Wants to Focus On Career Technical Education

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The remaining four members of the Governing Board of the Contra Costa Community College District voted unanimously to appoint Robert Calone of Pittsburg to the vacant seat in Ward 5, during a special Board meeting, today, Wednesday, March 9, 2011.

The vacancy was created when two-term member Jess Reyes passed away on January, 31 and the Board voted to appoint a replacement for the remainder of his term, through December, 2012. Ward 5 includes most of Antioch, as well as Pittsburg, Oakley, Brentwood, Bethel Island and Knightsen.

Calone was one of three finalists chosen from a field of applicants, including Supervisor Federal Glover’s former Chief of Staff Vincent Manuel and current Los Medanos College student and counselor for a local non-profit mentoring program for youth, Simone Gikanga, both of Antioch. They were interviewed during the special board meeting, today. (This writer was also an applicant but did not make the cut for the final interviews).

In his application, he had letters of recommendation from both newly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and former State Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla.

A native and life-long resident of Pittsburg, Calone is a retired, 43-year Journeyman Plumber with Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 159 and former Superintendent of Plumbing for Los Medanos Plumbing Company. He was an original and 16-year member of the Delta Protection Commission and has been a part-time vocational education teacher since 1978. He is a 1976 graduate of Golden Gate University with a B.S. Degree in Management and a Minor in Engineering.

Calone is also a Board of Director for Kasimu Education Fund in the poor village of Malawi, Africa where I oversee the disbursements of funds for educational studies, scholarships, food and nutrition programs for children and the construction of classrooms as well as high school and teacher housing.

In his application, Calone said “I am…particularly interested in supporting further development of Career Technical Education programs in such areas as nursing, “green” technology, construction management and computer generated drafting.”

“I want to coordinate Career Technical Education courses with the job opportunities in and around Contra Costa County. This could include nursing, welding, radiology, medical office administration, construction management,
“green” construction technologies, etc. My goal would be to make CTE in the District a model for the state,” he added.

His children attended Los Medanos College and he lives in Pittsburg with his wife of 46 years.

Congratulations to our new Community College District Governing Board Member, Robert Calone. Let’s all wish him well in his new position.

The board oversees the three main campuses of Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and Contra Costa College in San Pablo, as well as the Brentwood and San Ramon Centers.  For more information about the college district, visit www.4cd.edu.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)’s Programming & Allocations Committee today recommended approval of a $19 million allocation of bridge toll funds to the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) to help advance construction of the $463 million East Contra Costa BART Extension (eBART) through Pittsburg and Antioch.

The full Commission will consider the committee’s recommendation at its regular monthly meeting on March 23.

“The committee’s approval is a crucial step in keeping the eBART project on schedule and on budget,” said MTC Vice Chair and Orinda city councilmember Amy Rein Worth, who represents the cities of Contra Costa County on the Commission. “The project will not only deliver much-needed congestion relief in the years ahead, but BART estimates it will generate more than 600 jobs during construction and dozens of permanent positions once the trains begin service. This is a wise and very timely investment, and one I’m confident the full Commission will support.”
 
Construction on the eBART project began in October 2010. The latest MTC commitment includes $15 million for construction and management activities needed to accommodate eBART in the median of State Route 4 plus another $4 million for eBART crossings over local roadways that will be built as part of Caltrans’ and the CCTA’s ongoing highway widening project.

“Toll funds are a big slice of the financing pie for the eBART project,” explained Rein Worth. “This reflects the strong, continuing partnership between MTC and the CCTA to deliver mobility improvements for the residents of eastern Contra Costa County. Another big slice of the funding comes from the Measure J half-cent transportation sales tax. County voters made it clear that eBART is an important priority when they approved Measure J back in 2004.”

The 10-mile first phase of the eBART line, which is slated to open for customer service in 2015, will stretch from the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART station to Hillcrest Avenue in Antioch with an intermediate station at Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg. Travel time from Hillcrest to Pittsburg/Bay Point will be 10 minutes. The diesel multiple-unit trains used on the eBART line are smaller than traditional BART trains, with a capacity of 300 to 400 passengers in each two-car train. The trains will use modern clean diesel technology, and are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Route 4 corridor by 260,000 pounds per day.

MTC is the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency.

“A moratorium on the spring 2011 bonds has been issued,” said H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director for External Affairs at the California Department of Finance. “It should not delay projects by the 2012 deadline.”

However, that only covers the widening to Somersville Road. The bond sale cancellation affects almost $23 million scheduled for the widening beyond Somersville Road, to Hillcrest Avenue and Highway 160.

