For tickets click, here – 2022 Heritage Foundation Dinner | Contra Costa County (cccfheritagefoundation.com).

The East County Branch would like to invite you to its Candidate Forums in October. The Pittsburg City Council Candidate Forum will be held, tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 6-8 p.m. in the East County Branch office at 186 E. Leland Road, Pittsburg. The Antioch City Council Districts 1 and 4 Candidate Forum will be held Thursday, Oct. 6 from 6-8 p.m. in the Antioch Council Chambers at 200 H Street.

Please join us either in person or virtually where you will have the opportunity to meet the candidates and hear their positions on vital issues affecting our community. The format includes the opportunity for the candidates to ask each other questions and offer rebuttals to their answers.

Additional forums are scheduled for Pittsburg and Antioch school board candidates on Oct. 19 and 20, respectively.

For more information contact info@eastcountynaacp.org or (925) 439-5099 or visit us at www.eastcountynaacp.org

RSVP at Men’s Breakfast Fellowship Gathering Tickets, Sat, Oct 8, 2022 at 8:00 AM | Eventbrite

Brentwood teen arrested, first; Pittsburg man arrested in Antioch last week; victim from Antioch was innocent bystander

By Brentwood Police Department

During the course of the investigation into the deadly shooting that occurred at the 24-Hour Fitness in Brentwood on Thursday, August 11, 2022, at approximately 1:54 a.m., Brentwood Police investigators positively identified 20-year-old Pittsburg resident Faatino Arona Tauane as the second shooter in this case.

On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, at approximately 4:45 a.m., Tauane was peacefully taken into custody at a home in the 900 block of Myrtlewood Drive in Antioch. He was later booked at the Martinez Detention Facility for murder. To date, one firearm has been recovered and the vehicle Tauane used to flee the scene is now in police custody. A second firearm used in the shooting remains outstanding.

On Friday, August 26, 2022, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged Tauane with one count of murder with enhancements and additional felonies.

On Thursday, August 11, 2022, the first of two suspects detained during the early stages of the investigation had been positively identified as one of the shooters who was wounded during the altercation. The suspect, a 17-year-old Brentwood resident was booked into the Contra Costa County Juvenile Detention Center for murder. His name is being withheld due to age. The second suspect was released from police custody after it was determined he was not a shooter.

The decedent has been identified as, 21-year-old Antioch resident, Cesar Arana. Our hearts go out to the family and friends impacted by his untimely death.

Arana was an innocent bystander not involved in the initial altercation. He was struck by gunfire while trying to help a person who had fallen to the ground during a physical fight outside.

Additionally, our agency would like to thank those who came forward with additional video footage and the staff at 24 Hour Fitness for their full cooperation throughout the entire investigation.

According to localcrimenews.com, Tauane was also arrested by Pittsburg Police in December 2020, for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle and when not the registered owner.

Anyone with information regarding the outstanding firearm or any additional information related to this investigation is asked to contact Detective Greene at 925-809-7797.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

“I Remember ‘72” offers her perspective of what happened to cause Fastest Human, World Record Holder to be disqualified

By Allen D. Payton

Following publication of the book “Disqualified” by Pittsburg resident Eddie Hart and longtime Bay Area sports reporter Dave Newhouse about Hart’s experience leading up to and at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, his wife, Gwendolyn “Gwen” Hart has penned her own book to offer her perspective. (See related article)

In her book entitled “I Remember ’72: The Road to Munich (My Voice)” Gwen, wife of the Olympic Gold Medalist, World’s Fastest Human at the time, and World Record Holder, speaks from a woman’s point of view. After 50 years of silence, she now voices her held in feelings of what happened to her then boyfriend, now husband on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summer Olympics.

About The Book

As it has been said, behind every great man stands a strong woman. I Remember ’72, The Road to Munich (My Voice) tells that kind of story of love, admiration, anger and frustration through shared life experiences of a woman standing, not necessarily behind, but beside her man. It’s the perspective of a supportive girlfriend, then wife, of the life, tragedy experienced, and dignity displayed by the one-time, Fastest Man in the World and Olympic Gold Medalist, Eddie Hart. The book adds her own life experiences – telling the story of how they came to be, and her own reaction to that fateful day at the 1972 Olympic Summer Games – to the story Eddie tells in his own book, Disqualified.

