The Zmed Brothers

Saturday March 9, 2019 

2:00 pm  & 8:00 pm

Best Seats Available at the 8:00 pm Performance

Since 2016, brothers Zachary and Dylan Zmed along with their partner and drummer Burleigh Drummond, have celebrated the pivotal music and history of The Everly Brothers legacy with enthusiastic crowds all across the US and over seas in prestigious venues. They say, “ The music of the 50’s and 60’s are nostalgic for us, our parents raised us all on it, and we feel that the Everly’s contribution is greatly overlooked, especially by younger generations. Our aim is not to impersonate but to do our best in honoring the aesthetics of their iconic sound and in honoring the important role they played in pioneering the rock n’ roll movement, all while having a little fun sharing our own personal story,” and they do just that. With a father, (Adrian Zmed) as a traveling singer/dancer/actor (Grease 2, Bachelor Party, T.J. Hooker), and a mother (Barbara) as a second grade teacher in a suburb of Los Angeles, the Zmed Brothers continuously strive to pay homage to their personal roots by always infusing an instinctual blend of entertainment (a la Smothers Brothers) and contextual education in their performance.

The Everly brothers career lasted over half a century, they recorded 21 studio albums, sold more than 60 million records worldwide, had over 30 billboard top -100 singles, which still to this day is the record for most billboard charting hits of any sibling rock duo ever, they received numerous accolades in their later career, and influenced countless legendary artist that came after them including The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Bee Gees, Neil Young..and the list goes on. THE ZMED BROTHERS are absolutely thrilled to be able to contribute to a cause that supports the recognition and preservation of the intimate and singular origins of America’s greatest Rock n’ Roll singing sibling duo. Real life brothers Dylan and Zachary Zmed and The Bird Dogs band bring a genuine and heartfelt Everly Brothers Experience to the stage in this exuberant concert celebrating the extraordinary harmonies created by Don and Phil Everly. When the guitar became electric, the Everly Brothers bridged the gap between Country and Rock ‘n Roll. With so many hits and classics including “All I Have to Do is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown,” “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Let It Be Me,” “Til I Kissed Ya,” “When Will I Be Loved,” and “Bird Dog,” the Everly Brothers inspired many artists that followed.

Reserved Seating Adults: $29   Seniors (62 and Over): $27   Youth (Under 18):  $15

Purchase Tickets Online, here.

El Campanil Theatre is located at 602 W. 2^nd Street in Rivertown – Historic Downtown Antioch. Tickets are also available at the Box Office, located next door and is open Tuesday through Friday 10 am to 2 pm and one hour before show time, or by calling (925) 757-9500.

By Steve Padilla, Director Contra Costa County Public Works Department

March 6, 2019, Clayton, CA – Marsh Creek Road is closed in both directions, between the Clayton city limits and Morgan Territory Road due to rock and mud slides.  We anticipate re-opening the road by early afternoon. Please take alternative routes to avoid this area.

Eat, Drink & Love for Special Olympics Northern California. Antioch Police Department will serve as celebrity host and wait staff to raise funds for Special Olympics athletes. Tips received will go directly to Special Olympics Northern California. Join us and APD for this amazing cause on Tuesday, March 19 from 5-8 p.m. at Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill at 1 Marina Plaza in Antioch.

Lisa Dianne Norrell

Dear Editor:

It is a downright disgrace what happened, as explained below.

In early November 1998 the 15-year-old Pittsburg teenager Lisa Diane Norrell left a friend’s party held at the Antioch Veterans Hall by the City Park. She decided to walk all the way home by herself, a two-plus miles distance to her home. Sometime that evening she went missing and never reached her home, was found about 8 days later Murdered, and her body dumped/hidden outside a local landscaping business yard. The actual responsibles have yet to be concretely identified or charged. (See related articles, here, and here.)

My Reliable Informant (RI hereafter) shortly contacted me and reported knowing who did it and gave further credible information. The RI agreed to meet with and to disclose the vital information to Law Enforcement I knew would act on it (or so I thought then). Lisa’s case was one of several Murders in a two-month period that occurred from Bay Point thru Antioch (a potential killing spree, not serial killings).

I in-person spoke to the then CCC District Attorney’s Chief of Inspectors at that time, Gene Greenwald, and passed on the information, name of the RI, the RI’s phone numbers, etc. He did not contact the RI, so I then again contacted the Chief and questioned why he hadn’t on such serious matters. He said he would and guaranteed me that he would asap. After a week or two the RI said that the Chief and no one from there had contacted the RI at all. The RI reported to us that he/she then personally went to the District Attorney’s Office and wanted to speak with the Chief, or another Inspector, and was there to provide the information he/she had that would help solve the case. He was questionably ignored and just told to go home! The RI reported that he/she was never contacted by the Chief or anyone else thereafter.

After I had personally informed the then Chief Greenwald I had also contacted one of the Pittsburg Police Department’s Detectives assigned to Lisa Norrell’s murder investigation, giving that Detective the aforementioned RI information, info I was told, RI’s contacts info, etc. Neither the RI nor I were ever contacted by that Pittsburg Detective or anyone else from that agency’s assigned Investigations personnel. I do not know if either Antioch PD or the Sheriff’s Department assigned Investigators were ever given the information, etc.

