Please run this scathing letter that I wrote about my terrible experience in not getting a COVID-19 test late last week.
But the other part of the story is that it was not read into the record during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Instead it will be “shared” with the supervisors, according to Jami Napier, Chief Assistant Clerk to the BOS.
In an email response she wrote, “This email will be shared with the Board of Supervisors. We are not reading emails into the record at this time.”
I responded, “Shame on you! The agenda states that written comments will be accepted before and during the meeting. I feel that I am being marginalized by the county. I feel cheapened. I cannot even get a Covid test; and then you do this to me. Written comments should also be read into the record. Bad!”
Board of Supervisors Chair Andersen:
The county is playing with the lives of citizens, especially seniors when the county announces free COVID-19 testing for anyone regardless of one’s health, and the county’s out of state telephone message service is unable to properly handle the avalanche of incoming calls. Shame on the county and the telephone service!
Thankfully neither I nor my wife have COVID_19 symptoms, but last Friday I was on the phone 7 hours futilely waiting to make an appointment to line up appointments for free COVID-19 tests. No one answered my call. Incredible!
Later that day I talked to Supervisor Federal Glover who confirmed with that the health department is swamped with calls and is working to resolve the issue. That’s all that he could do for me and my wife. What a bummer!
The problem is, what if someone like myself or my wife, really has COVID-19 symptoms? What do they do then if they cannot make an appointment like I attempted to do? I suppose the answers to those questions is, wait for one’s maker, death!
This situation is unacceptable. The county and supervisors should be held accountable and correct this problem now!
Sincerely,
Daniel & Leslie Borsuk
Pittsburg
Read MoreBy Allen Payton
As of this morning, Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) is reporting a total of 1,066 cases of COVID-19/coronavirus, and a total of 32 deaths in the county. There are only 18 people diagnosed with the virus currently hospitalized.
There were 14 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, 3 more on Sunday and 12 more cases reported on Saturday.
A total of 19,176 people have been tested for the virus in the county so far.
To see the all the statistics provided by CCHS, click here.
Read MoreBy Pittsburg Police Department
Just after midnight Monday morning, May 11, 2020, Pittsburg Police Officers responded to a report of a traffic collision with injuries in the 900 block of Garcia Avenue. As officers arrived on scene, they found a car had just collided with the front of a parked Semi-Truck Tractor Trailer.
The car was engulfed in flames and officers could see the driver unconscious and trapped inside. Several Pittsburg Police Officers used fire extinguishers to hold back the flames as they began to pull the man from the vehicle. Contra Costa County Fire arrived on scene to assist and took over medical aid. The man was later transported to John Muir Medical Center for further treatment. Unfortunately, due to the extent of his injuries the man was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Pittsburg Police Department’s Fatal Accident Response Team took over the investigation to determine the cause of the collision. During the investigation, several witnesses described the car traveling at a high rate of speed on Garcia Avenue just prior to the collision. It is unknown at this time if impairment was a factor in the collision.
The man’s identity is being withheld at this time pending next of kin contacts. No additional information is available at this time.
Read MoreBy Matt Malone, Public Information Officer, Superior Court of California, Contra Costa County
The Court is very pleased to announce the appointment of Gina Dashman as Commissioner. Commissioner Dashman will preside over Department 57, handling traffic, unlawful detainer, small claims, and restraining order matters with morning calendars at the Pittsburg courthouse and afternoon calendars at the Wakefield Taylor courthouse in Martinez. Commissioner Dashman assumed her role effective April 27, 2020.
The 60-year-old Orinda resident is an experienced and accomplished lawyer who, prior to her appointment, was an equity partner at Haapala, Thompson & Abern LLP since 2014, where she had also been an associate since 2009. Previously, she was of counsel at Stein, Rudser, Cohen & Magid from 2002-2009, an associate and partner at Buresh, Kaplan, Jang & Feller from 1988-2002, and an associate at Epstein, Becker & Green from 1986-1988.
