By Corporal Steve McElroy #2500, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On January 30, 2019, at approximately 6:47 p.m., the Antioch Police Department received a call from the 4800 block of Cushendall Way regarding two people shot.  Upon officers’ arrival, they located a 32-year-old female, and a 29-year-old male both suffering from gunshot wounds.  Neither victim’s injuries were life threatening, and both were transported to an area hospital and were expected to recover.

No suspect(s) were immediately located, and the case currently remains under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925)778-2441 or you may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

By City of Antioch

We’re honored to share that Antioch resident Samantha Olive Barnhouse has recently been awarded the Carnegie Medal for an extraordinary act of heroism.

Thirty-year-old Samantha Olive Barnhouse saved Lobis Burton, 78, from a burning house on Feb. 17, 2018, in Antioch. Alerted to the fire, Barnhouse, who lived across the street from Burton’s apartment building, entered Burton’s apartment. She moved past the burning kitchen to reach Burton, who was sitting in a wheeled desk chair in a bedroom, unable to move due to an injured hip.

Barnhouse pulled the desk chair through the bedroom and into the hall, and as flames and smoke intensified, she moved the chair past the kitchen and to the front door. The chair became stuck, and Barnhouse pulled on it, freeing it and causing her and Burton to fall outside beneath flames issuing overhead through the doorway.

Within a minute, the apartment’s windows shattered due to the heat. Burton was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and a broken hip, but he was no burned. Barnhouse was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation; she recovered

About Carnegie Hero

The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this final announcement of 2018 recipients, a total of 10,062 Carnegie Medals have been awarded since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow said each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the more than 114 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $40.5 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

To get more information about Carnegie Hero, visit their website: https://www.carnegiehero.org/

Deer Valley High Law Academy team will be one of 17 competing

Bay Area soon-to-be, practicing, and retired law professionals are needed to provide assistance to their future brethren at the upcoming 38^th Annual Contra Costa County High School Mock Trial Program, held on seven early weekday evenings during late January and early February, in the Martinez Court Rooms. Last year, close to 100 Bay Area practicing and retired attorneys and sworn judges, as well as third-year law students volunteered their time with the Mock Trials.

Coordinated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE), Mock Trial is an academic event provided for high school students. The hands-on educational program was created to help students acquire a working knowledge of our judicial system, develop analytical abilities and communication skills, and gain an understanding of their obligations and responsibilities as participating members of our society. This year’s case, People v. Klein: A young adult is charged with two felony counts: making a false report of an emergency (in this case, commonly referred to as “swatting”) and making a criminal threat.

“This program is a great tool to ensure that our students understand the workings of the trial courts and thus the importance of an independent judiciary, says,” says Contra Costa County Presiding Judge Barry Baskin. Judge Baskin, a long-time Mock Trial volunteer, encourages all of his local fellow law professional to join him in assisting with this year’s Mock Trial Competition.

Teams of high school students work with teachers and volunteer coaches to prepare their version of the criminal case, from both the prosecution and defense perspectives.  Students assume the roles of trial attorneys, pre-trial motion attorneys, witnesses, clerks, bailiffs, artists, and court journalists. Mock Trial judges and attorneys score their performance and provide immediate feedback. Winning teams advance through seven rounds of competition. The county’s champion advances to the State finals. This year, there will be 17 Mock Trial teams competing, representing high schools throughout all of Contra Costa County.

Volunteers will score two competing schools that argue the case in their assigned court. Each night, will begin with a 15-minute rules and regulations training, then the volunteers will go into their scheduled courtrooms to serve as Mock Trial judge and scorers.  The Mock Trials’ scorers are made up of Bay Area deputy district attorneys and deputy public defenders, as well as public-sector, private-practice, and corporate lawyers. In addition, seasoned law students are also welcome to participate. A practicing or retired judge or commissioner will preside over each trial, and also serves as one of the trial’s scorers.

“We applaud the hard work and time our students and their coaches put in to prepare for our Mock Trial program,” said Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey. “In addition, we are grateful for the continued generous volunteer support we receive from our county’s Judicial, District Attorney, and Public Defender offices, as well as so many of our current and retired public- and private-practice attorneys. This successful program would never come together without so much support from the community.”

Teams from the following 17 Contra Costa County high schools will be competing:
Acalanes (Lafayette), Alhambra (Martinez), California (San Ramon), Campolindo (Moraga), Carondelet High (Concord), Clayton Valley Charter (Concord), De Anza High (Richmond), Deer Valley Law Academy (Antioch), Dougherty Valley (San Ramon), El Cerrito (El Cerrito), Hercules Middle/High (Hercules), Heritage (Brentwood), Kennedy (Richmond), Las Lomas (Walnut Creek), Miramonte (Orinda), Monte Vista (Danville), and Richmond (Richmond).

Last year, several students from the Dear Valley High Law Academy earned individual awards including Loren Paylage, Kyle Lewis, Jafar Khalfani-Bey Kiara Chatman, Tristen Patel, Orianna Todd, and Elizabeth Vargas.

