Light Outreach Ministries presents: Bread of Life. Come join us for free lunch & fellowship 11am-1pm every Saturday (except holidays).

Sonya Gasaway, Director, Light Outreach, 415 West 6th Street, Antioch. (925) 778-1639 phone, (925) 777-2093 fax, www.Light-Outreach.org.

Can’t Say Anything Bad About Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals or Transgendered in the Classroom

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown, Jr. signed into law a historic bill requiring the teaching of historical contributions by homosexuals, bisexuals and transexuals, who call themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered (LGBT). But the law goes beyond that by forbidding textbooks from including anything derogatory about such people or their lifestyle choice.

Now not only will California school children be taught there’s nothing wrong with being homosexual, bisexual or transexual, but they can’t be taught anything negative about those who have chosen that lifestyle and the behavior that it includes.

Those representing Antioch in Sacramento voted for the bill, known as SB 48 (Senate Bill 48) authored by openly gay State Senator Mark Leno of San Francisco. Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla and State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, both Democrats from Concord, voted for the bill. Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan who represents the other parts of East County, as well as the San Ramon Valley and Tri Valley voted for it, at least twice: once in committee and once on the Assembly floor.

The bill passed on a party line vote with all Republicans voting against it in both the Assembly and Senate, and only Democrats voting for it.

Brown signed the legislation at a time 30% all students and 50% of African American students are dropping out of high school in California and in spite of the fact a majority of California voters disagree with promoting the homosexual/LGBT agenda, which was demonstrated by the passage of Proposition 8 banning homosexual marriage.

Following is the summary of the legislation provided by State Senate staff.

SUMMARY :  Adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, persons with disabilities and others to the list of groups of people whose role and contributions shall be accurately portrayed in instructional materials and included in social science instruction, and adds sexual orientation and religion to the list of characteristics that shall not be reflected adversely in adopted instructional materials.

The full text of the bill, analysis, committee and floor votes can be seen by clicking here.

Those in support of the bill included the California Teachers Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

It is deemed a “Non-State-Mandated Local Program” so perhaps local school boards can refuse to use textbooks containing the new history lessons.

Add that to the legislation requiring Harvey Milk Day in the schools, honoring the first openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors which Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law, last year.

Expect to see a swell in private and parochial school registration, this fall and a referendum to repeal the new law on the ballot, next year.

In preparation for the next phase of the widening of Highway 4, which will take place at Contra Loma Boulevard and G Street in Antioch, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is relocating some utilities.

As part of that work, PG&E will close all westbound and eastbound lanes of Highway 4, just to the west of Contra Loma Boulevard in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 17, 2011. The westbound closure will be between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. The eastbound closure will be between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. This work is to ensure public and crew safety while crews work to relocate high voltage power lines over the Highway.

The detours for this work will be as follows:

• Motorists traveling westbound on Highway 4 will be directed off the Highway at Lone Tree Way/A Street, right on A Street, left on W. Tenth Street, left on Auto Center Drive, and right on Highway 4 westbound on ramp.

• Motorists traveling eastbound on Highway 4 will be directed off the Highway at Somersville Road/Auto Center Drive, right on Somersville Road, continue on to Auto Center Drive, right on W. Tenth Street, right on A Street, and left on Highway 4 eastbound on-ramp.

The westbound on ramps at Lone Tree Way, G Street and Contra Loma Boulevard as well as the eastbound on ramp at Somersville Road will also be closed due to this full freeway closure. Signs will be in place at each of these ramps to direct motorists to alternate routes. Please be alert and carefully follow all directional signs when encountering detours.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and allow extra time for their commute. Please drive with caution through the detours and leave a safe traveling distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you. Caltrans and CCTA appreciate your patience as we work to improve the Highways. For the most current information on all Highway 4 corridor closures please visit widensr4.org.

On May 22 at approximately 7:47 p.m., Antioch police received calls about a shooting victim in the 2300 block of D Street. When officers arrived, they located the victim, a 19-year-old Antioch man, on the sidewalk. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

On the evening of July 12, Antioch police investigators arrested without incident Antonio Esquivel, 21, a transient whose last known address was in Pittsburg, while he was driving in Antioch. The arrest was on a warrant charging him with murder in this case.

Later that night, detectives stopped Steven Abundis, 21, of Pittsburg, while he was driving in Oakley and arrested him without incident for a warrant charging him with murder in connection with this investigation. A detective discovered a loaded 9 mm pistol concealed in the driver’s side door panel of the car. Abundis was driving the vehicle that was used during the murder, according to police. He is the owner of the car.

A search warrant was then served on Abundis’ home where he resides with his parents. An AK-47 style assault rifle, a .22 caliber rifle and approximately one pound of marijuana were located on the premises. These items were identified as Abundis’ property. The murder weapon in this case is still outstanding.

Investigators interviewed both men throughout the night, and Esquivel confessed to shooting and killing the victim, according to police. According to Esquivel, he and the victim did not know one another. He claims to have thrown the pistol used in the killing in the trash somewhere on Buchanan Road in Pittsburg.

