PITTSBURG: Los Medanos College (LMC) will hold a Veterans Day Observance on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, at 10:00 a.m., on the LMC Student Services Center Patio. The college is hosting this event to honor its student veterans and all of the men and women of the Armed Forces for their service, bravery, and sacrifice. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend. Complimentary parking is available in Lots A and B.

The program will feature the Brentwood VFW Marine Color Guard, guest speakers, representatives from LMC’s Veterans Services, and musical selections to mark the occasion. Light refreshments will also be served.

Among the guest speakers will be three honored veterans:

• Mr. Dale Cook, retired Army Corporal; is a decorated World War II veteran, who served in the Army Infantry in the Pacific Theater from 1944 to 1946. He is an Iwo Jima survivor, and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon. Following his military service, Mr. Cook went on to work for the U.S. Atomic Energy Agency as Director of Public Relations.

• Mr. Justin Kerns, U.S. Army veteran and Antioch resident; served in the U.S. Army for ten years, five years in Infantry and five years in aviation as a Blackhawk helicopter crew chief in the California National Guard. In total, Mr. Kerns served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is President of the recently reconstituted LMC Veterans Club.

• Mr. Anthony Amador, former Navy serviceman and current LMC student veteran, served as an Electronics Technician on a Navy submarine during Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). He is Vice President of the LMC Veterans Club.

Please join us to salute the men and women of the Armed Forces for their brave service.

For more information about the event or Veterans Services at LMC, please visit www.losmedanos.edu/veterans/ or contact Tamara Green at (925) 473-7498, tgreen@losmedanos.edu.

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) will host a “Veterans’ Meet and Greet” in the City of Concord on Tuesday, November 10th, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. This is an opportunity for local veterans and their families to meet with the Congressman, share their thoughts, and ask questions. Members of the congressman’s Veterans Advisory Board, a group of former service members from across branches of the service, will also be in attendance.

The event will be held at the Concord Veterans Center, 1333 Willow Pass Road, Suite 106, Concord. To RSVP, for more information or to request ADA accommodations please contact: CA11.RSVP@mail.house.gov or call (925) 933-2660.

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier will host a town hall meeting in Pittsburg on Monday, November 9th, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. This is the ninth public forum hosted by Congressman DeSaulnier since taking office in January. Town halls are one part of DeSaulnier’s efforts to be accessible to constituents. He is also holding mobile district office hours and listening tours across the district.

“As we wrap up the legislative year, I invite residents to a Congressional update with information on the federal budget, the six-year transportation bill, and other key issues of importance,”  said DeSaulnier. “This is an opportunity to hear about the work we are doing on behalf of the district and to ask questions and share ideas. We will also discuss the broad range of constituent services my office can provide.”

• What: Congressman DeSaulnier’s Town Hall Meeting in Pittsburg

• When: Monday, November 9, 2015, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Check-in begins at 6:00 pm.

• Where: Pittsburg Senior Center, 300 Presidio Lane, Pittsburg, CA 94565.

For more information or to request ADA accommodations: Please email CA11.RSVP@mail.house.gov or call (925) 933-2660.

DeSaulnier represents part of Antioch in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Nick Goodrich

On Wednesday night, October 28, students and coaches with the Deer Valley High School football program, turned out in force to the Antioch School Board meeting, to protest accusations made against them, involving an incident with the Pittsburg High School band, earlier in the month.

Videos were posted on social media of the football game between Deer Valley and Pittsburg on Friday, October 16th, apparently showing Deer Valley football players and coaches interrupting the Pittsburg band, as they performed their routine before the game. Later claims made by band members and parents alleged that band members were pushed, spit on, and harassed by both Deer Valley players and coaches.

However, the Deer Valley students and coaching staff said that the incident was a misunderstanding and in no way occurred as it had been portrayed on social media. The Board agreed, stating that the incident was blown out of proportion, but stood firm in the decision to place Head Coach Robert Hubbard on administrative leave pending a full investigation.