Dashman served as President of Women Lawyers of Alameda County from 2018-2019 and on the Board of Directors of the Contra Costa County Bar Association from 2018-2020. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University School of Law in 1986 and her Bachelor of Arts degree from U.C. Berkeley in 1983.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Dashman is also a published author of Neighbor Disputes-Law and Litigation, and United States Corporate Disinvestment from South Africa: The Financial Rand and Exchange Control.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Read MoreBy Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
This morning, May 10, 2020, at about 9:28 a.m., Bay Station Deputy Sheriffs were dispatched to a medical-police call at the 700 block of Pebble Drive in El Sobrante. Deputies found a 90-year-old woman who suffered from trauma in a bedroom. She was later pronounced deceased at the scene. She is not being identified at this time.
While at the residence, Deputies detained the victim’s grandson. He was later arrested for homicide. He is identified as 42-year-old Sean Johnson of El Sobrante. He was later booked into the Martinez Detention Facility.
The Crime Lab and Office of the Sheriff homicide detectives responded to the scene.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Read MoreBy CHP – Contra Costa
Friday evening, May 8, 2020 at approximately 9:20 pm, Contra Costa CHP was advised of a vehicle collision vs. a pedestrian on HWY 4 westbound, east of Laurel Road. Upon emergency personnel and CHP arrival, a 29-year-old male pedestrian from Pinole, had been struck by a vehicle and was lying in the roadway. He was pronounced deceased at the scene by emergency personnel. The driver of the Nissan sedan that hit the pedestrian suffered major injuries and she was transported to the hospital. The Contra Costa County Sheriff Coroner’s Office will be handling the release of identify of the deceased male pedestrian.
In the initial investigation, the 23-year-old female driver from Bethel Island was traveling westbound on HWY 4 in a 2012 Nissan Versa, east of Laurel road. For unknown reasons, the male pedestrian was in the roadway and directly in the path of the approaching Nissan. The driver of the Nissan was unable to avoid the pedestrian and collided into him, causing fatal injuries. The driver suffered non-life-threatening but major injuries and was transported to John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek. Her two passengers in the Nissan were not injured.
This incident is still under investigation. If anyone witnessed this collision or the events leading up to it, please contact Contra Costa CHP in Martinez at (925) 646-4980. Thank you.
Read MoreContinuing to coordinate with other Bay Area counties to determine when more loosening will occur; “Contra Costa is not an island” – Dr. Chris Farnitano
By Allen Payton
In light of Governor Newsom’s recent loosening of the rules on some businesses, including allowing florists to reopen as of today, Friday, May 8, 2020, Contra Costa Health Officer Dr. Chris Farnitano was asked several questions about what appears to be a positive trend and therefore why he’s not following the state’s lead.
The number of cases of those with COVID-19 in hospitals in the county peaked around April 14 at 47 and has continued to drop to just 16 as of today. Other statistics on the Contra Costa Health Services Coronavirus Dashboard also show decreases in almost all of the statistics tracked. The only statistic that continues to increase is the number of new cases, which is currently at 1,015. But, the dashboard doesn’t currently show how many of the 1,017 people who have tested positive in our county have recovered. The total number of deaths is currently at 29 and hasn’t increased since Monday, May 4.
Q: How many have recovered? When will we see that statistic on the Contra Costa Health website?
Dr. Farnitano: We’re waiting for the state and the CDC for a definition. Most people recover within 14 days. So, we’re working on a definition that if It’s been 14 days, you’re not in the hospital, and not dead, you’ve recovered. The data team that works on the website, we’re hoping to next week have that statistic on the website. Marin County is using something similar to that.
Q: With the continued reduction in numbers of those with the virus in the hospital in our county, do you see we are heading in the right direction?
Dr. Farnitano: We are definitely heading in the right direction. It’s both decreasing hospital numbers and decreasing the number of new cases. That gave us confidence in allowing all construction and all outdoor and most outdoor recreation, this past Monday. It takes two or three weeks to see after things are loosened up if cases don’t start to increase, again. So, there’s a little bit of a lag. We really haven’t seen the effects of the health order change on May 3rd.”
Q: Asked specifically about why he wouldn’t allow florists to reopen in time for Mother’s Day and what’s the difference if they use curbside delivery and everyone’s wearing their masks, he responded, “grocery stores are essential businesses, but florists are not. Essential businesses are allowed to sell non-essential items.”
Q: Why can’t you follow the lead of the governor?
Dr. Farnitano: We’re trying to work together (with the other Bay Area counties). Contra Costa is not an island and there’s lots of travel for work and shopping with Alameda County. What’s happening in Alameda County and San Francisco affects Contra Costa. The other counties’ statistics aren’t as good as Contra Costa County’s.
