At the Nick Rodriguez Community Center, 213 F Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown. Hosted by the Contra Costa Health Department’s Violence Prevention Program and Gun Violence Prevention Coalition, and Bridge Builders to the New Generation.
According the CCHealth’s website, The Violence Prevention Program uses a public health approach to prevent and reduce gun violence in Contra Costa County by providing high-risk populations with social support and services informed by evidence-based practices and equity principles. The program, established in October 2022, was made possible through a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.
The Violence Prevention Program is partnering with community stakeholders to develop a Gun Violence Reduction Strategic Plan for the county. The plan will focus on developing social-emotional learning programs for at-risk youth, building workforce development opportunities and career paths, and working with communities to improve the physical environment, neighborhood appearance and community engagement.
Currently, the program is working with the nonprofit consultant on a landscape analysis of the county’s existing violence prevention efforts.
The Gun Violence Prevention Coalition is a diverse, community and multi-agency-driven collaborative supported by Contra Costa Health’s Violence Prevention Program. The Coalition seeks to increase collaboration among residents, community partners, and agencies who are interested in and are actively involved in reducing gun violence and advancing gun-violence prevention policies. The Coalition’s goal is to prevent and reduce the incidence of gun violence and its associated negative community and health impacts.
Get ready for a night filled with fun, food, and friends at the Go for the Gold Park Middle School PTSA Banquet!Join us Friday, March 15 from 5 to 9 PM at the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Fulton Shipyard Road in Antioch.
It’s going to be an event to remember! Join us for a fabulous evening where we’ll celebrate, dine and have a blast together!
Come and celebrate with us as we recognize the hard work and dedication of our amazing PTSA members. Enjoy a delicious meal, engaging activities, and exciting surprises. This is your chance to connect with other parents, teachers, and students in our community. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to celebrate and support our school. See you there! Must be 21 years of age and up.
Key to the City of Antioch recipients on Feb. 29, 2024 (top row L-R) Frances Green, Shamawn Wright, Supervisor Federal Glover, Willie Mims, and (bottom row L-R) the late Antioch Councilman Reggie Moore and Dietra King. Source: Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe
To two former Antioch residents posthumously, three Pittsburg residents and one Oakland resident
By Allen D. Payton
During Antioch’s Black History Month Closing Celebration, this evening, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe will present a Key to the City to each of “six deserving individuals who have significantly impacted our community,” according to the Eventbrite invitation. “This prestigious honor recognizes their outstanding achievements and dedication.”
The recipients include two former Antioch residents who have passed away, Antioch’s first African American councilmember, the late Hon. Reginald “Reggie” Moore and the late Dietra King, co-owner of Dad’s BBQ and owner, broker of Hearts Realty. In addition, three Pittsburg residents, Board of Supervisors Chair Federal Glover, local civil rights and community activist Willie Mims and NAACP East County Branch leader and Building Black Political Power PAC President Frances Green will also receive a Key to the City.
Finally, a sixth Key to the City will be presented to Oakland resident Shamawn Wright, Founder of the non-profit Bridge Builders to the New Generation which has an office inside the East Family Justice Center in Antioch and serves Antioch youth.
The mayor chose each of the recipients and has said in the past that it doesn’t require council approval.
The event will be held at Delta Bay Community Church, 1020 E. Tregallas Road in Antioch. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins promptly at 7:00 pm. A special reception with music and hors-d’oeuvres will follow the program.
Grab a tote bag and your book list and spend a day at the Friends of the Antioch Library Bimonthly Book Sale. Hundreds of gently-used new arrivals from children’s books to cookbooks, videos, and audio cassettes for $1.00 or less.
The Friends of the Antioch Library is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving library services in Antioch. Through membership donations and Book Sale earnings, the Friends provide the library with books, magazines, DVDs and CDs. We also provide children’s and cultural programs for the community.
