Summer Reading is underway at the Antioch Library from June 4 to August 4. The program is the Contra Costa County Library’s yearly effort keep kids reading during the summer months. Readers of all ages can visit our Summer Reading page at ccclib.org/summer, for brain-training activities and challenges. All finishers will take home a free book and a raffle entry to win amazing prizes.

The Antioch Library Summer Reading kick-off event will be held on Monday, June 11 from 4 to 7 p.m. Meet our staff and volunteers, pick up your reading record and get a preview of the amazing prizes you can win just by participating.

Lunch at the Library in Antioch

June 11 – July 18

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays

12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch at the Library is a program that provides free, healthy lunches to kids and teens 18 and under, in an effort to prevent a summer nutrition gap. Many low-income children face nutrient deficiencies when school closes for the summer break. Event Type(s): Library Program

Age Group(s): Young Children (0-5), Kids (5-11), High School (Grades 9-12)

Teresa Raines (925) 757-9224 or traines@ccclib.org

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS

Hour of Code

Wednesdays, beginning June 13, 1 p.m.

The ‘Hour of Code™’ is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming. All students K-12 are welcome.

Puppetry Workshop

Thursdays, beginning June 14, 1 p.m.

Over seven-weeks children will learn to create, and perform with puppets.

On Tuesday, June 19 at 2 p.m. we welcome a Jelly Jam Time Puppets Performance with Risa Lenore.
Teen Programming

Thursdays, 3 p.m.

June 14 – Board Games

June 21 – Video Games

June 28 – Arts in the Afternoon

Fairy Tale Engineering with the Bay Area Discovery Museum

Monday, June 18, 2 p.m.

Sharpen those STEM skills by solving problems for beloved fairy tale characters. Perfect for ages 4-9.
Bike tips for Commuters

Monday, June 25, 6 p.m.

Learn about the bike features at the new BART extension.

For more information, visit our website at ccclib.org or contact the Antioch Library, 501 West 18th St., (925) 757-9224.

 

Dear Editor:

Let’s talk about the really poor marketing of the marketing campaign to listen to the citizens of Antioch. I love this city, and I am happy to give input as to why Antioch is great, why folks should move here, etc. What I’m not happy about is the embarrassing debacle that surrounds this effort by the company hired to survey residents: evvivabrands.com.

I read about this series of events on Facebook Thursday morning. The first event shown was Friday 10-6 at the Somersville mall. I was surprised to be the first person in a city of over 100,000 people to register for the “listenting session” (the typo is theirs, not mine).

I showed up at 10 am and found no signage, no indication of anything happening in the main courtyard where the session was to take place. After asking around, I was directed to a storefront lined with black curtains where three people were standing around with rolling bags. I asked if they were associated with the brand event, and, hallelujah, they said they were.

I understand why they may have been defensive when I asked why it was so difficult to find them. But if you are a professional listener, I would recommend less arguing and more acknowledgement of the problem. Furthermore, this event that I signed up for was not an all-day meeting or session. They were simply there to pull shoppers in to ask the questions that, I assume, are the same ones on the electronic survey.

Come on, Antioch. If you hire a “professional” company to help with brand for the city, at least make sure that they know what they’re doing.

Jacquelyn Higgins

Antioch

Title transfer would advance modernization of the 81-year-old facility

This week, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Kamala Harris and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier introduced legislation to transfer federal ownership of the Contra Costa Canal System to Contra Costa Water District (CCWD), taking an important step toward modernizing the aging water supply aqueduct.  CCWD is pleased to strongly support the introduction of this legislation.

The canal system serves as the primary water delivery system for 500,000 people in central and eastern Contra Costa County. It was first constructed in 1937 as part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project.

The canal system includes the 48-mile Contra Costa Canal, the Shortcut Pipeline, two reservoirs, and other related facilities. Under the companion bills, CCWD receives ownership of assets it has operated since 1972 and has 100% paid off (principal plus interest) since 2010. Ownership of the canal system on the local level means CCWD can more efficiently operate and maintain the system and will reduce federal administrative burdens and associated costs.

