By Concord Police Department
Early this morning, just after midnight, CPD received a call reporting a male down in the roadway near a shopping center located in the 1100 block of Concord Ave. Officers found a 26-year-old male who appears to have been killed from several gunshot wounds. Witnesses described a dark colored SUV that may have been involved. Detectives are actively working the case and there is no further information for release at this time.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Detective Loercher at (925) 603-5922 or our anonymous tip-line at (925) 603-5836, referencing case #21-02004.
See crime scene video by CBS KPIX5.
Read MoreBy Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Sunday afternoon, Feb. 28, 2021 at about 2:53 PM, Orinda police officers responded to Don Gabriel Way in Orinda for a report of an armed robbery at a residence.
The victim was confronted by two men, one of whom was armed. The suspects stole valuables and then fled. The victim called the police. He was not injured.
Police searched for the suspects using a helicopter, drone and police K-9 but were not able to locate them.
The investigation is ongoing.
The suspects are described as two African American males. One was wearing a green florescent construction vest, black colored hoodie jacket w/red stripe, black pants and white shoes. The other was dressed in a baby-blue colored hoodie jacket, black pants, and black and white shoes. The vehicle they were driving is a silver-colored Mercedes Benz.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact Sheriff’s Office dispatch at (925) 646-2441. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Read MoreBy Elizabeth Terry, Antioch High School science teacher
My day starts early, and I do mean early. Stumbling into my kitchen, groggily grinding the beans, trying to clear the leftover fog of sleep, I begin to think about the day ahead. It’s 3:30 am when that god touched ichor finally hits and I’m thinking clearly enough to do my daily crosswords. I find the Washington Post’s crossword extremely difficult, but the NY Times’ puzzle fairly mundane. At 4 I’m ready to get myself ready for the day, have breakfast, then make the 30 second commute across the hall to my digital school room readying myself for the day’s lessons. It is now 5:30. As I power up my computer, the new one which I purchased to meet the moment of this odd teaching year, I’m reminded of an earlier time when I would get to school at 6 am ready to prepare the day’s labs, and I again wonder at how drastically different, yet still similar this school year has been. I click on Facebook and begin to again read the hateful comments on our local “news” outlet about how lazy teachers are being. Despite an overwhelming sense of crushing depression, I snap out of it and begin the day’s grades, with the news on in the background.
My ears perk up when the anchors are talking again about school closures. The anchors are railing against teachers, and I sit stunned, when the guests on the program again echo the anchor’s sentiments. The familiar anger takes over and I wonder who will speak for us. Who will advocate for our lives? After all, I remember a few short months ago at the end of last year when my profession was lauded and celebrated. Now, I feel spat on daily, hesitant to declare that I’m a teacher. The depressing part is that this is oftentimes coming from our friends and our families. I question how a profession who has one of the lowest ratios of education to salary could possibly be the cornerstone of society, as if somehow the fate of western society rests on our underpaid shoulders. I, like many of us are angry, burnt out, and frustrated because no one in power, not in the government, not in the CDC, nor in the current administration is actually sticking up for our lives. Instead, we are being vilified, crucified on the altar of the economy. Our efforts over the last year aren’t even seen let alone recognized. It’s enough to make a person quit.
They say we aren’t working. These comments are made by folks who took what happened last year as their measure of what is happening this year in our virtual classrooms. But what many people don’t know is that teachers have actually very little voice in the decisions that county health and school board make. During the March lockdowns, we were told that we couldn’t teach any new concepts, instead it was review only. More importantly, the students were told that they would pass regardless of their activity. And as teenagers often do, they did nothing. There was no incentive to do anything other than that. As a classroom teacher, I worked very hard to put together lessons that would inspire my students, even in a pandemic, I created digital lessons which were fun and engaging. Lesson that few students even showed up for. This included my AP kids. We were told to offer grace, which we did, and we did what teachers always do, we made it work. This was, of course, not ideal, but we made it work with what we had. I look back and think of all the glowing praise of our efforts and smile. It felt good to finally be recognized for the hard work we were putting in. But as a veteran teacher of 17 years, I knew the public good will wouldn’t last.
During the summer, myself and several colleagues and friends trouble shot the new program that we would be working on. We learned entirely new platforms, we taught ourselves how to use the district tools that were provided (without training I might add). We then taught our colleagues their uses as well. We waited anxiously to know how, when, and in what form we would start school again – we were quite literally, the last to know. The school board decided to delay opening, which meant the following year we would not have much of a summer, but what the board wants, the board gets.
