Contra Costa Herald

Accusations it includes fraud, bribery, corruption; requires Senate passage during lame duck session

By Allen Payton

On Wednesday, November 30, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34) on an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 392-26. The almost 1,000-page bill is designed for medical innovation, additional funding for cancer research, and to combat the nation’s growing opioid and heroin epidemic. But opponents say what the bill includes continues and advances corruption. Plus, they don’t like the fact it’s being considered and voted on by a lame-duck Congress, some of whose members weren’t re-elected in November and will be leaving, soon.

Congressman DeSaulnier (D, CA-11), who represents most of Contra Costa County and voted for the bill, issued the following statement lauding its passage.

“This legislation will help ensure the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have the resources needed to continue important work improving biomedical research and developing innovative treatments. Included in the bill is funding for the Vice President’s Cancer Moonshot, which is essential to continuing the program under the new Administration, as well as funds to combat the growing opioid and heroin epidemic facing our country. While this bill is not perfect, it provides $4.8 billion in new funding to ensure NIH is able to further its work for patients and families relying on research, treatment and recovery options. As a survivor of cancer and a beneficiary of the remarkable progress this country has made in treatment and research, I know all too well the value of these investments and how many lives can be saved as a result.”

According to other news reports, the legislation was introduced by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Michigan and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., “in hopes of speeding up the discovery, development and delivery of life-saving drugs and devices for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. It passed the House 344-77 in July, but later stalled in the Senate. A reworked version was released last weekend.”

Congressman DeSaulnier offered an amendment to the bill, which would have helped improve doctor-patient communication when patients are diagnosed and receiving treatment for severe or chronic diseases. No amendments were included in the final version of the bill. He will continue to work on these important issues.

White House Supports

The bill will now go to the Senate for a final vote and if passed the White House has indicated President Obama will sign it. In a statement, issued Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest praised the passage of the bill.

“This critically important legislation will get states the resources they need to fight the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic. It invests the $1 billion the President has repeatedly said is necessary to help communities that have seen far too many overdoses. It also responds to the Vice President’s call for a Moonshot in cancer research by investing $1.8 billion in new resources to transform cancer research and accelerate discoveries. Plus, it invests nearly $3 billion to continue the President’s signature biomedical research initiatives, the BRAIN and Precision Medicine Initiatives, over the next decade to tackle diseases like Alzheimer’s and create new research models to find cures and better target treatments.

H.R. 34 also takes important steps to improve mental health, including provisions that build on the work of the President’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force. It further advances the drug approval process by taking steps like modernizing clinical trial design and better incorporating patients’ voices into FDA’s decision-making processes. Like all comprehensive legislation, the bill is not perfect, and there are provisions the Administration would prefer were improved, but the legislation offers advances in health that far outweigh these concerns. The Senate should promptly pass this bill so that the President can sign it.”

Liberal Opposition

However, not everyone in the Senate is supportive of the bill, including DeSaulnier’s fellow Democrat, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). She has been generally supportive of the legislation, but will now work against its passage, blasting it for being favorable to the pharmaceutical industry, saying “there’s a lot of bad stuff” in the bill, and called it extortion, and includes “special favors for campaign donors and giveaways to the richest drug companies in the world.”

In a floor statement on Monday night, which can be viewed here, she said that “Big Pharma hijack(ed) the Cures bill. This final deal has only a tiny fig leaf of funding, for NIH and for the opioid crisis. And most of that fig leaf isn’t even real. Most of the money won’t really be there unless future Congresses passes future bills in future years to spend those dollars.”

Warren continued, saying “In the closing days of this Congress, Big Pharma has its hand out for a bunch of special giveaways and favors that are packed together in something called the 21st Century Cures bill.

And when American voters say Congress is owned by big companies, this bill is exactly what they are talking about. Now, we face a choice. Will this Congress say that yes, we’re bought and paid for, or will we stand up and work for the American people?

