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Natio
nalAwardWinning Newspapers
Your Hometown Web Site www.thepress.net
Vol. 8, No. 8 YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER February 19,
2010
This Week
No doubt about it
A convincing payback victory made the Lions league crown fit
more comfortably. Page 1B
Plus: Calendar ............................ 23BClassifieds
......................... 16BCop Logs
............................14AEntertainment .................
12BHealth & Beauty .............. 10BOpinion
..............................13ASports
................................... 1B
The Discovery Bay-based group San Francisco Bay and Del-ta
Foundation (SFBDF) is hosting a town forum next month to up-date
the public and local business community on the controversial
2-Gates project and provide an over-view of Californias ongoing
water issues.
The California Delta Water Meeting will be held March 1 at 6:30
p.m. in the Discovery Bay El-ementary School gymnasium. The event
features special guest speaker
Supervisor Mary Piepho; Susanna Schlendorf, district director
for As-sembly member Joan Buchanan; and Environmental Water Caucus
representative David Nesmith.
The meeting will provide in-formation on a variety of
water-related topics, including a short
history of the Bay and Delta, a summary of major Delta water
projects, water conveyance and storage, and will address concerns
over a possible peripheral canal.
According to SFBDF Public-ity Chair Mike Guzzardo, The purpose
of the meeting is to let the
community know what a great job they have done so far with (fi
ght-ing) the 2-Gates project, and give them a good overall picture
of what is going on now and what is most likely going to happen in
the future. We need to continue the outreach to the community, to
let the public know that its not over.
The 2-Gates project, a fi ve-year experimental program designed
to save the Delta smelt by rerouting them away from the water pumps
on Old and Middle rivers, was de-layed in December by the Obama
Effort to scuttle 2-Gates continuesby Ruth Roberts
Staff Writer
see 2-Gates page 18A
We need to continue the outreach to the community, to let the
public know that its not over.
SFBDF Publicity Chairman Mike Guzzardo
Tree removal project underway
If you traveled the west side of Discovery Bay Boulevard or
along Sandpoint Road last week, you likely noticed some changes in
the scenery. A num-ber of Aleppo pine trees, 43 to be exact, were
being dug up and ground down in the name of public safety.
The removal of the pine trees many more than 30 years old was
not at the top of new Discovery Bay Landscape Man-ager Fairin
Perezs priority list. But when one of the enormous pines some
weighing as much as 30,000 pounds fell and nar-rowly missed hitting
a home last November, and then again two weeks ago when a branch
from another dropped onto Discov-ery Bay Boulevard, the project
became Job 1.
Many of these trees (be-cause of the winds in Discov-ery Bay)
are horizontal to the ground, and over half of them are diseased,
which weve iden-tifi ed as a potential hazard, said Perez. A
majority of them lean into each other and if you
remove just the diseased ones, then the others are left with no
support and would eventually become their own hazard. So we decided
to remove them all and
start with a clean slate.ValleyCrest Landscaping
Company submitted the lowest bid for the job approximately
$6,000 and is removing the
pines along the west side of Discovery Bay Boulevard at Seal
Drive, continuing to and
These 30-year-old trees, shown here along Discovery Bay
Boulevard looking south from Sand Point Road, are just a few of the
dozens of potentially hazardous trees being removed.
Photo by Richard Wisdom
by Ruth RobertsStaff Writer
see Trees page 18A
High price to pay
In an era of deep budget cuts, school officials pay could raise
some eyebrows. Page 6A
Prescription for placidity
A longtime East County doctor has set his last bone and
delivered his last baby. Page 3A
Online Now!
www.thepress.netYour Hometown Web Site
Some shops are prohibiting the open carrying of sidearms on
premises.
Ban on packingo to multimedia/videos
Students and parents sampled a buffet of career and college
choices.
Open housego to news/WebExtras!
New statistics give an inside look at the state of housing in
East County.
Weekly briefinggo to news/press releases
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FEBRUARY 19, 2010 COMMUNITY THEPRESS.NET | 3A
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Beloved doctor takes down his shingleDr. Hugh Maiocco sits in a
comfort-
able leather chair chatting with a visitor in his Brentwood
living room, his broad, ever-present smile accessorized by his
sparkling eyes. Outside the picture win-dow to his right, green
grass and fl ower-beds are bordered by a phalanx of tall trees
ringing the property and serving as a visual barrier between his
homes rural setting and rapidly encroaching subur-bia.
But the shift from neighboring farm fi elds to next-door
dwellings isnt the only change taking place in the Maiocco
household. After more than a half-centu-ry of practicing medicine
in East County, helping health care make the transition from house
calls to hospitals, Maiocco has fi nally hung up his
stethoscope.
I didnt want to retire, but the com-puter shot my legs out from
under me, said the 83-year-old Maiocco. His unique method of
keeping hand-written records had served him well, but he admits it
was simply no longer appropriate for the times.
But while bits and bytes might have been his downfall, they
stand as per-haps the only thing he failed to master. Described as
a Renaissance man by one of his dearest friends, the late Bill
Bristow, Maiocco the athlete won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in
track at the
1952 Pan American Olympics. As an art-ist, his paintings earned
him an exhibit at the San Francisco Art Festival. As a
psy-chologist, he was schooled at New Yorks Bellevue School of
Medicine, and as a philosopher he spent a week at a Bud-dhist
monastery in Shasta. During World
War II, he took a month off of work to teach himself electronics
and passed the Navys Radar program entrance exam with fl ying
colors. He even owns a pat-ent for a simplifi ed system of music
that eliminates the half-step progression rep-resented by the black
keys on a piano.
Maiocco says his lifelong yearning to learn stems from wandering
away from his New York home and getting thoroughly lost at the age
of 6. Rather than panic, he carefully reviewed his surroundings and
how he had gotten there, and eventually made his way back.
It turned out that fi nding my way home that day was a seminal
life-chang-ing experience because it taught me a fundamental lesson
about the nature of knowledge acquisition, Maiocco wrote in a
recent magazine article. Studying many disciplines would also prove
handy when he began practicing medicine in Brentwood in 1957.
Ensconced in a small offi ce with doctors Abe Kaplan and Charles
Duffy, Maiocco and his colleagues were forced by circumstances to
treat virtually every kind of malady, as there was no other medical
care for miles around. They needed to be versed in neurology,
pediat-rics, trauma and internal medicine. They delivered babies,
set fractures, had to understand that a neck injury might ac-tually
be a stress-related condition, and even once treated a case of
leprosy. Calls could come at any time Maiocco and his little black
bag once made 27 house calls on Thanksgiving or even arrive on his
doorstep.
One time the doorbell rang and
Hugh Maiocco stands by one of the paintings once shown in a San
Francisco Art Festival show. The pioneer East County physician
retired last month after more than a half-century of practice.
Photo by Rick Lemyre
by Rick LemyreStaff Writer
see Maiocco page 15A
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4A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY FEBRUARY 19, 2010
The Open Carry movement is gaining steam in Antioch as members
meet regularly at local coffee shops to discuss what they can do to
protect what they view as their Second Amendment rights to carry a
rearm in public. Peets Coffee has banned people from carrying
rearms on premises, but Starbucks still welcomes the group. Visit
www.thepress.net to view a video report by Melinda Meza about how
one group of citizens is taking a stand.
Coming Friday to thepress.netLooking for a fun night out that
will
help support local charities? Buy your tickets now for the 12th
annual Brentwood Police Offi cers Ball on Saturday, April 3 from 6
p.m. to midnight at the Brentwood Golf Club, 100 Summerset
Drive.
The black-tie affair features a cock-tail hour, dinner and live
dance music by the Timebandits.
Tickets are $80 per person and $150 per couple. All proceeds
benefi t the Brent-wood Police Activities League, Brentwood
Explorer Post 415, Brentwood Youth Commission and A Place of
Learning.
Seating is limited, so make your res-ervations now. For more
information or to purchase tickets, call event chairman Offi cer
Roger Wilson at 925-809-7768.
Cops to have a Ball
The Network of Care is hosting its fourth annual crab feed
fundraiser on Saturday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. in Veterans Hall, 757
First St. in Brent-wood. The event kicks off with ap-petizers, a
traditional crab feed and a comedy show and features raffle prizes
and a silent auction. All proceeds ben-efit The Network of Care,
which pro-vides meals to families in crisis when a child is
suddenly hospitalized. Tickets are $50. No tickets will be sold at
the door.
Founded in 2004, The Network of Care delivers meal and snack
bags to 43 hospitals in California, including Sut-ter Delta Medical
Center in Antioch. As of last year, the organizations volunteers
have delivered more than 50,000 care packages to help families cope
with the stress of an injured or ill child by providing the family
a snack
or meal bag, which allows them to stay by their childs
bedside.
