Willow Park Mercantile is located at 205 G Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown. For more information visit Willow Park Mercantile or call 925-732-3877.
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Historic ministry rooted in evangelism, transformation and lived-out faith brings its vision to the Bay Area
ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA — August 2026 — Truth Bearer International Bay Area (TBI Bay Area) is celebrating the launch of its new church ministry in Antioch, California, under the leadership of Pastor Derrick Holloway.
Officially launched in July 2026, Truth Bearer International Bay Area welcomes individuals and families throughout Antioch, East Contra Costa County and the greater Bay Area to worship each Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Zimmerman Chapel, 2200 Country Hills Drive, Antioch.
With the message “A New Chapter. A New Church. A New You!,” TBI Bay Area is creating a place where people from all backgrounds can experience biblical teaching, spiritual growth, authentic worship and Christian community.
Truth Bearer International has a unique history.
The vision for the ministry was divinely inspired and initially entrusted to Bishop Leon Ralph in 1976. The vision was later passed to Chaplain Mardi Ralph Jackson, who carried it until its appointed time.
That vision ultimately connected with several men at San Quentin State Prison who heeded the call and anointing on their lives to preach the Gospel. Sharing Bishop Ralph’s vision for ministry, these men became part of the foundation through which Truth Bearer International was divinely formed.
From those beginnings, the ministry developed around a commitment to holiness, evangelism, multi-ethnicity and an interdenominational approach to Christian ministry.
Today, TBI Bay Area continues that legacy while addressing the real-life challenges facing individuals and families.
Led by Pastor Derrick Holloway, the Antioch ministry emphasizes straightforward, unfiltered biblical teaching and a faith that extends beyond Sunday morning. Messages frequently focus on real-life transformation, faithfulness over perfection, overcoming past struggles, restoration and developing a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
TBI’s approach is intentionally authentic — “no fluff,” raw and lived-out faith rather than polished performance.
The church particularly hopes to reach people who may have felt overlooked, judged, disconnected from traditional church environments or who are simply searching for a new beginning.
“Our desire is for people to know that they are welcome,” said Pastor Holloway. “It does not matter where you have been or what your past looks like. God can transform a life. We want to teach the truth of God’s Word, love people, help people grow and give them a place where their faith can become real in their everyday lives.”
TBI Bay Area’s message is reflected in its foundational scripture, John 14:6:
“I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
As the new congregation grows, Truth Bearer International Bay Area seeks to become an active part of the Antioch and greater Bay Area community, building relationships, serving others, sharing the Gospel and providing opportunities for individuals and families to grow spiritually.
Whether someone has been in church for decades, is returning to church after years away or has never attended church before, the invitation is simple:
All are welcome.
Truth Bearer International Bay Area
Pastor Derrick Holloway
Every Sunday
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Zimmerman Chapel
2200 Country Hills Drive, Antioch
Phone: 510-750-0346, Email: TBIministrybayarea@gmail.com, Website: https://truthbearerinternational.org/ Facebook: Derrick Holloway TBI Bay Area Instagram: @tbiministrybayarea YouTube: Truth Bearer International Bay Area Church
About Truth Bearer International Bay Area
Truth Bearer International Bay Area is a Christian ministry based in Antioch, California, committed to holiness, evangelism, biblical truth, spiritual transformation and reaching people across cultural and denominational backgrounds. Rooted in a ministry vision first given in 1976, TBI continues a legacy that grew through prison ministry and men called to preach the Gospel. Under the leadership of Pastor Derrick Holloway, TBI Bay Area is dedicated to teaching God’s Word without compromise while creating a welcoming environment where people can worship, grow, heal, serve and experience life transformation through Jesus Christ.
Under new ownership and management; renovated 101-year-old building, kept same menu
“A labor of love. I did this for my grandchildren,” – co-owner, Joe Martinez
“This is an opportunity for Jamie and me to get one of the last historic places in Antioch,” – co-owner Ron Harrison
By Allen D. Payton
After closing in June 2025 and following the purchase late last year and renovations this year, the new owners and operators of Mac’s Old House will hold a Grand Opening of Antioch’s iconic restaurant Saturday, August 15 at 4:00 p.m. The new owners are Ron and Jamie Harrison and Joe and Desiree Martinez. Sheri Vallero, who also runs Mel’s Diner in Antioch, and daughter, Terriane Reed and son, Roger Born, are the operators.