Medical breakthroughs come from increasing investments in basic research. Right now, Congress is choking off investments in the NIH. Adjusted for inflation, federal spending on medical research over the past dozen years has been cut by 20%. Those cuts take the legs out from under future medical innovation in America. We can name a piece of legislation the “cures” bill, but if it doesn’t include meaningful funding for the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, it won’t cure anything.”

Her reasons for opposing the bill include her argument that “this funding is political cover for huge giveaways to giant drug companies.” She stated it would “legalize fraud” and “cover up bribery,” and, in her usual practice of partisan attacks, also said it would “hand out dangerous, special deals to Republican campaign contributors.”

Warren said that “this Cures bill that would shoot holes in the anti-fraud law. Make it easier for drug companies to get away with fraud.”

Another accusation she made is “the Cures act offers to sell government favors. It delivers a special deal so people can sell…treatments without meeting the FDA gold standards for protecting patient safety and making sure these drugs do some good.”

Warren gave a list of other reasons she opposed it.

“The Cures Act – a bill that was supposed to be about medical innovation – has a giveaway to the gun lobby,” she said. “The bill cuts Medicare funding. It raids money from the Affordable Care Act. It takes health care dollars that should have gone to Puerto Rico. It makes it harder for people with disabilities to get Medicaid services. There’s a lot of bad stuff here.”

“It is time for Democrats – Democrats and Republicans who should be ashamed by this kind of corruption -to make it clear who exactly they work for. Does the Senate work for big pharma that hires the lobbyists and makes the campaign contributions or does the Senate work for American people who actually sent us here,” Warren concluded.

Conservative Opposition

Some conservatives are also opposed to the bill, but not all for the same reasons as Warren’s. The conservative Heritage Foundation gave four reasons they oppose the bill, calling it a “Christmas Tree, loaded with handouts for special interests.”

On their website, they wrote, “Congress has taken this legislation, which was initially a 300 page bill, and turned it into an almost 1,000 page omnibus health care spending bill. The negotiators have added pieces of a mental health bill, makes changes to Medicare Part A and B, another bill making significant changes to the federal foster care system, a “cancer moonshot” requested by Vice President Biden, additional funding for opioid abuse prevention, etc., in addition to the NIH funding and the FDA funding, for a grand total of over $6.3 billion dollars. In Washington terms, backroom negotiators have turned the Cures bill into a Christmas Tree, loaded with handouts for special interests, all at the expense of the taxpayer.  Therefore, conservatives should oppose the 21st Century Cures Bill for four main reasons.

First, the bill’s “pay-fors” rely on budget gimmicks, and even worse, the new spending is not subject to the budget caps. Second, NIH and FDA do not need additional funding. Instead, they need to spend the money they already have on critical research instead of wasteful projects. Third, Congress has no business considering an almost 1,000 page omnibus health care spending bill during the lame duck session. Fourth, and finally, the process has been questionable and the bill will likely be closed to amendments.

An email to DeSaulnier’s office asking for his comments on Warren’s statements opposing the bill was not responded to before publication time. Please check back later for any updates.

A vote by the Senate on the bill is expected to take place early next week. For the complete text of the bill, please click here.

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The Contra Costa Health Services issued the following announcement at 5:44 p.m.:

Update on Public Health Investigation of Incident in Antioch

Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has now identified two additional people who fell ill soon after eating food from a Thanksgiving charity event in Antioch.

All people who became ill developed symptoms within 24 hours of ingesting food served at the charity event and we don’t expect to see new cases.

These two newly discovered people didn’t seek medical attention and have recovered. There are now 19 total people known to have fallen ill—including three people who died—after eating food served at the Antioch American Legion auditorium, 403 West Sixth St., on Thanksgiving.

Anyone with leftover food from this event should not eat it and throw it away. Anyone who ate food from the Thanksgiving Day event and is now feeling sick should immediately contact their medical provider and also call CCHS at 925-313-6740.

