On December 5 at 4:03 p.m. Antioch police officers were called to Asilomar Road at Rock Island Drive for a report of an accident. Prior to arrival, numerous calls began coming in stating there was a fight at the location and shots had been fired.

Officers located the victim detaining a female, but the male driver had just fled into a nearby residential neighborhood.

According to the victim, he reported his vehicle stolen on December 1st. He had just observed his vehicle driving around and began chasing the car. They eventually collided at the above location where the victim confronted the male and female occupants of the car.

The male occupant fled on foot. When the victim started to chase him, the suspect fired several rounds into the air with a handgun.

Area residents began advising that a similar suspect was running yard to yard and through several neighborhoods. After an extensive pursuit, the man was eventually arrested and found to be in possession of a firearm and other narcotic-related items.

Inside the stolen vehicle, officers found property that had been taken from another unreported burglary that had occurred earlier in the day. The property was positively identified by the victim and returned.

The 25-year-old male was charged with Auto theft, Possession of stolen property, Parole violation and other weapon and drug related charges. The 30-year-old female was charged with Auto theft, Possession of stolen property, burglary tools, and probation violation.

The case is still under investigation.

The public workers will rally against massive pay and benefit cuts at the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors meeting (651 Pine St., Martinez) TUESDAY, December 6, at 9 a.m. to oppose a county plan to slash their pay and benefits, and impose the cuts – despite a good faith proposal by the union to save the taxpayers $14 million.

Five unions are organizing the rally including Public Employees Union Local One, AFSCME Locals 2700 and 512, SEIU Local 1021 and Western Council of Engineers. They represent more than 4400 employees, including clerks, custodians, gardeners, licensed vocational nurses and other medical staff, Head Start staff, eligibility workers, child welfare social workers, appraisers and engineers.

The County’s so-called “Last, Best and Final Offer,” which the Board is considering, imposes a 3.2 percent pay cut effective December 1, 2011 and would nearly double what employees pay for a pension – on average an additional 3.1 percent cut in pay. It also will require employees to pay 100 percent of increases in health care – more than $100 a month for a majority of employees with family health care.

The County’s insistence throughout bargaining that the employees pay 100 percent of the health care increases has been at the center of the dispute between the parties throughout negotiations.

Ironically, the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to adopt a new contract with the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association under which the County will pay 80 percent of the increases in health care on January 1, 2012 and 75 percent of the January 1, 2013 increases.

During the last three years, the County paid 87 percent of the health care increases for the Deputy Sheriffs while only paying 50 percent of increases for Coalition union-represented lowest-paid county employees.

“Our current proposal on the table will save the County, by its own calculations, well in excess of $14 million a year, yet it’s not good enough for the County,” said Felix Huerta, Business Agent for AFSCME Local 512. “We have also made creative proposals on health care that call for the County to share the increases in health care premiums, as it always has and as it continues to do for other employees. We made significant sacrifices during our last contract – not all County employees did.

“And now the Board is threatening to impose cuts on our members that are greater than those they have negotiated with other unions including the DSA. We have bargained in good faith. The County has not. The Board needs to back down from imposing and get back to the bargaining table.”

Supervisor Mary Piepho and audience at her Town Hall Meeting in Antioch.

By Allen Payton

Most of Antioch is now represented by County Supervisor Mary Piepho and she came to town, last month to hold a town hall meeting to get to know our city’s residents and vice-versa.

About 100 people from Antioch and East County attended the meeting at the Antioch Water Park community room at Prewett Park, and heard from the Supervisors as well as representatives of various county departments.

Piepho provided an overview of what the county is doing, as did each of the county staff and then each took questions from the audience.

She stated that her main goals included continuing work on the county budget and on county-wide fire issues.

Supervisor Piepho speaks at her Town Hall Meeting.

She also spoke of the state’s early inmate release program which will cost the county $12 million per year, but the state is only providing funding of $4.5 million.

Piepho was happy to announce that the county continues to reduce theunfunded liability in employee pensions. It’s down from $6.2 billion to under $1 billion.

