Deirdre Ferrari at her Stars & Stripes Board of Review day. Photo courtesy of Jeanne Brickey

Antioch 18-year-old, Deirdre Ferrari has earned the highest recognition the American Heritage Girls (AHG) offers, the Stars & Stripes Award.  In addition to living out the AHG Creed and Oath, award recipients have completed a number of requirements to achieve this honor, including:

.  Earning a total of 16 Merit Badges

.  Earning the Religious Recognition associated with their denomination

.  Having held a leadership position in their troop for a minimum of six months

.  Planning, developing, and providing leadership to others in a 100+ hour service project

.  Writing a Life Ambition/Spiritual Walk Essay and mini-resume

.  Receiving at least 3 Letters of Reference

.  Passing a Board of Review   

Ferrari chose to serve the Salvation Army Antioch Corps by building a community garden to help promote healthy eating and to teach others in the community about gardening. 

She has served as the troop Skipper and has also received the Dolly Madison and God & Life Awards.

A member of American Heritage Girls Troop CA1334, Ferrari is just the 286th girl, nationally to earn the prestigious Stars & Stripes Award in AHG’s 21 year history. She will be recognized in a Court of Honor Ceremony on Saturday March 18th, 2017, 1:30 pm at the Salvation Army Antioch Corps on E. Tregallas Road.

Ferrari is a member of Golden Hills Community Church and is active at her church serving in Awana, Vacation Bible School, and playing guitar on the High School Worship Team.  She attends Visions in Education Charter School, where she is a senior.

She is the daughter of France Harrison of Antioch and John Ferrari of Tracy.  She is also the granddaughter of Frank and Jeanne Brickey of Antioch, CA.

American Heritage Girls, Inc., is the premier national character development organization for young women, ages 5-18, that embraces Christian values and encourages family involvement.  For more information on American Heritage Girls, visit www.ahgonline.org.

The Antioch Chamber of Commerce has announced the winners for the 2016 community awards:

•Citizen of the Year – Most Impact – Sal Sbranti

•Citizen of the Year – Lifetime Achievement – Leo Fontana

•Small Business of the Year – Rich McDaniel, McDaniel Financial Services

•Large Business of the Year – PG&E

•Non-Profit of the Year – Delta  Veterans Group

•Youth of the Year – Jocelyn Villalobos and Jacqueline Villalobos

The awards will be presented at the Chamber’s annual Gala on Friday, March 10, 2017.

Special recognition will be given to Antioch Unified School District for their continued efforts and successes. Posthumous recognition will be given to Karl Dietzel, and Ed Antrim in recognition of their commitment and betterment of the Antioch community.

Please see photos and details about the winners in the April issue of the Herald and on our website.

By Allen Payton

The newest location for Gotta Eatta Pita’s fresh Mediterranean food just opened in Antioch, on Monday, on Mahogany Way across from the Lowe’s store and next door to KFC. Owners Yaniv Benaroya and Eric Huber, who have been active in Antioch real estate for the past several years with their Property Upsurge company, are excited to open one of their restaurants, here, as well. The Antioch location is the fifth in their chain, which includes locations in Danville, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and San Jose.

They’re holding their Grand Opening, this Saturday and are giving away free Pita from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

You’re gonna want to try their tasty menu items. Yaniv’s mother, Shoshi Benaroya is the one whose recipes they’re using.

Plus, it’s healthy food, too. Their hand-baked, fresh daily pita bread has no preservatives or dairy. The chicken shawarma is all natural, raised without hormones and always served fresh. The falafel is freshly ground with herbs and spices and their feta cheese is made with 100% sheep milk. A portion of the veggies they serve is organically grown and they buy local whenever possible.

Even their sodas are healthy, and tasty, too. When I stopped by on Monday with my mom, I tried the Stubborn Agave Vanilla Cream. Mmmmm. Yaniv let us sample their newest menu item, healthy French fries with the skin on them, which they’re testing in Antioch, first. Gotta Eatta Pita also serves salads and baklava for dessert.

So, stop by this week and try out one or more of their menu items (see below) and download the flyer, above bring it with you, this Saturday for your free stuffed pita.

Antioch Police Captain Tammany Brooks and new Police Officer Eric Rombough following his oath of office ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 14. photo courtesy of APD.

By Allen Payton

The Antioch Police Department recently swore in two new police officers during brief ceremonies at the Antioch Police Facility.

First to be sworn in on February 14, was Officer Eric Rombough, a lateral hire from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

He was born and raised in Hayward, California. Rombough graduated from Chabot College with an Associates in Earth Sciences. he earned his degree while he worked full time with his father building custom homes both in the bay area and other northern California cities. In 2012, Rombough was sworn in as a deputy sheriff for Alameda County. During his time with the Sheriff’s Office he worked in the jail and as a patrol officer.

A photo of Rombough and Captain Tammany Brooks was posted with the following comment on the APD Facebook page, the day he was sworn in:

“Please say hello to the newest member of the Antioch PD family. Officer Eric Rombough, pictured here with Captain Tammany Brooks, was sworn in today. He is a lateral officer from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office who comes to us with 5 years’ experience. Congratulations Eric and welcome!”