For more information about the crab feed and to purchase
tickets, con-tact Janet Frazier at 925-584-4086 or Jim Frazier at
925-250-6831. To learn more about The Network of Care, vis-it
www.thenetworkofcare.org.
Helping sick kids families
An article in last weeks Press stated that unlike most other fi
re districts, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District does
not employ paramedic fi refi ghters. The district does, however,
contract fi rst-responder paramedic services with American Medical
Response.
Clarification
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FEBRUARY 19, 2010 COMMUNITY THEPRESS.NET | 5A
Relay For LifeTeam Trivia Night
The East Contra Costa County Chap-ter of Project Linus is
hosting its annual Make a Blanket Day on Saturday, Feb. 27 from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Project Linus, a national nonprofi t or-ganization, makes and
donates handmade blankets to children in need. The ECC Chapter
meets monthly to gather quilts for donations and swap blanket
ideas, but Make a Blanket Day is an opportunity to spread the word
to the community about this worthy cause.
This year, Project Linus plans to send blankets to comfort the
children in Haiti as they recover from the aftermath of the
dev-astating January earthquake. Blankets are also donated to local
hospitals and shelters, such as Shepherds Gate in Brentwood.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own sewing machines
and supplies, cutting mats, rotary cutters, scissors, crochet hooks
and something to work on. Quilt kits including thread, batting,
backing fabric, fl eece fabric and fl annel will be available.
Refreshments will be provided. Chil-dren 12 and older are
welcome to attend the event with an adult. No pets, please.
This years Make a Blanket Day takes place at Delta Community
Presbyterian Church, 1900 Willow Lake Road in Discov-ery Bay.
Project Linus regular meetings are held at the church on the fi rst
Saturday of the month.
For more information, call Chapter Coordinator Jeanne Akin at
510-459-7457 or e-mail [email protected].
Linus blankets kids with comfort
If youre in command of a wealth of useless facts and want to put
your knowledge to the test, Team Trivia Night is made for you.
Presented by the Relay for Life team Planning on a Cure, the
event will be held Saturday, March 20 at Veterans Hall, 757 First
St. in Brent-wood. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the game begins
promptly at 7 p.m. A no-host bar serving wine, beer, soda and
bottled water will be avail-able, as well as light snacks, coffee
and dessert. Proceeds from the event benefi t the American Cancer
Society
and the 2010 Brentwood Relay for Life.
Trivia teams must fi eld a team of eight to 10 people. Those
without a team will be assigned one when they purchase a ticket the
night of the event. Prizes will be awarded to the top teams. Trivia
Night is open to anyone 18 or older, even those who havent
committed to a Relay for Life team.
Tickets are $15 and must be pur-chased at the Brentwood Press
offi ce, 248 Oak St., by March 15. For more information, call
925-550-1182.
Go Irishfor DCSS
Celebrate St. Patricks Day early this year at a special
dinner-dance fundraiser on Saturday, March 13, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
at Brentwoods Eskaton Lodge, 450 John Muir Parkway in Brentwood.
The event benefi ts the nonprofi t organization Delta Community
Social Services. Dinner will be served from 6 to 7 p.m. Live music
will be performed by Frank Lombardo.
Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door and may be purchased
at Eskaton Lodge, Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, Health Hut,
Weathervane Western Wear, SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune up, and
Delta Community Services.
The event is open to guests 6 and up. For more information, call
Delta Community Services at 925-634-8275 or e-mail
[email protected].
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6A | THEPRESS.NET EDUCATION FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Red flag raised over school officials payAs the Brentwood Union
School Dis-
trict (BUSD) continues to grapple with $1.9 million in cuts for
the coming school year, teachers and parents are outraged over the
school boards recent decision to slash classroom programs and lay
off dozens of educators while simultaneously approving pay
increases for three of the districts highest paid employees.
The BUSD School Board unani-mously agreed at its Feb. 10 meeting
to a 3-percent salary increase for Chief Busi-ness Offi cial Scott
Anderson and Assis-tant Superintendent of Human Resources Margaret
Kruse, along with a 2-percent raise for BUSD Superintendent Merrill
Grant.
Along with the salary increases, the board also voted to
increase class sizes for grades K-3 (to the low 20s), eliminate the
computer program for fourth- and fi fth-grade students, and serve
pink slips on 22 full-time teachers.
The pay increases coming at a time when neighboring school
district super-intendents and administrative staff are taking
voluntary reductions as a show of solidarity are, said one
Brentwood par-ent, Unconscionable.
What we are expecting our children to accept, what we are asking
our teachers to accept, is unconscionable, said Laura
Phillips. I wonder if there is a way to have these folks revisit
this (budget and raises) decision. Im a parent, and Im very, very
concerned what I heard about the meeting was shocking.
One teacher who attended the board meeting, but requested
anonymity be-cause of fear of retribution, said the board members
acted with little regard for public or employee input.
I am absolutely livid as a tax-pay-ing citizen of Brentwood the
school board unanimously approved the layoffs of teachers,
increases in class sizes and reductions in programs. Viable
alterna-tive ideas were presented, but were not even considered by
the board Merrill (Grant) was openly hostile and incredibly
agitated with the few comments ques-tioning why this (raises) was
happening. Again, the board made these decisions without any debate
or discussion.
You can call it a raise, because tech-nically it is, said Grant.
But these (step) increases for the three contracted employ-ees are
exactly the same as every other em-ployee in the district has, and
were made to refl ect the two-workday reduction. The technicality
here is that last week at the board meeting the board had to go in
and act on the contract for the next fi scal year. The increase in
step and the decrease in work days were made accordingly.
Grant argued that the boards ap-proval of pay step increases
automatic
yearly raises for him, Anderson and Kruse is simply standard
procedure. Be-cause the three administrators are techni-cally
employees of the school board, their contracts and salaries are
negotiated and approved by the board, versus the regular salary
schedule that is used for teachers and other district staff.
And in fact, 70 percent of BUSD em-ployees do receive regular
step increases and are in line to receive them again for 2010-11
provided the budget remains un-changed; something that many,
including Grant, agree is not likely to happen.
Were not done with all of this (bud-get changes), said Grant.
The board re-evaluates me each June and in the next fi ve months
there will be more transpir-ing; more furlough days and salary
roll-backs whether its for me or our salaried employees. Its going
to get worse for me and everyone else before it gets better.
Grants critics argue that if the con-troversial increases might
actually disap-pear in the coming year, it should have been
mentioned at the recent meeting to relieve tension and boost
morale.
I wasnt going to sit there and grand-stand and say Im going to
take a pay cut right now, Grant explained in a phone in-terview.
General salary rollbacks will be a later conversation for me and
all 700 em-ployees. If people want to single me out, well, that
comes with the territory. But I couldnt solve all the problems in
that one
meeting and I wasnt going to try.My response to the morale
piece
is that we did this (discussion of salary increase) in an effort
to be totally trans-parent and show we are taking the same amount
of workday reductions as every-one else. I just really want to
point out that at this point in time our contracts needed to be
dealt with to refl ect the two workday reduction. There will be
more discussion in June for both administra-tion and the district.
This is the fi rst step in a very lengthy process and there will be
more to come.
Phillips hopes that a heightened awareness of the districts
situation will encourage more active participation on both sides of
the chalkboard. We have a wonderful school district with very high
standards, and I am well aware that its very tough out there, she
said. Ever since Prop. 13 its just gotten worse, but I think there
is a lot that we can all do to reduce our waste and save money. We
defi nitely have to do something and we can start by going to the
(school board) meetings and raising the questions that need to be
raised. Were all in this for the same reasons, and we have got to
come together.
The BUSD board meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of the
month. For meeting times and locations, call 925-513-6300 or visit
www.brentwood.k12.ca.us.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
by Ruth RobertsStaff Writer
ANTIOCH3413 Deer Valley Rd.
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Beautiful single story situated in the summer lakes community. 3
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HUGE PRICE REDUCTION! Build your dream home on this custom 10
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Nice 4 bed, 2 bath home. Needs some TLC. Hardwood floors, tile
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FEBRUARY 19, 2010 COMMUNITY THEPRESS.NET | 7A
A whole house for just $238,000. Spaces are designed with
radiant heat barriers, Energy Star appliances, and Solatubes to
save energy and money. Visit SheaSpaces.com or call
866-625-4546.
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2010 Shea Homes. Communities are by Shea Homes Limited
Partnership and Shea Homes Marketing Company, independent members
of the Shea family of companies. See Sales Associates for full
details. Price effective date of publication and subject to change.
All plans and amenities are subject to change at any time. Shea
Homes, 655 Brea Canyon Road, Walnut, CA 91789 866-696-7432.
twitter.com/SheaHomesNoCal
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Advertisement
DATE YOUR 4506-TLiar loans. You may have heard of them.
