Commemorating and retracing the 100th Anniversary of the launch of U.S. Transcontinental Air Mail Service
By Kelly Kalfsbeek, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa County Public Works Department
Concord, CA – Contra Costa County’s Buchanan Field Airport in Concord is expecting an increase in air traffic on September 11, 2020 due to their participation in a historic event. Air Mail 100 Centennial Flight will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Post Office’s Transcontinental Air Mail Service, will make a stop at Buchanan Field on its route to the final destination in San Francisco.
Starting on September 8, 2020, a light airplane will take off from Farmingdale, New York’s Republic Airport to begin a 2,560-mile relay across the United States, to retrace the original air mail route from Long Island to San Francisco. More than a dozen private pilots, flying their own aircraft, will carry sacks filled with commemorative postcards and letters, destined for San Francisco.
Air mail pilot Wild Bill Hopson (colorized). From AirMail100.com
Like the air mail pilots in 1920, the volunteers will exchange mail sacks between planes, each flying one leg of the continent-spanning route. Between September 8th and September 11th, the pilots will land at several airports across the nation to hand-off the mail sacks, ultimately landing at Buchanan Field Airport on the morning of September 11, 2020. From there, the mail will be formally handed over to the Postmaster on Marina Green in San Francisco.
According to the Air Mail 100 website, “On September 8, 1920, a DH-4 biplane lifted off in the early morning from a grass air strip east of New York City on Long Island, beginning a grand experiment to carry mail from the East Coast to the West in a series of hops across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and points west. Regional air mail service had commenced two years earlier linking New York and Washington, D.C. By 1919, 400 HP deHavillands where regularly carrying mail sacks between Omaha and Chicago, but the September flight that now pointed its nose towards the distant Hudson would link an entire continent, but not without financial cost and human sacrifice. Those first pilots called themselves ‘The Suicide Club.’
Air Mail 100 will commemorate that historic event, which led within the decade to the commencement of commercial passenger air service. With the encouragement of several of the nation’s leading general aviation organizations, we have organized a series of volunteer flights linking the sixteen original transfer points, only seven of which continue today as active airports. The other nine have been “lost” to sands of progress, hidden under golf courses, urban shopping centers, hospital parking lots, and poetically, wind-swept grass fields again.”
Airmail routes, January 1, 1926 A 2,680-mile long transcontinental airmail route linking New York with San Francisco was completed in 1920. Initially, mail was flown by day and carried on trains at night. One coast-to-coast trip took about 3 ½ days, which was nearly a day quicker than the all-rail time. Regular service with night flying began in 1924, reducing the trip to about 33 hours. Airmail routes from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, and from New Orleans to Pilottown, Louisana, were foreign airmail routes, operated under contract — they expedited mail delivery to foreign-bound steamships. Map from USPS.com. See more air mail maps, here.
The reason for the stop in Concord is because San Francisco’s “Marina Green is no longer available for aircraft operations.”
The San Francisco Marina Green airmail field. Photo from AirMail100.com.
Also, according to the Air Mail 100 website, “The curious thing about the Marina airmail field in San Francisco is it is still there: a long, narrow grassy strip 1,700 feet long. If it were a modern paved runway its ends would be marked by compass headings of 8 and 26, shorthand for 80 and 260 degrees. It lies just two miles east of the Golden Gate Bridge on the shores of San Francisco Bay. A DH-4 mail plane could still land there today, but it would be dangerous, not to mention illegal, yet it was the original Pacific coast terminus of a nearly 2,700-mile route. Ironically, it was also the shortest leg, less than 100 miles. Since Marina Green is no longer available for aircraft operations, in consultation with various area EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) chapters, we will use Buchanan Airport at the city of Concord, CA.”
Airport staff is providing advance notice of this historic event as it may result in an increase in air traffic on or around September 11, 2020.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Read MoreIncludes hair salons & barber shops indoors, gyms & fitness centers outdoors, and indoor shopping malls at 25% capacity
By Contra Costa Health Services
The California Department of Public Health on Friday announced new statewide guidelines to make regulations and community re-openings more standardized throughout the state. Contra Costa and most other counties are now in the purple (most restrictive) tier.
According to these new state rules, hair salons and barber shops can now operate indoors in Contra Costa County with safety guidelines in place. Indoor shopping malls may also reopen at 25% maximum occupancy as long as public congregation points and food courts are closed and the mall has approved a COVID-19 safety plan from Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS). Gyms and fitness centers may begin operating outdoors in accordance with their own state guidelines and checklist.
