Screenshot from ESPN2 of Najee Harris, #22 Alabama, stretching for the goal line during the 2nd Quarter of the National Championship game against Clemson Monday night, Jan. 7, 2019.

Najee Harris. Courtesy of rolltide.com

By Luke Johnson

“When he gets the ball, watch out,” said Shaun Alexander, former All-Pro running back.

Alexander was referring to Alabama running back Najee Harris when they bumped into each other at media day Saturday.

However, Harris did not get the ball too often come gametime.

Alabama lost to Clemson, 44-16, in the CFP National Championship at Levi’s Stadium.

In his Bay Area homecoming, Harris rushed for 59 yards via nine carries Monday evening.

“I just have a feeling that I didn’t do a very good job,” said Nick Saban, Crimson Tide head coach, in the postgame press conference. “I always feel that way. Even sometimes when we win, I think there are things that we could have done better or that I could have done better.”

Screenshot of Najee Harris falling just one yard short of the goal line. Alabama scored a touchdown on their next play.

With Alabama facing a large deficit in the second half, its offense ran mostly passing plays. Harris last touched the ball with 8:19 remaining in the third quarter. His 6.6 yards per carry led all rushers.

The Antioch-hometown running back had not played in the Bay Area since December 2016 – his final game in high school.

Harris was vital in Alabama’s comeback victory during last year’s national championship. His 64 rushing yards in the fourth quarter helped the Crimson Tide overcome a 13-point deficit.

He finished second on his team for rushing yards this season with 783. Senior Damien Harris had the most with 876.

Since Najee Harris won’t be eligible to enter the NFL draft until 2020, he could be the featured back for Alabama next season.

Antioch Councilman Lamar Thorpe. Herald file photo.

Antioch City Council Member Lamar Thorpe has been selected as a 2019 UnTapped Water Policy Academy Fellow by Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL), a collaborative of Latino state water experts and community organizers focused on educating elected leaders on California’s most pressing water issues. UnTapped is a selective six-month program for local elected leaders aimed at engaging them in a comprehensive, geopolitical and economic exploitation of California water history, governance and public policy.

Since being elected to the Antioch City Council in 2016, Thorpe has been a staunch defender of the city’s unique water rights, which allow it to pump fresh water out of the Delta. In 2017, Thorpe supported two city lawsuits aimed at blocking the Delta Tunnels. He currently serves as the council’s representative to the East County Water Management Association (ECWMA).

“WELL is honored to welcome Council Member Thorpe, the first elected leader from East Contra Costa County, to our cohort of fellows,” said Victor Griego, founder of WELL UnTapped. “With pre-1914 water rights, Delta water quality challenges, construction of a new $60 million water desalination plant, and the state’s proposed $17 billion WaterFix project, the City of Antioch is located at the heart of critical, historic water policy decisions. The skills and knowledge Council Member Thorpe will gain as an UnTapped Fellow will be of immediate benefit to residents of Antioch and East Contra Costa County.”

Founded in 2012, WELL includes some of the most respected water experts in California. According to the group, however, Latinos represent nearly 40 percent of California’s population but only account for two percent of elected water officials and water policy professionals. The group’s goal is to enhance the water policy and management arena by opening it up to both individuals who represent large segments of Latino communities and/or identify as Latino themselves.

“Since being elected to the Antioch City Council, I’ve taken water policy very seriously and fought to remove Antioch from the quagmire of California water politics and the threat of drought,” said Thorpe. “I’m honored WELL recognizes my contributions to the City of Antioch, and I’m excited to delve into the complex world of California water politics and learn how it impacts our city and region.”

Thorpe, who is African American, was adopted and raised by Mexican American parents, and speaks fluent Spanish which was his first language.

Council Member Thorpe resides in Antioch Council District 3, located in the Southeast part of Antioch bordered inside Hwy 4, Lone Tree Dr (from Brentwood to Davidson Road). Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram to stay informed about city decision-making.

Antioch City Treasurer Jim Davis. Herald file photo.

Antioch City Treasurer Jim Davis has been appointed to the League’s Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee. This committee has the lead responsibility for recommending to the League board of directors’ policy positions on state issues involving finance administration, taxation reform, revenue needs and revenue sources. The appointment was announced by League President Jan Arbuckle, council member, Grass Valley.

