The car on the right headed the wrong direction north on A Street, passing one car before colliding head-on with another Friday, April 3, 2020.

Antioch Police and ConFire personnel quickly responded to the scene.

Report and photos by Allen Payton

A wrong-way driver caused a head-on collision on A Street near the curve at W. 2nd Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown at about 5:55 p.m. Friday night.

According to the driver of a car that was barely missed, “he was driving on the wrong side of the road, I swerved out of the way, then hit the car behind me.”

The driver of the wrong-way car was treated at the scene by ConFire personnel. Both drivers were still at the scene and appeared to be in good condition about 10 minutes after the accident. An ambulance left as it wasn’t needed.

An Antioch Police Officer said, “he just turned down the wrong side of the street.”

North of 6th Street, A Street is divided by a median planted with flowers, which also has one of the tall, grey City of Antioch signs in the middle. The driver chose the left side instead of the right side of the median to continue traveling north.

The accident caused A Street to be closed in both directions from W. 6th to W. 3rd Streets.

By Allen Payton

Antioch Realtor and rental property owner Mark Jordan sent a “Cease and Desist Demand” to the members of the Antioch City Council on Friday, April 3 in response to their vote on March 31 to place a moratorium on evictions for both residential and commercial properties. The council’s actions give renters up to 90 days to repay for each month of rent they are unable to pay during the coronavirus pandemic. (See related article)

Following is Jordan’s email sent to Mayor Sean Wright and the four council members:

“Mr. Write (sic) and Council Members,

Please be advised that this letter constitutes a Cease and Desist Demand concerning the City of Antioch’s tortious interference in the terms of all rental agreements executed within the City of Antioch and which effect non owner occupied real property both residential and commercial.  (See action taken by Council March 31, 2020).

This Demand in no way acts to invalidate or argue the validity of Executive Order N-28-20 issued by the State of California.

You must rescind and revoke your order made March 31, 2020 and cease from your unlawful actions.  If you fail to act it is highly likely you will be faced with class action litigation which will most likely include significant punitive damages.  Understand clearly, this will most likely cost the City of Antioch million of dollars. You are not acting within the authority of Executive Order N-28-20.

Yes, I fully understand the nature of our world wide heath issue and the shelter in place order issued by the County Health Department. I further understand, and have read Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-28-20.  The question is; have any of you?

In your meeting of March 31, 2020 you have gone far beyond the State’s granted authority.  There is nothing within the Paragraphs 1 through 6 inclusive, granting you the power to determine the deferred rent payment and time period for a deferred payment.  This City governmental interference is therefore tortious interference at its face.

These are matters to be determined by the parties to the contracts and are subject to judicial review, not City dictate.

Given that you have acted illegally it is my position that your entire moratorium and action taken is without force or effect. Please remember you have no power or authority except through the State of California and an authority granted to you by the State. Please review the State Constitution.

Your rescission of the moratorium is required immediately.

Mark Jordan”

In the past, Jordan has been successful suing the city. In 2016 he sued the City of Antioch for misappropriating funds from the water fees paid by residents and using them to pay for police. As a result, the City had to repay the water fund the amount that had been spent on police services. (See related article)

Asked if he had lined up other property owners to join him in a class action lawsuit, Jordan simply responded, “No I have not.”

An email to City Attorney Thomas Smith was sent Saturday morning seeking a response to questions about the threatened lawsuit. Please check back later for updates to this report.

DEBORAH LYNN KARP Debbie Archibald-Karp

June 21, 1959 – March 15, 2020

Resident of Walnut Creek

At the young age of 60, and after a courageous 2 year battle with cancer, Debbie passed away in the arms of her loving husband, R. Terry Karp. Debbie leaves behind her son, Jacob T. Archibald, her mother, Carole Sherman-Stone of Lexington, KY., and one brother Jeff D. Stone (Ramona) of Louisville, KY. She was preceded in death by her father, William R. Stone.

Debbie was a wonderful mother, and in addition to her beloved son, she cherished her two step-children, Cassandra Karp and Jared Karp.

Born in Portsmouth, OH, Debbie grew up in nearby Minford, and was a 1977 graduate of Minford High School. While working at Mercy Hospital and attending Shawnee State Community College, Debbie decided to leave the cold winters of Ohio for a fresh start. Like the song, “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” tails won, and in 1984 she packed up her car and drove west to the Sacramento area where she got a job selling yellow page ads while attending American River Community College. Debbie was incredibly industrious, and worked while her first husband, Phil Archibald, attended nursing school.

