C.J. Nickolas with gold medal from the 2018 World Taekwondo Federation competition in Greece. Photo courtesy of Ed Givans.

C.J. Nickolas, a senior in high school and a student at Givans Taekwondo in Antioch, is headed to Taekwondo Senior World Championships in Manchester, England later this month. He had to withdraw from Heritage High in Brentwood two days into his senior year because he was one of eight athletes in the United States to be picked up by the USA Taekwondo (USAT) to train full time abroad and enter the European Taekwondo Open circuit. The intention is to get those athletes ready for 2024 or 2028 Olympics.

However, Nickolas has defied the odds, outperformed the initial expectations, and is headed to the World Championships this year. A few other things have to fall into place for him to make it to the 2020 Olympics, but he is definitely on track.

Nickolas is the son of Edward Givans, owner of Givans Taekwondo in Antioch, where Nickolas trains, and Denise Nickolas of Brentwood.

“His mom and I are very proud of C.J.,” the elder Givans said. “It’s been exciting to see him advance in his skills and the competitions.”

Arriving at this place in his life was not happenstance or luck for Nickolas. He has put long hours, and extensive time into training over the years. Nickolas has made many sacrifices to get where he is and says that even in the setbacks and losses and injuries, he knows he has to continue the grind. He says he digs deep when it’s tough and keeps pressing his way.

Nickolas is finishing out his high school through an on-line school (CAVA) while he continues to train full time.

His travels in the past six months have taken him to compete in Greece, Poland, France, Croatia, Africa and Spain among other places.

He has one stop in Bulgaria before he heads back to England to train for Worlds. Then Nickolas will continue his grind to get to the coming Olympics.

Allen Payton contributed to this story.

In response to yesterday’s announcement by SEIU United Healthcare Workers, regarding launching a protest at Kaiser headquarters in Oakland, today at 5:00 p.m., John Nelson, Vice President Communications, Kaiser Permanente offered the following response.

Regarding the question about gardeners:

As we do with our other medical center campuses, Kaiser Permanente is engaging a professional commercial landscaping vendor at our remaining facilities in Northern California, giving all of our campuses the benefit of the most expert, efficient, and ecologically sound practices.

The decision about landscaping affects 63 employees, some of whom have already found other positions at Kaiser Permanente. We value these employees, and any affected employee who wishes to remain employed with Kaiser Permanente in a new role will be able to do so.

SEIU-UHW is making statements about Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to its employees that are misleading and incorrect. The truth is that Kaiser Permanente is growing and adding jobs overall. With more than 149,000 employees and 16,000 physicians, we have added more than 13,000 jobs in the state since 2016.  In fact, the number of our employees represented by SEIU-UHW has grown by more than 8,000 statewide since 2016.

On the planned labor activity:

Kaiser Permanente has been notified by SEIU-UHW leadership that the union plans to conduct informational picketing at several of our California offices and medical centers during May 2019. It’s important for our members and patients to know that informational picketing is not a strike and it does not impact our care delivery or operations. While this union is staging picketing, the physicians and employees of Kaiser Permanente will remain focused on the important work of delivering high-quality, affordable care to our members and improving the health of the communities we serve.

Kaiser Permanente started bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions in mid-April. We believe that by working together in partnership with the unions that represent our employees, we will continue to achieve the best results for our members, patients, and the communities who depend on Kaiser Permanente to provide high-quality, affordable health care — and help to keep Kaiser Permanente a great place to work for all. We reiterate our pledge to bargain in good faith and our commitment to reach fair and equitable agreements that provide our employees with excellent, market-competitive benefits and wages.

We are disappointed that some union leaders are choosing to make false allegations and pursue an adversarial, destructive approach as part of their bargaining strategy.

Photo of the crash scene by NBC BayArea.

By CHP-Contra Costa

This afternoon, at about 4:34pm, Contra Costa CHP was advised of a head on collision involving two vehicles on HWY-4 eastbound, east of Balfour Road. Upon emergency personnel and CHP arrival, it was determined that a 2018 Honda SUV was driven across the solid double yellow lines, into oncoming traffic, and collided head on into a 2013 Toyota Corolla. The solo male driver of the Toyota (51-year-old man from Ripon) was pronounced deceased at the scene. The Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office will be handling the release of his identity. The solo male driver of the Honda was ultimately arrested for suspicion of felony DUI.

