Those interested in fighting the rising tide of violence in East Contra Costa County’s schools and streets and were unable to attend last month’s anti-violence forum called Peace In The Streets will have the opportunity to hear the speakers and presentations on local television.

The forum, sponsored by Supervisor Federal Glover and the East County Gang Task Force, will be aired on CCTV on Nov. 29 at 1 a.m and on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.

Highlights include remarks from keynote speaker Larry Wallace from the California Attorney General’s office and panelists on the Justice panel and Community Rersponse panel. A presentation on local gangs in East County by the Pittsburg Police Department will be part of the presentation, which was held at Pittsburg High School on Oct. 29.

CCTV is Comcast channel 27; Astound channel 32 and AT&T U-verse channel 99. For additional air dates, visit CCTV’s program guide at www.contracostatv.org.

On November 22 at approximately 10:20 p.m. the Antioch Police Department received reports of gunshots in the area of the 2300 block of D Street. A short time later an Antioch man arrived at a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Officers went to the area and located evidence and witnesses to the shooting. According to witnesses, the victim was standing on the sidewalk when he was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting. The people responsible fled the area and were not located.

The Antioch Police Department is excited to announce the 29th installment of the Neighborhood Cleanup Program.

The 28th Neighborhood Cleanup event will occur on Saturday, December 3rd, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Volunteers should report to Lone Tree Elementary School located at 1931 Mokelumne Drive. Ample parking can be found in the parking lot for the School.

Volunteers will receive instructions and the equipment necessary to accomplish the goal. The targeted area is within walking distance. Excluding inclement weather, future Neighborhood Cleanup events are scheduled for the first Saturday of every month and the locations will be announced in advance.

The City of Antioch Neighborhood Cleanup program is not just for residential neighborhoods. It is a program that will change venues on a monthly basis and it will include business and commercial areas as well. Neighborhoods that are free of trash and refuse are inviting, and a clean community instills a sense of community pride.

Collectively, “We”, everyone who works and lives in the City Antioch, can make a difference and improve the quality of life. It’s our community and it’s our chance to make a difference. Remember, cleaning up your neighborhood can make life better for your family, your neighbors and your community!

This is a collaborative community effort which involves active participation from United Citizens for Better Neighborhoods (UCBN), community volunteers, and the Antioch Police Department Crime Prevention Commission; Neighborhood Watch Program, Target Volunteers, Volunteers in Police Service, community volunteers and the Public Works Department.

Global NxLevel Strategies & The Antioch Community Foundation is pre-registering for its 2012, “Increase your sales by one-million dollars business planning class.” For existing business owners or new startups, this may be your last chance for business development training for Antioch & Pittsburg residents. Due to 2012 funding cuts, this program may know longer be offered.

Why start or expand a business in this economy, because there are opportunities everywhere. The problem with finding the opportunities is a lack of business planning. 1 out of 5 businesses in the “Land of Opportunity” survives. A business owner, who fails to plan, plans to fail!

GNS wants to help you write a winning business plan. By writing your plan, you will work through your strategies; avoid potentially costly errors like undercapitalizing your business, negative cash flow, hiring the wrong people, selecting the wrong location, underestimating your competition, and pursuing the wrong markets.

To remain relevant in an economy that has experienced downsizing and manufacture’s moving to other countries, GNS is inviting you to register for this 11-week business planning program for just $95.

Not an Antioch or Pittsburg resident? The course is Just $395

Class starts Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at the Antioch Chamber of Commerce. For more information contact Quincy Hardin at 925-209-1584.

Standing in front of Antioch City Hall after the dedication plaque and gardening were recently completed for the Peace Pole are Father Tom Bonacci, founder, and Walter Ruehlig, Advisory Board Member of the Interfaith Peace Project.

The donated pole was installed on September 21st, the U.N.-sponsored International Day of Peace, awaiting the arrival of a plaque from a Pennsylvania foundry. It is inscribed ‘May peace prevail on earth’ in twelve languages common to our area and honors all East County residents of good will.

Made of cedar it is similar to poles planted at the base of Mt. Everest, the magnetic North Pole, Hiroshima and the Great Pyramids at Gaza.

(Photo courtesy of June Kirk.)

Once again the Holiday DeLites Street Parade will not take place this year due to the economic downturn and city funding cuts. However, the Antioch Lighted Boat Parade will be held, as it has been for over twenty-five years.

The event is sponsored by three local yacht clubs: Bridge Marina, Driftwood and Sportsman. The parade begins at 6:00 PM on December 3rd. The best locations to view it are the Antioch Municipal Pier and all along 2nd Street in downtown Antioch. The boat parade is free and will have approximately 15 entries.

The event is also an opportunity to collect toys for homeless students who attend schools in Antioch. Drop off new toys at the Lynn House Gallery, 809 W. First Street before, during or after the parade. For more information email Diane@Art4Antioch.org or call Diane Gibson-Gray at (925) 325-9897.

To the editor:

No mistaking me and Thanksgiving sentiments; I thoroughly admire the holiday’s essence. I find it, though, a telling remark on the vagaries of life that we need a day to remind us to be thankful.