In addition, CCWD would be more secure in investing millions of dollars to modernize the aging canal.  CCWD is studying options to modernize the main canal that stretches from Rock Slough Intake near Oakley to Concord. “For those investments to be made,” said CCWD Board President Lisa Borba, “CCWD is awaiting ownership of the canal system.”

Because the canal system is currently owned by the federal government, title transfer requires an act of Congress. This canal system is an ideal unit for title transfer because, its single beneficiary, CCWD, has paid for the facilities and will continue to operate for the benefit of customers currently served.

“The canal system has reliably served the people and businesses of our community for 80 years,” President Borba said. “We appreciate the leadership from Senator Feinstein, Senator Harris and Congressman DeSaulnier to help us gain ownership of a system we can modernize to serve our customers for the next century.”

The canal system also includes recreational trails, Contra Loma and other facilities that will be maintained for recreation with the transfer. This action has gained support from local recreation managers, including East Bay Regional Park District and the cities of Walnut Creek and Antioch.

To learn more about studies to modernize the Contra Costa Canal System, visit www.ccwater.com/688.

By Allen Payton

After counting about 20,000 of the remaining ballots from Tuesday night’s election in Contra Costa County, appointed Interim District Attorney Diana Becton has expanded her lead by another 1,000 votes to 50.01% over her main opponent, and Supervising Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves who now has 42.29%. She now leads him by 11,398 votes. To avoid a runoff in the November election, she only needs to win by 50% plus one vote.

However, Graves is not conceding, yet.

“There are still thousands of provisional votes to be counted,” said Katie DeFerraria, his campaign manager. “When the votes are all in there will be an opportunity for comment. Right now, Paul Graves will continue to focus on his responsibilities as a prosecutor for the people of Contra Costa.”

According to County Clerk-Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla, his office has counted “174,000 ballots so far, and we have 50,000 vote-by-mails to go and 10,000 provisionals. So, 60,000 total, roughly.”

Asked when the next update will be, her responded, “We’re going to hopefully have all of the vote-by-mail done and a semi-final by Wednesday. Then on June 22 we should have a full, final report with the provisionals included.”

For all of the latest election results in the county, click here.

Please check back Wednesday for the next update to the election results in Contra Costa County.

By Robbie Pierce

The students of Deer Valley High School, faculty, friends and family packed into Wolverine Stadium on the hot, humid evening of Thursday, June 8 for a graduation and commencement ceremony filled with themes of both congratulations and opportunities for their accomplishments.

Deer Valley teacher Robert Hubbard oversaw the event as Master of Ceremonies, and music was provided by the school band conducted by Larry Widener and the school Divine Voices choir led by Teacher of the Year Michelle Stark. After the students walked onto the field to the tune of the traditional graduation march and stood for the Presentation of Colors by Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps J.M. Jones and national anthem sung by the choir, Salutatorian Michelle Yin seated the class.

Principal Kenneth Gardner welcomed the class and audience to the ceremony, stating “there’s no other place I’d rather be in the world” than Deer Valley for the graduation.

“This class has been an amazing class… the knowledge that they’ve learned in academies and in classes will serve the rest of their life,” said Gardner.

Gardner, who retired this year, cried with joy during his speech. “It’s been an amazing ride,” he said.

Antioch Unified School District Board President Gary Hack gave the opening remarks, heartily congratulating the students but also urging them to “go upstream against the heard” and “do what you think is right, important and proper,” reminding them that while their graduation is no small feat, it marks the start of their life’s journey, not the end. Board Vice President Crystal Sawyer-White, trustees Debra Vinson and Diane Gibson-Gray, Superintendent Stephanie Anello and several District and City Officials were also in attendance as “Distinguished Guests.”

The commencement speakers for the class were Senior Class President TiaErykah Gregory and Valedictorian Rameez Mughal.