Locally famous for their dine-in, family-style prime rib and pasta dinners, “The story of Mac’s stretches back to 1925 when Floyd ‘Mac’ McKinney built the house with his father. In 1956 he began to operate a bar out of a converted part of the home. He operated it for 17 years before selling it and retiring,” according to a report by onlyinyourstate.com. “The restaurant changed hands a few times after Mac, but (the previous) owner bought it in 1983.”
During a soft opening dinner for friends on Tuesday, Aug. 4, Ron and Joe shared their thoughts and excitement about the restaurant.
“Joe and I are friends, and I work with him a lot,” Ron Harrison said. “We started talking about it and said, ‘why don’t we buy it?’ To us it’s an historical place.”
Harrison’s other business partner, “Sean (McCauley) and I have so many places out here. This is an opportunity for Jamie and me to get one of the last historic places in Antioch,” he continued.
“We lease the restaurant to Sheri and required her to keep the same name and menu,” Harrison stated. “We added 15 feet to the back for a bigger kitchen. More parking stalls. Two new beautiful bathrooms.”
“We got all the smoke off the walls and added all new lighting picked out by Desiree,” he shared. “We kept the bar. We wrapped all the beams. We tried to keep it as original as possible. The building is 101 years old.”
“We worked with the City staff and leaned on them as much as possible,” Harrison added.
“This is my first venture together with Ron,” Martinez said. “I bought the property and brought Ron in. I knew I wanted this project. I met with (former owners) Gary and Sue Noe and worked things out.”
“Starting in November I’ve been working on this every day since. A labor of love. It turned out good,” he continued. “We did a complete restoration. I told Gary and Sue, my goal is to honor the legacy of Mac and the family and continue it.”
“I put my heart, soul and love into it,” Martinez shared. “My wife and I picked out all the finishes.”
“The plan is to keep it for the next 40 years, the next generation,” he stated. “Nobody else was going to do it with all the cost involved. I put in my sweat equity. Ron took care of all the City stuff and laid out the plumbing and kitchen. I did all the construction. I’m happy it’s done.”
“I did this for my grandchildren as a family trust,” Martinez added.
See a video by the Harrisons showing a tour of the restaurant and announcing the Grand Opening, here.
For now, the restaurant is open daily for dinner from 4:00 – 10:00 p.m. Beginning Monday, Aug. 17, Mac’s will open for lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They now accept debit and credit cards for payment.
The restaurant is located at 3100 E. 18th Street in Antioch. For more information visit them on Facebook and Instagram.
City of Antioch’s General Plan Visioning Survey closes Monday, August 17
By City of Antioch
The City’s General Plan will help guide decisions about Antioch’s future, including how our community grows, develops, and evolves in the years ahead.
The City of Antioch is updating its General Plan, which provides goals, policies, and guidelines for the physical development of the City for the next ten to twenty years. The General Plan is intended to reflect the goals, values, and priorities of the Antioch community. The following questions will help the City gain a broad perspective of views and values in the community to help craft a General Plan that is reflective of local concerns and priorities. Your opinion and input are greatly appreciated. Please complete one survey per person.
This survey is available in English and Spanish. Please use the language selector at the top left of the survey to choose your preferred language.
Esta encuesta está disponible en inglés y español. Utilice el selector de idioma en la parte superior izquierda de la encuesta para elegir su idioma preferido.
Your input matters. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, now is the time to make your voice heard.
Take a few minutes to share your priorities and vision for the future of Antioch, by clicking, here: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/39bd9883638640bd9e9c07cd33578f3e.
Your Voice. Our Future. Help shape Antioch!
For more information visit Antioch General Plan.
By Carla Baker Marymee, Antioch Historical Society
The Antioch Historical Society presented a beautiful plaque to Antioch Police Chief Joe Vigil and Nahleen Cloninger to thank the Antioch Police Officers Association Community Engagement Team for their incredible support during a recent clean up at the Antioch Historical Museum! It was presented by Landscape Advisor Cesar Court.
Special appreciation to Nick Shipilov, who coordinated the effort and worked side-by-side with fellow officers Loren Bledsoe (ret.), Eric Nilsen, Rick Hoffman and his son, JJ Jeong, Arturo Becerra, Joshua Riosbass, and Brian Cruz-Guzman. These outstanding individuals recently donated their personal time to help care for our museum grounds.
We are deeply grateful for their generosity, hard work, and community spirit.