“We have to remind everyone that Coach Hubbard will have to remain on leave until the investigation is complete,” said Board President Claire Smith.

Many of the comments by students and coaches present at the meeting centered on Hubbard, who they say has had “a great impact” on students and players both on and off the field, and who also teaches a special needs class at Deer Valley. He has served as the DVHS football program’s head coach since July of this year, following the departure of previous coach Richard Woods.

During the meeting, the Board also voted 3-0 to approve a new math intensive tutoring program for Deer Valley students, developed by Antioch residents John Crowder and Angel Luevano. The program, which will be available after school for three hours every school day, places a special emphasis on students struggling in their current Algebra 1 classes.

Students in the program will work with tutors on their current class work, while also catching up with work they have learned in the past but may have forgotten. Testing will occur at each students’ entry to determine which skills need to be worked on with each individual, and will continue throughout the program. Once a student is deemed through testing to have sufficient knowledge of the subjects being learned in class, he or she will graduate the program, opening up the spot for another student to be brought on board. As many as twenty-four students at a time can participate. The Board members said they excited to vote the program in, and expects to see positive results with Algebra 1 students at Deer Valley.

Transit Card accepted Nov. 1 on Tri Delta Transit, County Connection, WestCAT, Wheels

Clipper, the all-in-one transit fare payment card already accepted on 13 Bay Area transit systems, is expanding this Sunday, Nov. 1, to four more bus services in the East Bay: Tri Delta Transit, County Connection, WestCAT and Wheels. The four transit agencies will accept Clipper cards loaded with cash value as well as a range of 31-day passes good for local or express travel.

“This is a major benefit both for people who ride the bus to BART as well as those who rely on the bus for local trips,” said MTC Commissioner, County Connection board member and Orinda City Councilmember Amy Rein Worth. “I am pleased that MTC and the transit operators have worked together so well to make Clipper available to more East Bay transit riders.”

Clipper already is accepted on AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, FAST, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, Marin Transit, Muni, SamTrans, SF Bay Ferry, SolTrans, Vacaville City Coach, VINE and VTA.

“Clipper is so convenient. You don’t have to worry about exact change, and if you ride BART, you get the same transfer discounts without having to keep track of paper transfers,” said Alameda County Supervisor and MTC Commissioner Scott Haggerty, who also serves as a board member of the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority, which operates the Wheels transit service. “You can set it up to automatically reload, and you can use your transit benefits to load value on the card. These features make Clipper a much more attractive option than cash.”

Clipper is used for fare payment on nearly half of all transit trips in the Bay Area. Last month, Clipper was used for an average of more than 800,000 trips each weekday. About one-third of all registered Clipper cards are signed up for Autoload, which automatically reloads value on the card when it runs low.

The Clipper network will expand again in 2016 to Union City Transit, Petaluma Transit, Santa Rosa CityBus and Sonoma County Transit. Clipper will be the sole fare payment method used by Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) when it begins operation in late 2016.

Clipper is a service provided by Bay Area transit operators and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

For more information about Clipper, go to clippercard.com or call Clipper Customer Service at 877.878.8883.

Assemblyman Jim Frazier

The California Association of County Veterans Service Officers (CACVSO) has selected California Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley) and State Senator Richard Roth (D-Riverside) as the recipients of the Motomu Nakasako Legislator of the Year awards for 2015. CACVSO has also selected Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to receive the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.The awards will be presented at the organization’s annual Sacramento Training Conference in February 2016.

The Motomu Nakasako Award is named after “Mote” Nakasako, a Los Angeles County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) who was constantly involved in legislation to improve the lives of veterans at the local, state, and federal levels. He was a decorated member of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of World War II’s most decorated units. Mr. Nakasako joined the Army and volunteered for combat duty from the Heart Mountain Internment Camp in Wyoming.

Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D-Oakley)

Assuming office in 2013, Assemblyman Frazier hit the ground running and quickly let it be known that he would support veterans. Frazier’s uncle died of complications from Agent Orange exposure resulting from his service in Vietnam.