Later, she enrolled at Sacramento State University, obtained her teaching credential, and was hired by the Antioch Unified School District where she taught for almost 30 years – the last 17 years at Park Middle School where she was a finalist for the 2018 Mary Allan Fellows Award honoring AUSD educators. As a 6th grade math and science teacher, she also earned a Certificate of Recognition for Great Classroom Instruction from the AUSD school board in 2013 for innovative techniques such as incorporating sign language as a means for keeping her students engaged, thus creating an environment conducive to learning.

Debbie was also an accomplished Jitterbug and Swing dancer, enjoyed listening to music, and wine tasting with her husband Terry and their many friends.

We will miss her captivating smile, unwavering optimism, and overall enthusiasm for life. Contact a family member for details regarding a celebration of life to be held at a place and date not yet determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the American Cancer Society.

By Allen Payton

Due to the current shelter in place order, the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold its regular Board of Education meeting of April 8, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. online via teleconference.

There are no items for information, discussion or action on the agenda. Only essential items will be placed on the agenda until the shelter in place is lifted.

But there is one resolution for immediate action on the agenda. Although the board didn’t have to vote to close the schools, since the superintendent already has that authority form previous board policy, the trustees will discuss and decide how to vote on “Resolution No. 2019-20-38 Designating Certain District Construction Projects as an Essential Governmental Function and Delegating Authority for the Superintendent or her Designee to Make Such Determinations on Such Construction Projects as are Necessary to Comply with State and Local Health & Safety Orders Issued in Response to COVID-19.”

Before the regular board meeting, they will hold a closed session to discuss the discipline, dismissal or release of a public employee. Because it’s a personnel matter details are not available to the public.

The board will also discuss and decide on a variety of Consent calendar items, including:

1. Award of Bid and Contract for Wide Area Network Services
2. Award of Bid and Contract to Company for Wide Area Network Services (Month-to-Month)
3. Award of Bid and Contract for New Wireless Network Controllers
4. Notice of Completion with S+B James Construction Management Company for the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Replacement Project at Mission Elementary School
5. Services Agreement with Learned and Associates
6. Addendum to Services Agreement with Marzano Resources
7. Contra Costa County Office of Education Medi-Cal Administrative Claiming Agreement
8. Master Contract with Cinnamon Hills Youth Crisis Center
9. Services Agreement with California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF)

You may refer to the district’s website  http://www.boarddocs.com/ca/ausd/Board.nsf/Public to view the Board agenda in its entirety. Or view it, here:

This meeting can be viewed on livestream video on the district’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/GLTJ1Hx9vHI.

Easter Dinner To-Go! Let our famous culinary team make Easter delicious and easy! Enjoy scrumptious Spiral Ham or Prime Rib with all the sides and dessert. Place orders by Wednesday, April 8 and then pickup on Saturday April 11 between 10am and 2pm. Simply heat up on Easter Day and enjoy with your family! Order online: https://www.lonetreegolfcourse.com/calendar/eventdetail/388/-/easter-dinner-to-go

ases and deaths from COVID-19 in Contra Costa County from the CCHS dashboard.

As of Friday, April 3, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) is reporting 31 more cases of COVID-19/coronavirus for a total of 305, and two more deaths in the county. There are 32 people diagnosed with the virus currently hospitalized, an increase of just one from Thursday’s update.

27 of the new cases are from the senior care home in Orinda. (See related article)

To see the all the statistics provided by CCHS, click here.

By Allen Payton

Google released a treasure trove of information, Friday labeled Mobility Reports, based on cell phone users’ movements, during the coronavirus pandemic, that includes statistics showing activities such as shopping, use of parks, and going to work.

“Each Community Mobility Report is broken down by location and displays the change in visits to places like grocery stores and parks. This is an early release and reports will be updated regularly”, Google shared on their website.

In California, from February 16 through March 29, the data show a 50% drop in retail and recreation, a 24% decrease in grocery shopping and pharmacy visits, a 38% drop in visits to parks, a 54% decrease in use of public transit, but only a 39% drop in going to work. An even more interesting statistic is the data show only a 15% increase in going to places of residence.

The stats for Contra Costa County were similar, with a 48% drop in retail and recreation, a 21% decrease in grocery shopping and pharmacy visits, a 49% drop in using public transit, a 41% decrease in going to work, as well as the same 15% increase in visits to home. But there was only a 15% decrease in visits to parks.