Q: If things are looking good in the next few weeks is it possible the shelter in place order can end on May 31st?
Dr. Farnitano: If we keep trending in the right way we can have more loosening.
Q: Asked if he’s been adding new criteria and raising the bar or just being more specific about what was already in place?
Dr. Farnitano: Some of it’s being more specific. There’s got to be a lot of social distancing requirements to open back up the economy. Wearing masks and social distancing are going to be in place for quite a long time, in order to open back up shopping and dining.
Q: What about churches opening for services, again?
Dr. Farnitano: The state has more details for their phases. In-person church gatherings and other public gatherings, they have in their Phase Three. A local order can’t allow anything looser than the state.
Q: On a more personal note, did you ever think you would have to use your authority to deal with something other than a temporary shelter in place order for something such as a chemical release?
Dr. Farnitano: I actually became a deputy health officer about five years ago. One of the health officers at that time who trained me told me, “there are tremendous powers in the health officer. Try not to use them and use them very wisely.” One of the main purposes of the statutory authority is for outbreaks and diseases. This is such an overwhelming event that it’s much more than I did really ever sort of plan for or expect. Ever since the H1N1 we’ve had these pandemic outbreak plans and that these social distancing tools would be one of the most effective tools. We didn’t expect this to go on so long. Farnitano has also been personally affected by the shelter-in-place order, as he had to watch his middle son get married in Georgia via Facebook Live, last week.
“When Chris makes decisions that affect us, it weighs heavy on him,” shared Kim McCarl, Contra Costa Health Communications Officer.
With the increase in tests at eight different drive-up or walk-up sites, for anyone in the county who wants one, regardless if they are experiencing symptoms of the virus, “that will help us get the economy open quicker,” she said. (See related article).
For more statistical details about COVID-19 in Contra Costa County visit https://www.coronavirus.cchealth.org/.
Read MoreBy Laura Kindsvater, Communications Manager, Save Mt. Diablo
Save Mount Diablo (SMD) has successfully closed escrow and become the proud new owner of the beautiful and strategic 28.73-acre Smith Canyon, east of Clayton. It could eventually be a recreational gateway to Curry Canyon and Mount Diablo State Park from Morgan Territory Road. It is one of several properties Save Mount Diablo is raising funds to protect with the final $2 million in fundraising of its $15 million Forever Wild Capital Campaign. (See related article).
Protection of 28.73-acre Smith Canyon provides legal and practical access from a public road to Save Mount Diablo’s conserved 1,080.53-acre Curry Canyon Ranch. Narrow Curry Canyon and Curry Canyon Road have been contemplated as an eastside entrance to Mount Diablo for more than 110 years, but complicated legal access issues have made public access difficult. Smith Canyon provides a second, alternate access route into Curry Canyon with clear legal access rights.
“The Smith Canyon property is an incredible recreational gateway to the magical Curry Canyon on the east side of Mount Diablo,” said Ted Clement, SMD’s Executive Director. “But what also strikes me about the property is that it has great potential as a beautiful stand-alone preserve by itself.
“You can imagine groups of school children experiencing it, working with volunteers to replant trees to restore former building pads, taking care of the land together, and hiking its trails up to the stunning view spots where they can sit to appreciate and connect with nature. I didn’t expect the beautiful vistas of North Peak and Mount Diablo that we discovered on the high points of the land.”
“How often do you get to save an entire canyon,” said Seth Adams, SMD’s Land Conservation Director. “Smith Canyon is lovely. It’s one main lushly wooded stream canyon with several smaller drainages rising to ridges on either side and toward a small peak on our neighboring Curry Canyon Ranch.
“Despite limited rain this spring, it’s bright green and wildflowers are appearing everywhere. There were several approved subdivisions on the property that luckily never took place, but the large building pads show how threatened it has been. Its purchase is another piece in our Curry Canyon puzzle and ends that threat forever.”
In addition to its value for recreational and other access, Smith Canyon is important from a conservation perspective. The land has blue oak woodlands, grasslands, and a live oak-bay riparian corridor. California red-legged frog and Alameda whipsnake are special status species likely to be present on the property. Further, the land is contiguous with Save Mount Diablo’s conserved Curry Canyon Ranch, so its protection adds to the important corridor of conserved lands in the Mount Diablo area, which is critical for wildlife and water resources. The land also affords beautiful scenic vistas to passersby on the public Morgan Territory Road.