Our grounds and facilities require ongoing care. We’re asking for your help — even one day a month makes a difference. Special thanks to Cesar Court, our Landscape Advisor, who has been tirelessly maintaining the grounds with a small crew. If you’d like to assist, please contact Cesar at (925) 550-7821.
For more information about the Antioch Historical Society and Museum visit antiochhistoricalmuseum.org or www.facebook.com/antiochhistoricalmuseum.
By City of Antioch
You’re invited to the Jacobsen Park Ribbon Cutting to celebrate its reopening. Join the City of Antioch as we celebrate improvements on Friday, August 21, from 4:30–5:00 p.m.
Approved by the City Council on August 27, 2024, the work by Frontline General Engineering Construction, Inc. of San Lorenzo was budgeted at a total of $695,830.55 and involved a full renovation of the existing park, including:
Jacobsen Park is located near Jacobsen Street & Azevedo Street.
Light refreshments will be served.
We hope to see you there as we celebrate another investment in Antioch’s parks and community spaces!
Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.
Vote in Senate as early as Thursday
New language by Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee chaired by Senator Scott Wiener also exempts crimes against disabled victims and, in some cases, children under 14.
WARNING: Graphic content
By California Family Council
SACRAMENTO, CA — AB 2691, the Public Trust Protection Act, could be voted on the Senate floor as soon as tomorrow morning, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. On August 4, the bill’s authors quietly rewrote its central definition. They did not fix the problem California Family Council (CFC) raised in June. They made it bigger, and harder to see.
Background
AB 2691, authored by Assemblywoman Dawn Addis (D-Dawn Addis), passed the Assembly floor 67 to 0. It would bar people convicted of felony sexual assault or human trafficking from holding public office, a policy CFC supports. On June 24, the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, chaired by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), added language exempting felony sodomy, oral copulation and sexual penetration when the victim is a minor age 14 to 17.
CFC Vice President Greg Burt testified against that exemption on June 30 and asked the committee to restore the bill to the form the Assembly passed unanimously. The committee advanced the bill anyway, 4 to 1, with only Senator Steven Choi (R-Irvine) voting no.
What Changed on August 4, and How California’s Sex Offender Registry Actually Works
The named exemption for ages 14 to 17 is gone from the bill text. In its place, Addis rewrote the bill to define “sexual assault” using California’s sex offender registration system, and only the most severe part of it.
California sorts every registerable sex offense into one of three tiers, based on how serious the offense is:
Under the bill the Assembly passed, a felony conviction under any of six penal code sections covering rape, sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration disqualified a candidate, full stop. Under the August 4 rewrite, a conviction only disqualifies a candidate if it happens to fall into Tier 3 of the sex registry list. A conviction that falls into Tier 1 or Tier 2, no matter how serious the underlying crime actually was, no longer counts.
That single change does not narrow the original exemption. It widens it.
“We asked this Assemblywoman Addis in June to send this bill back to the form the Assembly passed unanimously. Instead, she took the exemption we objected to, deleted the sentence that named it, and buried the same result inside a much bigger loophole,” said CFC Vice President Burt. “Sex crimes against 14 to 17-year-olds are still exempted. Now sex crimes against people with disabilities are exempted too. And under the right circumstances, so is molesting a child under 14. This bill was supposed to keep sex offenders out of public office. As written, it tells some of them they’re still welcome to run.”
Call to Action
The Senate could vote on AB 2691 as early as tomorrow morning. California Family Council urges senators to vote no on the bill as currently written and urges Californians to contact their state senator today.
About California Family Council
California Family Council works to advance God’s design for life, family, and liberty through California’s Church, Capitol, and Culture. By advocating for policies that reinforce the sanctity of life, the strength of traditional marriages, and the essential freedoms of religion, CFC is dedicated to preserving California’s moral and social foundation.
APPENDIX: Affected Crimes, With Penal Code Citations
This list is limited to items independently confirmed against the text of Penal Code section 290, subdivisions (d)(1) through (d)(3), and Penal Code section 667.5(c). Additional items appear in supplemental research from a California State Senate office; those are not included here pending independent confirmation.