These new state rules do not change the restrictions on in-person education, or the state’s school waiver process in Contra Costa.
We continue to evaluate the State’s new framework and its impact on our county, and we will provide additional information as it becomes available.
CCHS encourages businesses to adjust reopening plans as needed in response to changes in air quality in the county from Northern California wildfires. The county has issued a health advisory about smoke, encouraging all residents to stay inside when possible with doors and windows shut. For air quality updates and forecasts, visit the Bay Area Air Quality Management District website. Contra Costa Health Services urges residents to continue wearing face coverings when they go out or are near people outside their households, observe physical distancing, stay home from work or school when they do not feel well and wash their hands thoroughly and often.
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By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
All three suspects involved in an armed robbery that occurred on July 25, 2020 in Orinda have been arrested.
The robbery occurred on Fallen Leaf Terrace in Orinda at about 2 PM when armed suspects approached a resident as he was unloading his vehicle in his driveway. The suspects fled with personal property.
Orinda police detectives, working with other law enforcement agencies, were able to identify the three suspects involved in the robbery. They were apparently suspects in other crimes committed in the East Bay.
Two of them were arrested late last month by Piedmont and Berkeley Police. The two agencies were serving search and arrest warrants at an Oakland home for crimes that occurred in their jurisdictions. The two are identified as 23-year-old Shane Downs and 25-year-old John Downs, both of Oakland.
The third suspect wanted by Orinda police was taken into custody on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, in Plano, Texas. He is identified as 25-year-old Demaria Leanthony Adger of Oakland. He remains in custody in Collin County and is pending extradition back to Contra Costa County.
Orinda detectives continue to investigate the incident.
Adger has a criminal history with multiple arrests dating back to 2014 in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda County, San Joaquin County, and Sonoma County. (See graphic below)
From localcrimenews.com.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact Sergeant S. Valkanoff of the Orinda Police Department at (925) 253-4217. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
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By Joshua Anijar
In the Bay Area, BART connects us all, and it deserves leadership that doesn’t divide us.
One of the best things about the Bay Area is the way its people live their beliefs. Hardly an election goes by without residents voting to support the places, institutions and services that matter most to them, whether those are schools, parks or libraries, or public transit. BART in particular is a beloved symbol of the region. It knits together our diverse communities, and allows more than 400,000 trips per day, day after day, helping people work, shop, play, visit friends and family, and more.
While BART faces real challenges, from capacity and cost issues to reduced ridership in the age of coronavirus, it stands as a truly unifying institution. That’s why it deserves leadership that doesn’t divide the communities it serves.
Since 2016, (former) Republican Debora Allen has been BART director for District 1, which includes Contra Costa County. During her time on the board of directors, she has promoted aggressive policing policies for BART, pursuing a crackdown agenda the community has roundly rejected. In the face of white officers shooting Black riders, Allen has repeatedly insisted that the answer is more officers, and more enforcement of petty crimes like fare evasion and panhandling. In a recent discussion, she strenuously objected to public comments criticizing BART police, and said the following: “I get that we can’t silence the public, but, I think it’s important we address some of these statements that are made that aren’t true. BART PD murders people? That’s not true. The definition of murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.”
Her behavior at recent meetings proves that Debora Allen is more interested in arguing about the dictionary definition of the word “murder” than in preventing further violence. Allen’s history on the BART board of directors further shows her to be unresponsive to public wishes and hostile to public input. Instead of effectively advocating for expanded service hours or reduced fare costs or improved car cleanliness, Allen has tried to double the number of BART police, extending the politics of resentment and repression, and signaling clearly to the community that she rejects their preferences wholesale.
No one who rides BART would call it a perfect system. However, its challenges can only be solved by people whose priorities are to make it cleaner, faster, friendlier, and, yes, safer. None of those goals are obviously served by spending the system’s few dollars on more armed officers. The community, including Oscar Grant’s family, is correct when it calls for Debora Allen’s ouster and a transit system that is fair, friendly, safe, and welcoming for all. Other BART directors are correct when they go on the record to “completely disavow” Allen’s public comments, or call them “vicious, toxic, and racist.”
BART serves the entire area. That is what is wonderful about it. Debora Allen’s shameful track record clearly indicates that she believes BART should serve only the rich and those who agree with her. Our community deserves better, and in November, we should vote accordingly to replace Debora Allen on BART’s Board of Directors.
Anijar is the Executive Director of the Contra Costa County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, a federated body of more than 85 unions representing more than 85,000 members who live, work, and build their families in Contra Costa County.