Tests of biological samples from the reported cases came back negative for 21 foodborne diseases, including salmonella, E. coli and norovirus. CCHS is sending samples to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) to test for other agents that are common but testing is not locally available. Results from the CDC tests may not be available for months.
Our Public Health and Environmental Health divisions continue to work in collaboration on the ongoing investigation

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According to Larry Adams, Senior Pastor of Golden Hills Community Church in Brentwood and Antioch, the following updated statement about the Thanksgiving dinner they served in Antioch, last Thursday, and the possibly linked illnesses and three deaths, was posted on the church’s website on Tuesday night:

This past week we were alerted to an outbreak of illness in our community that could have been related to our annual Thanksgiving meal served in Antioch. Golden Hills Community Church has been seeking to help meet this need in the community for over 30 years with meals served to many thousands of people. As the week unfolded, we met with Contra Costa Health officials seeking to assist them in any way possible to determine the source of the illness. The preliminary evidence seemed to point away from the food that we served to over 800 people that day.

Our greatest concern has been twofold. First and foremost we are grieving for those who have lost precious loved ones and for those who have endured this illness. The loss of life is a human tragedy that no amount of investigation can undo. While we do not, even now, know who these individuals are, this has not stopped us from grieving and praying diligently for these families.

Secondly, we have wanted to hear from the Health Department their  determination of the real cause of this illness, regardless of our connection. Truth will help prevent future occurrences of this type of illness and perhaps keep others from having this horrible experience.

We still do not have any conclusive word from County Officials regarding this matter. We continue to do what we can to help with the investigation that is ongoing. Evidence that once pointed away from the meal that we provided to so many, now seems to point back that direction. We will continue to await the final findings, to pray for all those affected, and offer to do what we can to help those who are hurting. We thank those who have joined us in prayer and ask you to continue in your efforts.

The church’s website is www.goldenhills.org.

 

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Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff have identified three suspects in a homicide that occurred in El Sobrante on November 12, 2016.

On Saturday, November 12, 2016, at about 2:11 AM, a Sheriff’s Office Sergeant discovered William Sims lying in the roadway in the area of Appian Way and Garden Lane in El Sobrante. Sims had been beaten and shot and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Sims was 28-years-old and was from Richmond, where he was a musician and worked in retail. He had no gang ties and no criminal history.

Detectives believe Sims was at the Capri Club on the 4100 block of Appian Way, where he was robbed and murdered. Three suspects have been identified and one has been arrested.

31-year-old Daniel Porter-Kelly of Richmond is in custody. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on November 16, 2016 on murder and robbery charges. The D.A.’s Office has since formally charged him with robbery and murder, with a hate crime enhancement. He is being held without bail. Porter-Kelly’s photo is attached.

Detectives are looking for two outstanding suspects: 32-year-old Ray Simons of Hercules and 31-year-old Daniel Ortega of Novato or Richmond. Both have Ramey warrants for robbery and murder for their arrest.

Additionally, detectives have also arrested 54-year-old Renee Brown of Novato, the mother of outstanding suspect Daniel Ortega. She was booked into jail on an accessory charge for interfering in the investigation. She is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information on this incident or the whereabouts of Ortega and Simons is asked to contact the Office of the Sheriff at (925) 646-2441. They are considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. Their photos are attached.

For tips, call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message or email: tips@so.cccounty.us.

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By Allen Payton

The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Coroner’s Division has identified the three victims in the possible food-related deaths that occurred in Antioch, on Wednesday afternoon.

They are identified as: 43-year old Christopher Cappetti, 59-year-old Chooi Keng Cheah and 69-year-old Jane Evans. They were residents at assisted living facilities in Antioch.

Autopsies for the victims show all three had similar intestinal abnormalities. The Forensic Pathologist is trying to determine the causes of death, which are pending the results of various tests.

The Coroner’s Division continues to work with Contra Costa Health Services on this case.