Under the title “Helping public health officials combat COVID-19”,  Jen Fitzpatrick, SVP, Geo and Google Health’s Chief Health Officer, Karen DeSalvo, MD, M.P.H. issued the following statement, today, Friday, April 3:

“As global communities respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increasing emphasis on public health strategies, like social distancing measures, to slow the rate of transmission. In Google Maps, we use aggregated, anonymized data showing how busy certain types of places are—helping identify when a local business tends to be the most crowded. We have heard from public health officials that this same type of aggregated, anonymized data could be helpful as they make critical decisions to combat COVID-19.

Starting today we’re publishing an early release of our COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports to provide insights into what has changed in response to work from home, shelter in place, and other policies aimed at flattening the curve of this pandemic. These reports have been developed to be helpful while adhering to our stringent privacy protocols and policies.

The reports use aggregated, anonymized data to chart movement trends over time by geography, across different high-level categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential. We’ll show trends over several weeks, with the most recent information representing 48-to-72 hours prior. While we display a percentage point increase or decrease in visits, we do not share the absolute number of visits. To protect people’s privacy, no personally identifiable information, like an individual’s location, contacts or movement, is made available at any point.

We will release these reports globally, initially covering 131 countries and regions. Given the urgent need for this information, where possible we will also provide insights at the regional level. In the coming weeks, we will work to add additional countries and regions to ensure these reports remain helpful to public health officials across the globe looking to protect people from the spread of COVID-19.”

Google also provided additional information about their reports, how they gathered the data and what they’re doing with it:

Preserving privacy

The Community Mobility Reports were developed to be helpful while adhering to our stringent privacy protocols and protecting people’s privacy. No personally identifiable information, such as an individual’s location, contacts or movement, will be made available at any point.

Insights in these reports are created with aggregated, anonymized sets of data from users who have turned on the Location History setting, which is off by default. People who have Location History turned on can choose to turn it off at any time from their Google Account and can always delete Location History data directly from their Timeline.

We also use the same world-class anonymization technology used in our products every day to keep your activity data private and secure. This includes differential privacy, which adds artificial noise to our datasets, enabling us to generate insights while preventing the identification of any individual person.

Visit Google’s Privacy Policy to learn more about how we keep your data private, safe and secure.

How long will these reports be available?

These reports will be available for a limited time, so long as public health officials find them useful in their work to stop the spread of COVID-19.

By Dacona Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart U.S.

Our associates have been nothing short of heroic in their commitment to serve customers, stock shelves as quickly as possible and keep their stores clean. When their communities needed them the most, our people have been at their best. Their efforts continue to be a tremendous source of pride for everyone at Walmart.

Over the weekend we adjusted our operating hours to help make it easier for associates to stock and perform enhanced cleaning and sanitizing.

Store Operating Hours

Walmart U.S. stores will adjust operating hours to 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Stores that open later than 7 a.m. will continue their regular starting hours. This will further help associates restock the shelves for customers while continuing to clean and sanitize the store. While the store hours change for customers, our associates will continue to have access to their regular scheduled shifts and full hours.

Special Shopping Hours

We know our older customers could be more vulnerable to the coronavirus and to better support them, Walmart is offering special shopping hours. From March 24 through April 28, Walmart stores will host an hour-long senior shopping event every Tuesday for customers aged 60 and older. This will start one hour before the store opens. Our Pharmacies and Vision Centers will also be open during this time.

Item Limitations

We know communities are counting on us more than ever and we are determined to serve the broadest number of customers and ensure they have access to the key items they are looking for. Our stores will have limits for customers in certain categories including paper products, milk, eggs, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, water, diapers, wipes, formula and baby food.

Essential Services

• Our people are working hard to have every part of the store ready to serve customers. To help support our people and focus on the most critical areas of the store right now, we will temporarily shut down our Auto Care Centers to allow those associates to focus on stocking and cleaning in the rest of the store.
• Also, our Vision Centers will operate on their normal schedule, providing essential services only such as glasses repair and helping customers pick up existing orders. We will have at least one associate to serve the needs of our Vision Care customers, while the other associates will help in the rest of the store.

I think every one of us has had to adjust our daily routines in some way, and it’s likely that could continue. We are paying very close attention to our stores and communities and will continue making the necessary changes to help make sure our associates are taken care of and that our customers can get what they need. Let’s all take care of each other out there.