As a committee member, Jim will play a key role in shaping the League’s policy positions on issues facing California cities and advocating for cities at the State Capitol.

“I take this appointment to the California League of Cities Policy Committee very seriously and look forward in working with my counterparts statewide on behalf of my constituents. During these times of cities doing more with less, it is important we have a voice in Sacramento in shaping our fiscal well-being, “said City Treasurer Jim Davis.

“I am proud to have Jim Davis join the League’s Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee on behalf of his residents,” said League President Jan Arbuckle, council member, Grass Valley. “We will work together as a team, comprised of local frontline leaders from across the state, to ensure that the local perspective guides the outcome of state policy decisions.”

The leadership of the 2019 committee consists of Chair Jeff Slowey, Council Member, Citrus Heights, and Vice Chair Olivia Valentine, Council Member, Hawthorne.

For more information on the League’s policy committees, visit: www.cacities.org/polcomm.

Linda Locke passed peacefully in her sleep Christmas Eve morning 2018. She was born on March 6, 1940 in Missouri. She is survived by her two children. Erika Lynn Foran of Antioch and Karl Souza of Gooding, Idaho, and their families. From the midwest, Linda moved to Delano, California where she helped striking grape farm workers during the Cesar Chavez/UFWs Delano Grape Strike by driving an ambulance and working as a social worker.

She subsequently moved to Antioch where she lived for over 50 years as an extremely civic minded citizen. While working for the Contra Costa Office of the Public Defender as a forensic social worker, Linda founded the Contra Costa Food Bank in 1975.

Among many civic honors Linda received throughout he life she was was named Kiwanian of the Year and Antioch Citizen of the Year by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce. She will be sorely missed.

A Celebration of Linda’s life has been scheduled to be held at the VFW Hall in Antioch on Monday, January 14 from 10 am to 2 pm. The address of the Hall is 815 Fulton Shipyard Road, Antioch California.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Linda Locke Memorial Scholarship Fund at Antioch High School, 700 West 18th Street, Antioch California.

Police seek victim vehicle which also fled the scene

By Sergeant James Stenger #3604, Antioch Police Field Services

On Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at approximately 1:35 PM, Antioch Police Dispatch started receiving calls about a shooting on 4th and K Streets. An Antioch Police Community Service Officer saw a suspect vehicle fleeing the scene and was able relay a description of the vehicle to responding officers. An Antioch Police Officer and Contra Costa County Sheriff Helicopter Star 3 located the suspect vehicle on L and 9th Streets fleeing the area.

The suspect vehicle was stopped and three adult males, 19, 20, and 21 years old, all out of the City of Alameda were taken into custody. A loaded semi-automatic firearm was located in the vehicle.

Evidence at the shooting scene connected the three suspects to the shooting. It appears that one of the three suspects fired numerous rounds into another vehicle, which also fled the shooting scene. The victim vehicle and any possible victims have not been located. The three suspects were booked into the County Jail in Martinez.

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.

National Labor Relations Board to hold legal hearing March 19 in Oakland

By Sean Wherley, Media Relations Specialist, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West

The federal government recently indicted healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente for refusing to negotiate a contract affecting 85,000 employees in seven states and the District of Columbia, and for wrongly tying those negotiations to a ban on political activity against the company.

“The workers who have helped make this company so successful over the years now feel that their concerns are validated,” said Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. “No longer can Kaiser Permanente claim it was trying to do right by its employees and patients by holding up bargaining and trying to stop workers from speaking out.”

Kaiser Permanente has until Jan. 11 to respond to the decision, and a legal hearing will begin March 19 in Oakland, according to the indictment released Dec. 28 by the National Labor Relations Board.

Kaiser Permanente employees filed a complaint in May 2018 because the company repeatedly canceled contract negotiations with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which comprises 11 labor unions in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The coalition’s national agreement with Kaiser Permanente expired Sept. 30, 2018. The company had previously negotiated contracts with the coalition since 1997.

Last November, Kaiser Permanente settled a contract with a different group of labor unions that prohibits those unions from taking action against the company, whether through ballot initiatives, legislation or other public campaigns. Kaiser tried to apply the same condition to bargaining with the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions; however, the Dec. 28 indictment blocks that effort.