According to Michael Weston, spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services, “two of the deceased individuals were from Minerva’s Place on Palo Verde Way and the third individual was from Minerva Place IV which is on El Paso Way” in Antioch.

In a Wednesday afternoon interview, he shared additional information about the homes where those who died resided.

Owned and operated by Emerito Ramon and Minerva Gonzalez, they have “four different facilities in two different licensing categories,” Weston stated.

Two are “residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFE) assisted living. They can be for seniors age 60 and over,” he explained. “But it can be individuals with like needs. There’s some flexibility in that area.”

When told of the one man who died who was age 43 and another age 59, Weston replied, “That wouldn’t be uncommon to have. It just depends on the needs of that individual. I don’t know the exact type of clients they serve. An RCFE may be a better fit for somebody even if they’re not at the age of 60, yet.”

The Gonzalez’ also own two adult residential facilities (ARF) in Antioch, which are “basically a residential care home for people age 18 through 59 with mental health care needs or people with physical or developmental disabilities,” Weston stated.

Those are Minerva Place II with State License #79200259 at 2831 Vista Way and Minerva Place III with license #079200232 at 1128 Monterey Drive.

Two more locations with the Minerva name in Antioch are listed on the internet, including Minerva’s Place Arf at 1911 Wilson Court and Minerva’s Place #2 at 2833 Fortuna Court, but don’t appear on the state’s website.

“They may have other facilities that don’t require a license,” Weston explained. “It depends on the level of care need, like a boarding house and if people administer their own medications. The licenses are for 24-hour care facilities.”

“Room and boards, (also known as) board and care homes, don’t require licenses,” he continued. “Halfway houses don’t require licensing, either. You’d have to talk to the local city or the county, whoever is in charge, regarding any restrictions they may have for that.”

Residents from another home in Antioch were also at the Thanksgiving dinner served by the church.

“We were made aware that Rose’s Garden Adult Residential #3, license number 079200512, also had individuals at the event,” Weston shared. “That’s an adult residential facility.”

But, he couldn’t share if any of those residents had fallen ill or went to the hospital due to health privacy laws.

“So five different facilities we’ve been in contact with regarding this,” he added. “The fatalities are related to the Minerva Place locations.”

Attempts to reach the Gonzalez’ for comment and to answer questions about the matter have been unsuccessful.

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By Allen Payton

The Costa Health Services (CCHS) announced on Tuesday, they are investigating several new cases that are likely related to a foodborne illness outbreak reported in Antioch over the weekend. CCHS investigators on Tuesday contacted an additional eight people who were likely sickened by food or drink from the same event. None of those patients are currently hospitalized.

During a second press conference on the matter in Martinez on Tuesday afternoon, Environmental Health Director Marilyn Underwood and Dr. Louise McNitt, Communicable Disease Medical Director, stated there is now a ninth additional person who was reported to also become sick due to eating at the same dinner. That brings the total number of people who claim to be sickened by the meal served by Golden Hills Community Church to 17.

Eight cases of possible foodborne illness connected to the incident, including three that resulted in death, were reported to Public Health on Nov. 25 by Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch. All of the eight patients reported by Sutter Delta ate food from the holiday event.

It is now reported that all eight were residents of three different senior care, assisted living, group home facilities of four in Antioch owned by the same couple. Calls to the administrator and licensee of the homes, asking them why some of their staff and residents, as well as they and their family attended the Thanksgiving meal intended for the homeless, low-income residents and those who didn’t want to be alone on the holiday, were not returned before publication time.

In an attempt to clarify information about where the food was prepared, that was served at the Antioch event organizer Jeff Oransky explained that, “some of the food is prepared in people’s homes like the turkey, ham, and some of the stuffing, and then brought to the hall. The only things prepared on site are instant mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and green beans.”

He mentioned the small size of the kitchen at the hall as the reason. Asked about how he can control the quality of the food being prepared and brought in, he replied, “We’ve had discussions about that” since last Thursday. “We’ve never had a problem before.”