The start of school saw a steep learning curve. As our students had never had technology before, we are in a title-1 school district after all, they had zero knowledge on how a PC operates. It was a brand-new digital world for them. We taught them how to use their computers. Soon they were using Word, PowerPoint, chatting in Teams, saving, and using the new programs. It was a struggle, but we made it through. We had to create all of our lessons over again, this time figuring out how to make it work in a digital environment. I teach 3 laboratory sciences. I had to completely redo all of my documents so that students could use excel to graph their data. Then I had to teach them how to use excel. Though frustrated at the drastically slower pace of learning, our students were learning and progressing through our curricula. This was hard, but we did it.
On top of our teaching duties, we had to reach out to students who were not coming. We had to figure out a way to get them into the classroom. We had to simultaneously offer grace, while holding high expectations. We had to speak for our students and watch out for their mental health, while no one was watching ours. And still, we did it. My students have tracked horse evolution through 65 million years, they have learned how to calculate carrying capacity, they have made survivorship curves using gravestone data and compared it to covid numbers. My biotech students have done Gel electrophoresis, learned how to use a spectrophotometer and have done macromolecule assays. All online, all virtual. However, if you read the public comments, we are lazy, the students aren’t learning anything, and we should take our slothful butts back into work or quit.
It’s now 8 am. I’m done entering grades, and I need to set up the electrophoresis chamber for the lab I’ll be doing in 1st period. On tap today is a DNA fingerprinting lab for first, and we will be doing a case study in my ecology class on competitive exclusion of bullfrogs. At 8:40 I am in class. I teach for an hour, going back and forth between my kitchen/lab, to my office/classroom. At 9:40, I finish up my attendance logs, and take a break between classes. At 9:50 am I get an email about a student who won’t attend today because she’s feeling blue. I call her and we chat for a few minutes in between classes. At 10:20 its time for class number two, followed by a short lunch break. During my break, I catch up on emails and grade the class warm-ups that were submitted by the first two classes. At 12:30, I teach my last class of the day. But I’m not done yet. I have office hours in the afternoon where I tutor struggling students. I send chats to those whose homework I’m missing, in the vain hope that at least some in my fourth period will turn in their work. And then I make the mistake of checking my Facebook.
“DISBAND the CTA (California Teachers Union)” I see in emblazoned headlines across my news feed. I know I shouldn’t but I click it anyway. Apparently, as a teacher I am do-nothing, morally bankrupt individual who just doesn’t want to work. Huh, I think, I wonder what I’ve been doing all day? I’m so tired of this. What the petitioner doesn’t understand is that teachers have little voice in the decisions to go back to school. This is a decision run by school boards. Additionally, it isn’t the school board’s decision either, rather the decision is made by the county health department. The county decides whether or not we can open based on the case data. The parents should be pointing the fingers at themselves. If they want the school to open, they should be wearing masks, using social distancing measures to drive down the cases.
The originator of the petition stated that “there has been no instances of Covid being transmitted from children.” You see I know, according to the Covid Monitoring project, that there ARE cases of high school students not only acquiring covid, but also transmitting it to their families in an asymptomatic way. As of this writing, 657,667 cases of students and staff have acquired Covid . Locally, I have 3 high school kids who are positive, and one was very sick. I also know that as a person who is on the older side, with an autoimmune disorder, I’m likely to die from this disease. If any of those three had come into school we would have all been on quarantine. In my house, which frankly I don’t go out from, I have zero chance of picking up COVID. Going back into the classroom increases my risk by 100%. Teachers are merely asking for two things before going back. One, to be vaccinated, have people in their households vaccinated and to have the safety items in place. I think to myself I didn’t sign up to be killed at work. Also, as stated, we don’t have anything to do with the decision to lock down anyway, but the public, frustrated, have no one else to blame but us. I’m just so tired, and I think, who will speak for us?
Teachers don’t want to be out of the classroom. We desperately want to see our students. However, we also don’t want to potentially die from our employment. Other professions have safety standards, why can’t we? Many of us work in dilapidated conditions, left behind from years of little to no improvements, left behind for getting equipment we need to do our jobs. As a science teacher I routinely spend at least 1000 dollars every year on supplies. No other profession is asked to pay for their supplies. Imagine telling a firefighter that she has to purchase her own hose…yet that is what we tell teachers to do. I had to purchase all the equipment I use to do my job. Why? Because the district laptops have 8gbs of ram, and the program we use, Teams require 8gbs, so you can’t have anything else running on your laptop, otherwise the whole computer crashes. Along with that computer, I bought two monitors, a webcam, and more. Yet, I’m being greedy and lazy, according to the authors of this asinine petition.