New Antioch Police Officer Brock Marcotte. photo courtesy of APD.

Next to be sworn in, this past Monday, March 6 was Officer Brock Marcotte. He was born in Danville, California. In 2010 he enlisted in the Marine Corps where he was assigned the military occupational specialty of Anti-Armor Missile-Man. Marcotte served two combat tours to Afghanistan and was meritoriously promoted to Corporal. His awards include the combat action ribbon and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Upon honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in June of 2014 he moved back home to Danville, where he began his degree in Construction Management. Marcotte attended the 182nd Academy Class at the Contra Costa County Law Enforcement Training Center where he graduated last Friday.

According to Brooks, another new officer is expected to be sworn in later this month which will bring the Antioch Police force to 100 sworn officers. That will give the city a net 11 new officers from the Measure C half-cent sales tax approved by Antioch voters in 2013.

Forgotten Evil starring Kyle McKeever and Masiela Lusha shot in Antioch, will air this Sunday night on LMN. photo courtesy of LMN

By Allen Payton

For those who were extras in the film shot in Antioch, last summer by Antioch High School graduate and director Anthony C. Ferrante – of Sharknado fame – you’ll want to be sure to pop some popcorn, grab a seat and watch or DVR the premier on Lifetime’s LMN TV channel, this Sunday night at 8:00 p.m.

Director Anthony Ferrante and crew shooting Forgotten Evil outside El Campanil Theatre in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown in August, 2016. photo by Allen Payton

Entitled, “Forgotten Evil” the movie was filmed in various locations in Antioch for a few weeks in August, including Antioch High School and the historic El Campanil Theatre in downtown Rivertown and included Antioch residents as extras. (See related Herald article.)

The movie synopsis is, as follows: Renee awakens, sinking underwater inside a tightly tied sack. Struggling, she somehow breaks out from her underwater coffin. When she awakens again, she remembers nothing. Without a past, she is released from the hospital and forced to start a life anew. Amongst the new faces that enter her life, there is an old one, one that she does not recognize–her husband. As he grows closer and closer, those around her fall victim to deadly accidents. Now Renee must remember her past if she is to have a future.”

The film stars Masiela Lusha and Kyle McKeever in the leading roles, as well as Angie Teodora Dick, Adrian Bustamante and Jeff Marchelletta. To learn more about the full cast and crew, click here.

It is scheduled to show again at Midnight from For more information about the film, visit http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/forgotten-evil and for show times, click here.

Chief Allan Cantando

Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando has announced his retirement after serving nearly 30 years with the Antioch Police Department, the last five-and-a-half its leader. Cantando said that while the decision to leave was difficult, he believed the time was right for him to move on to the next challenge in his professional career and has accepted a position as Vice President, Protective Services Regional Manager for Bank of America.

“Leaving this career after serving this great community is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Cantando said. “It’s bittersweet, but I am truly excited and looking forward to being part of the amazing Bank of America team.”

Chief Cantando said he will remain the city’s top cop until the first week of April. City Manager Steve Duran has tapped Captain Tammany Brooks to serve as the interim chief until a permanent hiring decision is made.

His retirement follows the announcement by Duran last November of his own retirement planned for August, this year. Messages have been sent to both Mayor Sean Wright and Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe seeking comment and asking if the council will wait to have the new city manager hire the new chief. Please check back later for updates to this story.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

The Moderate Growth proposed land use map for the Sand Creek Focus Area.

Information to clear up confusion on details of Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan Update

By Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe

I understand that as a city government, we have horrible track record of not meaningfully engaging residents in determining our future. This has fueled a lot of uncertainty and misunderstanding in recent weeks about potential housing developments, particularly in the area south of Lone Tree Drive. Many residents have asked me, “Why is the Antioch City Council approving a 4,000 unit housing development within the Sand Creek area?!” The short answer—we’re not. However, a proper answer requires more explanation.

First, I want to reiterate what I said during my campaign. I’m still a huge proponent of fair and equitable smart-growth policies, preserving open-space and land-locking Antioch to place pressure on developers to reinvest in the city’s older communities. We’re already seeing this happen. Right now, the city is reviewing two mixed-use development projects near BART, Highway 4 and Delta Fair Blvd – an area that desperately needs reinvestment.

That being said, the last major portion of developable land in Antioch is what we in City Hall call the Sand Creek Focus Area (SCFA). According to our general plan (the city’s blueprint for development, mandated by state law), the SCFA is a large-scale planned community that balances housing and employment opportunities. Below is an image of the SCFA, which extends from the Brentwood border to East Bay Regional Parks. This is about the distance between Lowe’s and the Contra Loma Regional Park entrance.

Right now, there’s a lot of talk about what will happen in the SCFA, but the area itself has been a focus of the city for decades. In 2003, the city council then determined that up to 4,000 housing units would be allowed within the SCFA. They also determined that 280 acres of the SCFA would be dedicated for job generating uses, such as business parks, mixed-use medical facilities, and commercial space. The construction of Kaiser Hospital and Dozier Libbey Medical High fulfilled a portion of this goal. For those of us concerned with over-development, the 4,000 number was actually an improvement. Before 2003, the city envisioned 8,000 new housing units for the area.