“They’ve beena massive failure…They have no credibility with anybody because they take on the role of being anti-police…It gives them a forum. They enjoy it. They get to grandstand.” – APOA attorney Mike Rains
“We look forward to the opportunity to work with the new Oversight Commission” – APOA VP Sgt. Loren Bledsoe
By Allen D. Payton
In response to the appointment of the seven members to the City of Antioch’s new Police Oversight Commission this past week, Antioch Police Officers Association attorney Mike Rains, who says his firm represents about 180 police associations throughout California, shared his extensive thoughts and concerns about the commission, the city’s government and police department.
“I didn’t know the people who they appointed. I guess, knowing it’s Antioch, they’re not going to appoint anyone who will be fair to police,” he stated. “It’s meaningless, ritualistic crap. That’s all you can say about this new commission.”
“I’ve been dealing with civilian review of police for 40 years. Antioch is no different. It can be effective and can work but only if those who sit in review of the police actions are fair and objective in evaluating the evidence. But what has happened, almost everywhere, is selecting people to the position who have an agenda,” Rains stated. “They think they sit on the panels to be advocates for their own personal agenda. They’ve been a massive failure.
They have no credibility with anybody because they take on the role of being anti-police.”
Says Oakland Police Commission Decisions Overruled Most of the Time
During his arguments in favor of forming the new commission, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe mentioned the police commissions in San Francisco and Oakland as examples. Rains shared his experiences with one.
“Take a look at the Oakland Police Commission. They’re in complete disarray. Nobody pays attention to them. City officials overrule them most of the time,” he stated. “In the few cases the city officials succumb to the pressure, and discipline was imposed, we took them to arbitration, and it was overturned because it was unfair, and no arbitrators would uphold them.”
“Like in Berkely, they’ve had the same model,” Rains shared. “It gives them a forum. They enjoy it. They get to grandstand. It gives them their one day of glory in a hearing.”
Antioch’s Commission Only Advisory
But unlike the police commissions in the larger cities in the Bay Area and elsewhere, which are charter cities, because Antioch is a general law city, as previously reported, the Police Oversight Commission does not have the same powers and can only serve in an advisory role to the city council. Rains called it, “A meaningless process.”
“As if any of these folks know about police policy. It’s going to be their personal philosophy without any knowledge at all of what universally is accepted for police practice,” he continued. “I’m sure it’s going to be a joke. Everything coming out of Antioch is, right now.”
About the City Government & Mayor
Rains then turned his attention to how the city’s government is being operated.
“The city is severely mismanaged, and they keep running it into the ground,” he stated. “It’s indicative of what Mayor Thorpe has been doing. The mayor won’t let the police chief run the department and that’s how it’s been since Chief Ford was there.”
“Lamar Thorpe and his cronies, they can’t run it. That’s what’s causing the disfunction,” Rains continued. “They continue to do this crap and think these little ‘show and tells’ like this police commission thing will show they’re competent. But they’re incompetent. Instead of hiring competent department heads to run the city.”
“It’s sad for the people of Antioch,” stated Rains, who doesn’t’ live in the city. “They need to vote out all these people and elect people who are smart and care and don’t have a personal agenda that will dominate their decision-making.”
About the Police Department
He then spoke about the police department where his clients, the members of the APOA work.
“I feel sorry for the cops who work there, still,” Rains shared. “I think they should just leave en masse because of the lack of leadership at all levels in city hall. They need to let the police chief do his job.”
“My office represents over 180 police associations in the state and Antioch is the only one where the police chief has been deprived of running his own department,” he stated. “It’s being run by the city attorney, the mayor and possibly the acting city manager, and the human resources director. Why would anyone want to work there?”
When pointed out that the mayor claims 16 new sworn officers have been recruited to the department since the council approved the hiring incentive package Rains said, “They’re probably not going to be able to retain officers. I think officers, if they come there, it doesn’t take them long to see what’s going on, because the city is running it into the ground, and they want out. There are other departments that are competent with competent leadership and they’re going to go there.”
“The public needs to know the mayor and the city attorney, his ally, have done the people a disservice in the way they’ve run that place into the ground,” Rains added.
