Enjoy dinner before the band starts – seafood, steak and more while overlooking the river! Humphrey’s on the Delta is located at 1 Marina Plaza, at the foot of L Street, in Antioch. For reservations call 778-5800. For more information visit www.HumphreysontheDelta.com. For more information about the PhD’s visit their Facebook by clicking here.

On February 14th, staff recommended that the Antioch City Council adopt a resolution in support of the City filing an application under the State’s “Sustainable Communities Planning Grant and Incentive Program” in order to fund the preparation of a Specific Plan for the City’s Downtown Area.

The City is requesting a grant from the state in the amount of $500,000 in order to retain consultants to prepare the specific plan, as well as to offset staff costs to administer the Specific Plan effort, estimated to take approximately 18 months.

First a little background. As of 2005, the City’s Waterfront Development Plan had been stalled for more than a decade. Insufficient funds were supposedly the reason for the delay, which may have been true due to past councils making a number of unwise decisions.

These include lending developers millions of dollars, contributing over $1 million for the construction of Humphrey’s Restaurant, miscalculating and delaying state Department of Boating and Waterways loan repayments for the Marina, and allowing the infamous Roger Moore to misappropriate more than $3 million of the city’s money for the failed San Diego ferryboat project.

In 2005, however, the Council decided that in order to move ahead on the revitalization of downtown they would put the ball in the hands of one master developer and solicited interest from 10 major developers, later narrowing the field down to four: Arcadia G&M, D.R. Horton, Lennar Bay Area Urban Division, and Reynolds and Brown.

Firms were anxious to compete because Rivertown was in a redevelopment district, allowing the City to use eminent domain powers to underwrite affluent firms seeking to build major projects. But once again plans stalled.

In April of 2007 Guy Bjerke, the City’s Economic Development Director, Concord City councilmember and CEO of the Home Builders Association of Northern California, presented the City’s Economic Development Commission with an update on downtown revitalization efforts.

Discussed was the need to amend the city’s general plan and zoning ordinance in the Rivertown Focus Area to allow mixed-use development and conduct a baseline parking study to determine the existing amount of parking downtown, a study useful in planning for a ferry terminal and future revitalization projects.

If the City does get the grant money, will the plans come to fruition this time around? Will we really get ferry service, a cleaned up waterfront and businesses that will lure us to visit what was once a vital part of our city? Or will developers just build “stack and pack,” high-density, mixed-use projects like they plan to do around Antioch’s new eBART station?

Antioch High School will be having career fair on March 9th and PASS workshops on Saturday March 10th.

For those who are able to return on March 10th and participate in the PASS workshop they are starting to prepare the program and need a brief description of your occupation to include (2-4 sentences is all that we require).

They are still in need of volunteers in many other professions if you would be willing to participate please contact Nicole Hunt at NicoleHunt@antioch.k12.ca.us or call (925) 756-5736. They are shooting for 75 professions to be represented.

The following is a list of professions that have yet to be represented: 1. Actor 2. Buyer from a clothing store 3. Chef 4. Child Development 5. Computer Graphics 6. Cosmetology 7. Dentist 8. Dental Assistant/Hygienist 9. Designer 10. EKG Technician 11. Electrician 12. EMT 13. Environmental Compliance 14. Flight Attendant15. Hospitality Worker 16. Hotel Management 17. HVAC 18. Journalist 19. Laboratory Technician 20. Landscaper 21. Lawyer 22. Mechanic 23. Medical Administration 24. Paralegal 25. Parks and Recreation 26. Phlebotomist 27. Photographer 28. Physical Therapist 29. Plumber 30. Restaurant Owner 31. Secretary 32. Sports Medicine 33. Stenographer 34. Vet 35. Vet Technician 36. Welder 37. X-Ray Technician

Download the AHS Career Day Flyer here: http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102742453013-152/ANTIOCH+HIGH+SCHOOL+CAREER+FAIR.pdf. For more information, contact NicoleHunt@antioch.k12.ca.us or call (925) 756-5736.