Thats where you could just tell your lender how much you made,
and they didnt verify what you told them. Sounds crazy now, but at
the time it was all the rage. They even had a NINJA loan, which
stood for no income-no job-no assets. Gee, is it any wonder our
real estate market tanked?
Well, the lenders are now going overboard to verify and check
everything, which is mostly a good thing so we hopefully dont have
a repeat of this real estate meltdown. One of their tools is Form
4506-T. This is the form theyll ask you to sign where you authorize
your lender to obtain a copy of your tax returns from the IRS. So
even though you gave them a copy of your returns, they wanted the
right to go get a copy of the real document. In the past, this was
more of a threat to keep people honest and not doctor up their tax
returns. But now this is more of a standard practice to check.
There are two key areas on this form you should pay attention
to. The first is where there are 4 boxes to fill in for what year
of returns they are asking for. The other is the date next to the
signature line. Ive heard of some lenders who ask
you to sign this form, but tell you to not fill in the four
boxes for what year return they can obtain, and also to not date
the bottom of the form. The IRS will only honor the form if its
signed within 60 days of the IRS receiving the form. But if you
dont date the form, and the four boxes arent filled out, the lender
(or the secondary investor who buys your loan later) could
conceivably retain this form, and then surreptitiously check your
income anytime they want during the life of your loan. So my advice
is to date that form (and all forms) when you sign them, and try to
limit the number of tax returns they can get copies of to just the
ones that are required to apply for your loan. Note that I am NOT
telling you to hide info from your lender. Im saying you should
only give them what they are requesting, not a blank document which
gives them the ability to get confidential information about you
for years to come.
If you have questions on this or any other real estate topic,
call me at (925) 240-MOVE (6683). To search the MLS for free and
view virtual tours of homes for sale, go to:
www.SharpHomesOnline.com. Sharp Realty
Dana Eaton, Kevin King, Rick Lemyre and Lill Pierce of the
Brent-wood Regional Community Chest recently took delivery of a
$2,500 check from the Streets of Brentwood. Similar checks went to
the Heritage High School Band Boosters and the Ron Nunn Elemen-tary
School Parents Club. The Streets Community Partnership program
devotes a portion of sales from all stores in the lifestyle center
to local charities. The latest partner is the Liberty High School
Band Boosters, which, like Heritage, is helping to send students to
the Paci c Rim Festi-val in Hawaii in March. Libertys band will be
performing at the Streets this weekend. Because of the expected
rain, youll nd them at the An-chor Blue location and in the space
closest to The Rave Theater.
Straight from the Streets
Photo by Traci Nobil
-
OAKLEY
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of publication and subject to change. All plans and amenities are
subject to change at any time. Shea Homes, 655 Brea Canyon Road,
Walnut, CA 91789 866-696-7432. 2010 Shea Homes.
In Limboby Joan Grimes, Esq.
Advertisement
Every day, at least one person comes into my offi ce complaining
that they have made all of their payments under a trial loan modifi
cation, but there has been no permanent modifi cation. According to
the latest numbers, only 4% of all trial modifi cations under HAMP
have become permanent. Th e Treasury indicated in December, 2009
that it would start fi ning lenders for failing to complete loan
modifi cations, but we have seen little improvement yet.
Borrowers are told a host of explanations as to why there has
been no permanent loan modifi cation on their loan including
missing paperwork, the loan is with a negotiator or simply that the
loan modifi cation takes time. While all of these explanations may
be true, the result is that borrowers throughout the country are
left in limbo not knowing whether they should try to stay or make
preparations for leaving the home. To make matters worse, most
borrowers know that the loan modifi cation documentation signed by
them warns that foreclosure may be immediately resumed from the
point at which it was suspended if this trial modifi cation plan
terminates and no new notice of default, notice of intent to
accelerate, or similar notice is required. What should they do?
In order to reduce some of their anxiety, I ask them to work
through a simple 3 step process to see if any loan modifi cation
really makes any sense for them.
Step 1- What are the terms of the loan modifi cation being off
ered? Th ere are many types of loan modifi cation/forbearances
being off ered by lenders. However, the one most helpful to
borrowers is HAMP which stands for Home Aff ordable Modifi cation
Program. Lenders are not required to participate in this plan.
However, the biggest lenders including Bank of America, JPMorgan
Chase Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank and American Home Mortgage
Servicing are participating. Th e program lowers the interest rate
to 2% for years 1-5 and increases the interest rate over the next 3
years until it is fi xed in year 8 at approximately 4.5% -5.0% for
the remaining term of the loan or in some instances extending the
loan term to a 40 year loan. If the trial period is not for a HAMP
loan modifi cation, you should immediately contact the lender and
apply for HAMP loan modifi cation.
Step 2- Can you pay off the principal balance? A good rule of
thumb is that a borrower can payoff 2-2.5 times their gross
household income in a home loan over the course of their working
life and go on vacation and have a child or two. Th erefore, if a
familys average gross household income is $100,000, they should not
have a home loan which exceeds $250,000. Th is is assuming a 30
year fi xed loan. If a borrower has less than 30 years remaining
work time, the amount should be reduced accordingly. If you
determine that you are never going to own this property, is this
the best use of your money? If you didnt have this huge mortgage
payment plus property taxes, insurance and maintenance, could you
be putting away more money into retirement or maybe saving for a
home you could actually own.
Step 3- Is the loan modifi cation payment less than I would pay
in rent? Assuming, the above calculation shows that you will not be
able to pay off the balance of the loan over the course of your
remaining work career, is the loan modifi cation payment still less
than I would pay in rent? Depending on where you live, the loan
modifi cation payment may still be less than rent you would pay in
your immediate area.
Loan Modifi cations are diffi cult. Most of these loans were
made with little or no documentation and now the lenders seem to be
requiring full loan documentation at the beginning, middle and
whenever they feel like it until they decide a loan modifi cation
is granted or denied. If you are in a forever trial modifi cation,
I urge to continue a dialogue with the lender seeing if any new
programs have become available which may help you. In 2010, we
expect lenders with the assistance of the federal government to
roll out additional loan modifi cation programs. I recommend
calling the lender at least once a week. Continue to ask if there
is anything new available. A 4% permanent loan modifi cation rate
is not good, but if it improves, you do not want to miss the modifi
cation which may allow to retain your home.*Th is information is
not provided as legal advice and should not be relied up in making
any decision regarding a voluntary default, short sale, foreclosure
or bankruptcy. Th is information is not a substitute for obtaining
tax & legal advice regarding an individual situation. 2010 Joan
Grimes
Th e Forever Trial Modifi cation
-
With just a week to go before the cur-tain goes up at Heritage
High School, Chris Fallows is pretty pumped about his drama
departments latest venture, and under-standably so.
Im sitting in my offi ce right now sur-rounded by 10-foot glass
stained windows and they are quite stunning, said Fallows,
describing the work of his tech crew, who built the Plexiglas
casements. Theyre modeled after the Tiffany-style windows and
theyre spectacular.
Spectacular is an adjective the theater director also uses to
describe his students acting and vocal chops for the upcoming
production of Stephen Sondheims musical Into the Woods.
We have some very talented students this year, said Fallows.
Sometimes I just look at them and wish I had been as good as they
are when I was in high school. Some of them are really quite
inspiring.
Based on Bruno Bettelheims The Uses of Enchantment, Into the
Woods blends some familiar characters from Grimms fairy tales
Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the
Beanstalk and brings them into the lives of a baker and his wife,
who are desperate to reverse a family curse that has left them
childless.
Its a fun play, said Fallows. The fi rst act ends with happily
ever after. The princesses get their princes and the baker gets his
kid. But the second act is about what happens after happily ever
after: its tough having a baby, princes dont always act how you
want them to, and its really funny to watch as reality is injected
into the fairy tale.
While most school musicals boast ap-proximately 40 to 60 cast
members, Into the Woods employs only 19. The down-sized cast allows
for more in-depth charac-ter development, said Fallows, and a
chance
10A | THEPRESS.NET EDUCATION FEBRUARY 19, 2010
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Under new ownership & newly remodeled
Heritage drama heads Into the Woods
The tech crew of Into the Woods, from left Bethanny Madge,
Kassidy Penso and Haley Marquardt puts the nishing touches on some
of the upcoming Heritage High productions spectacular stained glass
set.
