By Captain Diane Aguinaga, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 9:27 pm APD Officers were in the area of Fulton Shipyard Road on an unrelated incident when they spotted 26-year-old Bethel Island resident, Adam Foster, vandalizing a water tower with spray paint. When officers attempted contact, Foster fled on foot. He was caught a short distance away. He admitted to cutting a fence to gain entry to the water tower and to spray painting the zodiac symbol for “Leo” on the tower. He was in possession of a back pack that contained several cans of spray paint and wire cutters. Upon further questioning Foster admitted to tagging at least 11 locations in Antioch and Oakley.

APD estimates the damage caused by Foster to be several thousand dollars. Foster has no prior criminal history. Foster was taken to county jail where he was booked for felony vandalism.

Any further information or additional press releases will be provided by the Investigations Bureau at (925) 779-6939. You may also text a tip to 274637(CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

Antioch, CA – On Wednesday, February 17, 2016, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) applauded the grand opening of the new Antioch Health Center, a facility that will allow Contra Costa Health Services to meet the growing demand for health care services in the East County region. The Congressman also had the chance to tour the new facility that includes nearly double the number of exam rooms as the health center’s previous location on Lone Tree Way.

“This is a great day for the people of Antioch, the greater Contra Costa region, and our Ninth Congressional District,” said McNerney. “I believe that access to quality health care is an important building block that helps our community prosper and grow. This new Antioch Health Center is larger, with the capacity to provide medical care to more patients seeking care. I am confident that this health center will help improve community health and be a valuable resource that will serve people for years to come.”

According to Contra Costa Health Services, the new Antioch Health Center will integrate behavioral care and physical health care to better address the needs of its patients.

“As Health Director of Contra Costa Health Services, I am grateful for the opening of this new Health Center which will expand access to health care in East County,” said Dr. William Walker, Director of Contra Costa Health Services. “I am particularly proud of the opportunity for further integration of physical and behavioral health services, so necessary for truly addressing the needs of our patients.”

The new Antioch Health Center will have 20 medical exam rooms and two group rooms – twice the number of exam rooms at the center’s old facility. The Antioch Health Center manages over a thousand visits each week.

Congressman Jerry McNerney represents California’s 9^th Congressional District which includes portions of San Joaquin, Contra Costa, and Sacramento Counties including most of Antioch. For more information on Rep. McNerney’s work, follow him on Facebook and on Twitter @RepMcNerney.

Dear Editor:

Every parent with a child that has attended a California school should be aware of this important issue.

On February 1st, Judge Kimberly Mueller ordered that the CA Department of Education release the student records of all students that attended any CA school since January 1, 2008 to the Plaintiffs in the lawsuit Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and Concerned Parents Association v. CA Department of Education.

The court ordered that only the parties, their attorneys and consultants and the court would have access to the records and when they were done they would be returned or destroyed.  They claim that no student’s identifying records will be disclosed to the public. I do not want my children’s information to be disclosed to some people in Morgan Hill involved in a lawsuit I know nothing about.

We should not be so naïve to think security breaches never happen.  We all remember Target or Bank of America. I do not want my children’s information to be disclosed to some people in Morgan Hill involved in a lawsuit I know nothing about.

There is no reason to believe that the security precautions taken here will be any better than those taken by large corporations which have been subject to security breaches.

Examples of information that is stored on CA Department of Educations’s databases and network drives includes name, Social Security number, home address, demographics, course information, statewide assessment results, teacher demographics, program information, behavior and discipline information, progress reports, special education assessment plans, special education assessments/evaluations, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), records pertaining to health, mental health and medical information, student statewide identifiers (SSID), attendance statistics, information on suspensions and expulsions, and results on state tests.

There is one way to make sure that your child’s information is not included in this and that would be to fill out an opt –out form and mail it to the court by April 1, 2016. The form can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/ws/documents/form2016jan26.pdf

Julie Young

Antioch

The nomination period for those interested in running for office began, Tuesday, February 16th. They have until March 11th to file or March 16th for those offices in which the incumbent is not seeking reelection.

The first step on the road to the June 7th Presidential Primary Election begins this week, as Contra Costa residents are invited to start filling out nomination papers if they plan to run for certain elected offices.

OFFICES NOMINATED UNDER THE “TOP TWO” PRIMARY SYSTEM – In these races, the top two vote getters advance to the November election.

UNITED STATES SENATOR

UNITED STATES CONGRESS

5^th District

9^th District

11^th District

15^th District

STATE SENATE

3^rd District

7^th District

9^th District

STATE ASSEMBLY

11^th District

14^th District

15^th District

16^th District

COUNTY OFFICES (4 Year Term) – Candidates win in June if they receive 50% plus one of the vote. If no candidate receives 50%+1, the top two will have a run off in November.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

2^nd Supervisorial District

3^rd Supervisorial District

5^th Supervisorial District

The nomination period closes 5:00 pm, Friday, March 11, 2016.

Our office will provide updates throughout the nomination period via Twitter and Facebook about who has pulled papers to run for office and when candidates signatures have been verified.

The Contra Costa Elections Division staff recommends that interested candidates read through the 2016 Candidate Guide for more information about the process, including the necessary number of signatures for nomination, candidate statements, ordering campaign resources, maps and filing fees.

A Contra Costa Board of Supervisor candidate, for example, must pay a $1,044 filing fee and collect 20 signatures to be on the ballot.

The Candidate Guide can be found online at: www.cocovote.us/wp-content/uploads/2016_CandidateGuide_Combined_Updated-12-30-15.pdf.