The CDC says teachers can go back to school, without being vaccinated IF proper mitigation is in effect. That IF is important, I can’t open my windows in my classroom, and neither can my friends because the one window pole we had has been lost. Therefore, no-one in my hall can actually open their windows. We are lucky that we HAVE windows as some of my colleagues teach in an interior classroom. Our school won’t have the “proper mitigation” any time soon. The good news is that the vaccines are starting to roll out. But it takes a minute to get an immune response. By the time our teachers are vaccinated, and we would have gotten immunity, there will literally be a month and a half left in the year. It is my suggestion to just ride it out. I think this for two reasons. First, the students are now used to the routine. If we came now, it would be a huge disruption, and if we went into quarantine due to a case, that would be worse. Secondly, hybrid offers us 1 day of instruction. I’m barely covering enough curriculum on 2 days per week, I can’t even imagine how little I will get through with one day of instruction.
I am sick of people, including folks in the Biden administration saying teachers should go back because “this is who they are.” As if we are all Mother Teressa. Um no, this is my profession. This is what I was trained to do, this is my art and my craft. But more importantly, this is my job. This job pays for my house, my children, my car, etc. I don’t work for free, and it is unfair to expect me to. We don’t expect doctors to work for free because its “who they are.” The only reason it happens to us teachers is because, in my opinion, teaching is viewed as “women’s work.” I guarantee if this profession was dominated by males, our salaries and our respect would rise dramatically.
Finally, I would ask the public to understand that unions, those that are meant to protect the health and well-being of our sector are made up of people. Men and women who sacrifice their sleep, their money, and their time to the education of your children. We are the people who make up the “union” and deserve some small measure of the respect that we are due. For all the days that we work during our unpaid summers, to the endless nights that we stay up grading papers, for the donated time we put in making phone calls to struggling students. Because if we don’t get that respect, if we are not recognized for the value that we bring to society, if we are not paid a fair wage that recognizes our talent and contributions, you may just find your students being educated by google – and that would be a tragedy.
It’s 5:25 I finally log out of my computer. That’s a 12-hour shift.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Terry is the Antioch High School Science Department Co-chair, Biology Chairwoman, Biotech program Lead, teaching AP Biology, Lab-Based Ecology and repeater Biology. She’s been a teacher at the school since August 2009. According to her teacher profile Terry’s education includes a Teaching Certification – 2003; BA Biological Sciences – 2001 and AA – Liberal Arts 1998 – Foothill College; AA – Liberal Arts 1998 – De Anza College; and an EMT Certification – San Francisco Community College 1992.
Read MoreCity of Oakland releases Draft EIR for project
The City of Oakland’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), which the city released today, offers an incredibly thorough analysis showing the path forward for the Oakland A’s privately financed project at Howard Terminal that will be important to the environmental, transportation, and housing future of Oakland. The Draft EIR illustrates how current and future Port activity and a new neighborhood can not only coexist but also thrive.
“The release of the Draft EIR is another important step forward in the process of building a new privately financed ballpark at Oakland’s Howard Terminal,” said Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval.
The analysis shows, along with the plans the A’s have unveiled, how a once-in-a-generation project like this can contribute to the health and vitality of Oakland, including improved infrastructure and transportation solutions, measures to improve air quality, and supplying additional housing.
The DEIR outlines the following key areas:
Opening the Waterfront to the Community
- Creates public waterfront access and more than 18 acres of new waterfront parks and open space areas
- Improves Oakland’s resilience against sea-level rise
- Transforms an underutilized industrial site into a sustainable community at no expense to taxpayers
Forward-looking Transportation Plan
- A transit-first approach, the plan reduces car trips by 20 percent, expands public transportation options, and invests in bike safety and infrastructure, and pedestrian walkways and bridges
- Separates ballpark and development transportation from Port of Oakland traffic to safeguard the Port and provide greater efficiency for trucks to access the Port
Caring for the Environment for Generations
- Achieves net zero greenhouse gas emissions, and numerous other long-term health benefits for residents
- Invests in electric vehicle chargers, solar options, public transportation
Creating Homes for Oaklanders
- Proposes 3,000 homes, including affordable housing, in an area that the City of Oakland designated as a “Priority Development Area” by the Plan Bay Area 2040 vision for long-term growth
“The Athletics are the last professional sports team in Oakland,” said Kaval. “We employ thousands of Oakland and Alameda County residents, and local businesses, the City, and County derive significant economic benefits and revenue from our games. While the release of the draft environmental report is a great milestone, it is imperative that the City Council take a vote on the project this year. We look to the City for their support and partnership to keep the A’s in Oakland for generations to come.”