Photo by Richard Wisdom
by Ruth RobertsStaff Writer
see Woods page 15A
-
FEBRUARY 19, 2010 THEPRESS.NET | 11A
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12A | THEPRESS.NET EDUCATION FEBRUARY 19, 2010
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NECK PAIN AND PINCHED NERVES
I woke up yesterday morning with severe neck pain that radi-ates
down my right arm to my hand and I can barely move my neck without
producing the shooting arm pain. Or, for the last few months, Ive
had this nagging pain in my neck and when I look up, my arm goes
numb. Or, Every time I bend my head to the left , my left arm goes
numb. Ive noticed when I lift weights, I can only curl 15 lbs with
my left arm compared to 35 lbs with the right. Th ese are common
histories describing a classic pinched nerve in the neck. So, what
is a pinched nerve? To answer this, lets fi rst look at what a
nerve is.
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Both of these conditions are commonly treated by chiropractors.
If you, a family member or a friend requires care, we sincerely
appre-ciate the trust and confi dence shown by choosing our
service. We
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Th ere are two types of conditions that commonly pinch nerves,
which generally occur at diff erent times of life those with a
herni-ated disk (younger > older patients) and those with
arthritis (older > younger patients). A combination of the two
conditions producing the pinching eff ect on the nerve can also
occur making the diagnosis process a little trickier. Th e
following diagram helps explain these conditions:
In the diagram to the left, the nerves come off the spinal cord.
Those in the neck region go down the arm and those in the low back
go down the legs. The spinal cord is the highway that brings
information from the nerves in the arms, legs, trunk, etc., to the
brain where information is processed. The bony spine houses and
protects the spinal cord and skull protects the brain but there is
no bony protection for the nerves. Nerves bring information to the
brain allowing us to feel, taste, smell, see, and move our legs and
arms to perform complex movements like dancing, running,
gymnastics, and so on. Information is constantly going to and from
the brain to allow us to function normally. The nerve can get
pinched anywhere along its course, including the wrist (carpal
tunnel syndrome), elbow (cubital tunnel syndrome), shoulder
(thoracic outlet syndrome), and/or neck (herniated disk and/or
arthritis). This results in a slowing down of information
transmission to/from the brain and numbness, pain, throbbing, as
well as weakness in strength can occur.
The nerves exit the spine through holes that can be narrowed if
the jelly central part of the disk herniates outward and into the
nerve pushing it against the bone that makes up the hole through
which it exits the spine. A bone spur (as shown in the diagram to
the left, coming off the left facet joint) pushing into the nerve
or the thickening of the ligaments that run inside the spinal canal
(eg., ligamentum fl avum) can also crowd these sensitive nerve
structures and cause similar symptoms.
Congratulations to the following Students of the Month at
Orchard Park Elementary for exemplifying Caring, the Pillar of
Character for the month of January. In the front row, from left,
are Zaki Her-awi Khoja, Daniel Villapando-Ayala, Katie Gross,
Trinity Cardoza, Wesley Clark, Alison Lazzerini, Devondre James,
Eduardo Marin and Gianna Spi-nelli; back row: Amy Johnson, Carlos
Gutirrez, Jorge Luna, Ruby Gonza-lez, Kaliyah Huddleston, Auroa
Gularte, Mary Borlongan, Emily Mendoza and Alisha Barrick. Not
pictured is Andreus Santoleri.
Caring at Orchard Park
In an effort to bring the comforts of home to our troops, the
Antioch Mili-tary Family & Friends is partnering with the
Contra Costa County Law Enforce-ment Training Center Class 165 to
host a Care Package Drive for soldiers serving abroad.
Food items such as coffee packets, Cup O Noodles, and fruit
rollups help sol-diers remember the fl avors of home. Hy-giene
products such as disposable razors,
deodorant and toothpaste are also needed. Clothing items are
also welcome, as well as small, hand-held games such as crossword
puzzles, yo-yos, and Nerf footballs.
The Drive takes place on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. at Golden Hills Community Church, 2401 Shady Willow Lane in
Brentwood.
For more information and a com-plete list of donation options,
visit www.academylegacy.com.
Send troops a bit of home
-
FEBRUARY 19, 2010 THEPRESS.NET | 13A
Cackle raising hacklesEditor:
Over the last few weeks we have been reading about the most
ridiculous city issue that I ever expected would take place in the
City of Brentwood. The fact that Brent-wood, which promotes its
agricultural heri-tage and surroundings, has nothing to do with
reality and that is, Brentwood is a city and our City Council has
done everything in its power to do away with its rural-type
lifestyle and image that Brentwood was once known for.
When you publish the fact that only 3 percent of Brentwood
properties are 20,000 square feet or larger makes it even easier to
understand and it sends a very clear message that this is a city
and you dont raise farm animals, like chickens, within a city.
For anyone to imply that the e-mail messages circulated by
opponents (con-cerned citizens) were fi lled with scare tactics and
lies is nothing but bull and to imply that the citys Land Use
Subcom-mittee and Planning Commission are experts in the fi eld of
keeping chickens in a residential neighborhood is a misleading lie.
As they arent experts in this area.
Documentation was received and presented to the City Council and
to the residents of Brentwood that clearly stated the facts of
raising chickens in a residen-tial community and the problems and
costs that it creates for a city. The message was very clear that
keeping chickens in a residential neighborhood was not a
recom-mended practice under any circumstances.
Pro-hen advocates need to spend their time looking for a
location in the country to move to and to stop wasting the time of
the City Council and the residents of Brentwood. The amount of time
that has already been spent and wasted on this ridiculous issue in
a time of city money crunching and the rising crime rate prob-lems
clearly speak for themselves and the urgency they require.
The majority of the Brentwood City
Council members did an outstanding job of looking at this matter
very objectively as to what was best for the city long term and for
the majority of the residents of Brentwood and we thank them for
that. As expected, two council members contin-ued on their path of
political destruction and hopefully in the very near future the
residents of Brentwood will send a clear message and let them
retire to a Chicken farm in the country, where they belong.
Johnny MerrillBrentwood
More perilous than poultryEditor:
I was sorry that the three council members chickened out on
voting not to permit chickens on lots under 20,000 square feet. I
would like to ask the person who started this controversy if she
would prefer a couple of mature, male pit bulls next door instead!
Preferably with their doghouse close to the property line.
Beth PforrBrentwood
First things firstEditor:
On Sunday, Feb. 14 I was watching TV when my doorbell rang. At
the door was a young man asking me if I would sign a peti-tion to
widen Balfour Road between Heri-tage High School and Deer Valley
Road.
I thought it was a good idea till I read the fi ne print. The
reason for the petition is to move the Urban Limit Line to allow
development past Heritage to Deer Valley. This would allow up to
1,300 residential units and other developments. I take excep-tion
to the tactics these developers are using to get their petition
signed. (I am sure these developers are paying for each signature.)
They told another neighbor that the peti-tion would get the City of
Brentwood tax revenue that the City of Antioch wanted.
The facts are: we do not need any more uncontrolled growth in
Brentwood. We have plenty of empty homes, sub-standard fi re
protection, limited police resources, limited water sources,
teachers that are losing their jobs. I doubt that the citizens of
Brentwood believe we need more homes or development without fi xing
the problems we are already have.
Robert SchriverBrentwood
Brentwood shelter compassionate and smart
Editor:I am writing in response to Todd
Sperrys letter regarding building an animal shelter in
Brentwood. I agree that Brent-wood should look into the possibility
of building its own animal shelter, as Antioch has done.
The Antioch shelter is funded by the City of Antioch and so,
although residents
of other cities can adopt pets from the shel-ter, only residents
of Antioch can surrender pets there. Residents of Brentwood who
need to surrender an animal must go to the county shelter located
in Martinez. It seems to me that if a shelter were located here in
Brentwood, those who are forced to give up a pet would be more
likely to do so in a re-sponsible manner by taking it to the
shelter rather than dumping or abandoning it.
Due to the economy, Brentwood, like other cities, has had a
large increase in the number of homeless animals, and building a
shelter here, especially with a low-cost spay/neuter program, would
certainly be a big step toward alleviating the problem.
Heidi VaughnBrentwood
Bureaucrats guarding the henhouseEditor:
The age old conundrum: Which came fi rst, the chicken or the
egg? New conun-drum: Do we elect dumb people to offi ce or do they
get dumb after we elect them?
Case in point: The Brentwood City Council ignores the
recommendations of its own Land Use Subcommittee and Plan-ning
Commission to allow smaller lot size owners to have three hens.
Instead it sides with the uninformed opinion of one local resident
that hens are bad news. Goodbye hens, goodbye agrarian roots of our
small town, and hello dumb City Council. Oh well, they are
politicians.
And elected offi cials are not the only ones. The parents chosen
to chaperone the dance at Excelsior Middle School stopped the
eighth-graders from grinding at a school dance. Instead of thanking
them for their diligence, the school principal chastised the
parents for being too tough on the students.
This principal is obviously in training to become a school
superintendent. The most overpaid job in the entire educational
system. Obviously we citizens need to be more diligent about who we
elect to offi ce.