After a two year effort, he pushed through the VETERAN designation on the California driver’s license bill, a longtime goal of the veterans community. AB 935, which will take effect on November 11, 2015, will require DMV to print the word “VETERAN” on the face of a driver’s license or identification card issued to a person who makes that request. Frazier authored three bills in a two year period to make this happen.

Assemblyman Frazier was the major sponsor and participant of the 25th Anniversary of the CA Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the State Capitol. He used his own funds to bring the “Wall That Heals” Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall to the State Capitol in 2014. In November of that year, he participated in the ceremony for the Wall of Remembrance for the Global War on Terror at the Capitol on Veterans Day.

According to Pete Conaty, Governmental Advocate for the CACVSO, “California’s veterans and the professionals who assist them are indeed fortunate to have such staunch champions in the Legislature as Speaker Atkins, Senator Roth, and Assemblyman Frazier”.

The California Association of County Veterans Service Officers (CACVSO) was established in 1945 and they are responsible for assisting veterans in filing for federal benefits, claim development, claim filing advocacy, and case management services to our respective veteran’ populations. This vital segment of our population encompasses an ever increasing aging veterans’ population composed of WWII and Korean veterans and their survivors, as well as veterans from our most recent wars. County Veterans Service Offices are also responsible for screening veterans and their dependents (by means of the State Mandated Welfare Referral Program) that have applied for Cal WORKS, food stamps, Medi-Cal, and other public assistance benefits.

Frazier represents Antioch, other parts of East County and a portion of Solano County in the State Assembly.

By Nick Goodrich

The Antioch City Council voted Tuesday night to sell to the Antioch Historical Society the city’s 1927 Ford Model T fire engine, among other things, including an antique water apparatus and trailer for the engine, for a nominal fee.

The fire truck is exposed to city residents only several times each year, primarily in parades such as the 4th of July Parade. In their “Fire House Display Project”, however, the Historical Society plans to add an additional building to the Antioch Historical Museum to house and display the truck.

Former Antioch Mayor Donald Freitas, president of the Historical Society, was in attendance at the City Council meeting, along with former Mayor Jim Davis and several other members.

“We want to demonstrate the history of fire safety in Antioch,” said Freitas in speaking out in support of the project. “It’s about preservation, education, public safety information, and marketing.”

The Historical Society plans to increase the city’s exposure to the truck, especially to children on school field trips, by keeping it on display while still allowing for it’s use in parades and city events. Jim Davis had discussed the possibility of giving the truck to the Historical Society during his tenure as Mayor.

“This is a project that’s new and exciting, and it’s long overdue,” added Tom Monasco, another member of the Society who spoke in front of the City Council Tuesday.

In a unanimous vote, City Council agreed to sell the antique truck, water apparatus, and trailer to the Historical Society, provided the Society allows the city the right of first refusal in the event the equipment is sold again and that the Society finds suitable insurance for the truck. The Historical Society is set to begin fundraising for the Fire House Display Project soon, but Mayor Wade Harper suggested offering funds to bolster the Society’s fundraising efforts, stating that such a project would foster good will with the school district and provide great educational value for Antioch schoolchildren.

APD Chief Cantando 3rd Qtr Report 2015

Antioch Police Chief Allen Cantando also made an appearance before City Council on Tuesday night, presenting the Third Quarter Police Statistics Report for 2015. In his presentation, Cantando noted a 12.3 percent decrease in overall crime in the city of Antioch from last year’s third quarter report, as well as an increase in arrests. Chief Cantando also drew attention to the Antioch Police Department’s recent hiring surge; since November of 2013, the APD has hired 28 new sworn police officers, while undergoing 22 separations due to retirements, resignations, and terminations, creating a net staffing change of 6 personnel. The overwhelming sentiment from City Council was one of good will, praising Chief Cantando for his efforts and urging him to keep up the quality of the APD’s work.

