Tall Ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, official ambassadors of Washington state, will visit Antioch from March 27th – 31st and offer exciting Adventure Sails, Battle Sails and Vessel Tours from the dock. Vessel Tours open the ships to the public for a suggested donation of $5 per person. Come check out the ship and meet her crew!

Sailing guests will embark on a two or three-hour experience. Adventure Sails feature sailing as it was done for hundreds of years. Join in a sea shanty, enjoy breathtaking views, and meet the modern-day crew that travels the west coast. Battle Sails feature fast-paced maneuvering and live black powder cannon fire as the ships vie to win the battle.

A ticket is required for all sailing passengers, including babies. Children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Refreshments are not provided, but guests are welcome to bring their own (no glass containers, please). Accessibility is addressed on a case-by-case basis, so please talk to us ahead of time to be sure we can accommodate your needs.

Call 1-800-200-5239 for tickets and information or click here. A ticket is not required for Vessel Tours.

Antioch City Marina

5 Marina Plaza, Antioch

March 27 to March 31, 2018

Schedule

March 27-29 
Closed for crew training

March 30 (Friday)
Vessel Tours: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. ($5 donation)
Evening Sail: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ($42-$49)

March 31 (Saturday)
Vessel Tours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ($5 donation)
Adventure Sail: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ($42-$49) Sailing on Hawaiian Chieftain
Battle Sail: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ($42-$79)

April 1 (Sunday)
Boats depart Antioch to Crescent City

BART Director Joel Keller. Photo from BART.gov

By BART Board Member Joel Keller

At age 17, after interviewing hundreds of renowned thinkers, Nikhil Goyal wrote a book called, One Size Does Not Fit All.  It offers a prescription to transform the American educational system.

I don’t claim to be as smart as that young man. But I’d like to borrow the title to his book and apply it to BART parking.  Here’s why.

As a BART Director in Contra Costa County, most of my constituents depend on their cars.  They have a very different commute experience than my colleagues whose constituents live in more transit and pedestrian friendly areas.  Consequently, the solutions to help my constituents connect with BART may be different than those of some of my colleagues.

In January, BART staff made a presentation to the Board entitled “BART’s Parking Program: Update and Discussion.”

We board members learned that BART’s revenue from parking has increased from under $5 million in 2003 to $35 million in 2017. BART has a total of 48,000 parking spaces at 34 parking facilities. We have a systemwide waitlist total of 38,000 customers.   Staff presented some possible solutions to dealing with easing the overcrowding in our existing lots.  Those ideas included demand based pricing and variable pricing.  These are fine ideas for consideration, but what about parking expansion?

So, I decided to do what young Nikhil did and speak with some pretty smart thinkers in my district.  I contacted several local business owners about parking at BART.  They asked, “Why is BART just trying to manage the overcrowding, and not capturing the revenue that could be generated by creatively accommodating the people whose names are on the waitlist?”

As a director who represents auto dependent riders, I think they are right. Let’s assume that the 38,000 names on the waitlist contains duplications, and that there are, say, 16,000 potential riders who are willing to pay parking fees to get a spot. That could increase our parking revenue to as high as $54 million, or a $19 million/year increase.

So why aren’t we looking at solutions to find more places to park and charging for those additional spots along with better managing the existing spots that we have now?  Why not create satellite parking lots served by free shuttle buses?  Why not partner with area businesses, local governmental agencies and others to use adjacent and existing parking more efficiently?

I believe each of these ideas merits further discussion and I look forward to a robust exchange of ideas when this item returns to the Board. I am sure that there are other ideas that we should explore, but as I said at the Board meeting, the solution to overcrowded parking cannot be a “one size fits all.”

The needs of auto dependent stations are different than the needs of stations in more urbanized parts of the District. While the solutions may be different, the differences should be respected.

Director Keller represents the BART District 2, which includes Antioch, Brentwood, Concord (partial), Oakley, Pittsburg, Bay Point, Byron, Knightsen, Bethel Island, and Discovery Bay.

An Antioch Police Officer makes an arrest of a man for a stolen vehicle in the Somersville Road shopping area, Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Photos by Antioch Police.

From APD Facebook page

You all maybe noticed a marked increase in the number of officers on the streets of Antioch on Monday, and this is why. Officers not only conducted a traffic enforcement detail during the morning hours, but then in the late afternoon/early evening hours, a number of officers also participated in proactive enforcement detail in which they focused their efforts on locating criminal offenders as well.

An Antioch motorcycle officer writes one of the 54 citiations issued on Monday.

During the traffic enforcement portion of the day’s activities, officers issued 54 citations for a variety of violations that are among the common causes of vehicle collisions in our city. During this time, two of the drivers were arrested for outstanding warrants they had, as well as one of the vehicles stopped being towed.

Later that same afternoon, the officers participating in the second part of the day’s enforcement efforts were able to take advantage of their numbers and got to take some extra time to meet with community members along the W. 2nd and G Streets business corridor, as well as the Somersville Towne Center.

As for their enforcement efforts, an occupied stolen vehicle was located in the area of Somersville Road and Highway 4 in which the driver was safely stopped and detained without incident and the case is still under investigation. Later, a man on a bicycle attempted to flee from officers in the area of W. 8th and J Streets. During his brief attempt to elude officers, he discarded a handgun before being arrested. He was sent to county jail on multiple weapons charges.

We are happy to see these efforts continuing and be able to incorporate some of the day’s activities into meeting with the community, as well as being able to conduct enforcement efforts we know are important to everyone.

See more photos of the day’s activities on the Antioch Police Department Facebook page.

Contra Costa County voters will see an additional language on their voting materials starting this year, as the Contra Costa Elections Division adds Chinese to the current English and Spanish. This means that the official ballot and Voter Information Guide will appear in all three languages.

Voters in the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and the Diablo Community Services District have a special vote-by-mail election on March 6 and will be the first to see the trilingual materials when they receive their ballots in the mail next week. incorporation of Chinese will appear on all voting materials beginning in June.

Written material will be in traditional Chinese and the Elections Division will provide audio language assistance in Cantonese and Mandarin.

The addition of Chinese comes as a result of the county’s population growth and corresponding shift in demographics. As the population changes, so do the language needs of local voters. When 10,000 voters or 5 percent of the county’s voting age citizens speak a specific language, the Federal Voting Rights Act requires that language be included on all election materials. At the end of 2016, the Department of Justice informed us that we crossed that threshold for Chinese.

“We look forward to meeting the needs of all of our voters,” said Joe Canciamilla, Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters.

The Contra Costa Elections Division continues to engage with local community groups to ensure language access for all voters. For more information, visit our website at www.cocovote.us.

Exclusively from the Antioch Herald!

Vote for your favorite Antioch businesses in the 2018 People’s Choice Awards contest for them to win either a Gold, Silver or Bronze award and you’ll be entered to win a prize from Antioch businesses. See the official ballot below or on pages 9 & 10 of the February issue, and again inside the March issue. 2018 Antioch People’s Choice Awards Ballot

Write in the name of your favorite business for each category and complete the information section. Please clearly write or type. Then mail your ballot to or drop it off at our office at 101 H Street, Waldie Plaza, Suite 3, Antioch by March 9, 2018. Winners will be announced in our April issue. One ballot per person. Copies are accepted. Ballots will be entered the drawing to win gift certificates from Antioch businesses.