“We’re pretty careful,” Oransky explained. “Every year we buy 600 disposable gloves and we  run out of every one of them. We generally don’t touch the food, even with the gloves. We use the ladles and utensils, and we keep everything heated. Nothing just sits out.”

“The other issue is the to-go meals,” he continued. “Some people come in and take a to-go meal to take home. Others eat there and also take a meal home. As far as I know they haven’t determined if these people (who got sick) did one or the other, or both.”

Asked if there were delivery of prepared meals from the hall, Oransky said, “No, not that I know of. We don’t deliver them. I don’t have enough people to do that.”

“We have Meals On Wheels deliveries. But they have nothing to do with the food at the hall,” he clarified. “Those meals are all professionally prepared and delivered to people’s homes, who are Meals On Wheels clients. But Meals On Wheels doesn’t deliver on Thanksgiving, so we take it over and deliver for them. But, we don’t deliver food prepared from the hall.”

Asked about serving the Thanksgiving Day meals in the future, Golden Hills Community Church Executive Pastor Phil Hill, said “the county health services told us in the future we would have to get a permit and that means that all food would have to be prepared in an approved commercial facility.”

Asked if that will be required even if it’s determined that the church is not at fault, he responded, “Correct.”

An email asking for the name of the group distributing prepared meals outside of the hall, to people standing in line waiting to get in for the Thanksgiving meal was sent to Vicky Balladares, Communications Officer for Contra Costa Health Services.

She replied, “Our Environmental Health folks are trying to get the name. As far as I know they have not been able to get a name yet.”

Anyone who ate food from the Thanksgiving Day event at the Antioch American Legion Hall and Veterans Memorial Building at 403 West Sixth Street, and is now feeling ill should immediately contact their medical provider. Anyone who is not ill, but has food or drink from the event, should throw it away. The general public can call (925) 313-6700 for more information.

County health investigators are in the process of collecting biological samples from the reported cases for testing at county and state public health laboratories.

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MARTINEZ, CA – At their November 29, 2016, special meeting, the Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board unanimously approved the provisional appointment of Gary Walker-Roberts of Antioch to represent Ward IV.  This appointment, in accordance with California Education Code 5091, is being made due to the vacancy created by the unfortunate passing of Governing Board member John T. Nejedly last month. Ward IV includes the communities of Blackhawk, Byron, Danville, Diablo, Discovery Bay, San Ramon, and parts of Alamo, Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, and Concord.

Walker-Roberts will be seated at the next regular Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, December 14, 2016, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Walker-Roberts is an alum of Los Medanos College where he graduated Suma Cum Laude in 2013 with an A.A. in Behavioral Science and Social Science. Then he graduated again from LMC with an A.A. in Arts & Humanities in 2015. He served on the community college board as a student trustee this past school year, was student body president of LMC in 2014-15, student representative to the United Faculty, and was instrumental in the formation and opening of the Veterans Resource Center at LMC, earlier this year.

Walker-Roberts also graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. degree in Ethnic Studies: Gender & Sexuality from Cal State East Bay in 2015 and with a Masters degree in English from Arizona State University, this year.

His public service has included working on Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson’s reelection campaign, this year and as a volunteer and mentor for foster youth with Contra Costa County Children & Family Services.

With his application, Walker-Roberts submitted letters of support from both Wilson and State Assemblyman Jim Frazier.

He works in retail as a Fragrance Expert/Trainer for Louis Vuitton, USA in San Francisco and has worked in the field of skin care and cosmetics since 2005.

When reached for comment, Walker-Roberts said, “I’m looking forward to serving Ward IV from East Contra Costa County all the way around Mt. Diablo to southern Contra Costa County. I appreciate that the trustees feel I can handle the position of trustee.”

