Scene of the felony DUI car accident on Thursday, September 27, 2012. photo by Brandon Payton

By Corporal Desmond Bittner #3252, Antioch Police

On Thursday, September 27th, 2012 at approximately 3:39 p.m., the Antioch Police Department responded to a call of a two vehicle, major injury accident at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Wildhorse Drive. Upon arrival, officers found three victims, two adult males, age 30 and 60 and a female juvenile, age 14.

Two victims had moderate injuries and were transported to a local hospital. One victim had major injuries and was transported by helicopter to a local hospital.

Sudhesh Behari, age 24, was contacted at the scene and showed signs of being under the influence of alcohol. He was placed under arrest for CVC23153 (DUI with injury) and was transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. The incident is still under investigation at this time.

By Lieutenant Diane Aguinaga, Antioch Police Department Investigations Bureau

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 at approximately 10:36 p.m., Antioch police were called to the area of 1214 Sycamore Drive for reports of a male shot in front of this location. Upon officers’ arrival, they located a 30-year-old male, Maurice Wagner deceased from what appears to be a single gunshot wound.

Investigators are following up on some leads, however there is currently no description of who the responsible(s) are or what the motive was for the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Robert Green at (925) 779-6932 or (925) 779-6927.

You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

Antioch resident Izabella Caldas on the day her wish was delivered.

Antioch Girl, Five-Year-Old Izabella Caldas, is Celebrity Server & Wish Child

EVENT: Cold Stone Creamery hosts World’s Largest Ice Cream Social

Thursday, September 27 marks Cold Stone Creamery’s 11^th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social, a nationwide fundraising event to benefit Make-A-Wish^®.

New this year, the Ice Cream Social will take place all day. During the Ice Cream Social, Cold Stone will donate $1 from the sale of any “Love It” or “Gotta Have It” size Ice Cream, Yogurt or Sorbet Creation™ to Make-A-Wish.

WHO: We invite Make-A-Wish^® supporters to join us for this indulgent event to cool off with ice cream and support a great cause.

WHERE: 32 participating Cold Stone Creamery locations in the Bay Area including the Antioch location at 5779 Lone Tree Way, Suite F, in the Slatten Ranch shopping center.

For additional store locations, please visit www.coldstonecreamery.com.

WHEN: Thursday, September 27^th all day

WHAT: Since 2002, Cold Stone Creamery has supported Make-A-Wish in its mission to change the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Raising more than $4 million over the last 10 years, Cold Stone aims to grant more wishes than ever before in 2012 by once again hosting Make-A-Wish^® month in our stores which will culminate in another famous World’s Largest Ice Cream Social. This is the event’s 10^th anniversary, and we hope to do more than ever for seriously ill children in the communities we serve.

Celebrity server and Wish Child Izabella Caldas. a five-year-old Antioch resident, enjoyed her wish to go to Disneyland and will be in the Antioch Cold Stone Creamery store serving as “Wish Ambassador from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

About Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area

Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. During its first year of operation, in 1984, the Greater Bay Area chapter granted 27 wishes. Now one of the largest nationwide, the Greater Bay Area chapter grants over 300 wishes per year and has granted over 6,000 wishes to date. The chapter covers 17 Northern California counties. The goal of Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area is to grant a wish to every eligible child in its territory. Anyone can suggest a child for a wish. For more information, please call 415-982-9474 or visit www.SFWish.org. 

About Cold Stone Creamery

Cold Stone Creamery delivers The Ultimate Ice Cream Experience^® through a community of franchisees who are passionate about ice cream. The secret recipe for smooth and creamy ice cream is handcrafted fresh daily in each store, and then customized by combining a variety of mix-ins on a frozen granite stone. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Cold Stone Creamery is a subsidiary of Kahala, one of the fastest growing franchising companies in the world, with a portfolio of 14 quick-service restaurant brands. Cold Stone Creamery operates more than 1,500 locations in 17 countries.

For more information about Cold Stone Creamery, visit www.coldstonecreamery.com. For more information about Kahala, visit www.kahalacorp.com.