Editor’s Note: Debora Allen is no longer a Republican. She left the party a few years ago and is now a registered independent.
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The BART Police Department is launching a new initiative that gives riders another way to request assistance from officers while they’re in the system. Text BART Police allows riders, employees, and others to directly contact the BPD Dispatch Center. The launch builds on the success of the BART Watch app, which has been downloaded 89,000 times.
“I want to give our riders as many ways as possible to reach us while they’re on our trains and in our stations,” said BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez. “Text BART Police makes it easy for anyone to use their phone to discreetly contact us if a need should arise.”
The number for Text BART Police is 510-200-0992. Text BART Police is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can also be used to send pictures to BPD. Much like the BART Watch app, the number should be primarily used for non-emergency reports. Anyone with an emergency is still urged to call 911 or contact their Train Operator.
Read MoreFollowed by 20 years of supervised release
OAKLAND – John Vicencio Vinoya was sentenced today to six years in prison, to be followed by twenty years of supervised release, for attempted receipt of child pornography, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.
Vinoya, 48, of Richmond, California, pled guilty to the charge on September 30, 2019. According to the plea agreement, Vinoya admitted that, in July 2018, when he was 46 years old, he texted a girl that he knew to be fourteen years old. When he learned that the minor was about to take a shower, he requested that she send him a “half body pic.” Vinoya admitted that he hoped and intended that the minor would send him a naked photograph that would have constituted child pornography.
Vinoya further admitted that, two weeks later, he sent sexually explicit text messages to the minor’s cell phone. He attempted to persuade and entice the minor to have sexual intercourse with him. On August 2, 2018, Vinoya drove to the minor’s home at a time when he believed that her parents were out of town. He brought condoms and lubricating oil with him to the meeting. He was stopped by law enforcement when he reached the minor’s home.
Vinoya was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 13, 2018. He was initially charged with online enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). He ultimately pled guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C §§ 2252(a)(2) and (b), attempted receipt of child pornography. Vinoya has been in custody since his arrest by officers of the El Cerrito Police Department on August 2, 2018.
Katherine Lloyd-Lovett is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kay Konopaske. The prosecution is the result of the collaborative investigative efforts of the El Cerrito Police Department, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations HSI.
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Hair salons, gyms, fitness centers may begin operating outdoors, hotels and short-term rentals may open
From Contra Costa Health Services, Office of the Director
Daily hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and the percentage of COVID-19 tests returning positive remained steady or fell slightly in Contra Costa County during early August, reflecting recent local progress in slowing the spread of a deadly virus. The seven-day rolling average number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Contra Costa dropped slightly, from 103 on Aug. 5 to 96 on Aug. 24. The average percentage of tests administered in the county that come back positive, meanwhile, has fallen from 8.8% on Aug. 6 to 7.4% on Aug. 24.
These key data indicators for the pandemic remain at dangerously high levels in Contra Costa, which remains on the California Department of Public Health’s county monitoring list, but are not currently increasing as they did in June and July.
Given the improvement, Contra Costa County today makes small changes to its social distancing health order to allow certain business sectors to begin operating again outdoors. The changes align Contra Costa’s policy with recently updated state health guidelines:
— Personal care services that do not involve close contact with the face, such as nail salons and massage, may begin operating outdoors in accordance with the state-issued industry guidelines and checklist.
— Gyms and fitness centers may begin operating outdoors in accordance with their own state guidelines and checklist.
— Hotels and short-term rentals in the county may open for personal or recreational travel, not just for essential business purposes.
These updates to the health order are effective Friday, August 28. Hair salons and barbers have already been permitted to perform limited work outdoors in the county, with no reported outbreaks.
Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) does encourage businesses to adjust reopening plans because of poor air quality in the county from Northern California wildfires. The county has issued a health advisory about smoke, encouraging all residents to stay inside when possible with doors and windows shut. For air quality updates and forecasts, visit the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
While recent issues at the state level skewed local testing data in late July and early August, Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has confidence in data related to hospitalization and number of new positive cases because they are directly reported to the county by local health providers and clinics.
“Based on what we are able to see, we can be cautiously optimistic that there is a gradual downward trend in county cases, testing positivity rates and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, county health officer. “We need everyone to understand this is a reason to keep up what we are doing and not let down our guards.”
Previous health orders remain in effect. Contra Costa Health Services urges residents to continue wearing face coverings when they go out or are near people outside their households, observe physical distancing, stay home from work or school when they do not feel well and wash their hands thoroughly and often.
