By Allen Payton

According to a post by Principal Louie Rocha on the Antioch High School Facebook page, this week’s Junior Varsity football game against cross-town rival Deer Valley High has been cancelled due sexual assault and bullying by some of the players.

The Thursday morning post reads: “A message from Principal Louie Rocha of Antioch High School: Please note that due to the misconduct of several members of the Antioch High JV football team, the game vs. Deer Valley for this Thursday has been canceled. Antioch High does not condone or tolerate any level of sexual assault and bullying. Any students involved in this type of unacceptable behavior will be held accountable. At our school, we take pride in offering and exposing our students to educational and awareness programs on these topics. For example, we recently hosted the Consent is Everything assembly for all our male students. Antioch Police Det. Brian Rose and motivational speaker and former NFL player Anthony Trucks spoke about the seriousness of sexual assault awareness, making good choices and respecting all. Thank you for your support of Antioch High School.”

In a comment posted on Facebook early Thursday morning, Melissa Waren, a parent of a female Antioch High student who was one of the victims of the harassment and bullying, wrote:

So in case you didn’t know what standards we hold our Antioch Football JV team to, I’m going to let you guys know. Many of the members, not all, have participated in harassing five of the students. One of them being my daughter and her good childhood friend. They threatened to beat up one of the girls, who I will not name, if she came near them. This is after school hours and this is the only way she walks home. She went and got her other friends to walk her to the gate to feel more comfortable. As they walked her to the gate the guys were constantly insulting and harassing the girl with inappropriate profanities, name calling and more. One of the girls walked up to them and POLITELY asked one of the guys to leave her alone to which he responded with by harassing her about her sexuality. He also told her to “hit me so I can drag your a** and beat the f*** out of you.” He also said to another girl “ I’ll drag your white a**”. And to another “ you look like you would be a b**** to press charges.” Another guy physically pulled his pants down and rubbed his bare bottom on this girl. There were also many other things that were said and done to which I won’t mention. Again, this is not the whole football team’s doing, but MANY of them were there +3 randoms. Apparently, they were suspended and their game is cancelled. I’m sorry but I think this needs more attention. And til this very moment some of the girls are still getting messages from people about how wrong it was for them to have gotten suspended and a game taken away. They don’t call it a team for nothing! We should not tolerate this!!! I will not tolerate this and will be paying Antioch High school a visit tomorrow morning.

When reached for comment, Waren said, “I went to the school, today to meet Principal Rocha. I guess I was one of the only parents he hadn’t contacted. He said he had been contacting parents of the students that were involved, yesterday. These students have been suspended. The game has been cancelled. He said that kind of conduct is not acceptable at Antioch High and that the students were being reprimanded. Their parents have come in. They may or may not be able to play their very last game against Pitt.”

“I brought my daughter in and her friend, who the problem had originated with, and Louie thanked them for taking a stand and saying, hey this is what’s going on, that it took some courage and he was proud of them,” she continued. “We spoke for a good hour.”

“They had already had an assembly with the boys and spoke about sexual harassment and the code of conduct, just last week, and this happened,” Waren added. “It was ninth and tenth grades. I think the 11 and 12th grades will have one this week.”

Please check back later for any updates to this story.

By Allen Payton

After three years in the development, the Antioch City Council voted 5-0 to table the Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan update to the city’s General Plan on Tuesday night, October 25.

The plan calls for 4,000 new homes in the area surrounding the Kaiser medical center on Deer Valley Road. Approximately 1,174 homes have already been approved in two developments at the east end of the valley.

The decision means that the current Specific Plan for the area adopted by the City Council in 2005 is still in force and that development can move forward under its guidelines. It also means the remaining developments will have to include any General Plan Amendments with the submission of their plans.

According to the city staff report on the agenda item, they made the recommendation because the city is undergoing the development of both a Habit Conservation Plan and the Natural Community Conservation Plan which will allow the city to mitigate any habitat and biological impacts. Those plans are expected to continue to be developed through 2018. Plus, the Ranch project which is proposing 1,337 homes on the west side of Deer Valley Road “is required to undergo extensive environmental review including the development of an Environmental Impact Report, under the California Environmental Quality Act.” The timing of its completion could be confused with the city’s efforts to finalize the Specific Plan Update. So tabling it now would avoid it in the eyes of the public, staff stated.

The final reason given by staff for their recommendation to table was cost. The City has to update the General Plan again in 2023 at an estimated cost of $800,000 and the fund currently has only $80,000 remaining. If the update continued to move forward it would deplete the fund by another $40,000 to $60,000.

What the council decision doesn’t do is to stop or preclude any development of new homes in the Sand Creek Focus Area. The two projects that have already been approved can move forward when those developers are ready to, and the other developers who own the rest of the land can also move forward on submitting their projects to the City for approval through the normal process.