I guess that forgetfulness is due to nature seeking the path of least resistance. As rivers run down, not up, hill, so to moan, to complain, to whine is the more beaten path of the human condition. The less traveled attitude of gratitude seems the direction we need pointers on.

Growing up, my older step sister, who as a child fled the Soviet occupiers of East Germany, oft posed this provocative reminder of relativity. How many of us, she asked, would willingly put all their troubles in a brown paper bag and throw them up in the air with all our neighbors’ bags, randomly collecting what rained down? Our lot is, in truth, often better than what we credit it to be.

I offer, then, my own life ledger:

How generously I note how serious life can be; how stingily I see the ironies, remembering, after all, that since nobody gets out of this Big Tent alive, we may as well just enjoy the show. Grin and bear it.

How generously I disparage our national political strife and intrinsically messy democracy; how stingily I trumpet that we’re not rioting in the streets, blowing each other up, or displaying our bloodied former leaders in refrigerated market stalls.

How generously I wake up decrying an assortment of age-related aches and pains; how stingily I praise the simple miracle of rising vertically and ambulating.

How generously I bemoan diminished reading sight; how stingily I exult not being blind, deaf or mute.

How generously I curse being a working stiff; how stingily I sing the blessings of having a job to report to; a loving family to feed; and a son at college eager to make something of himself.

How generously I sigh over lost home value; how stingily I admit that my abode would be a veritable mansion in Japan or Europe; it’s blessedly not foreclosed; and, unlike 40% of the world’s population, I enjoy indoor plumbing. All of this, no less, nestling in a region without snow storms or humidity stifling misery indexes.

How generously I lament Antioch’s hunger for downtown development matching Brentwood’s and Pittsburg’s; how stingily I toast the Highway 4 expansion, beckoning eBART and ferry, new marina ramp, and A and L Street remakes.

How generously I focus on blight; how stingily I acknowledge that we sit on the Delta, boasting gorgeous parks, a handsome community center and golf course event center, career-themed schools and an hour or so proximity in any direction to world class cities and stunningly gorgeous recreational areas.

How generously I dwell on crime; how stingily I note that America’s crime rate is the lowest since 1968 and that Antioch went down last year 16 percent in violent crime and on all indices except burglary.

Surely, brothers and sisters, we all have our untold presents. Is the arithmetic too hard to take a few of the 86,400 seconds in a day gifted us to count our blessings? Thanksgiving, after all, is not just the last Thursday in November. It is a state of mind.

In the grand scheme of things, Meister Eckhart seemed to have had it right: “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”

Walter Ruehlig
Antioch

Board considering June 2012 bond measure to upgrade Antioch High

By Amy Claire

Because of financial difficulties at the state and county levels, the Antioch Unified School District is likely to receive less funding than anticipated this year and in the coming years. An expected $4 billion increase in the state education budget has not materialized, which may lead to significant cuts to public schools.

State schools have only been fully funded five times in the past twenty-one years, and California remains well behind the national average in state educational spending per student, according to Associate Superintendent of Business and Operations Tim Forrester. So far, the AUSD has been able to handle the changes.

“We’ve monitored our expenditures very well,” said Forrester at the November 16 school board meeting.

The district has infused its budget with $23 million in one-time funds, and has followed the county’s suggestion of setting aside money per average daily attendant. But the lack of funds still has the possibility of leaving the district budget with a deficit by the 2013-14 school year. Fortunately, the county will allow for adjustments to ensure that the district does not run out of money, so the general mood was hopeful at the end of Forrester’s presentation.

The board also discussed the increasingly significant need for repairs and renovations at Antioch High School. “The needs are so great,” said Superintendent Donald Gill.

To pay for the repairs, as well as other district projects, the board is considering placing a bond measure on the June 2012 ballot. Forrester said that if the board members wish to proceed, they need to begin taking further steps, such as holding a survey of public voter opinion, preparing for public hearings in February and drafting the actual resolution by March.

School Board Vice-President Claire Smith said that voters deserve to know the details of the project, including when renovations will begin, what they will cover, how long they will last and exactly how much of a tax increase will be required to pay for them. She suggested scaling back the project to encompass only repairs to Antioch High School, concerned that it might not be the appropriate time to ask taxpayers for additional money.

Board Member Walter Ruehlig mentioned that the repairs will be unavoidable eventually, but suggested more evaluation to gauge public opinion before proceeding with the bond election.

Board President Diane Gibson-Gray agreed with Smith that the project should focus on Antioch High School, and said the cost of taking an official voter poll might be better spent on educating residents about the district’s needs. She also asserted that her role as an elected official was to give the constituents a chance to vote. Forrester will continue investigating the bond measure, and the board decided to discuss the resolution after more information had been gathered.

Only one person addressed the board during the designated time for speakers from the community. A man stated that his grandson, a freshman at Deer Valley High School, had been beaten by older students a week ago. He said that the district’s response left him with the impression that the board does not take bullying seriously. A board member said that someone from the district would contact him to address his concerns.

The meeting began with a flag salute led by the boy scouts who had attended the meeting to earn badges. The board also heard updates from student representatives of Bidwell High School and Deer Valley High School, who reported good news in both academics and social activities at their schools.

The next school board meeting will be held at 7 p.m., December 14 at 510 G. Street in Antioch.