Asked what his plans are in the new position, he stated, “I want to continue to represent under-represented minority students’ needs and also continue to develop the Veterans Resource Centers throughout the district. We’re working with the Sentinels of Freedom to open one at each of the three college campuses.”

Other applicants considered for the provisional appointment were non-profit manager and educator Carl Nichols, litigation attorney Jerome Pandell and barber college owner Frank Quattro, all of Danville, and Director of the STEM-Workforce Initiative of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership, April Treece of Clayton. To see the application from and letters of support for each candidate, click here.

Unless a petition calling for a special election, containing a sufficient number of signatures, is filed in the Office of County Superintendent of Schools within 30 days of the date of the provisional appointment, the provisional appointment shall become an effective appointment until the next regularly scheduled election for Governing Board members in November 2018.

For more details on the petition process, visit the District website at www.4cd.edu.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

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By Allen Payton

Eight Antioch residents of two assisted living facilities licensed to and operated by the same people, fell ill over the weekend, and three died from possible food poisoning. According to a KTVU Channel 2 news report by Tom Vacar, on Monday, “investigators think a Thanksgiving dinner is to blame.”

Yet, according to Dr. Louise McNitt of Infectious Disease with Contra Costa Public Health during a Monday afternoon press briefing, “All the patients are associated with the same living facility, so it’s unclear if the illness is related to the Thanksgiving Day event or their living situation.”

However, Tuesday morning Michael Weston, spokesperson for the California Department of Social Services, said, “two of the deceased individuals were from Minerva’s Place on Palo Verde Way and the third individual was from Minerva Place IV which is on El Paso Way” in Antioch.

The two residential care homes, described as assisted living facilities, are licensed by Minerva Gonzalez and Emerito Ramon Gonzalez is listed as the Administrator. Each facility is licensed for up to six residents.

In addition to the facilities that are currently open, according to an internet search, there are or have been four other Minerva Place facilities at different addresses in Antioch, including Minerva’s Place Arf, Minerva’s Place #2, Minerva Place II and Minerva Place III.

All eight of those who got sick are believed to have eaten a Thanksgiving dinner at the Veterans Memorial Building and American Legion Hall on West 6th Street in Antioch on Thursday. The annual dinner was provided by the Golden Hills Community Church which rented out the hall, as they have been doing for about the past 30 years.

“We don’t know that the eight elderly people from the assisted living facility actually came to the hall to eat,” said Linda Oransky, who helped organize the Antioch dinner with her husband Jeff. “That was what was reported on the news, but it had not been confirmed.

The church also serves Thanksgiving meals in Brentwood and Bethel Island. There were 825 people who were served meals at the Antioch location and 800 were served at the Brentwood location, according to Brian Sharp, a member of the church, who has been in charge of the Brentwood effort for the past ten years.

“No one else has told me that anyone else has said they got sick,” he stated.

Last Friday and Saturday eight people were admitted into Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch with possible food borne illnesses.

According to a Sutter Health statement released on Monday, “Between Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday, Nov. 26, Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch received eight patients with probable food borne symptoms. Three patients have died, four patients were treated and released and one patient remains hospitalized. Contra Costa Public Health is investigating the cause and do not believe there is any risk to the general public.”

According to Vacar’s report, “Sutter was not the only one to receive patients.”

He also said the Contra Costa Coroner’s office is performing autopsies.

Vacar reported he was told the sick people were seniors from a senior center, but had not been able to confirm that.

At a 5:00 p.m. press briefing in Martinez on Monday, Marilyn C. Underwood, Ph.D., of Contra Costa County Environmental Health Services and Dr. Mcnitt answered questions.

One reporter asked referring to the church, “do they have the proper food handling permit?”

Dr. Underwood responded.

“The non-profit group that held the Thanksgiving event in Antioch is the Golden Hills Community Church and they’ve been sponsoring this for many, many years,” she stated. “I did speak with them about the type of event they had, does not need to be permitted by Environmental Health. They were using a permitted facility, which is the Veterans Hall also known as the American Legion location in Antioch.”

