Get free passes for donating to Maya Community Foundation

By Greg Heckman, Director of Marketing, Maya Cinemas

Maya Cinemas, known for developing movie theatres in underserved communities with state-of-the-art presentation, first-class amenities and community involvement, is offering free movies passes for donations to the Maya Community Foundation. Beginning on April 1st and running through April 15th, movie-goers can make a donation at any Maya Cinema and receive 1 free movie passes (valid 4/1/24 – 5/15/24) for every $10 they donate and 3 passes for every $25. One hundred percent of donations will be granted as college scholarships to members of the communities surrounding the theaters. Scholarship applications are live at wearemaya.org/scholarship-applications.html and will be open until May 30^th.

The Maya Community Foundation is dedicated to the development and enrichment of the lives of people in the community in which Maya Cinemas’ theatres serve. The foundation is dedicated to fostering and supporting under-served, low-income communities through a variety of programs.

Donations can be made in-theatre at any of Maya’s six locations:

Pittsburg, CA – 4085 Century Boulevard

Salinas, CA – 153 Main Street

Bakersfield – 1000 California Avenue

Delano, CA – 401 Woollomes Avenue

Fresno, CA – 3090 East Campus Pointe Drive

North Las Vegas, NV – 2195 North Las Vegas Blvd.

“Support of higher education is an important building block. The Maya Community Foundation and Maya Cinemas endeavors to enrich the community through several efforts with education being a primary focus.” said Heidi Garcia, Maya Community Foundation. 

ABOUT MAYA CINEMAS

Maya Cinemas was chartered in 2000 with a mission to develop, build, own and operate modern, first-run, multi-plex movie theaters in underserved, family oriented, Latino-dominant communities.  Maya Cinemas offers first-run Hollywood movies and unique content through its Canal Maya program in high-end theaters focused on quality of design, state-of-the-art film presentation technology, and providing first-rate entertainment with superior customer service.  The Maya Community Foundation is dedicated to the development and enrichment of the lives of people in the community in which Maya Cinemas serve.     

Adult male victim’s car recovered by police

By Allen D. Payton

An email from the “Kaiser Permanente Antioch Leadership Team” on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, alerted employees of a carjacking in one of the parking lots Tuesday afternoon. It was reported by an individual who chose to remain anonymous that the carjackers were armed and that “someone from administration said it was two high school kids and they caught them.” But that has not yet been confirmed by Antioch Police or Kaiser personnel.

UPDATE #1: However, according to Interim Police Chief Brian Addington, the suspects were not armed, as of 4:40 PM they have not been apprehended and APD will provide further information via a press release, later.

The email reads, “You may have seen or heard about some Security activity in and around parking lot C yesterday afternoon. We want to provide you with an update surrounding that activity for your awareness.

On Tuesday, April 2, at approximately 2 p.m., an employee went to their vehicle to go to lunch. Upon approaching their vehicle, the employee found the hazard lights on, and sunroof broken. Two nearby suspects directed the employee to move away from the vehicle. As the employee moved away from the vehicle, one of the suspects entered the vehicle and both cars drove away from campus. Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident.

The Antioch Police Department were onsite within minutes and, along with AMC Security, are actively investigating the incident.

As a reminder, the safety of everyone who work in and visit our medical center is paramount. While we understand that hearing this story can be unnerving, we felt it important to share with our AMC community for transparency and collective learning.

We also understand this incident can be unsettling. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your manager or you may also contact Employee and Physician Assistance (EAP) directly at 877-801-5751.”

UPDATE #2: According to an Antioch Police press release issued at 5:58 PM by Acting Captain Desmond Bittner of the Community Policing Bureau, “On April 2, 2024, at approximately 1:13 PM, Antioch Police Officers responded to 4501 Sand Creek Road (Kaiser Antioch) for a reported carjacking that had just occurred. When officers arrived, they learned the victim, (an adult male), had interrupted several suspects in the process of stealing his vehicle. One suspect confronted the victim, causing the victim to fear for his safety.

