’Ambrosio has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Europe and South America with his critically acclaimed one-man shows: “Broadway – Songs of The Great White Way,” and “Hollywood – Songs of The Silver Screen.” He is also a frequent guest artist with many major American orchestras and symphonies. Recognized for his vibrant voice and legato singing, D’Ambrosio has also performed with Michael Bolton and “American Idol” alums Diana DeGarmo and Kimberly Locke in several NBC Skating Spectaculars with Olympic Champion Brian Boitano.

Affectionately known as “The Iron Man of The Mask,” he was awarded the distinction as the “World’s Longest Running Phantom” and retained this title for over a decade. Franc studied in Italy with Pavarotti,and will be performing many songs including numbers from Les Miserables,and Phantom Of The Opera.

Frank will present an evening of passionate singing in his one man show Franc D’Ambrosio’s Broadway. For more information on D’Ambrosio, visit www.francdambrosio.com.

RESERVED SEATING

Tickets: Adults $25; Child (17 and Under): $15

NOTICE: ONLY ORCHESTRA SEATS ARE ON GROUND LEVEL. ALL OTHERS REQUIRE ACCESS BY STAIRS

Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Ticket Office 604 W. Second Street – next door to the Theatre Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and 1 hour before showtime or by phone: (925) 757-9500 or ONLINE at www.elcampaniltheatre.org.

Whether you buy your tickets by phone or online please consider requesting E-Tickets (Print At Home) and bypass the wait at Will Call.

 

Uno Chicago Grill offers Mid-Western food and hospitality

Monday, January 14th, 2013

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Whether you are in the mood for indulgence or healthy eating options, Uno Chicago Grill has just the ticket for both, from excellent New York strip steaks, to lobster and shrimp scampi, to wonderful salads and low-fat and carb options that taste great.  Additionally, they have a full Gluten Free menu, and full information about their menu and offerings, on line.  Of course they offer their tasty deep-dish, Chicago-style pizzas. Home Delivery is also available from their full menu, to the surrounding communities.

Locally owned and operated by long time Antioch residents Matt and Marilyn Pellouchoud, Uno’s features a family friendly environment, along with a great Sports Bar with the best mini-appetizers around. They have a special kids feature with a Kids Eat Free program on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Please ask for Matt personally when you stop by so he can say hello, and make sure your visit is exceptional in every way possible. Uno’s focuses on friendly, informative service, with smiles and attention given to all the details of exceptional quality.

Uno’s also provides many services to our community, most notably their Fund-Raiser program that offers up to 20% of sales driven by your specific club or organization.  Just give them a call and they can set up your own Fundraiser, and make some dough for you and your cause.  (Get it? Dough. As in pizza dough?) They focus on local high schools, elementary schools as well as many churches and civic organizations.

If you are looking for some great Mid-Western hospitality, outstanding food and menu options, along with a comfortable and warm environment, stop by their location in Antioch at 4827 Lone Tree Way, or give them a call for directions or reservations at 925-522-8554. Visit them online at www.unos.com.

They are open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday, with lively music and excellent food, served late for your convenience.