Mark Meuser

Top priority as Secretary of State is to restore voter confidence in open, secure and fair elections

WALNUT CREEK, CA – On Thursday, Oct. 19 just prior to last weekend’s state Republican Party Convention, small business legal advocate, entrepreneur, and small business owner Mark Meuser announced his candidacy for California Secretary of State. The office, currently held by Alex Padilla, boasts a dismal national ranking of 43rd in voter turnout and is ranked almost dead last by The Pew Charitable Trust’s Election Performance Index. Padilla was elected in 2014 and can only run and serve for a second four-year term.

When asked why he was running for Secretary of State, Meuser replied, “A few months ago, I heard a news story that there are currently 11 counties in the state that have over 100% voter registration. I learned that it is the Secretary of State’s job to enforce all election laws in this state. As I studied the issue, I realized that the current Secretary of State has failed to enforce the basic election law requiring the removal from the voter rolls those who have died and moved.”

“If the Secretary of State has failed to enforce such a simple election law, what other election laws has he not enforced? Just how secure is our vote here in California?” Meuser asked.

“Participation in California elections remains criminally stagnant, relying on the appeal of current candidates or issues to buoy voter turnout instead of an innovative Secretary of State who uses every tool to enhance not only registration, but civic engagement,” he added.

Polling shows that 30% of Californians who aren’t registered to vote don’t bother, due to lack of confidence in elections and politics, while 36% of those actually registered cite lack of interest in politics, elections, or candidates for inconsistent voting.

“Californians continue to communicate clearly with their elected representatives and yet, nothing changes. My unique background and training have taught me to listen to people, craft simple solutions to the complex issues they’re facing, and work tirelessly to help them overcome those challenges,” said Meuser.

“Our Secretary of State needs to be someone who is looking out for all Californians by enhancing civic engagement in every community while increasing transparency. That’s why as Secretary of State, I will improve voters’ confidence in our elections, modernize the registration process for businesses, and enhance the People’s ability to use their initiative process.”

“The current Secretary of State’s office is antiquated and clearly still stuck in the Stone Age,” said Meuser’s spokesperson Derek Garner.

Meuser is a small business legal advocate, native Californian, and a small business owner, committed to fighting for honest and fair elections.

From a young age, Meuser was an entrepreneur. At age 12, he would pick cherries in the morning and operate a street-side stand during the afternoon. He was also hard at work taking care of orphaned animals, bottle-feeding sheep, pigs, and cows. Meuser believes that these years of developing character through hard work were important, formative years in his life. By age 15, he was in a management position at a local restaurant and by age 21, he purchased his own pizza restaurant. While his restaurant business was thriving, Meuser began studying law. He graduated with honors from the Oak Brook College of Law.

To better help small business owners handle California’s complex regulatory environment, he opened The Meuser Law Group where he operated a diverse civil litigation team that represented both individuals and small businesses. The 43-year-old is now with the Dhillon Law Group in San Francisco.

According to Ballotpedia, Meuser ran unsuccessfully in 2014 against then-incumbent Mark DeSaulnier for the State Senate in the 7th District, which covers most of Contra Costa County. Then in 2014 he formed the Bay Area Republican Political Action Committee and funded it with $10,500 of his own money running ads in the Antioch Herald and TV ad production. It is no longer active.

For more information on Mueser’s campaign visit www.markmeuser.com. The election for Secretary of State will be held during the Primary, next June. Then the top two candidates regardless of party will face off in the November election.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Lieutenant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Investigations Division

On Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, the victim in this case died from his gunshot wound. The investigation is now being called a homicide. The identity of the victim is not being released at this time.

Original Post: On Sunday, October 22, 2017, at 6:06 p.m. Antioch Police Department patrol officers responded to the call of a subject bleeding in the driveway of a residence on Cashew Court. When officers arrived, they located a subject in the driveway suffering from a gunshot wound. The subject was transported to a local area hospital and is currently in critical condition.

Antioch Police Investigators were called to the scene and are in the early stages of the investigation. No further information will be released at this time. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Bledsoe with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6884.

This preliminary information is made available by the Investigations Division. Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By Lieutenant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Investigations Division

On Monday, Oct. 23, 2017 at 10:38 PM, Antioch Police patrol officers responded to the call of shots fired in the 900 block of W. 10th Street. When officers arrived, they located a subject on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim of the gunshot wound was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. It is Antioch’s seventh homicide of the year.

Antioch Police Investigators were called to the scene and are in the early stages of the investigation. No further information will be released at this time. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Bledsoe with the Antioch Police Department at (925) 779-6884.

This preliminary information is made available by the Investigations Division. Anyone with information can also call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.