It’s a fun, real-life, yet serious story, of two Godly people, working through the good times and tough times, enduring, and outlasting them both. The two books must be read together to fully understand what it is to be someone who rose to the pinnacle of his craft, to only have his dreams dashed, and for her, half a world away, not able to do much but watch, listen, pray and be there for him when he returned. It’s a story of enduring love with life lessons for us all to learn and apply to our own lives.

Get an autographed copy of Gwen Hart’s book and meet Eddie Hart on Saturday, August 27 at 1 p.m. at the Pittsburg Historical Society Museum located at 515 Railroad Avenue.

Book Purchase Information:

Cost: $23.00

Shp/Hld. $4.00

Payment Options:

Cash App: $ghbooks2music

By Check: Top Performance

640 Bailey Rd. #170

Pittsburg, CA 94565

The senior honor student connected to the program as a delegate of The Congress of Future Medical Leaders

Daughter of Dr. Lance and Treasure Miller

By Allen D. Payton

Brentwood resident Presley Miller, a senior at Freedom High School in Oakley, California recently returned from a two-week summer honors program in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with FutureDocs Abroad for high school and undergraduate students who aspire to a career in the medical field.

She was selected for the opportunity through her participation as a delegate to The Congress of Future Medical Leaders, a nationally recognized high school honors program of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists. Students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA to qualify. Miller’s GPA is 4.0. She attended the Congress which was held via Zoom in June 2021.

A separate group of students went to Vietnam during the same weeks. Miller chose Tanzania to apply for “because it was in Africa where I’ve never been.”

FutureDocs Abroad is an honors-only program, of the National Leadership Academies, that allows qualified high school students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain real-life experience and access what only third and fourth-year medical students can in the United States. The purpose of this internship is to honor, inspire, motivate, and direct the top students in the country, to stay true to their dream and, after the program, to provide a path, plan, and resources to help them reach their goal.

It puts passionate and qualified students into an intense medical environment overseas, where every single day it allows them an opportunity to experience, now what they’ve only been able to imagine.

FutureDocs Abroad was founded on the belief that strong emotional intelligence is the cornerstone of student success and is committed to supporting students in their development. The National Leadership Academies also recognizes that prospective talent must be identified at the earliest possible age and help must be given to these students to acquire the necessary experience and skills to take them to the doorstep of vital careers as leaders and in the fields of medicine and the sciences.

“It was exciting to be able to personally experience international medicine and learn the culture of Tanzania, while creating lifelong friendships and memories!” said Miller. “It was an experience of a lifetime.”

During the program, she joined students from across the U.S. and spent time observing surgeries taking place in the operating room, with the surgeon explaining the procedure as it was being performed. Miller also spent time in the gross anatomy lab with a professor, learning about the anatomy and proper dissection of human cadavers and practicing dissection techniques on animal parts. In addition, she shadowed physicians in the emergency room, clinics, and wards in over a dozen areas of specialty, including pediatrics, oncology, surgery, orthopedics, OB/GYN, and more.

“I got to observe a C-section, cesarean, and watch a baby take his first breath,” Miller shared as her favorite part of the trip. That gave her the desire to focus on “neurosurgery and work in pediatrics.”

One of about 50 students on the trip, she was the only one from Freedom High and encourages other students to participate, as well.

“If you have the opportunity to be a part of The Congress and be able to sign up and be selected to go on this trip, other students should do it. I would do it again, personally,” Miller stated. “If other kids in our area are able to experience this it will be amazing.”

“It took about 30 hours of travel each way,” she shared. “We had to first fly to New York to meet up with the group and fly together from there.”

They landed in Dubai after a 12 or 13-hour flight, followed by a five-hour flight to Tanzania, Miller explained.

“But coming home it was longer due to layovers,” she added.