No Longer Disqualifying: Tier 1 Offenses (10-Year Registration)
Penal Code 286(b) — sodomy, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 287(b), or former 288a(b) — oral copulation, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 289(h) and (i) — sexual penetration by foreign object, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 289.5 — fleeing to California to avoid prosecution or custody for a registerable sex offense committed in another state (misdemeanor)
No Longer Disqualifying: Tier 2 Offenses (20-Year Registration)
Penal Code 285 — incest
Penal Code 286(g) — sodomy of a victim who cannot legally consent due to a mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability
Penal Code 286(c)(1) — sodomy of a victim under 14, where the offender is more than 10 years older, without force
Penal Code 288(a) — a lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14, first offense, without force. This is California’s basic child molestation statute.
Penal Code 288.3 — contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony, specifically when the underlying intent was to violate 286(b), 287(b), or 289(h)/(i)
Penal Code 289(b) — sexual penetration of a victim who cannot legally consent due to a mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability
Penal Code 647.6 — annoying or molesting a child, second or subsequent offense
Still Disqualifying: Tier 3 Offenses (Lifetime Registration)
Penal Code 236.1(c) — human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act
Penal Code 266h(b) — aggravated pimping of a minor
Penal Code 266i(b) — aggravated pandering of a minor
Penal Code 266j — procuring a child under 16 for a lewd act
Penal Code 269 — aggravated sexual assault of a child
Penal Code 286(c)(2) and (d) — forcible sodomy of a child under 14, including in concert
Penal Code 287(c) and (d), or former 288a — forcible oral copulation of a child under 14, including in concert
Penal Code 288(b) — a lewd act on a child under 14 committed by force
Penal Code 288(c) — a lewd act on a 14- or 15-year-old, where the offender is at least 10 years older
Penal Code 288.2 — sending harmful matter to a minor with intent to seduce, felony
Penal Code 288.3 — contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony, except when the intent was to violate 286(b), 287(b), or 289(h)/(i)
Penal Code 288.5 — continuous sexual abuse of a child
Penal Code 288.7 — sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, or sexual penetration with a child age 10 or younger
Penal Code 289(a) — forcible sexual penetration
Penal Code 653f(c) — soliciting another person to commit rape, sodomy, oral copulation, or a lewd act on a child
A felony sentenced to a mandatory life term under Penal Code 667.61 (“One Strike” law)
Designation as a habitual sex offender under Penal Code 667.71
A second, separately tried conviction under Penal Code 288(a)
Sources: California Penal Code section 290, subdivisions (d)(1) through (d)(3), and Penal Code section 667.5(c), both available at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
For kids in grades 3-8; deadline extended to Aug. 17
By Antioch Recreation Department
The field is calling — there’s still time to GET IN THE GAME! NFL FLAG Football registration has been EXTENDED through August 17!
Calling all kids in grades 3–8 — grab your friends and get ready to run, catch, score, and HAVE FUN! Whether you’re new to football or ready to show off your skills, we want YOU on the field!
Rookies (ages 8-10), All-Stars (ages 10-12), Champions (12-14)
DON’T MISS THE NEW DEADLINE: AUGUST 17!
Experience the speed, skill, agility and action of the gridiron without the contact associated with tackle football. This co-ed program will feature one 45-minute practice during the week followed by one 45-minute game on Saturday mornings. The goal of this program is to develop the skill of our young athletes while also exposing them to sportsmanship, teamwork and healthy lifestyles that so important to local youth; all while having fun. Each child receives their own NFL Flag Football Jersey and flag belt. Volunteer coaches receive a 50% discount from their child’s registration fee.
Register at AntiochCA.gov/Register
Don’t sit on the sidelines — LET’S PLAY!
Mandatory Evaluation schedule on Saturday 8/22 at Antioch Community Park: 3rd/4th grade 10:00 AM-10:45 AM -5th/6th grade 11:00 AM-11:45 AM -7th/8th grade 12:00 PM -12:45 PM.
If interested in coaching, please contact Sports Staff at (925) 776-3053 or sports@antiochca.gov.
Disney Days at Willow Park Mercantile in Rivertown Aug. 15-23
Saturday, August 15th, 2026Truth Bearer International Bay Area launches new church in Antioch
Friday, August 14th, 2026Iconic Antioch restaurant Mac’s Old House to hold Grand Opening Saturday, Aug. 15
Friday, August 14th, 2026Antioch Historical Society thanks Antioch Police Officers Association
Thursday, August 13th, 2026Antioch to hold Jacobsen Park Ribbon Cutting to celebrate renovations, reopening Aug. 21
Thursday, August 13th, 2026CA State Senate rewrite of “sex offender” bill still allows predators to run for office
Wednesday, August 12th, 2026
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