Further, the oak woodland, oak savanna, and grasslands on the property serve as a carbon sink. In August 2019, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a new report, Climate Change and Land, that focused on how land is under increased pressure from humans and climate change but also noted land is a critical part of the solution to climate change. Land conservation mitigates against climate change in lasting ways. For example, forests and other undeveloped lands absorb greenhouse gases, thereby acting as carbon sinks, keeping those gases out of the atmosphere.
“We’re looking for angels,” said Karen Ferriere, SMD’s Development Director, about the need to raise the $650,000 purchase price and replenish the acquisition funds that were used to cover the real estate closing, “and talking to everyone we can.”
The money that Save Mount Diablo is raising for this acquisition project is part of the organization’s Forever Wild Capital Campaign. This campaign has an ambitious $15 million goal to help Save Mount Diablo expedite its land acquisition efforts while also giving the organization the resources to steward and defend its conserved lands in perpetuity. To date, just over $13 million has been raised against the $15 million goal. These funds have enabled Save Mount Diablo to do strategic land acquisition projects, like its Curry Canyon Ranch and North Peak Ranch projects, while also building a sizable permanent Stewardship Endowment Fund for the ongoing care of the organization’s protected lands.
As part of the Forever Wild Capital Campaign, Save Mount Diablo also recently signed an option agreement that gave the organization two years to raise a little over $1.04 million to purchase a perpetual conservation easement on about 154 critical open space acres on the northeast slopes of Mount Diablo, a mile-wide property owned by the Concord Mt. Diablo Trail Association.
History
Curry Canyon became well-known to generations of East Bay residents visiting the Curry Creek Park picnic area, which operated from 1925 to 1979, and then to the present day as a small trailer park. Sylvester Olofson, his wife Louise, and his brother Albert Olofson bought 1,430 acres on Curry Canyon in 1895; ran cattle; and in 1925, opened Curry Creek Park. Over time Curry Canyon was divided between the two brothers’ heirs. After World War II, Curry Creek Park and neighboring Wright Canyon were owned and operated by Sylvester and Louise Olofson’s grandson, Martin Wright, and his wife, Dorothy. The larger part of the property was a cattle ranch run by Albert’s sons Raymond and Robert Olofson.
In 1961 Ettore and Geraldine Bertagnolli bought most of the Olofson cattle ranch and renamed it Curry Creek Ranch, but it included limited access for anything but ranching. Ettore Bertagnolli soon started proposing small subdivisions, but he was blocked by the Wrights’ ownership of the road lower in the canyon. In 1968 he subdivided Smith Canyon off his property but retained a 60’ road easement, to be located and constructed later. He used that “paper road” to complete several subdivisions in the canyon.
Albert and Bouwina Reyenga bought Smith Canyon in 1968 and proposed a four-unit subdivision there. Roads and large building pads were graded but without professional engineering.
The subdivision was approved in 1970, but subject to various improvements including engineering improvements to the roads and pads, and paving of the access easement to the Bertagnollis’ Curry Creek Ranch. The improvements were never completed, and the approval lapsed.
The same subdivision was proposed again by the Reyengas in 1992, but building regulations had become more stringent. For the first time Save Mount Diablo was involved, requesting that a public access into Curry Canyon be reserved.
The second subdivision wasn’t completed, once again because of the cost of the roads and other building improvements. In 2000 the Reyengas sold the property to the current owners, E & B Farms, who faced similar constraints including the access easement into Curry Canyon.
In 2013 Save Mount Diablo bought the 1,080-acre Bertagnolli property and renamed it Curry Canyon Ranch. The purchase included the partly improved and unrestricted access easement up Smith Canyon. Purchase of Smith Canyon has eliminated the threat of houses and further subdivision and avoided potential conflicts with access and recreational use.
Save Mount Diablo
Save Mount Diablo is a nationally accredited, nonprofit land trust founded in 1971 with a mission to preserve Mount Diablo’s peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds through land acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the mountain’s natural beauty, biological diversity, and historic and agricultural heritage; enhance our area’s quality of life; and provide recreational opportunities consistent with the protection of natural resources. Learn more at www.savemountdiablo.org.