Of the $4.5 billion in the Corridor Mobility Improvement Account, in a total of $19.925 billion in bonds authorized by Proposition 1B and passed by voters in 2006, $2.4 billion has already been sold, according to Palmer. The cancellation affects the remaining $2.1 billion in bonds for projects statewide.

A staff report on the issue was made to the Administration & Projects Committee of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), at their monthly meeting, on Thursday, March 3, according to Ellen Wilson, Administrative Assistant for Projects.

“The state’s current economic condition has placed these programs at risk due to the difficulty in selling general obligation bonds and the lack of bond funds,” the report stated.

CCTA staff is recommending approval of “the substitution of up to $22.984 million in Measure J funds for Proposition 1B funds.”

The issue will be on the next Authority Board meeting agenda for discussion, she said. (Neither CTA Executive Director Randy Iwasaki nor Ross Chittenden, Deputy Executive Director for Projects, were available for comment at press time).

 “I’m not surprised, given all the budget issues,” said Councilman Brian Kalinowski, Antioch’s representative on Transplan, East County’s division of the CCTA. “I am hopeful there will be a work around. In the meantime, this gives us time to address the substandard station proposal for the [Hillcrest] eBART station.

 “I’m disappointed, but bad news is the norm in all areas of government, right now,” he added.

The City Council’s next Quality Of Life Forum is set for this Saturday, February 26 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon at Deer Valley High School, located at 4700 Lone Tree Way, Antioch.

For a copy of the agenda, which includes presentations and discussions on the city budget, volunteerism, future priorities and by the school district, please click on http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/agendas/CityCouncil/2011/agendas/022611/022611.pdf.

A proposed wind turbine as seen from the Pittsburg-Antioch Highway.

 By Dave Roberts

City Council members were less than enthusiastic Tuesday night when presented with the possibility of construction of a windmill on the Pittsburg-Antioch Highway that would be taller than the length of a football field, visible from much of the city and likely the most prominent landmark in Antioch.

The Delta Diablo Sanitation District wants to place the wind turbine on its property at Arcy Lane in order to save $1.5 million-$4 million over the next 20 years in energy costs through renewable energy. The cost savings would be passed on to its 200,000 customers in Antioch, Pittsburg and Bay Point, according to district officials. The district has not yet signed an agreement with Foundation Windpower to construct the turbine, and is seeking comments from city officials and the public.

None of the council members praised the proposal and several were wary.

“I would want more community feedback on this,” said Councilman Wade Harper. “It’s hard to argue aesthetics when you have a smoke stack next to (the proposed windmill).”

Councilwoman Mary Rocha said, “Because it is visual and something that we are going to see, the community would want to know how important it is to us. Because it’s green-on-green and there would be a (cost) reduction somewhere along the way that we could see in the future, it might be more acceptable. But it is an object that seems very obtrusive.”

The proposed wind turbine as it would appear from Contra Loma and James Donlon boulevards.

Councilman Gary Agopian noted that it’s one thing to have windmills along a freeway such as the Altamont Pass and quite another thing to have them in an urban area.

“I’m not real fond of looking at them, but I can see the value in using wind,” he said. “But putting it in the city where we all going to be looking at it all the time, I’m very much aware. It doesn’t look that large from (western Pittsburg), but here in Antioch, I’m looking at a wind turbine right out in the middle of all of our views. I’m a little bit concerned about the location – not the technology, not the savings and not the greenness of what you’re trying to do – but the location. Looking at a windmill right there in Antioch, uhhh, I’m not real hot about it, I’ve got to be honest with you.

“Solar has a much lower profile. And even though you may need to use a little bit more real estate to do that and maybe it will cost a little bit more, you certainly are not going to have the aesthetic issues that we’re having with wind.”

Solar energy panels would take up more real estate on the district’s property, would save $400,000 less in energy costs over 20 years and would be more unreliable, according to Delta Diablo Associate Engineer Irene O’Sullivan. General Manager Gary Darling added that the district is already planning a solar project to power its office buildings.

A Foundation Windpower representative said that residents could consider the turbine to be a “nice big piece of artwork, a sculpture.” He added that it creates very little noise and only kills two birds per year on average.

Councilman Brian Kalinowski said he wants more information. “I would be interested in what the agreements look like and call for,” he said. “I don’t think, based on industrial use, I’m overly concerned. But I want to make sure we are at the industry standard.”

Mayor Jim Davis did not comment.

Delta Diablo plans to make a similar presentation to the Pittsburg City Council next month. The district board could decide in April whether to sign an agreement with the wind company and then seek the necessary environmental permits.