For more information on the A’s new ballpark plans and to watch the video, visit WeAreRooted.com. To see renderings of the ballpark and entire project site, click here.
Read MoreBy Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston is pleased to announce the promotion of Captain Melissa Klawuhn to the rank of Assistant Sheriff effective February 27, 2021.
Captain Klawuhn joined the Office of the Sheriff in 2001 as a Laboratory Aide in the Forensic Services Division. In 2003, she was promoted to Deputy Sheriff Criminalist and attended the police basic academy. The next year she transferred to the classification of Deputy Sheriff and had assignments in custody service, patrol and investigation. During that time she served as a Bay Point resident deputy and homicide detective. Captain Klawuhn was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 2013, to lieutenant in 2016 and captain in 2019. Captain Klawuhn previously served as a team leader of the Hostage Negotiation Team and the commander of the SWAT Team.
Before joining the Sheriff’s Office, Captain Klawuhn, who has a degree in animal science, was a high school chemistry teacher.
“The Office of the Sheriff values our community partnerships and diversity, and I am honored to transition into this new leadership role,” said Captain Klawuhn.
In her new role, Captain Klawuhn will be one of four Assistant Sheriffs in the organization. She will oversee the Administrative Services Bureau. This includes personnel, finance, professional standards, recruitment, and training.
“It is my privilege to promote Captain Klawuhn,” said Sheriff David Livingston. “She has handled numerous high profile and critical assignments as she climbed the ranks in the department. She has shown outstanding dedication and leadership and made many contributions to the department and community. I thank her for taking on new responsibilities as we serve the community and guide the department into the future. Congratulations to Captain Klawuhn.”
Read MoreVictim identified, shot multiple times in his car
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
Friday morning at about 1:10 AM, Bay Station Deputy Sheriffs were dispatched to the 300 block of Joan Vista Street in El Sobrante for a report of a person who had been shot in a vehicle.
Deputies arrived at the location and found a man in a car suffering from gunshot wounds. Deputies performed life-saving measures until responding medical personnel arrived. The victim was later pronounced deceased at the scene.
The man is identified as 30-year-old Jovanne Hollman of Richmond.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600 or through Sheriff’s Office dispatch at (925) 646-2441. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Read MoreFor redevelopment of former administration building site, build fire stations and fund new airport terminal
Savings of $7.3 million also generated from refunding existing bonds
By Susan Shiu, Director, Office of Communications and Media, Contra Costa County
Thursday morning, Feb. 25, 2021, Contra Costa County sold $97,420,000 of lease revenue bonds with Barclay’s Capital Inc. serving as underwriter. Proceeds from the bond sale will fund infrastructure projects including redevelopment of the former County Administration Center complex in Martinez, a portion of a new Aircraft Terminal at the Buchanan Field Airport in Concord and construction of two fire stations in Pacheco and Bay Point.
In addition, the County refunded $48.4 million of outstanding bonds resulting in significant savings to the County.
The bonds funding the new construction projects have a true interest cost of 2.27% with a term of 20 years. The refunding bonds have a true interest cost of 1.80% and shortens the term of the previous bonds by two years, from 19 years to 17 years. The refunding bonds resulted in a net present value savings to the County of $7.3 million.
“The results from today’s bond sale are proof of the County’s reputation of strong financial management within the municipal market,” said Chair of the Board of Supervisors Diane Burgis. “This allows the County to secure financing for important public infrastructure projects at very attractive rates to better serve our residents.”
According to the California State Treasurer, lease revenue bonds (LRBs) are a type of revenue bond. Lease revenue bonds usually finance the construction of facilities, including government office buildings, correction facilities, courthouses, and fire facilities. However, unlike revenue bonds that use money generated by the project (a bridge toll) to repay investors, lease revenue bonds have a lessee (government agency) that pays rent to use the facility. The rent payments are used to pay back investors who purchased the bonds used to finance the construction of the facility. LRBs are secured by lease payments made by the party leasing the facility (school or office building) that was funded by the bond issue.
“Historically low interest rates and the County’s strong credit profile have allowed us to advance critical projects and refund existing debt for cost savings,” stated County Administrator Monica Nino.