The suspects left in the victim’s vehicle towards Sand Creek Road. Antioch Police Officers later recovered the victim’s vehicle in a nearby neighborhood, unoccupied. Through the initial investigation several investigative leads were obtained. The investigation was forwarded to the Antioch Police Department’s Investigations Bureau.

This preliminary information is made available by the Community Policing Bureau. Any further information or additional inquiries can be directed to Detective Cole Shaffer at 925-779-6944 or by emailing cshaffer@antiochca.gov.”

Closure Friday, April 5; hours of access to boat launch will not change

From City of Antioch

Attention Residents

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Boat Launch Parking Lot Closure

Date: Friday, April 5 Time: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Please be advised that the Antioch Marina boat launch parking lot at the foot of L Street will be CLOSED this Friday!

Our contractors will be hard at work installing a brand-new automatic gate. As part of this process, they will be cutting into the driveway leading into the parking lot.

For safety reasons, access to the parking lot will be restricted during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your cooperation.

Plan ahead and make alternate arrangements if you were planning to use the boat launch during these hours.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to improve our facilities for everyone’s enjoyment!

UPDATE: According to Antioch Recreation Department Director and Acting Assistant City Manager Brad Helfenberger, “With the installation of the new gate, the level of access to the boat launch parking lot will not change. Currently, our landscaping contractor manually opens and closes the gate each day. With the new automatic gate, we will be able to program the opening and closing times depending on the season. The current access hours are 6am-9pm.”

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

We are looking for all those fun people who came last year and made this event so successful. Come and join us again for fashions, great music and a whole lot of fun!

Tickets for this year’s show are available at Rivertown Treasure Chest and La Plazuela. The buffet tickets are $15, and the show tickets are only $5 which includes your first drink.

Stop by the store at 306 G Street in historic, downtown Rivertown to get a ticket or to reserve a seat text or call (510) 909-4618 or email rivertowntreasurechest@gmail.com.

Don’t miss this event, as we are working on having some great guest models.

For more information visit www.RivertownTreasureChest.com.

Sacramento, CA – March 28, 2024 – After immense pressure from California Senate Republicans, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has finally listened and is scrapping the income-based utility bill scheme proposed by California’s largest utilities, which came to fruition as a result of Assembly Bill 205 (2022). The non-elective commission released a flat fixed rate proposal, with reduced charges for low-income customers, and is expected to vote on it on May 9, 2024. (See related article)

“I’m cautiously optimistic to see that CPUC’s preliminary decision on a new fixed-rate plan for electrical billing includes a flat rate rather than one of the ludicrous income-based charges that had been proposed,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego). “I’m looking deeper into the proposal and studying how it will affect my constituents and ratepayers across the state. Still, I hope this may be a compromise Californians can live with. At the same time, I anticipate that electricity rates will continue to be a huge affordability issue in California, even under this new flat rate proposal.”

“As vice chair of the Senate Energy, Utility and Communications Committee, l have strongly advocated for affordable and reliable energy for Californians, but the majority party’s misguided approach has been driving up the rates for years,” said Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber). “This income-based utility scheme was another disastrous measure. I appreciate the CPUC heeding Republicans’ advice to pause this nonsensical bill, and I will continue to work tirelessly with my colleagues to make energy reform a reality in our state.”

The CPUC’s fixed rate proposal has a 20-day comment period and is eligible for a vote at the next CPUC public meeting on May 9, 2024. 

California Senate Republicans have been leading the fight against the income-based electricity charge after Capitol Democrats rammed it through budget trailer bill AB 205 in 2022. In 2023, and as recent as January 2024, Senate Democrats thwarted Senate Republicans’ efforts to provide Californians a lifeline by repealing AB 205. Additionally, this year, Senate Minority Leader Jones and the entire Senate Republican Caucus introduced SB 1326 to repeal the income-based fixed charge mandated by AB 205. Click here to learn more about the caucus’ efforts.  

After immense pressure from California Senate Republicans, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has finally listened and is scrapping the income-based utility bill scheme, which came to fruition as a result of Assembly Bill 205 (2022). The non-elective commission released a flat fixed rate proposal and is expected to vote on it on May 9, 2024.