Details of the update, including the full text of the order, are available at cchealth.org/coronavirus.
Read MoreCycle 16 of Workforce Development Program
By Brian Boyle, Communications & Development Associate, St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County
The Workforce Development Program at St. Vincent de Paul is a paid jobs training program aimed at helping the unemployed re-enter the workforce and find stable employment. The 24-week Pittsburg, CA based program teaches members techniques to find a job, offering training in resume development, interviewing, and workplace success techniques in a supportive & compassionate environment. Mandatory orientation sessions for people interested in applying to the program will take place on 9/12/20 & 9/15/20 from 9:00 AM – Noon in Pittsburg. To register call (925) 439-5060.
The Workforce Development Program aims to help tear down the barriers that stand in the way of employment for individuals who have struggled to obtain and maintain employment. Participants are matched with mentors and take weekly classes to continue developing necessary workplace skills. A new class of participants are selected every six months.
Participants gain paid, part-time, (22.5 hours per week), work experience in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store or SVdP’s trucking and transportation department. Additional training in retail operations include cash register operations, inventory display and optimization, and warehouse operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen millions of people suddenly find themselves out of work. In these hard times, it is more imperative than ever that applicants gain skills to be competitive in the job market. The Workforce Development Program at St. Vincent de Paul seeks to address that need, and prepare participants for the realities of the working world.
St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County has provided safety-net services in the county for over 56 years, serving 81,000 people annually and distributing over $1M of direct financial assistance and over $1.5M of in-kind aid. Over 750 SVdP volunteers and a small staff lead operations in Contra Costa including the SVdP Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, 28 branches and 3 Thrift Stores. One of the largest charitable organizations in the world, St. Vincent de Paul is an international, nonprofit, Catholic lay organization of more than 800,000 men and women who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 155 countries on five continents.
Contact: Barb Hunt, Development Director
(925) 330-6732
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Contra Costa County
2210 Gladstone Dr.
Pittsburg, CA 94565
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West Contra Costa residents looking for fast, free COVID-19 testing will have a convenient new option beginning Wednesday, when Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) opens a new community testing hub at Richmond’s Civic Center Plaza.
The new testing site, in a parking lot with the entrance at the corner of 25th Street and Nevin Avenue, accepts appointments and walk-in patients. In September CCHS will add drive-through service, allowing the location to test as many as 400 people per day.
“Our testing program has already shown that communities of color, and specifically some neighborhoods in West County, are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County Health Officer. “Accessible, timely testing is critical to reduce transmission of the virus and protect the community.”
Contra Costa offers COVID-19 testing to anyone who lives or works in the county, regardless of insurance, ability to pay or whether they have symptoms or not.
Drive-through appointments continue to be available at West County Health Center in San Pablo, and at a site near the corner of Second Street and Ruby Avenue in North Richmond, where no-appointment, walk-in testing is available Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
The Civic Center site replaces a smaller county testing location at Kennedy High School in south Richmond, opened over the summer in partnership with West Contra Costa Unified School District.
The expansion of public testing service in West County coincides with an increase in laboratory testing capacity and improved turnaround time in Contra Costa, where many patients this summer waited two weeks or longer for their results due to a national shortage of reagents needed to process specimens.
The primary private laboratory contracted by Contra Costa to process tests was reporting a turnaround time of two to five days as of Monday. The county has also contracted with additional labs, which are now preparing to process county specimens, and its Public Health Laboratory this month received new equipment from the state allowing it to process hundreds more tests in-house daily. Turnaround times at the county’s in-house lab average two to three days.
CCHS now operates nine free community testing sites, and the state runs another three in Contra Costa County. Testing appointments are available for all county sites by calling 1-844-421-0804 (8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily) or visiting coronavirus.cchealth.org/get-tested to schedule online. The new site also accepts walk-in patients without appointments. (Note: Testing clinics operated by Contra Costa County may close during the afternoon this week depending on current air quality.)
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.
There is no up-front cost for testing and patients do not need medical insurance or government-issued identification to get tested. However, if you have health insurance, your insurance will be billed.
CCHS does request identification during appointment registration as part of its process to receive federal reimbursement for testing, but ID is not required to receive a test. Patient information is confidential and not shared with law enforcement or other government agencies.
Patients receive their test results via secure text, or in the mail if they cannot receive texts. Patients who test positive for COVID-19 also will be contacted by Contra Costa Public Health with important next steps, including information to help prevent spreading the virus to others.
Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org/get-tested for details about community testing, including site locations.