Esquivel said that in October 2010 there was a confrontation between two groups of people in the area of the Antioch downtown waterfront. Esquivel and the victim were members of the opposing groups. Esquivel claimed that the victim tried to throw him off the wall above the railroad tracks.

Esquivel was able to hold on to the rail. Esquivel’s friends came to his aid and one of them stabbed the victim. Investigators have confirmed that a confrontation did occur and involved the victim of the murder.

Abundis is denying being present at the scene of the murder and claims he had no knowledge of the crime.

Investigators were able to identify both men as suspects based on information received from the public. Abundis and Esquivel are friends, and known to associate with local gang members in the West Boulevard area of Pittsburg, according to police. Investigators are continuing to work toward determining whether or not they are actually gang members.

One key piece of evidence in this case was a tattoo that Esquivel received approximately two weeks after the murder. The tattoo on his chest reads, “No warning shots.” It is believed this was a way to memorialize the murder of the victim, although Esquivel denies that was the reason he got the tattoo.

Both men have been booked at the Contra Costa County Jail. Their bails are $1 million each. Additional charges involving gang membership, the assault weapon and possession for sale of marijuana and various other charges may be added in the future.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact Detective Desmond Bittner at (925) 779-6939.

To the Editor,

Why is it that the state can’t get its educational priorities straight, since the “kids” are our future? It’s simple. Over 100 years ago we needed men and women to fill a need in industry.

These individuals didn’t have a need to know about money, only what they were getting an hour and how to pay their bills. School districts all over the country fell prey to the philosophy “push them through school so we can be a powerful economic force.” And in the pushing there wasn’t a need to teach them that they could be more than spokes on the wheels of prosperity, but a vital force to expand that success. So the study of money, how it works and how to use it was left out.

Now we are faced with a dilemma: our money is not money anymore (backed with gold) – it’s currency floating in value on the world market. Big business has shipped thousands, if not millions, of jobs overseas, or has sold out to foreign concerns that have no interest in supporting U.S. workers.

Is there any possible answer to fixing this? Yes, there is but it will be a work in progress for several years if we start now, decades if we don’t.

We need to not just look at our current system, but at a model that would first create an atmosphere of entrepreneurship. Students who have a vested interest in their own businesses would be able to do many beneficial things, like raise the tax base, contribute to the educational system and lower crime. They would leave a legacy for their posterity to build on in instead.

Students who are taught about having their own businesses would need, even want, to know more on how to grow it through an education about what money is and how to use it. Some of these same young business owners would start to fill the empty storefronts in town. They could give back to the school district with donations, mentoring, and time to help others find the “American Dream.” These future business people would able to hire others reducing crime and welfare in our city.

And yet we struggle with outdated early 20th century concepts of money. We need to revisit the late 19th century to see that most people had farms and knew enough about money to calculate the worth of their crops. Some farmers had stores in town to highlight their specialties so that people wouldn’t have to make the trip out of town. This concept has been the backbone of the successful small business person. Why not let our future generations regain the greatness we have lost?

Jack Yeager
Candidate for Antioch Board of Education

On July 11, 2011 at 6:56 p.m. Antioch police received a call about an injury accident involving a bicyclist at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Bellflower Drive. When officers arrived they found a 23-year-old Antioch woman on the ground who appeared to have a serious head injury.

Several witnesses said the bicyclist had been traveling southbound on Bellflower Drive at a high rate of speed. As she approached the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue, she failed to stop and continued across Hillcrest Avenue until colliding with the center median and was thrown from the bike.

There were vehicles traveling in both directions on Hillcrest Avenue, but she did not hit any of them. She was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. She was transported by helicopter to a local hospital where she is in critical condition.

A staff report to the Antioch City Council, which will be meeting on July 12th, presents the council with a resolution to extend the council’s prior resolutions encouraging each City of Antioch elected official (mayor, city council member, city treasurer and city clerk) to voluntarily agree to an irrevocable 10 percent reduction in their salaries and a $100 monthly decrease in their auto allowance for the fiscal year 2011-2012.

Prior to the November 2012 election, the council could revisit whether it wants to rescind the resolution and make any changes in compensation permanent by ordinance.

The staff report points out that the maximum council salary is determined by a statutory formula based on population or by increases of no more than 5 percent for each calendar year from when the last salary adjustment was adopted pursuant to an ordinance. While Antioch, a general law city, can not reduce the salaries of council members during their current terms of office, an increase for all council members can occur when one or more is eligible for a salary increase because of starting a new term of office.

The report does not address the recent Contra Costa County Grand Jury Report (2010-2011) which found that 8 of the county’s 16 cities spend more than the countywide average of $39,377 for salary and meeting fees. The cities are: Antioch, Concord, Danville, Hercules, Martinez, Richmond, San Pablo and San Ramon.

The Grand Jury also found that 12 cities and 9 special districts prove health care benefits, and 12 cities and 3 special districts provide pension benefits with potential long term financial implications. Antioch provides both health benefits and pension benefits to elected officials.