In other action at the council meeting:

• Kalinowski said that Transplan, the East County transportation planning agency, plans to sue the City of Pittsburg if Pittsburg doesn’t rejoin the East Contra Costa Regional Fee and Financing Authority by March 4. That authority collects funds from new development in East County to help pay for transportation improvements.
• Brittney Gougeon, founder of the grassroots group Take Back Antioch, announced that they will be working to improve Dallas Ranch Park, including painting over graffiti, replacing vandalized benches and planting trees, flowers and shrubs.
• The city’s first Quality of Life Forum in nearly two years will be held this Saturday, February 26 from 9 a.m. to noon in the Deer Valley High School auditorium. It will include an update on the city’s budget crisis, a presentation from the Antioch Unified School District, opportunities to volunteer for civic projects and provide time for public comment.
• Bill Gegg, who is retiring after having held more than a half-dozen administrative positions in his 23 years working for Antioch, was thanked for his service and given a standing ovation. Gegg told the council members that they need to scale back city functions to focus on a few priorities and find ways to provide services cost effectively by investing more in technology.

The Mother Ship concealed by snow, perhaps? View of Mt. Diablo from Antioch on the morning of February 20, 2011 - by Allen Payton, from his BlackBerry

Alien Ship Landing? Fires of a Satanic Ritual on Devil’s Mountain? Nah.

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Did you see it? The strange light show on top of a cloud-enshrouded Mt. Diablo, last night between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m.?

After being alerted to the “lights in the clouds” by my friend’s grandson and his cousins, on Saturday night, February 19, I went to look and sure enough a bright light shown through the low clouds on top of Mt. Diablo.  The light was changing color from red to yellow to green to blue.

I’d never seen such a sight in all the 34 years I’ve lived in Contra Costa County, both in Walnut Creek and Antioch – with views from both sides of the mountain. I thought it might be the beacon that the Veterans group lights up every December 7 to commemorate Pearl Harbor Day. But that doesn’t stay on year-round.

The boys said, “maybe it’s a flare” to which I responded, “no, it’s staying in the same place.”

I jokingly told the kids, maybe it was an alien ship landing or a Satanic ritual. It IS called “Devil’s Mountain,” after all.  But I had no idea what it was.

I quickly posted on Facebook what I had witnessed. Others too posted what they’d seen, including a Realtor friend from Brentwood, who also had no idea what it was.

“Aliens” was the most popular comment.

We decided to get in the car and drive to a better viewing spot. But, by that time, the light was gone.

Then my son called who also lives in Antioch. “Did you see it?” he asked. “It was crazy!”

I tried to get in touch with the local television stations and was able to get through to KPIX Channel 5, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco.

They ruined the fun, but solved the mystery.

The lady who answered the phone in the newsroom said, “It was a transformer fire. The fire department is on their way up the mountain, right now.”

So that’s it. No aliens. No devil worshiping. Just a transformer fire. But a spectacular one, that’s for sure!

Free Saturday night entertainment. At least free to the viewers. We’ll find out how much damage was caused if and when we get a news release from the fire department.

If anyone has any video, please let us know and we’ll share it here. Thanks!

The contractor for the widening of Highway 4 has tentative plans to close a single lane in both directions of Highway 4 between Harbor Street and Somersville Road from 11 pm to 5 am on Thursday and Friday nights.

RAMP CLOSURES: The contractor plans to close the on ramp from north bound Loveridge Road to east bound highway 4 on Wednesday and Thursday between 5 am and 11 am.

CITY STREET CLOSURES: The contractor will be closing a single lane in the northbound and southbound directions of Loveridge Road at various times during the week. These lane closures will be during the day between 9 am and 2:30 pm Monday through Friday.

Please note: All closures are weather dependent so check www.widensr4.org frequently for updates. For the most current information on lane closures and ramp closures please visit the Caltrans lane closure web site at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/dtm/ApprovedClosures.pdf

Sigifredo Lua

The baby was transferred to Children’s Hospital in Oakland where he was treated for multiple fractured bones, a lacerated liver and bleeding on his brain. He was in a coma and later died.

During the course of the investigation it was learned that the child’s father, Sigfredo Lua, 23, of Antioch, had been taking care of his two children in a residence in the 700 Block of O Street while his wife was at work. He called his wife at work to advise her that the baby was injured, and she in turn called 911. 

Lua’s initial statements on how the child was injured were inconsistent with the injuries sustained. He has since confessed to detectives that he punched the child in the face, according to police. He was arrested for felony child abuse with great bodily injury, booked at APD and then taken to Martinez County Jail where he remains in custody pending murder charges being filed with the DA’s office. 

The Antioch Police Department is continuing to investigate this case. Anyone with Information is asked to contact Detective Robert Green at (925) 779-6932.