She highlighted the improvements to Vasco Road and the recent funding obtained to widen the Bypass to Sand Creek Road in Brentwood.

Antioch Councilman Gary Agopian who was in attendance said “This was one of the best meetings we’ve had in a long time.”

Piepho’s office is located at 181 Sand Creek Road, Suite L in Brentwood and the office phone number is 240-7260

As the gourmands our there know, two bits of good news, One, the crab are running. Two, the fishermen have agreed on a price. That spells good eating for crab lovers.

Mark your calendar for the St. Ignatius of Antioch Knights of Columbus Crab Feed on Saturday, February 4th at the Community Presbyterian Church Social Hall, 200 East Leland Road in Pittsburg, between Harbor and Railroad Avenues.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the food gets served at 7. There will be cold cracked crab, salad, pasta, dessert, coffee and a no- host bar.

Proceeds benefit the Educational Center which will offer room for religious instruction to our youth, provide a social hall, offices, and a venue for interfaith meetings, adult education, social justice programs, concerts and talks.

Price is $40. Call Bill Barbanica at (925) 980-1633 for tickets.

Last night I got a phone call from a pollster. I asked what the poll was about and the woman replied that it was about the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors so I said I would participate.

It only took a question or two for me to ascertain that it was a vicious attack on Supervisor Mary Piepho, and a plug for former Antioch City Council member and Mayor Joel Keller. Keller, who is a BART Director, apparently intends to run for the Board of Supervisors.

Three questions asked by the pollster included a statement that Keller was a retired Peace Officer. That’s not true. Keller retired as Probation Mgr. for Contra Costa County in 2003 and as a Chief Deputy Probation Officer for Solano County in 2008.

Questions also alluded to Mary Piepho being an ineffective leader and not working well with the rest of the Board. I challenge that statement. Frankly, I don’t think Keller was a good advocate when it came time to assuring that Antioch got a REAL BART line.

In addition, I question some of his decisions as a BART Director, e.g. his attendance, along with 4 other BART Directors and 9 BART employees, at the annual American Public Transportation Agency (APTA) conference in New Orleans this fall.

On Thursday Keller, along with the rest of the BART board, voted unanimously to authorize an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Oakland Economic Development Corp. to contract with UrbanCore, a minority-owned real estate development company. BART and the City Oakland want to turn a 1.3 acre parking lot of Snell Street and 71st Ave. into apartments.

Since when are transit funds used for real estate purchases? (Sorry, I forgot the Bay Area Toll Authority recently voted to give MTC the go ahead to spend $93 million, funded in part by bridge toll money, for a new headquarters in San Francisco.)

The “rationale” for BART’s participation in the apartment purchase reportedly is to create a true “transit village,” increasing the ridership for BART and paving the way for economic growth in the area. Barf.

Incidentally, did you know that BART’s estimates for replacing train cars will cost about $3.2 billion to $3.4 billion? Although state and federal grants will cover most of the bill, an alert taxpayer pointed out to me, $3.4 billion divided by 669 is $5.1 million per car. Allegedly, BART sells the cars to investors and then leases them back, which makes me wonder if taxpayers will be further on the hook for this financing trick.

Delta Contra Costa Branch/AAUW – American Association of University Women will get a percentage of the net sales for the entire day, Sunday Dec. 4 if you mention our BookfairID number 10569069. You may shop at ANY Barnes & Noble, not just the one in Antioch.

You may also shop online at bn.com/bookfairs from Dec. 4-9, 2011 and enter our ID number10569069 on the checkout/payment page. Books, Cds, dvds make great gifts!

During the day at the Antioch store, AAUW will be having STORYTIMES read by Patty Chan at noon, LINDA LOCKE doing a booksigning and talking about Social Worker on Steel, a.k.a. The Steel Stories, her latest book at 1pm.

Plus, free giftwrapping and making bookmarks all day. THANKS for shopping and supporting AAUW – proceeds go to scholarships and Tech Trek!