Contra Costa County has been rated “AAA” by Standard and Poor’s since 2012 and, most recently, was upgraded by Moody’s Investor Service to “Aa1” from “Aa2” on February 16, 2021. Both credit rating agencies have attributed their high ratings for Contra Costa County to strong financial management, with policies and practices well-embedded in County operations. They have also pointed to a strong local economy with a large, diverse tax base.
Read MoreBy Allen Payton
Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton issued a statement regarding Thursday’s California Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1391 (Lara).
Proposition 57, passed in the November 2016 general election, requires prosecutors to commence all cases involving a minor in juvenile court. Senate Bill No. 1391 enacted in 2018, amended Proposition 57 to prohibit minors under the age of 16 from being transferred to adult criminal court.
In the case of O.G. v. The Superior Court of Ventura County, the Court of Appeal held that Senate Bill 1391 is inconsistent with Proposition 57 and thus invalid. The state Supreme Court overruled the lower court’s decision.
“We agree with the majority view that Senate Bill 1391 was a permissible amendment to Proposition 57 and we reverse the judgment in this case,” the decision reads.
“Today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court is an important moment for the criminal justice system to give children a chance at rehabilitation for crimes they committed during their youth,” said Becton. “I have always believed this law was constitutional and should be followed. Our local judges in Contra Costa County have also agreed with me.”
“The juvenile justice system currently is not working,” she continued. “I established a task force to examine how to reform our juvenile justice system. We must think differently on how we treat children and ensure we strategically allocate resources to focus on prevention and rehabilitation efforts.”
The full Supreme Court decision is available here.
Scott Alonso, PIO, CCCDA contributed to this report.
Read MoreAlso tied to Brentwood store robbery; bail lowered from $11 million to $9.8 million
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
This morning detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, Antioch Police
Department and Brentwood Police Department jointly filed their cases against 26-year-old Darryon Williams of Stockton. He is the suspect in Saturday’s multiple shooting of first responders in Antioch, a murder in Discovery Bay and robbery in Brentwood. The Contra Costa D.A.’s Office has filed the following charges against Williams: Complaint filed vs. Williams February 24 2021
- Murder
- Second degree robbery
- Shooting from a vehicle
- Assault on peace officer/firefighter with semiautomatic firearm (6 counts)
- Assault with a semiautomatic firearm (3 counts)
- Fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly
Williams remains in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility. He is being held in lieu of $9,790,270 bail. According to Scott Alonso, PIO for the Contra Costa DA’s Office, Williams’ arraignment will be held Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Department 1 of the Contra Costa County Superior Court building in Martinez.
The Office of the Sheriff would like to thank the Antioch and Brentwood Police Departments for their assistance during our homicide investigation. The three agencies worked together closely and collaboratively. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on the Discovery Bay homicide is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division through Sheriff’s Office dispatch at (925) 646-2441 or at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
The Antioch Police Department can be reached at (925) 778-2441. Anonymous text tips can be sent to 274637 with the keyword ANTIOCH. The Brentwood Police Department can be reached at (925) 809-7911.
Read MoreFamous football brain injury neuropathologist featured in Will Smith movie “Concussion”
As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout moves forward, it is important that we continue to reach out to our diverse communities and make sure everyone has the information and access to protect themselves and their families. Congressman Jerry McNerney (D, CA-09) will hold a conversation on Friday, February 26th from 4:00-5:00 PM to discuss COVID-19 and health disparities in the Black community and how we as a community at large can engage and support one another in the fight against this pandemic. The Congressman will be joined by special guests Dr. Bennet Omalu, Dr. Kim Rhoads, Dr. Otashe Golden, and Stockton Branch NAACP President Bobby Bivens.
Dr. Omalu is the forensic pathologist and neuropathologist who was first to discover and publish findings on brain damage caused by repeat head injuries in American football players, labeled chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He was later appointed chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, CA, and is a professor at U.C. Davis, department of medical pathology and laboratory medicine. Omalu was the subject of the 2015 movie Concussion, in which actor Will Smith played the role of the doctor.
To join online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88176937313?pwd=Qy95Y0dPODBVZlJzQzRtQ0lhZFZoUT09
Passcode: 875675
To join by phone:
(669) 900-6833
Webinar ID: 881 7693 7313
Passcode: 875675
Participants can join via phone or by using the webinar link above. If you would like to submit a question in advance of the event or share your story, please submit it here.
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