And maybe it is time to look at combining the numerous school
districts out here into one administrative unit. The poor teacher
pay is a disgrace that we all need to remedy and the high-priced
district superintendents need to be ashamed of themselves for their
greed.
Bill SumnerDiscovery Bay
Paramedics on duty in East CountyEditor:
In a recent article in the Oakley Press about the new East
Contra Costa Fire Board, it was stated There are no paramedics in
the district. Although the fi re district does not employ
paramedics, AMR has been providing fi rst responder paramedics in
the district since 1992.
These are state-licensed paramedics with 25-30 years experience
responding in quick response vehicles (QRVs) sta-
tioned out of three East CC fi re stations: Station 95 in Bethel
Island, Station 52 in Brentwood and Station 57 in Byron. These
advanced life-support QRVs, along with many paramedic ambulances,
make up a fl exible system that provides paramedic services to all
residents within the ECCFP District. And further, no taxpayer money
is needed to fund these units.
As a local taxpayer and 23-year resident of Oakley, that is
important to me. So rest assured, East County residents, when you
call 911, you do have paramedics responding. Visit any of these
stations and see for yourself.
Richard HodgeOakley
City Council goes above and beyondEditor:
I want to take time to thank the members of the Oakley City
Council: Pat Anderson, Jim Frazier, Carol Rios, Bruce Connelly and
Kevin Romick. Our City Council works very hard and puts in many
long hours. I have personally seen them in service and we are
fortunate to have dedicated people that care so much for the
community on this council.
Just two weeks ago I went to an evening meeting with Vice Mayor
Frazier in Oakland, where we spoke to help bring a much-needed
health clinic to Oakley. Recently, Vice Mayor Frazier and
Coun-cilwoman Rios came to foreclosure-pre-vention workshops, fi
ghting to help keep families in their homes. Council members
volunteered at Christmas to raise money and food and fed hundreds
of people and provided Christmas gifts to these families.
I know the council members even donate their little council pay
to commu-nity charities. These are just some of many examples of
the council members giving extra time to serve the community.
Thank you and God bless them in their work!
Fr. Olman SolisPastor, St. Anthonys Church
Thanks for backing snack shackEditor:
The Liberty High School mens soccer program had a very
successful fundraiser again this year. In times of budget cuts its
so wonderful to live in a community that supports student
athletes.
We would like to thank the follow-ing businesses who donated so
generously to the snack shack this year: Quik Stop Market (Bob
Bach), Apex Securities & Asset Management LLC (Treva Black),
Starbucks and Safeway.
Thank you to the following individuals who also donated items
for the snack shack: Connie and Don Dutra, Cathy Fancey, Da-vid
Marcovsky, and Bob and Kim Schriver.
Many thanks to the parent volunteers
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14A | THEPRESS.NET FEBRUARY 19, 2010
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ReturnClients
A sampling of recent law enforcement activity reported by East
County police de-partments.
BRENTWOODFeb. 5, 3:07 a.m. On Dainty Avenue, a subject involved
in a domestic dispute was found to have a non-citable misde-meanor
warrant and was in possession of a controlled substance. He was
ar-rested and taken to the Martinez Deten-tion Facility.Feb. 5, 10
a.m. An unidentifi ed person peeked through the back window of a
residence on Chamomile Lane.Feb. 5, 3:09 p.m. A vehicle rear-ended
another vehicle on Balfour Road at Cortona Way.Feb. 5, 10:59 p.m. A
subject contacted while sitting in his vehicle on Mead-owgate Way
admitted to driving while under the infl uence of alcohol. He was
arrested and taken to the Martinez De-tention Facility.Feb. 6, 1:35
a.m. On Brentwood Bou-levard, a subject walking in traffi c was
found to be intoxicated and unable to care for himself. He was
arrested and taken to the Martinez Detention Facil-ity.Feb. 6, 1:17
p.m. A subject caught steal-ing items from a business on Lone Tree
Way was placed under citizens arrest by loss prevention offi
cers.Feb. 6, 4:05 p.m. On Brentwood Bou-levard, a subject was found
to be under the infl uence of a central nervous system stimulant.
He was arrested and taken to the Martinez Detention Facility.Feb.
6, 9:07 p.m. An unidentifi ed per-son stole a bicycle from a
residence on Cornsilk Court.Feb. 7, 1:16 a.m. On Shady Willow Lane
at Amber Lane, a traffi c stop led to the discovery of two loaded
fi rearms in the vehicle. One of the fi rearms had been stolen in
an Antioch residential bur-glary. Three subjects were arrested and
taken to the Martinez Detention Facil-ity. A fourth was released to
his parent on a Juvenile Affi davit.Feb. 7, 2:32 a.m. On Balfour
Road at Minnesota Avenue, a subject stopped
for a vehicle code violation was found to be driving a vehicle
displaying false registration tabs.Feb. 7, 9:15 a.m. At a shopping
center on Lone Tree Way, an unidentifi ed per-son broke open a
maintenance key lock-box, entered the maintenance room and stole
the keys to all shopping centers vacant storefronts.Feb. 7, 2:03
p.m. An unidentifi ed person cut the electrical wire to seven
street-lights at a park on Regal Drive.Feb. 7, 5:16 p.m. On
Brentwood Boule-vard, a subject stopped for vehicle code violations
was found to be driving with-out a license.Feb. 7, 9:13 p.m. On
Brentwood Boule-vard at Applewood Common, a subject stopped for
vehicle code violations was found to driving under the infl uence
of alcohol. He was arrested and taken to the Martinez Detention
Facility.Feb. 7, 9:15 p.m. On Brentwood Bou-levard at Balfour Road,
a subject con-tacted during a traffi c stop was found to be in
possession of suspected mari-juana, had an outstanding warrant for
his arrest and provided false identifi ca-tion. He was arrested and
taken to the Martinez Detention Facility.Feb. 8, 12:02 a.m. An
unidentifi ed per-son threw a rock through the window of a
residence on Winesap Drive.Feb. 8, 12:27 a.m. On Brentwood
Bou-levard at Central Boulevard, a subject stopped for a vehicle
code violation was found to be driving on a suspended li-cense.Feb.
8, 5:24 a.m. An unidentifi ed per-
son broke the passenger-side window of a vehicle parked on
Legend Lane and stole a cell phone.Feb. 8, 8:19 a.m. An unidentifi
ed per-son stole a locked vehicle parked on Ash Street.Feb. 8, 9:22
a.m. On Balfour Road at Hudson Drive, a subject was found to be in
possession of a handgun and am-munition.Feb. 8, 10:12 a.m. An
unidentifi ed per-son broke into a residence on Simba Place and
stole a laptop and paper-work.Feb. 8, 11:12 a.m. A vehicle fi re
blocked the roadway on Balfour Road at Brent-wood Boulevar. Firefi
ghters put out the fi re, and the vehicle was towed from the
scene.Feb. 8, 2:30 p.m. An unidentifi ed person made numerous
annoying phone calls to a resident of Paradise Lane.Feb. 8, 4:31
p.m. A subject attempted to cash a fi ctitious check at a business
on Brentwood Boulevard. He was arrested and taken to the Martinez
Detention Facility.Feb. 8, 4:43 p.m. A resident of Country Glen
reported an unfamiliar person in the backyard of a residence across
the street.Feb. 8, 4:54 p.m. A resident of Hillsbor-ough Way
reported that his wallet has been stolen at an unknown
location.Feb. 8, 5 p.m. A purse was stolen from an unlocked vehicle
parked on Crocket Drive.Feb. 9, 2:05 p.m. On Marjoram Drive at
Chili Court, a chain-link fence was cut apparently in order to gain
access to railroad tracks and cars.Feb. 9, 2:58 p.m. A vehicle
pulling a vehicle containing hazardous materials struck the curb on
Brentwood Boulevard at Spruce Street, continued northbound and
struck a second curb on Spruce Street, struck a stop sign,
continued northbound through two parking lots and struck a third
vehicle, which was pushed into a business sign. The hazmat load was
removed and all vehicles were towed from the scene.Feb. 9, 3:50
p.m. A realtor securing a
residence on Winged Foot Road was confronted by the former
tenant and was pushed to the ground.Feb. 9, 4:17 p.m. An unidentifi
ed per-son punched the door lock of a vehicle parked on Heritage
Way and stole a wallet taken from the glovebox.Feb. 10, 11:37 a.m.
