Actor, Director and Activist Danny Glover to Keynote 2013 NAACP Annual Banquet.

The event will be held April 27, 2013, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord.

Tickets are $75 per person and include a one-year membership in the organization.

For ticket information call 925-439-5099 or visit www.naacpeastcounty.org or click here. 

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. From the ballot box to the classroom, the thousands of dedicated workers, organizers, leaders and members who make up the NAACP continue to fight for social justice for all Americans.

During construction for the Highway 4 (SR-4) widening project, the contractor will be removing an existing overhead sign structure that spans eastbound SR-4.

In order to ensure crew and public safety during this work, the contractor will close all lanes of SR-4 in the eastbound direction between Hillcrest Avenue and SR-160 overnight. This closure is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning, April 16 from 1:00 am to 4:00 am.

The detour for this work will be as follows:

o Eastbound motorists will be directed off the highway at the Hillcrest Avenue exit, left on Hillcrest Avenue, right on East 18th Street, right on Empire Avenue, right on Laurel Road, and right onto the eastbound loop on-ramp to SR-4. For detour map, please see attached.

o If traveling to northbound SR-160, while along the above detour route on East 18^th Street, turn right onto the northbound loop on-ramp to SR-160.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.

The SR-4 Widening Project includes over $540 million in State, Federal, and Contra Costa Measure J sales tax, and other local funds to widen SR-4 from four to eight lanes between Loveridge Road and SR-160. The combined effort of Caltrans and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority on projects in the SR-4 corridor will reduce congestion, create a safer roadway, improve operations, and reduce traffic delays on this important east-west connector. When completed, the SR-4 highway median will be used to extend BART service from Pittsburg/Bay Point to a new Antioch station at Hillcrest Avenue.

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 website at: http://4eastcounty.org.

By Sergeant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On April 9th, 2013 at approximately 10:39 p.m., the Antioch Police Department responded to a shooting occurring inside a residence located in the 2500 block of Yorkshire Drive. Upon our arrival, we located two adult females, ages 22 and 46, inside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds. A third male gunshot victim, age 23, was found deceased inside the residence. The two females were transported to a local hospital and are currently in stable condition.

The incident is still under investigation at this time.

This preliminary information is made available by the Field Services Bureau. Any further information or additional press releases will be provided by the Investigations Bureau at (925) 779-6926.

By Allen Payton

Kristoff Isiah Williams of Antioch, has earned a place on Washington State University’s President’s Honor Roll for the 2012 fall semester.

Kristoff Williams, courtesy of WSU Athletics

A criminal justice major in his junior year, Williams is a 2010 graduate of Deer Valley High School, where he was a four-year scholar athlete and a National Football League Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete, as quarterback for the Wolverines. He now plays wide receiver for the WSU Cougars football team. Williams is the son of Daniel and Corlette Williams.

The President’s Honor Roll recognizes students who stand above the rest with excellent academic performance. To be eligible for the honor roll, undergraduate students must be enrolled in a minimum of nine graded hours in a single term at WSU and earn a grade point average of 3.75 or earn a 3.50 cumulative GPA based on 15 cumulative hours of graded work.

With more than 18,000 undergraduate students studying in more than 200 fields of study, Washington State University is proud of its talented and diverse student body. The University is especially honored to recognize those students who stood out above the rest with their outstanding academic work. The award is especially noteworthy because of the world-class caliber of faculty who teach there and their high expectations of their students.

For more information on the WSU President’s Honor Roll visit http://president.wsu.edu/office/awards/honor-roll/index.html. For more information on Kristoff Williams, visit http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/kristoff_williams_585405.html.

Delta RC Hobbies invites the public to join them at their new location, this Saturday, April 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to celebrate their Grand Opening.

Those who attend will enjoy RC driving and flying demonstrations, a jumper for the kids, raffle prize drawings for cool items and free food for all.

The store offers remote control cars, trucks, boats, helicopters and more. Some of them are really big.

The new Delta RC Hobbies store is located at 1400 West 10^th Street, in Antioch, across from the County Fairgrounds, near where their race track is located.

To learn more visit www.deltarc.com or call 778-2966.

Click on the ad to visit the website to register for the event.

The Antioch City Council’s been busy lately holding a number of special meetings to discuss future tax measures and the selection of a new City Manager.

In regard to the proposed sales tax and business license tax ballot measures for the November 2013 ballot, it’s important to note the wording in the March 20th memo from Jim Jakel, City Manager and Lynn Tracy Nerland, City Attorney, specifically this quote “although these measures would be general taxes requiring a majority vote of the electorate, it is expected that passage of the revenue measures would create additional funding that would be budgeted for the Council’s stated priorities of increasing Police Department and Code Enforcement staffing.”

It’s the old shell game folks, similar to Antioch’s 2010 Measure P which failed to pass, opponents stating it would have a negative impact on local business and cautioning the money, which would go into the city’s general fund, could be used for any purpose.

The reason Council is hesitant to put a dedicated police tax measure on the ballot is because it would require 2/3 voter approval to pass. Passage would be difficult because we’re dealing with a difficult and uncertain economy (check out all the vacant store sites). Also, as of April 1st, we’re having to pay an additional quarter cent statewide sales tax (Prop. 30 passed by voters in November.) and in July we’re also going to be hit with a statewide gasoline tax increase which will make California’s gas tax the highest in the nation.

As for the proposed business license tax, the report states “council consensus was to freeze the gross receipts tax on most businesses for a period of time and to keep the tax provisions simple and fair in applying to all entities conducting business in Antioch. To that end, it was clear that the rentals of single family residences (e.g. houses, townhouses, condos, duplexes etc.) are a business being conducted in Antioch. Just as apartments currently pay a gross receipts business license tax, rentals of single family residences should also pay a business license tax.”