“Personally, I’d like to congratulate each and every one of you,” Gregory beamed. Throughout her speech, she stressed that students take every opportunity ahead of them whether their next step is college, career, military or a gap year and encouraging them to find their “passion.”

“Everyone has one,” said Gregory. “The only one that can keep you from a new experience of memory, is you.”

She also, somberly acknowledged that the assembled students would probably never be together again as a single unit, but celebrated the fact that before they all go their separate ways, they could be together “one last time” for their commencement.

“Congratulations, class of 2018,” she said. “We did it.”

For his speech, Mughal took a second to thank the faculty for “making our education possible,” giving special note to the retiring Gardner. He also offered encouragement to his peers while admiring the “effort” he had seen over the past four years and pushing everyone to seek out new opportunities.

“Wherever life takes you, I hope you bring that same effort with you,” Mughal said.”

Mughal also, in what he humorously referred to as “meta commentary,” discussed his initial inability to find an interesting anecdote to finish off his speech with, but how that led to a philosophic revelation for him and advising the class, “if you lack a story, write your own.”

After a musical performance of “A Blessing,” Gardner formally presented the Class of 2018 to Superintendent Anello, who accepted the class and formally certified that all present had passed graduation requirements. “Imagine” by John Lennon was performed before diplomas were presented at long last to the eager graduates by the AUSD Governing Board and DVHS faculty members Maria McClain and Allison Weihe.

The commencement lasted around an hour and a half and completed with Gregory leading the class in a traditional tassel turning ceremony, the presentation of a tassel to Gardner as a retirement gift, a few brief closing remarks by Hubbard and a recessional by the band as students and their families slowly filed out of the stadium and into the next chapters of their lives.

 

 

 

By Lieutenant D. Bittner #3252, Antioch Police Investigations Division

On February 21, 2018 at approximately 7:59 pm, Antioch Police Department officers were dispatched to the 900 block of W. 3rd Street on the report of a shooting. Upon arrival officers located two gunshot victims. One victim was an adult male who was critically wounded and passed away at the scene. The second victim was an adult female who was also critically wounded. The female victim was transported from the scene to a local hospital and is still in critical condition. The case is currently under investigation.

After an extensive investigation, Antioch Police Department investigators identified two individuals responsible for the February 21st shooting homicide of thirty-two-year-old Alvin Crane. Twenty-nine-year-old Felton Clifton of Concord was identified as the shooter and was arrested for murder by Antioch Police Department investigators on May 31, 2018 in the city of Concord. Forty-two-year-old Kelly Corbitt of Richmond was arrested for murder on June 6, 2018 in the city of Emeryville. The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has filed murder charges against both Clifton and Corbitt. Anybody with information regarding the murder is encouraged to call Detective Gonzalez at (925) 779-6923.

By Sergeant James Stenger 3604 Field Services Bureau

On June 6, 2018 at approximately 8:14 AM, Antioch Patrol and Traffic Officers responded to E. 18th Street near Viera Avenue for a three-car vehicle collision. It was determined that a 27-year-old Oakley man was travelling at a high rate of speed eastbound on E. 18th Street and rear ended an SUV that had just pulled from northbound Viera Avenue onto eastbound E. 18th Street. This caused the SUV to overturn several times.

A third vehicle was struck by the SUV as it was overturning. A 52-year-old female and 30-year-old female, both from Antioch in the SUV were transported to a local hospital for complaint of pain. A five-year-old Antioch boy from the third vehicle was transported via a Reach Helicopter to an area children’s hospital for precautionary measures. The 32-year-old female guardian of the five-year-old, also of Antioch was transported to the hospital with the child with complaint of pain. The 27-year-old male was suspected of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. He was transported to a local hospital for precautionary measures and will be arrested for DUI after being medically cleared.

This preliminary information is made available by the Field Services Bureau. There will be no further information released regarding this case at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925) 778-2441. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.