An unidentifi ed per-son made entry through the unlocked rear
window of a residence on Country Glen Lane, stole jewelry and fl ed
on foot when the security alarm sounded.Feb. 10, 1:30 p.m. On Eagle
Rock Ave-nue at John Muir Parkway, an unknown driver struck a fi re
hydrant and fl ed the scene.Feb. 10, 2:50 p.m. An unidentifi ed
per-son cut a chain link fence, entered the ball fi elds on Sunset
Road and stole ap-proximately 1,000 feet of copper wire.Feb. 10,
4:09 p.m. At a business on Bal-four Road, a subject who stole a
bottle of alcohol valued at $15.98 was arrested and taken to the
Martinez Detention Facility.Feb. 10, 9:13 p.m. On the railroad
tracks North of Elizabeth Way, two unidenti-fi ed subjects
assaulted and robbed an-other subject at gunpoint.
To view the Brentwood Police Depart-ments public logs on the
citys Web site, visit
www.ci.brentwood.ca.us/department/pd/reports/index.cfm.
ANTIOCHFeb. 4, 9:00 a.m. A subject entered the Rite-Aid pharmacy
on East 18th Street and handed a note to an employee stat-ing that
he had a gun and demanding that the employee provide him with
narcotics. No weapon was seen. An identical robbery was committed
at the store a month earlier. Surveillance vid-eo identifi ed the
suspect as 46-year-old Antioch resident George Lee Smith. A search
warrant and arrest warrant were served at his residence on Feb. 11
at 10 a.m. Smith was taken into custody with-out incident and
evidence of the crimes was located. Smith was booked into the
Martinez Detention Facility on two counts of robbery, burglary and
narcot-ics violations.
COP LOGSFROM EMERGENCY SERVICES DISPATCH LOGSA vehicle pulling a
vehicle containing hazardous materi-als struck two curbs, a stop
sign, continued through two parking lots and struck a third
vehicle.
Feb. 9, 2:58 p.m., Brentwood
-
FEBRUARY 19, 2010 EDUCATION THEPRESS.NET | 15A
to fi ne tune the production.The good thing about a small
cast
like this is that you get to work closely with the kids and
spend some real time on their roles, said Fallows. It also gives
them more time on stage and more time to shine.
The Broadway play isnt the only popular production the drama
department has tackled in the four years since Fallows has been
directing. Past performances in-clude Oliver and Macbeth, as well
as an upcoming childrens version of Alice in Wonderland. Fallows
talented teams have earned the department a reputation for quality
productions and have helped bolster more than the actors confi
dence.
Since we are entirely self-sustaining, our goal is always to end
a show in the
black, said Fallows. We set our budget based on what we hope our
ticket sales will be. The fi rst few years we sold a lot of candy
bars to make ends meet, but now were at a place where we can
support ourselves. Weve also been fortunate to have the sup-port of
the community as well, and that has helped to keep us afl oat were
getting a good reputation and fi lling the house. Its very
exciting.
Into the Woods will be performed in the Heritage High School
theater on Feb. 25, 26 and 27, and March 5, 6 and 7. All
productions begin at 7 p.m. with the excep-tion of the March 7
performance, which begins at 2 p.m. Tickets $12 for general
admission; $10 for students are available 30 minutes before show
time.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Woods from page 10A
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Makeup artist Sarah Tofoya transforms Rachael Londono into an
Evil Stepsister.
Appointments for kindergarten registra-tion in the Brentwood
school district for the 2010-11 school year may be made by calling
the designated area school: Brentwood Ele-mentary, 925-513-6360;
Garin, 925-513-6370; Ron Nunn, 925-513-6380; Loma Vista,
925-513-6390; Krey, 925-513-6400; Pioneer, 925-513-6410; and Marsh
Creek, 925-513-6420.
Registration will be conducted Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,
March 2, 3 and 4. Children entering kindergarten must be 5 years
old on or before Dec. 2, 2010. Parents must bring to
registration:
Documentation of birth (birth certifi cate, passport or
baptismal certifi cate). Complete and up-to-date immunization
re-cord. Proof of residency (picture ID and two original documents
such as vehicle registra-tion, property tax bill or rental/lease
agree-ment).
A physical exam is requested for kinder-garten and required
before the start of fi rst grade. An oral exam is requested for
kinder-garten and required by May 31 of the kinder-garten year.
Kindergarten registration
Freedom High School will host its inau-gural Falcon Festival on
Wednesday, Feb. 24 from 5 to 8 p.m. In keeping with the schools
mission statement to be the center for knowl-edge and pride in the
community, students and staff are working together to focus on
Falcon pride and community outreach.
Falcon Festival will showcase student ac-complishments and
extra-curricular activities factors that build a sense of community
on campus and allow students to fl ourish in these challenging
times.
Community members are encouraged to roam the campus and
participate in games and activities racing with Freedoms fastest
sprinters on the track, learning how to play water polo in the
pool, competing in skill games with the wrestling team, pitching
balls at recycled cans to increase environmental
awareness or learning about other cultures.Falcon Festival kicks
off with a prepaid
catered dinner provided by Kinders; enter-tainment is provided
by the Freedom band and choir. The event also features a raffl e,
sponsored by the Athletic Boosters, for a Nin-tendo Wii.
Meal tickets, which cost $10, are on sale in the Administration
Offi ce (A Offi ce) and at home basketball games. Tickets are also
available through e-mail at [email protected] or by
phone at 925-625-5900, ext. 3002. Participants are encouraged to
buy meal tickets in advance. Activity tickets will be sold at the
event, but prices have not been set at this time.
Freedom High School is located at 1050 Neroly Road in Oakley.
For more informa-tion, call the school at 925-625-5900.
Falcon fest takes wing
there was a man whose throat had been cut in a fi ght, he
recalled. We had to in-tegrate our families into what we did.
Maiocco speaks proudly of his fam-ily, especially Carol his
wife, whom he met in New York and for whom he took the long way
home from school just for her company and a cup of hot chocolate. I
could not have done any of this without Carol, he said. She is the
family glue.
Hes also proud of his daughter Ruth, a championship swimmer in
school and fearless sandlot football player who now lives in
Escalon; and his son Rob-ert, a national champion sprinter in
col-lege and a Stanford grad, now living in Florida.
He also maintains strong relation-ships with his friends,
including Kaplan, with whom he has enjoyed breakfast ev-ery Tuesday
for more than 40 years and plays tennis every week.
Professionally, however, Maiocco is proudest of having helped so
many people for so long, and helped to usher in an era of modern
health care in East County.
We were pioneers; we were isolated, he said. There were no
specialists around here then. The isolation, however, also helped
them become better doctors.
We saw everything, he said. We had tremendous freedom because
there was no one else.
Maioccos contributions to area medicine go beyond his role as a
coun-try doctor. He was a founding father of
Delta Memorial Hospital, ran immuniza-tion clinics, served on
the County Men-tal Health Board and as chief of staff at Pittsburg
Hospital. He worked as the fi rst family practitioner in Brentwood
for John Muir, helping bring the John Muir Medi-cal Center to the
city. A few years ago he joined Muirs staff, and it was from Muir
that he retired last month.
When I was with Muir, I was in heaven, he said. They let me keep
work-ing on paper, gave me a wonderful nurse. I was able to
continue concentrating on being a doctor.
Kaplan said the community will miss Maiocco a great deal: I
think its a pity hes retiring. The kind of doctoring he did is
important. You talk to people, not a computer. People would wait
two hours to see him and they didnt mind, as long as they got to
see him. Its a real loss and it didnt have to be.
For his part, Maiocco said his only regret is that he hasnt
written a book about it all. Hed like to document his adventure
through life, and hed like to spread the word about the cure for
the one thing that causes him the most pain.
People have not found the fi re of love to weld together the
opposites of humankind, and therefore they continue to kill each
other physically, emotionally, spiritually, even culturally, he
said. The answer is always love. Find the friendly answer, and do
what love tells you to do.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Maiocco from page 3A
-
16A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY FEBRUARY 19, 2010
22 888882008
GOL
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Exp. 3/31/10The next phase of State Route 4 (SR
4) widening through Pittsburg and Antioch is one step closer to
realization as bids for the construction project were opened on
Wednesday, Feb. 10. Construction is expect-ed to begin in May. The
apparent low bid-der is O.C. Jones and Sons, Inc. whose bid of
$64,937,452.60 is signifi cantly lower than the estimated cost of
$91,000,000.
The project, a joint venture between the Contra Costa
Transportation Authority and Caltrans, will widen SR 4 to eight
lanes three
mixed-fl ow lanes and one high-occupancy-ve-hicle lane in each
direction from just west of the Loveridge Road interchange to west
of the Somersville Road interchange. The project in-cludes
reconstruction of the Loveridge Road interchange as well as a
median wide enough to accommodate future mass transit.
This is one of fi ve construction projects that will widen SR 4,
its interchanges and affected local roadways from approximately 0.8
mile west of Loveridge Road to approxi-mately 0.7 mile east of
Hillcrest Avenue.