For those interested in seeking local political offices in November, the nomination period for the November 8^th General Election starts in mid-July.

For more information, call 925-335-7874 or visit our website at www.cocovote.us.

Parents allege their students were victims of bullying

By Luke Johnson

Minutes before a home game against Heritage High School last Thursday, players from Deer Valley’s varsity girls’ basketball team threatened to go on strike by taking off their white-home uniforms with their black-away uniforms underneath. This was in an effort to get head coach Linsey Bailey to resign or fired from his job.

Moments later, he proceeded to exit the gym, ending the protest, so that the game could resume under assistant coaches.

Immediately following the final whistle, DVHS administration conducted an investigation that resulted in 8 out of 12 players on the roster receiving suspensions for the remaining two games of the season with Bailey continuing at the helm the program. This course of action was announced Monday.

Principal Kenneth Gardner said every player was talked to during the investigation and that nothing was found leading to “impropriety or unprofessional behavior becoming the coach,” and only two or three of the players’ concerns were related to playing time. He added that two sets of parents voiced their distress prior to the protest, only regarding playing time.

“Playing time is based on merit and skill, and is at the sole judgment of the coach,” Gardner said. “We did what we felt like we had to do.”

On the contrary, parents claim that the protest had little to do with playing time, and that their kids were victims of bullying by intimidation and verbal abuse from Bailey. One parent, Melvin Davis, said that the “principal was lying through his teeth” after hearing his comments about the investigation.

In a 454-word email sent on Jan. 4 to Vice Principals Tim Cooper and Reggie March, Davis wrote:

“The coach informed the team he has no fear of putting his hands on a player, and offered proof by saying he was currently under investigation at Antioch Middle School for placing a child in a choke hold… The coach was witnessed punching walls on several occasions, visibly cries in front of team on several occasions. I view these as inappropriate.”

Cooper replied the next day, and told Davis he would look into his concerns and talk to players as witnesses.

According to Davis, this followed up with a meeting among himself, Cooper, Bailey and Athletic Director Dan Peters. He said Bailey denied all the allegations, and players were never questioned.

“After that meeting, his treatment of the girls became progressively worse. Myself and other parents continued to complain and were told administration wasn’t going to do anything until after the season was over,” Davis said.

Some parents chose to speak anonymously, while others declined to comment in fear of their children being punished even further.

“They were out of line, and it was very unfair,” an anonymous parent said about the suspensions handed out by DVHS administration. “They just care about protecting the name of the school.”

Numerous parents claim that Bailey, who is a first-year head coach at Deer Valley, was fired from his previous coaching job at Alhambra High School (Martinez). Gardner, nor Alhambra Athletic Director Pat Ertola, could neither confirm nor deny those allegations.

A December 3rd article in the Martinez Tribune states the Alhambra High School “Bulldogs dismissed Linsey Bailey” as head coach last Spring. No additional details on why that occurred are known at this time.

By Acting Lieutenant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

The 31-year-old Antioch male who was shot during the incident at the Chevron Station on Delta Fair Blvd. at Somersville Road in Antioch, on Saturday, February 13, 2016, was identified as Demarco Childs. Childs died at an area hospital over the weekend.

Antioch Police Investigators will be presenting this case to the Office of the District Attorney today for their review of the facts of the case and to make a determination on if criminal charges are warranted.

This is Antioch’s third homicide of the year.

Anybody having information related to this incident is encouraged to contact Det. Vanderpool at (925) 779-6988. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using key word ANTIOCH.

To see the original report, click here.

By Allen Payton

In a letter to the editor to the Herald, responding to my column about Lamar Thorpe needing to be removed from his position on the Antioch Economic Development Commission, over his leadership of the card room initiative, Thorpe claimed that one of the Antioch Council Members signed the petition to place the initiative on the ballot.

In response to an email question to each of the council members, only one of the Council Members, Monica Wilson admitted to signing the petition, through the spokesman for her campaign for Supervisor, Jon Colmenares.

In an email from Colmenares, he wrote “wanted to answer your question regarding petition signatures for cardroom initiative. Monica signed the petition, and along with the rest of the Council and Mayor, voted to put it on the June ballot.”

Mayor Pro Tem Lori Ogorchock was first to respond to the email with a brief, “Not I.”

Mayor Wade Harper was the next, also denying he signed it.

“I did not sign the petition,” he said. “I would be interested to know if any Councilmember signed the petition.”

In a phone conversation with Council Member Tony Tiscareno, he said he did not sign it, either.

When reached for comment, Council Member Mary Rocha stated “I wouldn’t have signed that petition.”

Wilson did respond later to the questions of why she signed the petition and didn’t inform the public of that during the council meeting, and why she didn’t make a motion to adopt the initiative language as a an ordinance.

“I believe in organizing a community when it needs something,” she stated. “I do believe that the voters should have a voice and I do not believe in imposing ordinances on them. I believe in involving voters for what affects them directly. That for me includes laws that are as high profile as the cardroom initiative and why I signed it. I joined the Mayor and council because I felt that this was an important issue to be put forth to voters.”

One additional email was sent asking Wilson to clarify whether or not she supports the ballot initiative language and what she thinks a council member’s job is if the doesn’t believe in imposing ordinances on the public. Please check back later for her response.

The card room measure will be on the June 7th ballot. It requires a majority vote to pass and become law in the city. If it fails, the current city ordinance of allowing two card rooms in town, down from the previous five prior to 2013, will remain in force, with only one currently operating in Antioch.