In the initial investigation, it appears that the solo male driver of the Honda was traveling on HWY-4 westbound (in that area HWY-4 is a two lane undivided highway) and then veered to the left and across the solid double yellow lines and directly head on into the Toyota traveling in the eastbound lane. Upon emergency personnel arrival, the driver of the Toyota was pronounced deceased. The driver of the Honda, a 46-year-old man from Concord, was not injured and investigated for driving under the influence of alcohol and was subsequently arrested for suspicion of felony DUI.

If anyone witnessed this collision or the events leading up to it (that did not remain at the scene to speak with CHP) please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez, (925) 646-4980. HWY-4 was completely reopened at 6:25 pm.

Impaired DUI driving is 100% preventable 100% of the time. There is never an excuse for it, and it cannot ever be tolerated. In this situation it tragically cost the life of an innocent person. When will we all learn… #neverdriveimpaired?

Claim health giant is sitting on $31 billion, yet layoffs begin June 7

OAKLAND, Calif. – Hundreds of healthcare workers, elected officials, faith leaders and community members concerned about healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente’s increasingly profit-driven behavior will rally at 5 p.m., Tuesday, May 7 at national company headquarters, 1 Kaiser Plaza in Oakland, to urge the company to reverse its plan to eliminate jobs at several facilities across Northern California. It is part of a protest at the headquarters and will include an encampment of laid-off workers and their families, a candlelight vigil, visits from politicians and clergy, and the building of a live garden.

“It really tells you something that Kaiser is sitting on tens of billions of dollars in reserves and paying its CEO $16 million a year but then cuts good jobs that support families – it tells you Kaiser is a corporation that has stopped caring about the community,” said Phil Osmond, a Kaiser gardener for 23 years in Oakland. “Kaiser is a non-profit company, and for many years it acted that way and was part of the community. But over the past 10 years it more and more acted like a typical for-profit corporation worried only about the bottom line.”

Under the plan, 63 gardeners will lose their jobs June 7 and an outside company would oversee an entirely new workforce that is paid less and receives fewer benefits than current Kaiser employees. Nearly 100 federal, state and local elected officials in California have sent letters to Kaiser opposing the corporation’s outsourcing plans.

Although the gardeners may be eligible for other jobs within the company, many are concerned they will not find suitable positions because they pay less, are part-time or do not match their skills and experience. Supporters of the workers also have expressed concern that a majority of the affected staff are women and people of color.

The gardeners work at facilities in the following 16 cities: Antioch; Fremont; Manteca; Modesto; Oakland; Richmond; San Francisco; San Jose; San Leandro; San Rafael; Santa Clara; Santa Rosa; Stockton; Vacaville; Vallejo; and Walnut Creek.

Despite being a non-profit organization and self-described community-oriented health provider, Kaiser appears to be behaving just like any other large, for-profit corporation. It reported reserves of $31.5 billion and profits of $6.3 billion the last two years. In 2017, its CEO received a 60 percent raise to more than $16 million in annual compensation, and 35 other executives received more than $1 million annually.

All the while, because it’s a non-profit organization, Kaiser does not have to pay income taxes or property taxes—thus saving itself an estimated $1.1 billion on California and federal income taxes alone in 2017. In contrast, the savings from outsourcing the gardeners is about $1 million, meaning those jobs could easily be protected without putting even a perceptible ripple in the company’s bottom line.

More than 55,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in California are members of SEIU-UHW.

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) is one of the largest unions of hospital workers in the western United States with 95,000 members. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org

By Sergeant Matthew Harger #3305, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Sunday, May 6, 2019 at approximately 5:25 pm, Antioch Police Department Officers were dispatched to E. 18th Street near Terrace Drive regarding a solo motorcycle collision. Upon arriving on scene Officers located the motorcycle on the south sidewalk of E. 18th Street with extensive damage.

Officers found the motorcycle driver had been ejected from the motorcycle during the collision and had died from his injuries.   The preliminary investigation appears to indicate excessive speed as the most likely cause in this collision at this time.