Highway 4 bids 30 percent low
Free tax preparationIf you earned less than $52,000 in
2009, you can get your taxes prepared for free through the Earn
It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa campaign, in which IRS-cer-tifi
ed tax preparers help you get the return you deserve. You might
also qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which could mean a
refund of up to $5,657.
Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa will fi le your taxes
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There are 19 free tax sites in Con-tra Costa County. The service
is spon-sored by the Family Economic Security Partnership and run
by the Community Housing Development Corporation. For more
information, dial 211 or visit www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org.
who helped run the snack shack during home games: Heather
Rainsford, Connie Dutra, Cathy Fancey, Lynn Watts, Regina McCarthy,
Ana Avalos, Valerie Raude-baugh, Mr. Corona, Martha and Hector
Estrada, and Mr. Bulilian.
We also had many students who helped this year too: the entire
JV soccer team, Cara and Callie Rainsford, and Noah Bisp-ing.
Special thanks to the Liberty Booster Club for allowing us to use
the snack shack.
A very special thank-you to our wonderful coaches who have
dedicated their time and energy into making Liberty mens soccer an
outstanding program: Alfredo Zamora, Mike Rainsford, Chris Strabley
and Hector Torres. This is a very exciting year in Liberty mens
soccer, as the varsity boys made it to NCS for the fi rst time.
Good luck, Lions, and thank you for a great year!
Teri StevensonParent Coordinator
Letters from page 13A
-
FEBRUARY 19, 2010 THEPRESS.NET | 17A
Trevors Weekly Mortgage MattersBy Trevor Frey
Advertisement
what happens? When can I purchase a home again? How long will it
aff ect my credit? Is it worse than a foreclosure? Can the bank
come aft er me for the diff erence between the sales price and my
current loan? Th ese ques-tions according to Professor Wachter, a
real estate and fi nance professor at the Wharton School of
Business, are the kind of conversation thats going on at cocktail
parties, at swimming pools. Okay, maybe not swimming pools in the
middle of our record setting winter season, but come on, you know
where Im going with this. Yahoo short selling my home and over
315,000,000 results appear, 1.7x the 186,000,000 results you
receive when searching 2010 Winter Olympics. Its a fact short sales
are on the minds of the people, and the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) has taken notice.
On December 16, 2009 FHA re-wrote and actually created based on
current market circumstances their borrower eligibility guidelines
for short-sellers looking to once again own a home. Th ese changes
went into eff ect immediately, and for any past hom-eowner that has
gone through a short-sale, these changes are huge!
If you stayed current on every bill you had including your
mortgage for
the last twelve months while going through the short-sale
process you can purchase another home the day aft er your short
sale closes. According to FHAs Mortgagee Letter 09-52, as long as
you did not pursue a short-sale agree-ment simply to take advantage
of de-clining market conditions, and purchase at a reduced price a
similar or superior property within a reasonable commut-ing
distance then you are eligible for an FHA insured loan. However, if
you were late on your mortgage, late on any revolving debt, or in
the process of foreclosure while going through your short sale then
all bets are off . Poten-tial buyers in cases such as this have to
wait a mandated thirty-six months (three years) before purchasing a
home through FHA.
So while many of the original ques-tions in this column remain a
mystery solved only on a lender-to-lender case-by-case basis, we
now have a nationally recognized policy for how shortly aft er a
short-sale you can purchase a home.
If you have any real estate lending related questions or
concerns, or feel you might be eligible based the purchase based on
the above information, dont hesitate to write me at
[email protected] or call me directly on my cell phone,
(925) 726-1444.
Shortly Aft er a Short Sale
-
18A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY FEBRUARY 19, 2010
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGNotice is hereby given that the Planning
Commission of the City of Brentwood will, at 7:00 p.m. or as soon
thereafter as the normal course of business permits on March 2,
2010, hold a public hearing to consider the following:A rezone (RZ
10-003) to amend Chapter 17.485 of the Brentwood Municipal Code by
adding text to reestablish the Agricultural Overlay Zone within a
portion of the Planned Develop-ment 35 (PD-35) zone, located
gener-ally south of Lone Tree Way, west of Fairview Avenue, north
of the EBMUD aqueduct and east of Henry Hart Drive.Applicant: City
of Brentwood Said hearing will be held at the City Council
Chambers, 101B Sand Creek Road, Brentwood, California.Further
information may be obtained from Associate Planner Debbie Hill
[(925) 516-5135 or [email protected]] in the Community
Development Department of the City of Brentwood, 118 Oak Street,
Brentwood, California 94513.Before any court challenge of Planning
Commission decisions, you are required
to appeal the decision to the City Coun-cil no later than the
time period pro-vided under the Citys Municipal Code. In addition
you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else
raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in
written correspon-dence delivered to the Brentwood Planning
Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing. Brentwood Press No.
02-1273 Publish Date: February 19, 2010
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGNotice is hereby given that the Planning
Commission of the City of Brentwood will, at 7:00 p.m. or as soon
thereafter as the normal course of business permits on March 2,
2010, hold a public hearing to consider the following:An
application for a conditional use permit (CUP 09-025) to allow the
estab-lishment of an approximately 78-foot high simulated tree
pole, wireless telecommunication equipment and as-sociated
ground-based equipment, and a variance (V09-005) to allow the pole
to exceed the maximum height limit of 35 feet, to be located on the
TownCen-tre Self Storage property at 345 Town-
Centre Terrace (APN 013-010-086). Applicant: Cortel, LLC Said
hearing will be held at the City Council Chambers, 101B Sand Creek
Road, Brentwood, California.Further information may be ob-tained
from Assistant Planner Tim Nielsen [(925) 516-5151 or
[email protected]] in the Community Development
Department of the City of Brentwood, 118 Oak Street, Brentwood,
California 94513.Before any court challenge of Planning Commission
decisions, you are required to appeal the decision to the City
Coun-cil no later than the time period pro-vided under the Citys
Municipal Code. In addition you may be limited to raising only
those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing
described in this notice, or in written correspon-dence delivered
to the Brentwood Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public
hearing. Brentwood Press No. 02-1273 Publish Date: February 19,
2010
NOTICE OF TRUSTEES SALETrustee Sale No. 74-31891-2 Title Order
No.E840591 APN 071-031-009-5 The
mortgage loan servicer has obtained a nal order of exemption
pursuant to CA CIV. CODE 2923.53 that is cur-rent and valid as of
the date that the Notice of Trustees Sale was led or given. YOU ARE
IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 11/02/2005. UN-LESS YOU TAKE
ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE.
IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST
YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On 03/11/2010 at 10:00AM,
HOUSE-KEY FINANCIAL CORPORATION as the duly appointed Trustee under
and pursuant to Deed of Trust Recorded on 11/04/2005, as Instrument
2005-0429777-00 of of cial records in the Of ce of the Recorder of
CONTRA COSTA County, California, executed by: BRIAN E. MC-CARTHY
AND JENNA R. MCCARTHY, HUSBAND AND WIFE AS COMMUNITY PROPERTY WITH
THE RIGHT OF SURVI-VORSHIP, as Trustor, HOUSEHOLD FI-NANCE
CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA as Bene ciary (Original Lender) and
HOUSEHOLD FINANCE CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA, as current
Servicer/
Lender, WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUC-TION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER FOR
CASH (payable at time of sale in lawful money of the United States,
by cash, a cashiers check drawn by a state or na-tional bank, a
check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by
a state or federal savings and loan association, savings
association, or savings bank speci ed in section 5102 of the
Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state). At:
THE COURT STREET ENTRANCE TO THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 725 COURT
STREET (CORNER OF MAIN AND COURT STREET), MARTINEZ, CA, all right,
title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed
of Trust in the property situated in said County, California
describing the land therein: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN THE ABOVE
MENTIONED DEED OF TRUST. The property heretofore described is being
sold as is. The street address and other common designation, if
any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 2740
CAPISTRANO ST, ANTIOCH, CA 94509. The under-signed Trustee
disclaims any liability
for any incorrectness of the street ad-dress and other common
designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made, but
without covenant or war-ranty, expressed or implied, regarding
title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal
sum of the note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest
thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, if any, under the
terms of the Deed of Trust, esti-mated fees, charges and expenses
of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust,
to-wit: $326,987.01 (Estimated). Accrued interest and ad-ditional
advances, if any, will increase this gure prior to sale. CONDITION
OF SALE: The successful bidder will be required to pay county
documentary transfer tax, any city tax, and any other applicable
taxes or fees (including, but not limited to, the fee for
record-ing Preliminary Change of Ownership report) to the
auctioneer at the time of sale. If the Trustee is unable to convey
title for any reason, the successful bidders sole and exclusive
remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee and the
successful bidder
shall have no further recourse. The bene ciary under said Deed
of Trust heretofore executed and delivered to the undersigned a
written Declaration of Default and Demand for Sale, and a written
Notice of Default and Election to Sell. The undersigned caused said
Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be recorded in the county
where the real property is located and more than three months have
elapsed since such recordation. DATE: 02/16/10 HOUSEKEY FINANCIAL
CORPORATION P.O. BOX 60145 CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA 91716 For Sale
Information: (714)730-2727, www. delityasap.com or
www.prioritypost-ing.com TO NOTIFY TRUSTEE OF BANK-RUPTCY FILINGS,
PLEASE FAX FACE PAGE OF BANKRUPTCY PETITION TO (909) 397-3914 Betty
Schwab, Trustee Sales Of cer HOUSEKEY FINANCIAL CORPORATION MAY BE
ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY
INFORMATION OBTAINED MAY BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. ASAP# 3453654
02/19/2010, 02/26/2010, 03/05/2010 Antioch Press No. 06-1617
Publish Dates: February 19, 26, March 5, 2010
LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICESLEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL
NOTICESLEGAL NOTICESLEGAL NOTICES
administrations Federal Interim Act report which called for
among other items the re-evaluation of the 2-Gates program.