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Commemorating and retracing the 100th Anniversary of the launch of U.S. Transcontinental Air Mail Service
By Kelly Kalfsbeek, Public Information Officer, Contra Costa County Public Works Department
Concord, CA – Contra Costa County’s Buchanan Field Airport in Concord is expecting an increase in air traffic on September 11, 2020 due to their participation in a historic event. Air Mail 100 Centennial Flight will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Post Office’s Transcontinental Air Mail Service, will make a stop at Buchanan Field on its route to the final destination in San Francisco.
Starting on September 8, 2020, a light airplane will take off from Farmingdale, New York’s Republic Airport to begin a 2,560-mile relay across the United States, to retrace the original air mail route from Long Island to San Francisco. More than a dozen private pilots, flying their own aircraft, will carry sacks filled with commemorative postcards and letters, destined for San Francisco.
Air mail pilot Wild Bill Hopson (colorized). From AirMail100.com
Like the air mail pilots in 1920, the volunteers will exchange mail sacks between planes, each flying one leg of the continent-spanning route. Between September 8th and September 11th, the pilots will land at several airports across the nation to hand-off the mail sacks, ultimately landing at Buchanan Field Airport on the morning of September 11, 2020. From there, the mail will be formally handed over to the Postmaster on Marina Green in San Francisco.
According to the Air Mail 100 website, “On September 8, 1920, a DH-4 biplane lifted off in the early morning from a grass air strip east of New York City on Long Island, beginning a grand experiment to carry mail from the East Coast to the West in a series of hops across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and points west. Regional air mail service had commenced two years earlier linking New York and Washington, D.C. By 1919, 400 HP deHavillands where regularly carrying mail sacks between Omaha and Chicago, but the September flight that now pointed its nose towards the distant Hudson would link an entire continent, but not without financial cost and human sacrifice. Those first pilots called themselves ‘The Suicide Club.’
Air Mail 100 will commemorate that historic event, which led within the decade to the commencement of commercial passenger air service. With the encouragement of several of the nation’s leading general aviation organizations, we have organized a series of volunteer flights linking the sixteen original transfer points, only seven of which continue today as active airports. The other nine have been “lost” to sands of progress, hidden under golf courses, urban shopping centers, hospital parking lots, and poetically, wind-swept grass fields again.”
Airmail routes, January 1, 1926 A 2,680-mile long transcontinental airmail route linking New York with San Francisco was completed in 1920. Initially, mail was flown by day and carried on trains at night. One coast-to-coast trip took about 3 ½ days, which was nearly a day quicker than the all-rail time. Regular service with night flying began in 1924, reducing the trip to about 33 hours. Airmail routes from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, and from New Orleans to Pilottown, Louisana, were foreign airmail routes, operated under contract — they expedited mail delivery to foreign-bound steamships. Map from USPS.com. See more air mail maps, here.
The reason for the stop in Concord is because San Francisco’s “Marina Green is no longer available for aircraft operations.”
The San Francisco Marina Green airmail field. Photo from AirMail100.com.
Also, according to the Air Mail 100 website, “The curious thing about the Marina airmail field in San Francisco is it is still there: a long, narrow grassy strip 1,700 feet long. If it were a modern paved runway its ends would be marked by compass headings of 8 and 26, shorthand for 80 and 260 degrees. It lies just two miles east of the Golden Gate Bridge on the shores of San Francisco Bay. A DH-4 mail plane could still land there today, but it would be dangerous, not to mention illegal, yet it was the original Pacific coast terminus of a nearly 2,700-mile route. Ironically, it was also the shortest leg, less than 100 miles. Since Marina Green is no longer available for aircraft operations, in consultation with various area EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) chapters, we will use Buchanan Airport at the city of Concord, CA.”
Airport staff is providing advance notice of this historic event as it may result in an increase in air traffic on or around September 11, 2020.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Read MoreIncludes hair salons & barber shops indoors, gyms & fitness centers outdoors, and indoor shopping malls at 25% capacity
By Contra Costa Health Services
The California Department of Public Health on Friday announced new statewide guidelines to make regulations and community re-openings more standardized throughout the state. Contra Costa and most other counties are now in the purple (most restrictive) tier.
According to these new state rules, hair salons and barber shops can now operate indoors in Contra Costa County with safety guidelines in place. Indoor shopping malls may also reopen at 25% maximum occupancy as long as public congregation points and food courts are closed and the mall has approved a COVID-19 safety plan from Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS). Gyms and fitness centers may begin operating outdoors in accordance with their own state guidelines and checklist.
These new state rules do not change the restrictions on in-person education, or the state’s school waiver process in Contra Costa.