By Harry Stoll

As a veteran of the Kredit Kard Wars, who is in the trenches, kicking sand in the bully’s face, I advocate using a credit card for every possible purchase. Hold it! This is not a run-amok license. You should stay within your means and pay the credit card off each month, and credit rating agencies get antsy when you exceed 60% of your available credit. So don’t.

Maybe later I’ll do a Suze Orman jaw torque and suggest how to tunnel out of credit card debt, but basically you have to find the way.

Once you’re paying them off every month, you’re in the catbird seat and ready to take advantage of The Float (the “grace period” to the usurers). This means you have from 25 to 55 days from when charges for insurance, utilities, TV/landline/cell phone/internet, newspaper subscription, broccoli, toothpaste, gas, bouef Bourguignon and pinot noir go on your card until you must pay the piper. (Some of these are discretionary spending so use discretion.) So, if your credit card statement closes on January 15, any purchases made after that go on the next closing date of February 15 and will be due by March 10.

So, in February any money you have in a checking or savings account remains there. Does this make your head hurt? Go over it in your mind. Draw diagrams. It’s real. But what makes The Float pay off is having an interest-bearing account that you can pay from a month later. This action repeats itself every month.

The result is you always have one month’s worth of those amounts in an interest-bearing account and get 1/12 of the interest each month.

Provident Credit Union currently pays 2.26%. (Although they can pull that rate any time, they’ve kept it for a few years. Your principal is federally insured. You have to jump through some hoops but they are easy.) There must be other accounts.

Making mortgage payments with your credit card is possible, but perhaps difficult. What a huge deal that would be. I’ll research it.

Now the amount you save by using The Float might not seem big, but as with much of Kredit Kard Fu, it’s incremental. Would saving of over 2% on your payments be worthwhile?

Another advantage of using your credit card is the awards they offer that vary from 1% to 5%. They can get tricky. I’ll explain them soon. Another way is getting an account-opening bonus, which I’ll also cover.

Using a credit card is to let the genie out of Pandora’s Box, so you’ve go to be prudent.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The Antioch School Board by a unanimous vote at their July 25 meeting decided to try again in November to pass a bond measure to fund improvements at Antioch High School. That follows the failure of Measure J in June – by just 31 votes.

The 58-year-old school needs $56.5 million in upgrades, according to the amount of the bonds that will be floated if the measure is approved. It requires 55% voter approval to pass.

Unlike Measure J which included improvements at other school district campuses and facilities, Measure B, as it will appear on the November ballot, focuses all its funds on improving Antioch High.

“The funds will be spent on a new cafeteria, Career Center, library, administrative offices, renovations and remodeling to support the academy and linked learning program,” shared Antioch School Board Trustee Joy Motts.

There will also be upgrades in technology, as well as improvements to the athletic facilities, including a new field and all-weather track.

“We have 1955 plumbing and electrical,” Motts stated. “We have one of the last cinder tracks at a high school in Northern California.”

“Antioch High has strong bones. We’re going to keep all the old brick,” she added. “We’re hoping we can make it happen, this time. The need is dire. The school has done its job for 58 years and it’s in need of a serious upgrade.”

Trustee Claire Smith, who was first elected in 1995 and faces reelection, this year said “Antioch High is in need of renovation, that’s for sure and it’s going to be up to the people.”

When asked why the district hadn’t set aside funds to improve the school over the years, she replied “Actually we have spent money on that school all along – the maintenance, the upkeep, the new roof. But after 60 years there are just things that need to be done that the budget can’t afford.”

The official language on Measure B in the ballot pamphlet is as follows:

To modernize Antioch High School by renovating classrooms including science and computer labs, improving critical safety and security systems, building a library and cafeteria, upgrading athletic facilities, replacing inefficient building systems, and improving student access to classroom technology, shall School Facilities Improvement District No. 1 of Antioch Unified School District issue $56.5 million in construction bonds at legal interest rates with funds monitored by an Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee with no funds spent on Administrators?

A pro-Measure B website has been set up for more information at www.YesonBondB.com.

Generous groups of Contra Costa volunteers will lace up their walking shoes Saturday, Sept. 29, to help the needy in the fifth annual “SVdP Friends of the Poor Walk.”