El Campanil Theatre and the International Film Showcase Present the film “The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner” on Friday February 24 at 7:30 pm and Sunday February 26 at 2:00 pm.

After surviving a horrific car accident a young man can’t even remember his own name. In an attempt to cure him from his amnesia, his quirky grandfather (Miki Manojlovic) travels to Germany and organizes a spiritual journey for his grandson, back to the country of his birth.

While traveling with his grandfather across time and place on a tandem bicycle, the young man begins to reconnect with his forgotten past. Based on Ilija Trojanow¹s autobiography, this touching crowd-pleaser explores such powerful themes as family, loyalty and cultural identity. Beautifully directed by Stephan Komandarev.

Rated: NR (Not Rated), Country: Bulgaria, Runtime: 110 minutes, Languages: Bulgarian, German, Italian, Slovenian, Hungarian. Subtitles: English

Tickets: General Admission: $8, Seniors (62 and Older): $7, Students: $7. Tickets are available by phone: (925) 757-9500, online: www.ElCampanilTheatre.com or at the box office.

About The International Film Showcase
For those who enjoy extraordinary movies not usually available to the general public, the INTERNATIONAL FILM SHOWCASE is what you are looking for.

This project is the brainchild of Efi Lubliner and JoAlice Canterbury. For years Efi and JoAlice have been screeners/attendees at festivals around the country and have compiled a list of films which they believe deserve wider distribution and recognition throughout the United States. After repeatedly recommending their favorite films to friends, they were frustrated to discover that these gems were neither screened in local theaters nor released on DVD. Thus, the birth of the INTERNATIONAL FILM SHOWCASE at the Orinda Theatre.

El Campanil Theatre has scheduled three movies over the next three months to gauge interest in East County.

For the first time proponents and opponents of the State’s plans to transform the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta will discuss the merits and drawbacks of the Delta Plan and the peripheral canal.

The forum will be held on Saturday, March 3 from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon in the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium, 525 N. Center Street, Stockton. Open to the public. Admission is free.

Guest Speakers
Dr. Jerry Meral, Deputy Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency
Jason Peltier, Chief Deputy General Manager, Westlands Water District
Jim Fiedler, Chief Operating Officer, Santa Clara Valley Water District
Ann Johnston, Mayor of Stockton and Chair for the Delta Coalition
John Herrick, Attorney and Expert on Local Water Issues
Dr. Jeffrey Michael, Director of the Business Forecasting Center, University of the Pacific
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta

As part of the widening of Highway 4, traffic flow through Pittsburg and Antioch will undergo two significant modifications during the week of February 20.

The switch to the new eastbound off-ramp at Somersville Road, which was planned for Friday, February 24, 2012, has been cancelled. The planned closure of the eastbound highway and Somersville Road for Thursday night is also cancelled. This work will be rescheduled in the near future. Traffic will remain on the existing temporary off-ramp until that time.

The planned work on westbound SR-4 at Century Boulevard is still planned as follows: On Saturday, February 25, 2012, traffic flow on SR-4 at Century Boulevard will be modified. Westbound traffic will be shifted to the north over a portion of the newly constructed Century Boulevard Bridge.

In order to perform this lane shift, all westbound lanes of SR-4 will be closed from Somersville Road to Loveridge Road on Wednesday and Thursday nights between 10:00 pm and 3:30 am, and on Friday night between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am. The westbound on-ramp from Somersville Road will also be closed between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am on Wednesday and Thursday nights and between 11:00 pm and 6:00 am on Friday night.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and allow extra time for their commute. Signs will be in place at the closures to direct motorists to alternate routes. Please be alert and carefully follow all directional signs when encountering detours.

Caltrans and CCTA appreciate your patience as we work to improve the highways. For the most current information on all SR-4 corridor closures please visit our web site at: http://widensr4.org.