We continue to evaluate the State’s new framework and its impact on our county, and we will provide additional information as it becomes available.
CCHS encourages businesses to adjust reopening plans as needed in response to changes in air quality in the county from Northern California wildfires. The county has issued a health advisory about smoke, encouraging all residents to stay inside when possible with doors and windows shut. For air quality updates and forecasts, visit the Bay Area Air Quality Management District website. Contra Costa Health Services urges residents to continue wearing face coverings when they go out or are near people outside their households, observe physical distancing, stay home from work or school when they do not feel well and wash their hands thoroughly and often.
Read More
By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff
All three suspects involved in an armed robbery that occurred on July 25, 2020 in Orinda have been arrested.
The robbery occurred on Fallen Leaf Terrace in Orinda at about 2 PM when armed suspects approached a resident as he was unloading his vehicle in his driveway. The suspects fled with personal property.
Orinda police detectives, working with other law enforcement agencies, were able to identify the three suspects involved in the robbery. They were apparently suspects in other crimes committed in the East Bay.
Two of them were arrested late last month by Piedmont and Berkeley Police. The two agencies were serving search and arrest warrants at an Oakland home for crimes that occurred in their jurisdictions. The two are identified as 23-year-old Shane Downs and 25-year-old John Downs, both of Oakland.
The third suspect wanted by Orinda police was taken into custody on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, in Plano, Texas. He is identified as 25-year-old Demaria Leanthony Adger of Oakland. He remains in custody in Collin County and is pending extradition back to Contra Costa County.
Orinda detectives continue to investigate the incident.
Adger has a criminal history with multiple arrests dating back to 2014 in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda County, San Joaquin County, and Sonoma County. (See graphic below)
From localcrimenews.com.
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact Sergeant S. Valkanoff of the Orinda Police Department at (925) 253-4217. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Read MoreBy Joshua Anijar
In the Bay Area, BART connects us all, and it deserves leadership that doesn’t divide us.
One of the best things about the Bay Area is the way its people live their beliefs. Hardly an election goes by without residents voting to support the places, institutions and services that matter most to them, whether those are schools, parks or libraries, or public transit. BART in particular is a beloved symbol of the region. It knits together our diverse communities, and allows more than 400,000 trips per day, day after day, helping people work, shop, play, visit friends and family, and more.
While BART faces real challenges, from capacity and cost issues to reduced ridership in the age of coronavirus, it stands as a truly unifying institution. That’s why it deserves leadership that doesn’t divide the communities it serves.
Since 2016, (former) Republican Debora Allen has been BART director for District 1, which includes Contra Costa County. During her time on the board of directors, she has promoted aggressive policing policies for BART, pursuing a crackdown agenda the community has roundly rejected. In the face of white officers shooting Black riders, Allen has repeatedly insisted that the answer is more officers, and more enforcement of petty crimes like fare evasion and panhandling. In a recent discussion, she strenuously objected to public comments criticizing BART police, and said the following: “I get that we can’t silence the public, but, I think it’s important we address some of these statements that are made that aren’t true. BART PD murders people? That’s not true. The definition of murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.”
Her behavior at recent meetings proves that Debora Allen is more interested in arguing about the dictionary definition of the word “murder” than in preventing further violence. Allen’s history on the BART board of directors further shows her to be unresponsive to public wishes and hostile to public input. Instead of effectively advocating for expanded service hours or reduced fare costs or improved car cleanliness, Allen has tried to double the number of BART police, extending the politics of resentment and repression, and signaling clearly to the community that she rejects their preferences wholesale.
No one who rides BART would call it a perfect system. However, its challenges can only be solved by people whose priorities are to make it cleaner, faster, friendlier, and, yes, safer. None of those goals are obviously served by spending the system’s few dollars on more armed officers. The community, including Oscar Grant’s family, is correct when it calls for Debora Allen’s ouster and a transit system that is fair, friendly, safe, and welcoming for all. Other BART directors are correct when they go on the record to “completely disavow” Allen’s public comments, or call them “vicious, toxic, and racist.”
BART serves the entire area. That is what is wonderful about it. Debora Allen’s shameful track record clearly indicates that she believes BART should serve only the rich and those who agree with her. Our community deserves better, and in November, we should vote accordingly to replace Debora Allen on BART’s Board of Directors.
Anijar is the Executive Director of the Contra Costa County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, a federated body of more than 85 unions representing more than 85,000 members who live, work, and build their families in Contra Costa County.