Schedule for 2019 Contra Costa County High School Mock Trials:

Preliminaries: January 29 and 31; February 5 and 7, – 5:00-8:30 p.m. (Nine competitions each night)

Quarterfinals: February 12, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Four competitions)

Semifinals: February 14, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Two competitions)

Final and Consolation: February 19, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Two competitions)

Mock Trial will be headquartered at the A.F. Bray Courthouse, 1020 Ward Street, in Martinez.

Interested volunteers can learn more by visiting the CCCOE’s Mock Trial Web page, or contacting Jonathan Lance at jlance@cccoe.k12.ca.us or (925) 942-3429.

The two highest-scoring teams will advance to the finals on Tuesday, February 19. The winning team will then represent Contra Costa County at the California State Mock Trial Competition, held in Sacramento, Calif., March 22-23. The California state finalist team will then compete in the National Mock Trial Competition, held May 16-18, Athens, Georgia.

In 1977, the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) introduced the concept of mock trials to the Los Angeles schools. In 1980, the program expanded to the state level. The California Mock Trial Program currently involves more than 36 counties and over 8,000 student participants from more than 400 teams. Approximately 1,500 attorney volunteers serve as team coaches and scorers, and 500 Municipal, Superior, and Appellate Court judges preside over the trials.

Preliminaries: January 29 and 31; February 5 and 7, – 5:00-8:30 p.m. (Nine competitions each night)

Quarterfinals: February 12, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Four competitions)

Semifinals: February 14, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Two competitions)

Final and Consolation: February 19, 5:00-8:00 p.m. (Two competitions) 

Mock Trial will be headquartered at the A.F. Bray Courthouse, 1020 Ward Street, in Martinez.

Interested volunteers can learn more by visiting the CCCOE’s Mock Trial Web page, or contacting Jonathan Lance at jlance@cccoe.k12.ca.us or (925) 942-3429. 

The two highest-scoring teams will advance to the finals on Tuesday, February 19. The winning team will then represent Contra Costa County at the California State Mock Trial Competition, held in Sacramento, Calif., March 22-23. The California state finalist team will then compete in the National Mock Trial Competition, held May 16-18, Athens, Georgia.

In 1977, the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) introduced the concept of mock trials to the Los Angeles schools. In 1980, the program expanded to the state level. The California Mock Trial Program currently involves more than 36 counties and over 8,000 student participants from more than 400 teams. Approximately 1,500 attorney volunteers serve as team coaches and scorers, and 500 Municipal, Superior, and Appellate Court judges preside over the trials. 

Says “PG&E must be required to pay every cent it owes victims”

SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) has introduced a bill to require the state’s electric utility companies to move their equipment and transmission lines out of forests, and other regions where the potential for fire is high, or bury or fireproof it, to prevent the ignition of devastating and deadly wildfires.

“Like all Californians I am horrified that our state has become increasingly powerless against wildfires indiscriminately destroying communities and taking lives every fire season,” Frazier said. “Climate change has made us more vulnerable and California’s major utility companies have failed to keep up with this new reality. Their equipment has ignited thousands of wildfires in recent years and many of these blew up into destructive and deadly infernos. The environmental damage caused by these fires is appalling. Forests are scarred for decades. The loss of life due to an inattentive safety net is unconscionable. We need common-sense solutions now. Requiring utility companies to take responsibility for their equipment in order to safeguard California is reasonable and just.”

AB 281 would require utilities to relocate their transmission lines out of forests and other areas where the potential for fire is high. If relocation is not possible, they would be required to bury the lines. If it’s not possible to relocate or bury the lines, they would be required to improve the equipment to “prevent, and minimize the risk” of the equipment igniting fires.

A recent Los Angeles Times investigation found that equipment owned by California’s three largest utility companies started more than 2,000 wildfires in a 3-1/2 year period ending in 2017. The report found the state lacks the resources to monitor whether utility companies are properly maintaining their transmission line right-of-ways to protect against vegetation coming into contact with their equipment and sparking fires.

“The current system, with the state relying on the utility companies to police themselves, is not working,” Frazier added. “There is no bigger issue facing our state than this right now, and we cannot wait to take action any longer. The way of doing business with these utilities needs to change by recognizing what’s been done in the past doesn’t work anymore.”

Frazier issued the following statement after California’s largest investor-owned utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.

“PG&E is solvent with a guaranteed revenue stream. To evade responsibility for the devastation caused by the company’s negligence would be unconscionable. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and came back stronger than ever. Whatever happens, PG&E must be required to pay every cent it owes to victims of the devastating wildfires the company caused.”

Assemblymember Frazier represents the 11th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Antioch, Bethel Island, Birds Landing, Brentwood, Byron, Collinsville, Discovery Bay, Fairfield, Isleton, Knightsen, Locke, Oakley, Pittsburg (partial), Rio Vista, Suisun City, Travis AFB, Vacaville and Walnut Grove.