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

By Corporal James Colley #4705, Antioch Police Field Services Division

On Friday, May 3, 2019, at approximately 9:36 pm, Antioch Police Department officers were dispatched to the 900 block of W. 7th Street on the report of a shooting. Upon arrival officers located a 49-year-old male suffering from two gunshot wounds. The male was transported to a local Bay Area hospital and is listed in stable condition. Two suspect shooters were seen fleeing the area prior to police arrival and were not located.

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.

Photo: CA Dep’t of Water Resources

SACRAMENTO – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today is taking formal steps to withdraw proposed permits for the WaterFix project and begin a renewed environmental review and planning process for a smaller, single tunnel project that will protect a critical source of water supplies for California.

Today’s actions implement Governor Gavin Newsom’s direction earlier this year to modernize the state’s water delivery infrastructure by pursuing a smaller, single tunnel project through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The project is needed to protect water supplies from sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion into the Delta, as well as earthquake risk. It will be designed to protect water supply reliability while limiting impacts on local Delta communities and fish.

This action follows the Governor’s recent executive order directing state agencies to develop a comprehensive statewide strategy to build a climate-resilient water system.

“A smaller project, coordinated with a wide variety of actions to strengthen existing levee protections, protect Delta water quality, recharge depleted groundwater reserves, and strengthen local water supplies across the state, will build California’s water supply resilience,” said Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot.

DWR Director Karla Nemeth took action today to rescind various permitting applications for the WaterFix project, including those in front of the State Water Resources Control Board, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and federal agencies responsible for compliance with the Endangered Species Act. Documents related to these actions are available here.

DWR will work with local public water agencies that are partners in the conveyance project to incorporate the latest science and innovation to design the new conveyance project, and work with Delta communities and other stakeholders to limit local impacts of the project.

Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay), co-chair of the California Delta Legislative Caucus, issued the following statement today after the state Department of Water Resources officially withdrew its permit application to build the twin tunnels.

“It’s very encouraging that after all these years we are finally being heard by the Governor’s Office. The withdrawal of the permit application acknowledges that alternative solutions have been either overlooked or ignored. I look forward to working with the Governor and Secretary Crowfoot to build a comprehensive water plan that is a benefit for all Californians.”

Aliha Mughal

By Allen Payton

Dozier-Libbey Medical High School senior Aliha Mughal, has been accepted to attend Princeton University and nine other colleges, next fall to study biology and pre-med.

Aliha has earned a 4.1984 weighted GPA (3.9008 unweighted) and was named Salutatorian for Dozier-Libbey Medical High School’s class of 2019. She is the daughter of Tabarak Mughal and Synary Be of Antioch.

She applied to a total of 13 schools and was accepted to 10, including San Jose State, CSU Long Beach, San Francisco State, San Diego State, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, and Princeton.

Different schools have different majors, Aliha explained. She has applied for molecular biology, cell biology or micro-biology depending on the school, all on a pre-med track.

At school, she is involved in HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America), Key Club, Leadership, and serves as an AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) tutor. Aliha currently serves as Senior Class Representative for HOSA and Senior Class Co-President for Leadership. She previously served as Junior Class Vice President and Recognition Commissioner for Leadership, as well.

Aliha has also volunteered to help collect and sort recycling for the school during her sophomore and junior years. Outside of school, she was a member of Deer Valley High School’s Colorguard and Winterguard teams during her junior year and was one of USC’s Bovard Scholars.

Her goal is to become a doctor, “specifically an oncologist,” Aliha said.

When asked why medicine, Aliha said, “There are two components to it. I have a genuine interest in science, especially the molecular, smaller scale things. That’s what leads me toward cancer. I’m specifically interested in immunotherapy.”

“I’ve also had family members who’ve had cancer, so there’s a personal aspect to it,” she explained. “So, it’s the combination of the two.”

As of last week, Aliha hadn’t visited all of the schools she was considering

“Right now, I’m leaning toward Princeton,” she said, during an interview, last week. “I was considering U.C. Berkeley and USC.”

Aliha then visited USC, last Saturday, April 27.

The deadline for her decision was May 1st. In an email to the Herald, yesterday afternoon, Aliha wrote, “I just wanted to update you on my final college decision. I have decided to attend Princeton University.”