APOA Willing to Work With New Commission
APOA Vice President Sgt. Loren Bledsoe offered a different response to the formation of the commission and appointment of the seven commissioners. When asked for comment he wrote, “We look forward to the opportunity to work with the new Oversight Commission to develop strategies to improve public safety. As a strong believer in the concepts of 21st Century Policing, I look forward to this opportunity and hope it will only strengthen relationships with the community.”
Hernandez-Thorpe, Smith Offered Opportunity to Respond
An email was sent to both Hernandez-Thorpe and City Attorney Smith Saturday afternoon with a link to the article offering each the opportunity to respond to Rains’ claims. Neither had responded as of Saturday night.
UPDATE 1: Rains Commends APOA’s Comments
However, after reading the article, Rains shared additional comments saying, “After seeing the comments by Loren Bledsoe, I commend him for extending an olive branch to the new commission and indicating the POA’s desire to work in a cooperative fashion with them.”
“As the attorney for the association, I do not have the same optimistic view that a cooperative and harmonious relationship can be established,” Rains continued. “But if anybody can do it, Loren Bledsoe can on behalf of the association, And I commend him for his comment and his attempt to work things so that the commission can function objectively and effectively and make the lives of the citizens of Antioch better and to make the working lives of the cops in Antioch better, as well.”
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
Fifita Grewe was named 2023 Youth of the Year by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce. Photo: Antioch High School
Student Body President Fifita Grewe
By Allen D. Payton
Fifita Grewe. Source: Antioch Chamber of Commerce
In a post on the Antioch High School Facebook page on Friday, February 16, 2024, reads, “We’re excited and proud that Fifita Grewe has been named Youth of the Year for the City of Antioch. The junior is student body president and is a four-sport athlete. Fifita was chosen was for a long list of reasons but at the top is her drive to lead Antioch High, increase school spirit and help others on campus. Fifita will be celebrated, along with other city winners, on March 22 at Lone Tree Golf.”
UPDATE: Fifita is a junior at Antioch High and is the current student body president. Historically, this position is held by a senior but Fifita, showcasing her selflessness and determination, has been successful in receiving this position as a Junior. She excels in four sports and with her standout quality lies in her ability to enhance any team she joins. Through her passion, hard work, and charisma, she stands out as a remarkable student. Her dream is to study kinesiology and build a career in sports medicine.
Each of the winners, including the Citizens, Businesses and Non-Profit of the Year, will be honored at the Chamber’s annual Gala on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center. For more information visit the Chamber’s website at www.antiochchamber.com.
Virtual event will be held on Zoom on Tuesday, February 27
TreVista in Antioch is proud to announce its collaboration with Patriot Angels, a leading organization founded in 2012 to assist veterans and their families in accessing rightful benefits for long-term care and other essential services. To raise awareness and provide valuable information, TreVista invites all veterans and their families to a virtual presentation to be held on Zoom on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The presentation will be led by Mali Covington, Director of Senior Living Partnerships at Patriot Angels. Attendees must register in advance to receive a personalized event link to access the virtual presentation.
Patriot Angels was established with the mission of connecting veterans with the assistance they rightfully deserve. Many veterans and their families are unaware of the benefits available to them, specifically designed to aid in covering the costs of long-term care and other essential services. Patriot Angels serves clients Nationwide by helping them navigate through the process of applying for Aid and Attendance, a monthly pension available to eligible Veterans and spouses to help them supplement the cost of long-term care. This event aims to shed light on these benefits and guide attendees through determining their eligibility. To date, Patriot Angels has helped nearly 20,000 Veterans and spouses be approved for benefits that allow them to be cared for with dignity and honor.
Join us for this informative session, where experts from Patriot Angels will share insights, answer questions, and guide attendees through the steps to uncover unclaimed benefits. Whether you’re a veteran or a family member, this event is an opportunity to learn more about the support available.
“At TreVista, we are committed to supporting our veterans and their families. Partnering with Patriot Angels aligns with our dedication to ensuring that those who have served our country receive the benefits they are entitled to,” says Tamsen Meierdierck, Senior Living Consultant at TreVista Senior Living and Memory Care.