Antioch, mandated to reply, responded to the Grand Jury report by saying the city partially agreed with the findings regarding salary and meeting fees but questions the value of a simple mathematical average for cities with varying populations.

The City also agreed that, in order to increase transparency, it would combine council compensation and benefits and include that document in its annual review and in the future will review its policy of pension or deferred compensation for Council members. The staff report for the July 12th meeting, however, doesn’t address the council’s health and pension benefits.

Final Vote Could Happen Tuesday

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The Contra Costa Board of Supervisors have narrowed down the field of redistricting plans to three final maps, of which two of them split Antioch. The third one, while keeping Antioch and all the other 52 communities in the county whole, continues the current gerrymandered Districts 2 and 3 in an attempt to preserve the status quo, as much as possible. One of the plans that splits Antioch, also creates a district that places most of the city and far East County in the same district as part of Walnut Creek.

After two months of public input, including 14 workshops throughout the county, and with a variety of maps submitted by members of the public, as well as county staff and the Supervisors, and an overwhelming majority of residents supporting what became know as Concept 6, the Board could decide Tuesday at their regular weekly meeting to adopt a new map for their districts, in the decennial redistricting process. But, it takes three votes to make that happen and so far there is not consensus of which three Supervisors will support which plan.

Concept 6 was submitted by a group of citizens from throughout the county, from various political parties and walks of life, known as the Contra Costa Citizens Redistricting Task Force, of which I am Chairman. It’s the only plan that splits only one city, Concord – the county’s largest – while creating the most compact districts and the smallest population difference from one district to another. Both compactness and as equal population as possible are legal requirements in the redistricting process. Our group is continuing to push for adoption of our Plan A2/Concept 6 as the best plan submitted with the most  public support, countywide.

The county staff created Concept 4 and columnist Dan Borenstein of the Contra Costa Times published a plan on May 1st, which the Supervisors included in their process and labeled Concept 5, both of which were similar to Concept 6. Then Supervisors John Gioia and Federal Glover submitted plans which were also very similar to Concept 6. All of those plans split just one or two cities, Walnut Creek and/or Concord.

The final three plans are known as Proposals 15, 16 and 17.  Proposal 15 is a modification of Proposal 9 which was submitted by Supervisor Gayle Uilkema of Lafayette. It keeps Antioch whole and in the same district with Pittsburg, Oakley and Bethel Island, as it is now, but places Bay Point into a district with Concord, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Pacheco, Clyde and an unincorporated section of the county next to Martinez known as Vine Hill. It also places all of Walnut Creek in District 2 which will continue to be gerrymandered by including Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda with Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett, Port Costa and Martinez. That district was created in 1981 to hurt then-Supervisor Nancy Fadden by lumping in two distinct parts of the county with differing views into the same district, so as to hurt her for reelection, because it was assumed every time she took a vote for one part of her district the other part would be unhappy.

Finally Proposal 15 keeps the San Ramon Valley in the same gerrymandered District 3 with Brentwood, Knightsen, Byron and Discovery Bay, where Piepho lives. That district was created in 2001 to hurt the chances for higher office of then-Supervisor Donna Gerber. It crosses to hill ranges and in order to get from one part of the district to the other, you have to either drive through one or two other districts or out of the county. The plan has a population deviation of 5.39% so it is the closest to the Supervisors’ criteria they adopted in February, this year and the maximum rule of thumb in redistricting of 5%, of the final three plans.

Proposal 16, a modification of Proposal 12, submitted by Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill, splits Antioch down Lone Tree Way with the western half in a district with that stretches to Hercules, much like the current 11th State Assembly District. The eastern half of the city would be in a district with the rest of East County and a part of Walnut Creek – which the plan also splits – in an attempt to satisfy the desires of Piepho who grew up in Walnut Creek and wants the city in her district. However, she has stated her top priority is to keep Walnut Creek whole, unlike the current three-way split which the city experiences, today. (Only Proposal 15 accomplishes that, but it doesn’t include the city in her district). With a population difference of almost 7% between districts, Proposal 16 violates the 5% criteria.

Proposal 17 appears to be a compromise plan as a revision to Concept 6 and the Gioia and Glover plans, and the desires of Mitchoff to keep Concord whole, plus Mt. Diablo and the Concord Naval Weapons Station in her district. However, it splits off about 10,000 to 11,000 residents from each of four cities – Antioch, Concord, Walnut Creek and Pinole. Another downside is that the population deviation is almost 8% at 7.95% which could be legally challenged in court and might not stand up, especially since the plan splits four cities.

The Board has until August 15 to adopt a plan or the process is handed over to the County Assessor, Registrar of Voters and the District Attorney to draw the new district lines.

All three of the latest map proposals, plus Concept 6, as well as all of the other maps and public input submitted throughout the process, can be found on the county’s redistricting website at www.ccredistricting.org.

The Board meeting is at 11:15 a.m., Tuesday, July 12 in the Board Chambers, Room 107, Administration Building, 651 Pine Street in Martinez. For those wishing to email or call the Supervisors with your opinions, their contact information can be found by clicking here.