“And when we spoke with them about the food safety techniques they used they all sounded very appropriate,” Underwood continued. “Again, this is information we discussed with them, today.”

Asked about the senior facility where “are you also looking into the facility where these elderly people came from that they live in,” she replied, “We at Environmental Health do not oversee those particular facilities. They’re actually overseen by a state agency, the Department of Social Services. So we are in touch with them and made them aware of it so that hopefully they will be pursuing it.”

Dr. Mcnitt was able to answer the question, stating “my understanding is that we have been in touch with them but we’re still interviewing patients and just trying to get more information about what could be the cause of the illness.”

When asked what was served that night, Dr. Mcnitt responded, “I don’t believe we have a list of all the food that was served.”

However, Dr. Underwood stated, “In the discussion that we had with the pastor, it’s a traditional Thanksgiving meal: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, bread. They had pies. So it’s  a pretty traditional type of meal for Thanksgiving.”

“We’ve not received reports from any other health care facilities related to this incident,” Mcnitt stated. “At this point we do not believe that there’s any risk to the general public.”

The church serves the Thanksgiving meals to homeless and low-income individuals, and those who don’t want to be alone, on the holiday. For disclosure purposes, this reporter is a member of the church, and has attended the church since 1991. I have participated in the annual Thanksgiving meals many times over the past 20 years, including donating pies from a local bakery, and canned vegetables, and serving in the Antioch location, as well as eating the meal served there, a few times.

Attempts to reach Senior Pastor Larry Adams and Phil Hill, the Executive Pastor of the church, which has campuses in both Antioch and Brentwood, were unsuccessful. However, the church issued the following “Official Statement Regarding Thanksgiving Dinner” on their website Monday evening:

“We recently were informed that several people from the same care facility in Antioch, who were at our Antioch ­Thanksgiving Dinner, became sick and it is reported that 3 of them have died. County Health officials have informed us that the source of the illness is not known and could have come from any of a number of sources. Our dinner in Antioch is only one of a number of possibilities that County Health is investigating. We are fully cooperating with health officials and are praying fervently for the families who lost loved ones and for others who are sick. We will try to post updates from County Health as we are made aware.”

Also, a post on the church’s Facebook page included the comment, “Please join us in praying for the affected families.”

In addition, both Sharp, and Jeff and Linda Oransky, the organizers of the Antioch meal, were able to share what they had learned, so far.

“We do not know the cause of the contamination,” Sharp said. “It either came from the house or the Thanksgiving Dinner.”

“What I learned from the Antioch chairperson, Jeff Oransky, is an outside group brought food to the hall, last year. They were told not to. They came back again, this year, and handed to people standing in line, prepared meals from food not served in the hall, in plastic containers meant to be taken home.”

Sharp said neither he nor Oransky know if anyone who got sick received one of those meals.

When reached for comment asking about what Sharp said regarding the outside group handing out meals, Oransky said, “Yes, that’s true. They had prepared some meals and were handing them out in Styrofoam, take-out containers, like the ones restaurants hand out.”

“They were out there handing meals to people to whomever they saw,” said Linda. “The people were outside of the hall, at an outside entrance that was not the main entrance, when they entered with the food. They tried to come inside. I met them inside and stopped them. I told them that we couldn’t accept their meals. They told me they had already been handing out meals outside.”

It was food prepared somewhere else and not at the hall.

“That’s why we wouldn’t take it from them or allow them to hand it out to people inside the hall,” Jeff stated. “I don’t know who they were handing them out to.”

The Oranskys lead the annual effort, together.

“We have a team of people that help us,” Jeff shared. “Golden Hills has been serving the Thanksgiving meals for about 30 years.”

The Oranskys have been in charge of the one in Antioch for the past 12.

“This is the first time there’s ever been a medical-related incident like this, that I know of,” he stated. “I’ve been leading it for 12 years and serving for 15 years and I’ve never seen one, myself.”