Kaiser Permanente’s refusal to bargain comes in the midst of a plan to outsource jobs to “save” money, despite the corporation reporting reserves of $30 billion and profits of $3.8 billion in 2017. In addition, the Kaiser CEO is paid more than $10 million annually, and 30 executives are paid more than $1 million a year.

APD currently has 86 full-duty officers working

By Allen Payton

During their Dec. 11 meeting the Antioch City Council agreed to temporarily increase the budget to allow for the hiring of six more officers than the 104 currently budgeted.

Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks said it will be “a temporary, but effective solution..in our attempt to reach full staffing of our police department.”

The department has hired 61 officers since     Measure C passed in 2013, but 44 officers have left the department either through retirement or other   reasons. But, only 10 of the additional 17 officers were funded by the sales tax revenue from the half-cent measure.

“The department is currently at 99 sworn officers,” he shared. The department has enough officers in the academy to reach the 104 in the current budget.

However, that figure includes six currently in a field training program.

“We have another seven who are unable to work due to injury” and other reasons, Brooks explained. “We only have 86 full-duty officers which includes me, all the way down to the latest officer we swore in, yesterday,”

“Working at this lower capacity puts a huge strain on the officers working,” he stated. “I don’t want to lose the people currently we have in the recruiting pipeline. It takes six months for the process “for them to become a sworn officer in our department”

The purpose of this is to overhire above the 104 authorized as a temporary measure,” Brooks reiterated.

Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts said, “My thought process was with Measure W passing we would be allocating funds for hiring more police.”

“Does this change the budget allocation to 110? Is it temporary or permanent?” she asked.

“No. We won’t be at 104 until May,” City Manager Ron Bernal explained. “Currently we’re asking to make job offers to more than 104.”

“We’ve never reached that point in this fiscal year. We have salary savings to achieve that mark,” Brooks shared.

“This is essentially cost neutral from being at the 99,” Motts stated.

“That’s correct,” Brooks responded.

“The public are going to start seeing more officers on the street,” Councilwoman Monica Wilson stated. “I definitely would like to support that.”

“Attrition in the department…affects patrol” as personnel are promoted in rank,” Brooks explained. “That will allow us to put more officers on the street,” he added.

I pushed for 108 because 104 won’t get us to 104,” Mayor Sean Wright said. “I look forward to when we get to that 104th and we have a celebration. It’s been a long-time coming. It’s not been for a lack of trying.”

Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock then made a motion to approve the temporary budget increase to 110 officers and the council voted 4-0, with Councilman Lamar Thorpe absent.

But, still turn in that overdue book, please

As part of the Contra Costa County Library’s continued efforts to improve access, balances on all library accounts have been cleared. This move goes hand-in-hand with the elimination of fines announced last month. As of January 1, 2019, all library cards are returned to good standing and patrons who may have been staying away from the library can come back and enjoy all the services the library has to offer. With accounts now cleared, the Library hopes to see patrons returning all the overdue items they were afraid to return due to fines.

“No matter how old, no matter why it was late, we want you to bring it back. No questions asked,” said County Librarian Melinda Cervantes.

Library staff will evaluate all returned items for relevance, condition and popularity so that materials may be reintroduced to the collection.

Patrons previously blocked from library services will once again be able to check out books, magazines and DVDs and use all the online services available through ccclib.org. Moving forward, the Library will no longer charge daily overdue fines on library materials. Checkout periods will remain the same and charges for lost or damaged books will still apply.

“Yes, you still need to return library materials. That hasn’t changed,” said Deputy County Librarian Nancy Kreiser. “But when your schedule is hectic, or you need another day or two to finish a great book, you can do so without worrying about late fines.”

The elimination of fines and clearing of all accounts, helps to meet the Library’s goal of removing barriers to access and making it easy, equitable and enjoyable for everyone.

“These new policies introduce an ongoing amnesty,” said Cervantes. “It allows everyone regardless of age, location or ability to pay, the opportunity to have continued access to the library.”

For more information on the elimination of fines including Frequently Asked Questions, please visit ccclib.org.