Asked how she learned about the program she explained, “I got a certificate in the mail from a doctor, Stephen Mitchell, the dean of Georgetown Medical School in May 2021.”

“I was like, ‘what is this?’” Miller said. “It was a selection for the Award of Excellence from the Congress of Future Medical Leaders and an invitation to attend it.”

There’s a fee to participate in the program. “But part of it was covered by a sponsor who paid for everyone,” she shared.

As part of the Congress, Miller did extra course work to earn one college credit. She has also been taking high school courses, more than required, for a degree in medicine.

“I took anatomy and physiology this last year and taking AP biology and chemistry, this year,” Miller shared.

Asked about her college plans, she said, “my goal is to go to UCLA, but I’m open to anything, anywhere for undergraduate school that would be a good connection to medical school, whatever God has planned for me.”

Miller is also a varsity cheerleader at Freedom High and the daughter of Antioch chiropractor, Dr. Lance and Treasure Miller.

Asked if she was inspired by her father being a chiropractor, Miller said, “Yes. Growing up around it and always being in that environment of the medical field.”

She works with her dad and mom in the office during the summer. Miller’s older sister Haley is starting chiropractic college in the fall.

“As a parent, we’re proud of our daughter’s dreams and inspired by her desire to enter the medical field in neurosurgery,” dad, Lance stated. “When she was younger, Presley wanted to find a cure for Alzheimer’s because my Aunt Pam died of it at an early age.”

“We were a little nervous about her going over there in another country for two weeks, but excited at the same time,” he shared. “Thank God for technology because we were able to speak with her every day on WhatsApp and Facetime.”

Presley’s mom, Treasure spoke about the trip and her interest in medicine from early childhood.

“I took her to New York, and we met with the program at JFK airport, then they took her from there to Tanzania. We had to participate in Zoom meetings before she went,” she shared. Presley said they got to New York City two days before and went shopping in Manhattan.

“I’m not sure how they got her information, but I’m sure it was during COVID when the students went online and she was showing her interests in college and they got her information,” Treasure explained.

“She’s always known since she was five that she wanted to be a neurosurgery,” her mom, continued. “I asked, ‘why neurosurgery?’”

“She said ‘you, know, Mom, everyone needs a brain and I’ll never be out of a job,’” Treasure stated.

“I’m extremely proud of her and I know God has a plan for her in her life and has definitely set her up for this,” Presley’s mom, said. “It was very hard for me to let her go to a third world country at 17-years-old. So, I had to really give it to God and pray about it and let her go and trust she would be fine.”

“She was 13 hours ahead,” Treasure stated. “So, when her day was ending my day was starting,” and vice versa,

“I’ve always known since she was very little that God gave her this gift to heal people, kind of like her dad, to heal people with his hands,” she continued. “But she’s going down a different road. They work together. You can’t live without your brain or your spine. She’s a different child, a very old soul, very mature for her age and always has been.”

“She does work hard at it. But she’s very dedicated,” Treasure added.

About The Congress of Future Medical Leaders

High-achieving and deserving high School students are selected to become Delegates of the Congress of Future Medical Leaders by parents, teachers, and other educational avenues. Student Delegates are screened through an application process that includes GPA verification. Academically superior high school students are honored for their dedication, talent, and leadership potential in medicine.

During the Congress, Delegates hear from the world’s leading medical pioneers, groundbreaking researchers, young prodigies who are carving the way for the future of medicine and medical technology, and from patients who have had their lives changed (or saved) by medicine.

The stage is graced by the greatest living minds from different areas of medicine, medical technology and engineering, research, and science—some that Delegates may not know exist! They share insights into who they are, what they do, their successes, failures, and practical advice for Delegates.

For more information, visit www.TheNationalLeadershipAcademies.com or call (888) 986-6563.

 

Bonchon is bringing even more crunch to California

Popular U.S.-based brand opens first delivery and carryout-only concept

First 50 guests eat free, plus lion dancers

With its wide-array of flavors and crunch-worthy Korean double-fried chicken, Bonchon – meaning “my hometown” – is a food experience unlike any other Eastern Contra Costa County has had before.