Of those 4,000 new housing units, the previous city council, (under former mayor Wade Harper), already approved about 1,200 units for two developments east (going towards Brentwood) of Deer Valley Road: Vineyards at Sand Creek, is a 641-unit, upscale, gated community that will be serviced by Brentwood Union School District; and Aviano Farms, a single-family market rate community of 533 residential units to be served by Antioch Unified School District. Aviano Farms was initially approved in 2005 (yes, 12 years ago) as an adult community, but the previous city council re-designated the project. For the record, I didn’t like this change. We need senior housing in Antioch to balance our youth population—plus senior housing has less impact on traffic, schools and police services.

Together, these projects constitute 1,174 new residential housing units, or roughly 30 percent of the 4,000 allowable housing units in the SCFA. Keep in mind, both these communities will be either adjacent or very close to the Brentwood border. It is estimated that 75 percent of sales taxes paid by future Vineyards residents will go to the City of Brentwood because of its proximity to Sand Creek Road, which includes popular attractions like the Streets of Brentwood.

That means there’s only about 2,800 allowable units left in the SCFA, not 4,000. Which brings me to present day and what the Antioch City Council is considering.

The council is not being asked to approve a project. On February 14, we only reviewed recommendations by city staff to update the general plan, so we could specifically deal with the remaining 2,800 housing units. This update also includes the percentage of open space, preservation of hillsides and hilltops, and how to fairly distribute the remaining housing units. Please understand, updating a city’s general plan happens every five years or so. Antioch’s general plan has not seen any major changes since 2003.

At the Feb. 14 meeting, the council directed staff to bring back this matter at a later date so that we could have time to hear from the community.

Following the meeting, Save Mt. Diablo and other environmental groups held a February 23 event at Prewett Community Park to address projects that have been proposed but have not yet been approved for the SCFA. I attended this event and listened to the concerns of residents. I was impressed with how many turned out to this event.

However, there seems to be some confusion, which is why I wrote this article and invite you to attend my listening forums so that I can get feedback from you about the proposed Sand Creek Focus Area updates. In addition, I’ll be posting the presentation by our Community Development Director, Forrest Ebbs, on my Facebook page so that you can see his presentation and offer me feedback using social media starting on March 16th.

Thursday, March 16th, 7-8:30pm

Saturday, March 18th at 10-11:30am

Lone Tree Elementary School, 1931 Mokelumne Drive, Antioch

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kiara Chatman advances to state finals in competition that emphasizes language skill and public speaking

Kiara Chapman, photo courtesy of Robin Moore.

In a remarkable achievement, Kiara Chatman, a senior at Deer Valley High in Antioch, took first place in the Contra Costa County “Poetry Out Loud” competition for the second year in a row. The event was held in the lovely Las Lomas High School Theatre in Walnut Creek on February 11th.  The Runner-up position went to senior Camila Morales-Jimenez from El Cerrito High in El Cerrito, and Third Place to sophomore Wesley Little from Monte Vista High in Danville.

The three were among thousands of students across the state to participate in the national recitation contest, a program started by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and run by the California Arts Council and locally by the Arts & Culture Commission of Contra Costa County (AC5) to engage high-school students in the presentation of poetry through memorization and performance.  Chatman advances to the California state finals in Sacramento on March 12 & 13. At stake are hundreds of dollars on the state competition level and thousands at the national finals of Poetry Out Loud.

This is Contra Costa’s tenth year of Poetry Out Loud competition, and many attendees commented that the recitations just keep getting better and better.  Among the many fine recitations, Ms. Chatman’s “The Gaffe” by C.K. Williams, Ms. Morales-Jimenez’s “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Pablo Neruda and Mr. Little’s “Cartoon Physics, part 1” by Nick Flynn helped secure the final outcome.

The very competitive pool of finalists included students from eleven county high schools: College Park High in Pleasant Hill, Deer Valley High in Antioch, El Cerrito High in El Cerrito, Independence High in Brentwood, Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek, Monte Vista High in Danville, Northgate High in Walnut Creek, Pinole Valley High in Pinole, Truthtrackers Co-Op in Walnut Creek and Making Waves Academy and Salesian College Preparatory, both in Richmond.  Countywide, over 2500 students memorized a poem for the program this year.

“To learn a great poem by heart is to make a friend for life,” said John Barr, president of the Poetry Foundation. “The national recitation program brings fresh energy to an ancient art form by returning it to the classrooms of America.”

The Poetry Out Loud program seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry: recitation and performance. Poetry Out Loud competitions start in the classroom, then at the school, region, state, and national finals, similar to the structure of the spelling bee. The national initiative is part of an attempt to bring literary arts to students, a critical need in U.S. schools, according to a 2004 NEA report Reading at Risk that found a dramatic decline in literary reading, especially among younger readers.

More information can be found at www.cac.ca.gov/initiatives/pol.php and www.poetryoutloud.org.