Editor’s Note: Debora Allen is no longer a Republican. She left the party a few years ago and is now a registered independent.
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The BART Police Department is launching a new initiative that gives riders another way to request assistance from officers while they’re in the system. Text BART Police allows riders, employees, and others to directly contact the BPD Dispatch Center. The launch builds on the success of the BART Watch app, which has been downloaded 89,000 times.
“I want to give our riders as many ways as possible to reach us while they’re on our trains and in our stations,” said BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez. “Text BART Police makes it easy for anyone to use their phone to discreetly contact us if a need should arise.”
The number for Text BART Police is 510-200-0992. Text BART Police is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can also be used to send pictures to BPD. Much like the BART Watch app, the number should be primarily used for non-emergency reports. Anyone with an emergency is still urged to call 911 or contact their Train Operator.
Read MoreFollowed by 20 years of supervised release
OAKLAND – John Vicencio Vinoya was sentenced today to six years in prison, to be followed by twenty years of supervised release, for attempted receipt of child pornography, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr.
Vinoya, 48, of Richmond, California, pled guilty to the charge on September 30, 2019. According to the plea agreement, Vinoya admitted that, in July 2018, when he was 46 years old, he texted a girl that he knew to be fourteen years old. When he learned that the minor was about to take a shower, he requested that she send him a “half body pic.” Vinoya admitted that he hoped and intended that the minor would send him a naked photograph that would have constituted child pornography.
Vinoya further admitted that, two weeks later, he sent sexually explicit text messages to the minor’s cell phone. He attempted to persuade and entice the minor to have sexual intercourse with him. On August 2, 2018, Vinoya drove to the minor’s home at a time when he believed that her parents were out of town. He brought condoms and lubricating oil with him to the meeting. He was stopped by law enforcement when he reached the minor’s home.
Vinoya was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 13, 2018. He was initially charged with online enticement of a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). He ultimately pled guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C §§ 2252(a)(2) and (b), attempted receipt of child pornography. Vinoya has been in custody since his arrest by officers of the El Cerrito Police Department on August 2, 2018.
Katherine Lloyd-Lovett is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kay Konopaske. The prosecution is the result of the collaborative investigative efforts of the El Cerrito Police Department, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations HSI.
Read MoreHair salons, gyms, fitness centers may begin operating outdoors, hotels and short-term rentals may open
From Contra Costa Health Services, Office of the Director
Daily hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and the percentage of COVID-19 tests returning positive remained steady or fell slightly in Contra Costa County during early August, reflecting recent local progress in slowing the spread of a deadly virus. The seven-day rolling average number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Contra Costa dropped slightly, from 103 on Aug. 5 to 96 on Aug. 24. The average percentage of tests administered in the county that come back positive, meanwhile, has fallen from 8.8% on Aug. 6 to 7.4% on Aug. 24.
These key data indicators for the pandemic remain at dangerously high levels in Contra Costa, which remains on the California Department of Public Health’s county monitoring list, but are not currently increasing as they did in June and July.
Given the improvement, Contra Costa County today makes small changes to its social distancing health order to allow certain business sectors to begin operating again outdoors. The changes align Contra Costa’s policy with recently updated state health guidelines:
— Personal care services that do not involve close contact with the face, such as nail salons and massage, may begin operating outdoors in accordance with the state-issued industry guidelines and checklist.
— Gyms and fitness centers may begin operating outdoors in accordance with their own state guidelines and checklist.
— Hotels and short-term rentals in the county may open for personal or recreational travel, not just for essential business purposes.
These updates to the health order are effective Friday, August 28. Hair salons and barbers have already been permitted to perform limited work outdoors in the county, with no reported outbreaks.
Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) does encourage businesses to adjust reopening plans because of poor air quality in the county from Northern California wildfires. The county has issued a health advisory about smoke, encouraging all residents to stay inside when possible with doors and windows shut. For air quality updates and forecasts, visit the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
While recent issues at the state level skewed local testing data in late July and early August, Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has confidence in data related to hospitalization and number of new positive cases because they are directly reported to the county by local health providers and clinics.
“Based on what we are able to see, we can be cautiously optimistic that there is a gradual downward trend in county cases, testing positivity rates and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, county health officer. “We need everyone to understand this is a reason to keep up what we are doing and not let down our guards.”
Previous health orders remain in effect. Contra Costa Health Services urges residents to continue wearing face coverings when they go out or are near people outside their households, observe physical distancing, stay home from work or school when they do not feel well and wash their hands thoroughly and often.