The wildly popular restaurant, known for crispy, hand-brushed Korean fried chicken, is opening its 27th California location in Brentwood, situated at 5611 Lone Tree Way (near FedEx Office and  Home Depot) with hours of operations from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The restaurant will be spearheaded by local entrepreneur Thomas Nyugen.

This Brentwood location also marks the very first one for Bonchon dedicated to delivery and carryout operations. With the new model, it will allow for seamless customer interaction and ease the ordering process for individuals looking to get their favorite Bonchon meal through delivery or on-site pickup.

Their menu also has Starters which include pot stickers, shrimp shumai, Takoyaki (ball-shaped calamari), chicken sliders, pork buns, Korean tacos, popcorn shrimp and edamame; Main Dishes which include bulgogi (thinly sliced marinated ribeye, sautéed with mushrooms, scallions, sesame seeds, and onions), japchae (marinated ribeye stir-fry), chicken katsu over rice, tteokbokki (rice cakes with fish cakes), bull dak (spicy chicken and rice cakes), wraps, bibimbap and fried rice dishes, plus udon noodle soups and sesame ginger salads. Their sides include fries, onion rings, kimchi, cole slaw, pickled radish, kimchi coleslaw and, of course, rice; plus they offer a rice cake dessert called mochi. Bonchon | Menu

“Not only am I able to grow with such a globally-loved brand but being able to offer the first delivery and carryout-only location is such an accomplishment,” said Nyugen. “I am eager to serve the Brentwood community Bonchon’s flavorful chicken with our specialty sauce offerings, I am certain that we will quickly become a regular spot for those looking to get a great meal for family, friends or themselves.”

To give residents an opportunity to try Bonchon’s delicious, crunch-worthy wings, a grand opening celebration will take place on Thursday, August 11. The first 50 guests in line will receive five of the brand’s double-fried chicken wings, hand-brushed with their choice of the soy garlic or spicy signature sauce, for free. To add to the grand opening excitement, the Brentwood location will also host lion dancers at 6:00 p.m. on August 11 for all guests to enjoy.

“Our team could not be more eager to open this new California location with Thomas. His passion for Bonchon and dedication to catering to communities’ needs are just two of the reasons he is a great operator within our franchise system,” said Greg Buchanan, chief administrative officer at Bonchon. “Customer convenience is a top priority for us, so developing our first delivery and carryout location is a huge step for the brand. We know that residents will love having an easy way to get their Bonchon fix!”

Since its inception in Busan, South Korea in 2002, Bonchon’s mission to share Korean comfort food around the world has been more than a success. With 385-plus locations worldwide and more than 115 locations in the U.S., the Korean chicken brand is a global sensation. On top of the cult-favorite fried chicken wings, drumsticks and strips, the brand also provides a variety of flavorful offerings and Pan Asian favorites including japchae, kimchi, Korean tacos and potstickers.

As strategic expansion continues and Bonchon locations sustain consistent sales growth, multi-unit operators have placed a high priority on adding the concept into their portfolios.

About Bonchon
Bonchon is a global restaurant brand known for distinctive Korean double-fried chicken, Asian fusion cuisine, and Korean specialties. Born in Busan, South Korea in 2002, the concept was established in the United States in 2006. Bonchon sets out to have its fans “Crunch Out Loud” by sharing the joy of hand-battered, double-fried, crazy crispy Korean fried chicken with the world.

Bonchon currently currently has more than 386 restaurants across eight countries including Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Australia, Vietnam and the United States. In the U.S. the chain has more than 114 restaurants with franchise outposts in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

The brand has earned several accolades – it was recognized by Business Insider as “the gold standard for fried chicken” as well as included in Nation’s Restaurant News 2021 “Top 500 Restaurants”, Fast Casual Magazine’s 2022 “Top 100 Movers & Shakers” and Entrepreneur’s 2022 “Franchise 500”, “Fastest Growing Franchises”, “Top Food Franchise” and “Top Global Franchise” lists.

For more information about Bonchon, visit bonchon.com. To learn more about its franchise opportunities, visit franchising.bonchon.com.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.