Read MoreAfter more than 55 years since it was founded in 1964, Pleasant Hill’s JFK University will be closing its doors, this year due to the changes in higher education to more online learning.
In a letter issued on April 30 JFKU’s Acting President Dr. Thomas Stewart and Board Chair Michael McGill wrote:
“Dear East Bay Community
After careful consideration, the John F. Kennedy Board of Trustees has determined that the best course of action for our programs, students, and our service to the East Bay Community is to transfer almost all of its programs to other universities within the National University System (NUS) beginning in July and close the university by December 31, 2020.
This decision to close the university was difficult as JFKU has been an integral part of the East Bay community for over half a century and many of our 45,000 plus alumni still work here. However, the higher education landscape in our country is changing. More and more students, particularly the adult learners that we serve, seek flexible and affordable online educational opportunities that allows them to learn wherever and whenever they want to fit their busy schedules. We all are being challenged to adapt to meet those needs.
The majority of JFKU’s programs will be adopted by National University or Northcentral University. Specifically:
- JFKU’s graduate psychology programs will be integrated as degree offerings at National University.
- The JFKU College of Law—including the JD, BA and Paralegal Certificate Programs—will move to Northcentral University and carry on its name as the JFK School of Law at NCU.
- JFKU’s undergraduate programs in psychology and management, currently offered through FlexCourse, will be continued and adopted by NCU.
Most programs will now be offered online and will continue to be available to students in the East Bay area. The transfer of programs is part of broader vision and reorganization of NUS to create a more cohesive system that offers efficient pathway for working adults to complete high‐quality, low‐cost degrees.
We will be focusing all our resources on helping current students complete their degrees over the coming months. Many of our students will join the JFKU alumni community who continue to spread the ideals and values of JFKU. The university’s legacy lives on in them.
John F. Kennedy University thanks its entire community of organizational partners that have welcomed and supported our students. We also thank our community of faculty, staff, students and alumni for the privilege of being part of an institution that continues to live on through our programs, and through the impacts of our alumni in the communities they serve.
If you have further questions regarding this transition, please do not hesitate to reach out to Solomon Belette at sbelette@jfku.edu.”
Sincerely,
Dr. Thomas Stewart, Acting President
Michael McGill, Board Chair
John F. Kennedy University John F. Kennedy University
Read MoreContra Costa is first county in Bay Area to offer testing to anyone even if they don’t have symptoms
Contra Costa County will now offer an appointment for COVID-19 testing to any resident who believes they need one, regardless of insurance, ability to pay or whether they have symptoms or not.
Residents can make an appointment to visit one of eight sites throughout the county. The county is operating five drive-through testing sites while the state provides walk-up testing locations at three additional locations. Testing is available by appointment only. Call 1-844-421-0804 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily for an appointment at any Contra Costa site.
The increased access to community testing will help Contra Costa County reach its goal for easing social restrictions in the current shelter-in-place order, which lasts through May. Previously, tests were only offered for patients with symptoms of illness.
“We need to test many more county residents to get a better sense of how widespread COVID-19 is in our community, and to help prevent its spread,” said Candace Andersen, chair of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors. “Testing will also give us a better idea of when we can relax the current health orders.”
Between 300 and 400 patients are tested daily in the county. Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) hopes to test about five times as many people.
All CCHS-run sites offer drive-through testing by appointment only. These sites are located in Antioch, Concord, Martinez, Pittsburg, San Pablo and San Ramon. Patients must visit these sites in their vehicles, as testing is done in the car.
Three new state-run sites also opened on Wednesday in Brentwood, Pinole and Walnut Creek, accepting walk-in patients by appointment only.
Appointments can be made by calling 1-844-421-0804. For appointments at county-run sites, a screener will take the information necessary to begin the process. Callers will then get a call back from a health professional during which an appointment will be scheduled.
There is no up-front cost for testing. County residents do not need medical insurance to get tested. However, if you have health insurance, your insurance will be billed.
While you don’t need symptoms to get tested, symptoms that may warrant a test include cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, fatigue, muscle ache, sore throat, headache, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, recent loss of taste or smell, or confusion, particularly in older adults.
Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org/testing for details about community testing, including site locations.
Read More