Within other matters I had later communicated with and passed on formally to a Federal Agent (in early 2011) the aforementioned information, along with additional unrelated reported Police misconduct. Due to that agency’s secretive and confidential regulations whatever was or was not done in reference to those things I am uninformed of.

Recently there was a newspaper article published wherein a Pittsburg PD Detective, Jacob Stage, was assigned to pursue some cold cases – including the highlighted Lisa Norrell 20 years old Murder. I was very happy to see such and contacted him and provided to him the above information. I have come to know that he is actively pursuing the new and previously unknown potential leads and related information. I encourage anyone else who may have any information or leads that may finally help solve Lisa’s and/or anyone else’s still unsolved Murder case to contact that Detective and to provide whatever they can to help him in his pursuit of justice for the Victims, their families, friends, etc. His contact number is with the Pittsburg PD communications center. Do it, now!

NOTE – I have repeatedly called and left phone messages, and my contact info, for the East Bay Times Reporter Nate Gartrell (who co-authored the recent cold cases 12/28/18 article) and he too has failed to contact me in any way whatsoever! I suppose he is no longer interested!

Yes, I am more than angry! It is a tragic set of circumstances that very poorly reflects upon them and their apparent uncaring demeanors, ineptness, etc., that we all are exposed to in our daily lives. Kudos to PPD, Detective Stage, and the Antioch Herald’s Allen Payton for providing their obvious time, space, and interests in these matters.

Anonymous

Antioch

Editor’s Note: We don’t usually publish letters from anonymous sources. But, due to the nature of this matter and on-going investigation the letter writer has chosen not to be identified.

Dear Editor:

I am disappointed that the Antioch City Council has decided to move back in time and judge someone on the color of their skin, rather than the content of their character. Antioch Council hires first African American as City Attorney, the headline above the fold (in the March print edition as well as on this website, here), was such a disservice to both Mr. Smith, and Lamar Thorpe’s comments were equally degrading.

We have lived in Antioch for 31 years and have never run anyone out of town. We really don’t care what color someone’s skin is, but we don’t want to be categorized as someone that would act like Lamar Thorpe.

It just blows my mind that something as trivial would have any impact on the decision. Is he educated? Is he qualified? Does he have the demeanor and manners to be an asset to Antioch? These are more important questions than the color of his skin.

Susanne Larson

Antioch

By Daniel Borsuk

With Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood absent from the meeting because she was recuperating from successful heart surgery on Monday, Contra Costa County Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve a variety of consent calendar agenda items during their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 26. They included the following, the first two of which will benefit Antioch residents:

Kirker Pass Road Truck Lane Funding

Supervisors awarded a $14,153,763 contract to Granite Rock Company to construct the Kirker Pass Road Northbound Truck Climbing Lane project. Construction is set to begin this summer to add a truck lane on Kirker Pass Road from the Concord Pavilion to Hess Road. The addition of the lane is designed to reduce accidents caused by trucks traveling up Kirker Pass Road. Other contractors and their bids at the Jan. 22 disclosure were: Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc., $14,886,666; Ghilotti Construction Company, Inc., $15,225,077. 60; Gordon N. Ball, Inc. $15,528,038.20; Flatiron West, Inc. $15,528,038.20; Granite Construction Co, $16, 073, 185.10; O.C. Jones & Sons, Inc. $16,073, 788 and DeSilva Gates Construction, $17,500,000.

Waterfront Initiative Funding

Supervisors approved the new funding allocations of $142,500 to implement approved Northern Waterfront initiatives planned for 2019-2020. Those expenditures included $50,000 for the Hercules site exploration for bioscience, $12,000 for a May forum, $10,000 for State Lands/Crockett waterfront access, $70,000 for collaborative marketing and a marketing video. Supervisors had budgeted $500,000 in 2017 to cover Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative projects. Since the initiative’s launch, the only expenditure since then has been the $263,000 to consultant contracts or grant match.

Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle Funding

Spending $1.3 million from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District budget to buy a Type I Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle that will be owned and operated by the county fire district. The acquisition of a new Type I Hazardous Material Response Vehicle will allow the fire district to own and operate its own vehicle. Since the formation of the county’s Hazardous Materials Team in 2016, the team has operated a vehicle on loan from the California Office of Emergency Services. That vehicle was recently out of service for over 30 days while it received warranty related repairs in Sacramento. That compromised the Contra Costa County team’s ability to respond to hazardous response incidents. Buying this vehicle will permit the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District to respond to future hazardous material response incidents.

Emerging Aeronautical Technologies to Be Promoted at County Airports

Supervisors permitted County Airports Director Keith Freitas to promote and market Buchanan Field and Byron Airport as testing locations for emerging aeronautical and aeronautical related technologies. There will be no financial cost to the county general fund associated with the promotion and marketing campaign. Airport staff and any county counsel staff time will be charged to the Airport Enterprise Fund.

Paying Additional $11,000 to Winchester for Sheriff’s Department Ammunition

Supervisors agreed to pay an additional $11,000 to buy Winchester ammunition for the Office of the Sheriff because after more than 20 years, Winchester has changed its ammunition distributor in Northern California from Adamson Police Products to Dooley Enterprises. In 2017, the Office of the Sheriff executed a new purchase order with Dooley Enterprises as the new Winchester ammunition distributor to meet future training and duty ammunition demands. As a result of the change in the purchase order. the county will have paid $411,000, not $400,000 for the purchase of ammunition for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019.