Details of the update, including the full text of the order, are available at cchealth.org/coronavirus.
Read MoreCycle 16 of Workforce Development Program
By Brian Boyle, Communications & Development Associate, St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County
The Workforce Development Program at St. Vincent de Paul is a paid jobs training program aimed at helping the unemployed re-enter the workforce and find stable employment. The 24-week Pittsburg, CA based program teaches members techniques to find a job, offering training in resume development, interviewing, and workplace success techniques in a supportive & compassionate environment. Mandatory orientation sessions for people interested in applying to the program will take place on 9/12/20 & 9/15/20 from 9:00 AM – Noon in Pittsburg. To register call (925) 439-5060.
The Workforce Development Program aims to help tear down the barriers that stand in the way of employment for individuals who have struggled to obtain and maintain employment. Participants are matched with mentors and take weekly classes to continue developing necessary workplace skills. A new class of participants are selected every six months.
Participants gain paid, part-time, (22.5 hours per week), work experience in a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store or SVdP’s trucking and transportation department. Additional training in retail operations include cash register operations, inventory display and optimization, and warehouse operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen millions of people suddenly find themselves out of work. In these hard times, it is more imperative than ever that applicants gain skills to be competitive in the job market. The Workforce Development Program at St. Vincent de Paul seeks to address that need, and prepare participants for the realities of the working world.
St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County has provided safety-net services in the county for over 56 years, serving 81,000 people annually and distributing over $1M of direct financial assistance and over $1.5M of in-kind aid. Over 750 SVdP volunteers and a small staff lead operations in Contra Costa including the SVdP Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, 28 branches and 3 Thrift Stores. One of the largest charitable organizations in the world, St. Vincent de Paul is an international, nonprofit, Catholic lay organization of more than 800,000 men and women who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 155 countries on five continents.
Contact: Barb Hunt, Development Director
(925) 330-6732
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Contra Costa County
2210 Gladstone Dr.
Pittsburg, CA 94565
Read MoreWest Contra Costa residents looking for fast, free COVID-19 testing will have a convenient new option beginning Wednesday, when Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) opens a new community testing hub at Richmond’s Civic Center Plaza.
The new testing site, in a parking lot with the entrance at the corner of 25th Street and Nevin Avenue, accepts appointments and walk-in patients. In September CCHS will add drive-through service, allowing the location to test as many as 400 people per day.
“Our testing program has already shown that communities of color, and specifically some neighborhoods in West County, are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, Contra Costa County Health Officer. “Accessible, timely testing is critical to reduce transmission of the virus and protect the community.”
Contra Costa offers COVID-19 testing to anyone who lives or works in the county, regardless of insurance, ability to pay or whether they have symptoms or not.
Drive-through appointments continue to be available at West County Health Center in San Pablo, and at a site near the corner of Second Street and Ruby Avenue in North Richmond, where no-appointment, walk-in testing is available Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
The Civic Center site replaces a smaller county testing location at Kennedy High School in south Richmond, opened over the summer in partnership with West Contra Costa Unified School District.
The expansion of public testing service in West County coincides with an increase in laboratory testing capacity and improved turnaround time in Contra Costa, where many patients this summer waited two weeks or longer for their results due to a national shortage of reagents needed to process specimens.
The primary private laboratory contracted by Contra Costa to process tests was reporting a turnaround time of two to five days as of Monday. The county has also contracted with additional labs, which are now preparing to process county specimens, and its Public Health Laboratory this month received new equipment from the state allowing it to process hundreds more tests in-house daily. Turnaround times at the county’s in-house lab average two to three days.
CCHS now operates nine free community testing sites, and the state runs another three in Contra Costa County. Testing appointments are available for all county sites by calling 1-844-421-0804 (8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily) or visiting coronavirus.cchealth.org/get-tested to schedule online. The new site also accepts walk-in patients without appointments. (Note: Testing clinics operated by Contra Costa County may close during the afternoon this week depending on current air quality.)
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.
There is no up-front cost for testing and patients do not need medical insurance or government-issued identification to get tested. However, if you have health insurance, your insurance will be billed.
CCHS does request identification during appointment registration as part of its process to receive federal reimbursement for testing, but ID is not required to receive a test. Patient information is confidential and not shared with law enforcement or other government agencies.
Patients receive their test results via secure text, or in the mail if they cannot receive texts. Patients who test positive for COVID-19 also will be contacted by Contra Costa Public Health with important next steps, including information to help prevent spreading the virus to others.
Visit coronavirus.cchealth.org/get-tested for details about community testing, including site locations.
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