The fi sh protection project is a joint venture by the State
Department of Water Resources, the Federal Bureau of Reclama-tion
and the Southern California Metro-politan Water District, which if
successful would implement the installation of gates at Old River
between Holland Tract and Ba-con Island, and Connection Slough
between Mandeville and Bacon Island. The auto-matic gates would be
closed at various times of the year for as much as 20 hours per
day, according to some reports.
The SFBDF has in recent months suc-cessfully managed to slow the
2-Gates project by extending its public comment period. The group
hopes to eventually force the Bureau of Reclamation to provide an
Environmen-tal Impact Report for the Discovery Bay and Delta
regions.
The next step, said Guzzardo, is the public meeting, an event he
hopes will garner support and educate the community at large: We
just want people to understand what is going on and that there is
still a lot of work to be done. The 2-Gates project is a short-term
strategy to a much bigger picture. This is not just a Discovery Bay
issue.
Discovery Bay Elementary School is lo-cated at 1700 Willow Lake
Road. For more information, call 925-354-3800 or visit
www.nodeltagates.com.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
2-Gates from page 1Aaround the west side of Sandpoint Road. The
job, scheduled to start Thursday, is expected to take three to four
days to complete.
ValleyCrest Operations Manager David Murphy said the need to
remove such a large number of the trees comes as no surprise: With
all the weather weve had so far this year, the ground is just
saturated and weve been taking out a lot of trees in the area.
These particular trees are a real liability issue with the way they
have grown together, and their size. You just cant risk them
falling down on a resident or a car or someones home.
And time is of the essence, because come summer, the trees known
for their drought-resistant hardiness would pose another safety
threat as they continued to absorb water from surrounding
sources.
As soon as summer hits, they pull up all the water from whatever
supplies are available and they hold that water in their root zones
and become very heavy, said Perez. These are big, beautiful trees
and its heartbreaking to see them go, but this is something that
really needs to be done.
What type of foliage will replace the trees is still being
determined, but the CSD Board has given Perez the OK to initiate
the search for a landscape archi-tect. Once a fi rm has been
chosen, work on a design plan will begin.
One thing Perez does know, however,
is that the new design will complement the nearby landscaping on
both Willow Lake Road and the Highway 4 entrance to town. We are
defi nitely going to try and give it a cohesive look, said
Perez.
Whatever we put in will be something that we can move on down
the street to retrofi t with the rest of the landscap-ing.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Trees from page 1A
The Town of Discovery Bay is removing 43 of these Aleppo pine
trees, shown here along Sand Point Road, due to concern about
public safety.
Photo by Richard Wisdom
After 10 years of planning, the Oakley City Council will fi
nally be presented with the Downtown Specifi c Plan during a public
hearing at its meeting next Tuesday.
Oakley has been working on the Down-town Specifi c Plan since
January of 2000. The city plans to revitalize an 80-acre area
downtown bordered by the canal crossing on Main Street, Gardenia
Avenue, Home Street and the railroad tracks. The overall plan is to
create a more pedestrian-friendly downtown featuring specialty
shops, res-taurants, cafs and civic facilities similar to those
found in Walnut Creek, Benicia and Santa Cruz. The plan has evolved
into a full-fl edged plan including land use and re-vitalization
strategies, capital improvements
and development standards plus design guidelines for new
construction and redevel-opment.
At the Oct. 13 council meeting last year, the council received
the draft environmental impact report and, as only one member of
the public spoke at the meeting, the council asked city staff to
plan a presentation solic-iting more public input.
Last Tuesday, Oakley Senior Plan-ner Ken Strelo led a discussion
about the Downtown Specifi c Plan to inform the au-dience of 17
residents and business owners of what Oakley plans to do to
rejuvenate the downtown area, including ideas gleaned from other
Bay Area cities downtown dis-tricts.
Strelo said the Specifi c Plan is a guid-ance document that lays
the groundwork for the improvements needed to make down-
town fl ourish. Since the specifi c plan serves as a blueprint,
there would be opportunities to amend the 102-page document when
nec-essary. Everyone wants to see downtown improved, and wed like
to get this plan approved as soon as possible, said Strelo. We dont
want to get hung up in the details. Those details can be amended
later.
Community Development Director Re-becca Willis said the fi rst
step to improving downtown is council approval of the Specif-ic
Plan. Once the plan is approved, city staff may begin seeking
outside funding for the project. While city redevelopment funds are
dedicated to the project, federal funding and grants would help get
the project moving.
Oakley Chamber of Commerce Presi-dent Steve Nosanchuck expressed
concern that some existing businesses would not be around by the
time the project is complete
and that the city would need to lure a new generation of
business owners. What scares me, said Nosanchuck, is that were
going to throw a big party and no ones going to show up.
He said some business owners who have approached him about
starting a busi-ness downtown are discouraged by the un-certainty
of the projects completion date. Some business owners have gone
elsewhere to a more predictable location, which doesnt help the
downtowns existing image.
We want our slogan to be Shop local. Shop Oakley, but thats hard
to do when theres no place to shop, Nosanchuck said. Right now our
slogan is more like Come to Oakley on your way to someplace
else.
To view the complete Downtown Spe-cifi c Plan, visit
www.oakleyinfo.com.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Oakley seeks input on Downtown Planby Samie Hartley
Staff Writer
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FEBRUARY 19, 2010 THEPRESS.NET | 19A
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20A | THEPRESS.NET FEBRUARY 19, 2010
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2B | THEPRESS.NET SPORTS FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Liberty girls rally to sweep Freedom
Its been a tough year for the Freedom girls basketball team. As
of last week the Falcons had won only one league game (a 10-point
win over Antioch on Jan. 12) and just three games overall. Liberty
beat them by 14 points the fi rst time they faced off and by 22 the
second time.
So it seemed nothing short of miraculous last week when Freedom
overcame a nine-point defi cit in the middle of the second quarter
to pull within a bucket of Liberty at the half. An upset of Liberty
would have compensated for a lot of tough losses this year. Alas,
it was not to be for Falcons fans, although their team did make it
a bit closer than previous games, losing by 12 points, 34-46.
The game was played in Libertys gym, and the fans, sens-ing that
their team needed a boost (particularly in the absence of
cheerleaders at the game), became the sixth girl on the court. As
the Lions took the court to warm up in the second half, their fans
shouted, We here for you! Lets go! They in the Lions den. And when
the Falcons had the ball, the Lib-erty crowd chanted Dee-fense!
while stomping their feet. Sure enough, the Lions outscored the
Falcons 18-6 in the third quarter, pretty much putting the game on
ice, as they played evenly in the fi nal frame.
Asked what she said to her players at halftime, Lions Coach
Debbi Weil said, We talked about how they were not playing like a
team. That they were playing like fi ve individu-als out there. And
we talked about how important it is that we play as a team
offensively and defensively. And thats what they did. A little bit
in the fourth quarter they started to go apart again, but we
brought them back together.
Liberty relied on its big guns in the fi rst half: 6-foot-5-inch
Corinne Costa and 6-foot-2-inch Bernadette Fong each scored nine
points, accounting for all but three of the teams fi rst-half
points. Other players took up some of the slack in the second
half, notably Kaadzie Quaye, who fi nished with nine points. Costa
ended with 14 points while Fong scored 15.
I wish we had played just a little bit better, said Weil.
Getting ready for NCS (North Coast Section playoffs) and stuff, we
really and truly need to come together just a little bit more and
play without too many turnovers and stuff. But other than that I
think they are ready. Weve just to got to get to that point. But
overall they played OK. And thats about it. It wasnt a pretty
win.
Freedoms standout player was Keyara Goodlow-Young, who scored 11
points and was able to