Contra Costa walkers will take to the tracks in two Contra Costa locations, one at Salesian High School in Richmond, the other at St. Isidore Church in Danville.  From 8 to 11 am the volunteers will do a 5K (3.1 mile) walk to raise funds that will directly help the needy, with friends sponsoring walkers with donations.

All proceeds raised by the Contra Costa walks will stay in Contra Costa County to support SVdP programs for the poor.

Registration is easy and anyone can participate. Both walkers and those who want to support a walker can register on line at www.svdpfriendsofthepoorwalk.org and identify walk #222 “District Council of Contra Costa County.”

People who do not know a walker and want to help the Contra Costa effort can type in “Find a Walker” and enter the name of a friend who is walking.

Don’t know a walker? Type in Griffin Hunt or Nicole Castelein.

Across the nation more than 18,000 walkers will join in the effort. They have raised nearly $1.8 m for the poor through this event.  

The walk is fun, there are no administrative fees. All proceeds will directly benefit the people in Contra Costa.

 SVdP programs that will be helped include free dining halls, food pantries, homeless shelters, medical clinic, employment services, thrift stores, and home visits to those in need.

For more information, contact Barb Hunt, b.hunt@svdp-cc.org or at (925) 439-5060 (office) or (925) 330-6732 (cell). Information is also available at www.svdp-cc.org.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) are widening State Route 4 (SR-4) through Pittsburg and Antioch. As part of this construction work, the contractor will be installing various drainage systems across the existing highway. In order to ensure crew and public safety during this work, the contractor will close all lanes of SR-4 in the westbound direction between Lone Tree Way and Contra Loma Boulevard, and the westbound on-ramp from Lone Tree way to SR-4 on Saturday evening, September 22 from 11:59 pm until 6:00 am.

The contractor will also close all lanes of SR-4 in the eastbound direction between Contra Loma Boulevard and Lone Tree Way on Sunday morning, September 23 from 1:00 am until 7:00 am.

The detours for this work will be as follows:

o Westbound motorists will be directed off the highway at Lone Tree Way, right on A Street, left on 18th Street, left on L Street, and right on westbound SR-4 on-ramp.

o Eastbound motorists will be directed off the highway at Contra Loma Boulevard, right on Contra Loma Boulevard, left on Fitzuren Road, right on G Street, left on Putnam Street, left on Lone Tree Way, right on eastbound SR-4 on-ramp.

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 SR-4 corridor closures please visit our web site at: http://widensr4.org.

The California Farm Bureau Federation has endorsed Congressional candidate Ricky Gill (R-Lodi), a family farmer running against incumbent Congressman Jerry McNerney in California’s 9th District.

“Ricky Gill has grown up in the Central Valley and has firsthand experience in small business, dealing with regulations and encouraging the expansion of trade to grow our economy and create local jobs,” California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger said. “His family’s roots in agriculture have guided his life’s path, and he will make the needs of farmers and ranchers a priority as he represents his district in Washington.”

“I’m honored to receive the Farm Bureau’s endorsement,” Gill said. “I look forward to standing up for our farmers and ranchers so they can create jobs right here in the 9th District, where my family has been farming for 30 years.”

“Ricky will be an energetic advocate for his constituents and will support policies to help turn our economy around, to provide jobs and business opportunities for the next generation,” Wenger said.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 74,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau members.

About Ricky Gill

Ricky Gill is a native of San Joaquin County who was born and raised in Lodi, California. The son of immigrant parents, Ricky is a small business owner, a family farmer, and a former member of the California State Board of Education whose story speaks to the power of the American dream. Ricky grew up helping manage his family’s vineyard operation and serving the community as chair of the Greater Lodi Area Youth Commission. He has played an integral role in his family’s small business, which employs 60 people in the San Joaquin Valley, for several years. In 2004, he was appointed by the Governor to the California State Board of Education, where he served as the sole representative of more than six million public school students. Ricky now serves as a member of the Lodi Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University, Ricky earned his Juris Doctor at the University of California, Berkeley earlier this year.The National Republican Congressional Committee has named Ricky a “Young Gun” candidate.

California’s 9^th Congressional District includes about 70% of Antioch.