New Encrypted Communication System

A main topic of Cantando’s presentation, however, was the APD’s planned removal of police scanner access to Antioch residents. The APD was scheduled to go live with their new EBRCS scanner system on Wednesday, October 28^th, and has elected to pursue the optional encryption feature for their system, which will prevent all but the Police Department from accessing police scanners.

On the APD’s social media pages, the announcement drew the ire of numerous residents, who spoke forcefully against the removal. During the council meeting, however, Cantando reaffirmed his decision, and was supported by Mayor Wade Harper and the City Council.

Cantando stated that access to police scanners through cell phone apps and other devices presents a significant crime risk, as criminals have proven in the past to use them to their advantage. He cited several examples, including cases in which criminals have used scanners to know when to commit crimes whenever police department resources have been devoted elsewhere.

“We’re doing it for officer safety reasons and public safety reasons,” said Cantando. “I’m optimistic we’re going to see a reduction in crime.”

The next Antioch City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10^th at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall on West Second Street.

By Captain Tammany Brooks, Antioch Police Support Services Division

Tragically, on June 28, 2012, Denny Gonzales lost his life in the City of Antioch in a confrontation with the City of Antioch police. Gonzales, a local barber, who was later found to have been emotionally distraught and significantly intoxicated, was shot and killed when he challenged Antioch Police Department (APD) officers with a firearm in front of his Antioch home. On that date, Gonzales had made numerous statements to the police that clearly indicated he was homicidal, including comments that he was going to kill a police officer and other threats. APD officers then located Gonzales at his home in Antioch and started the process of gathering police resources, cordoning off the area, surrounding Gonzales’ house and warning nearby residents, to protect officers and the public.

While the APD was putting the necessary resources into place, Gonzales came out onto his driveway voluntarily and unannounced, with a firearm in his right hand and with unknown intentions. When nearby APD officers ordered Gonzales to drop the firearm, Gonzales did not drop the firearm, instead making a movement with his right arm and pointing the firearm at officers while he attempted to move back towards the cover of his garage. As the lives of the nearby officers were in imminent danger at that point, deadly force was used, killing Gonzales. Video of the incident taken from a fixed wing CHP plane clearly demonstrated that Gonzales pointed his weapon towards officers in this incident.

In 2013, the wife of Gonzales and his young daughter filed a lawsuit against the City of Antioch for claimed civil rights violations and negligence.

Yesterday, after an extensively briefed and argued Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the City to challenge the sufficiency of the allegations against them, Judge Westmore of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ruled in favor of the City of Antioch on all claims, dismissing this lawsuit. Judge Westmore found that “a reasonable officer at the scene would have reasonably believed that Mr. Gonzales posed a threat of serious physical harm to him or his fellow officers, justifying the use of deadly force.” Pgs. 29-30. Judge Westmore went on to state that “the undisputed evidence shows that the officers acted reasonably under the totality of the circumstances, and the City, therefore, faces no liability for the officers’ conduct.” Pg. 30. Judge Westmore’s extensive Order is attached.

Lead trial attorney for the City, Noah G. Blechman, Esq., from the McNamara Law Firm in Walnut Creek, praised the ruling by the Court.

“The parties laid out all the relevant evidence for the Court and Judge Westmore made the right decision in this unfortunate case,” he stated. “When an individual with homicidal intentions comes out in public with a firearm and challenges officers, federal and state law permits a police officer to deploy deadly force to protect themselves, as well as to protect the public, from imminent death or serious injury. The Court rightly found that the involved officers of the Antioch Police Department and the tactical supervisors involved acted reasonably and appropriately throughout this incident. Judge Westmore’s ruling is clear vindication for those involved officers who were face to face with a deadly situation and acted in accordance with their extensive training and in conformity with the law.”

The City of Antioch wishes to express their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Denny Gonzales who have suffered from this unfortunate incident. The City of Antioch also wants to praise the actions of those involved officers and supervisors for their efforts which no doubt likely saved the lives the others on June 28, 2012.