“Linda and I ate there on Thursday, ourselves” he added, and they didn’t get sick.

Asked if he’d heard of anyone else getting sick since Thursday, Jeff replied, “All I’ve heard is the eight.”

When asked if they knew who the group was handing out the prepared meals, Jeff said, “No. I have no idea who those people were handing out meals.”

Asked if Linda knew, he responded, “We don’t know. She just asked them to go away.”

“With no others reported sick and eight people in one house, it sure seems like the source was likely the house, not outside food,” Sharp added. “But no one knows for sure, yet.”

Department of Social Services

According to the California Department of Social Services’ website, Minerva’s Place was licensed in 2007, Minerva Place IV in 2011 and there have been no complaints for either of the two current locations.

The report from the visit on August 29, 2016 to Minerva’s Place showed no violations.  However, under the “Citations” drop down menu, the location has received four citations, two Type A and two Type B. Yet, under Inspections it shows the facility has one Type A and two Type B citations.

Under Other Visits, it shows one Type A Citation on January 30, 2015. It also states “One or more citations may be under appeal. Contact the State Licensing Office for more information. Other visits include anything other than yearly inspections and complaints, where the state may visit for administrative or follow up purposes, such as pre/post licensing processes.

The other two citations were from the visit in 2012, which the website doesn’t provide any details.

The Facility Evaluation Report from the state required five-year visit to Minerva Place IV on April 25, this year, stated “There are violations under California Code of Regulations, title 22 and are listed on 809-D,” “Appeal rights given” and “report reviewed with Minerva Gonzalez.”

“It was just a Type-B Citation for obtaining a doctor’s order saying it’s necessary to have a bedrail for an individual,” Weston explained.

Type B Citations are for violations that can be corrected, such as paperwork or other administrative things. Type A Citations are more serious, and can involve such things as wages, medication errors, food poisoning or death. If a violation is repeated within six months the owners will be fined $150 or the facility can be closed.

“You can have things start to increase,” Weston explained. “So it could be $150 per day if you’re not fixing a deficiency.”

“We’re working with public health officials in Contra Costa County and they will determine to the best of ability what happened and what’s the source of this,” he continued. “We will determine was the proper care and supervision given, and did they seek the appropriate care and in a timely manner.”

“If the facility is the source of this and there was a danger in the facility, we’ll make sure that will be addressed, as well,” Weston added. “Based on that information we’ll take appropriate action, if necessary.”

A call was made to the number listed for both facilities, seeking answers from the Gonzalez’ to the following questions: did the eight residents actually ate at the church’s Thanksgiving dinner? Did any of them receive and eat a meal distributed by the outside group? Did they all go back to one facility and eat or drink anything else? and did they own the other four locations and if so, why were they closed? But, no response was received before publication time.

Please check back later for updates to this report and any additional details.

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By Fernando Navarro

On Thursday, November 10, an incident took place in Pittsburg and Antioch which illustrated a major failing of our public education system.  Hundreds of Pittsburg High School students, apparently protesting the results of the presidential election, walked out of their classes, off campus, and made their way to Antioch. During their journey, some of them committed acts of violence which resulted in three arrests…and a strain on police resources for both cities, as 23 police officers (15 from Antioch and 8 from Pittsburg) had to be called out to deal with the situation.

Statements by some officers indicated that the PHS principal, Todd Whitmire, joined students in the protest.  This has been disputed by Whitmire and Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Janet Schulze, who claim Whitmire was with the protesters only to make sure they were safe.

Neither story speaks well of the PUSD leadership.  The first would indicate that PUSD administrators are actively working to incite students away from learning and discourse and toward yelling and violence.  The second would indicate that PUSD administrators have lost control of their school, and that student whims rule the day.

What we witnessed didn’t come out of nowhere, and didn’t come about because the, “election has been especially emotional,” as a statement by Schulze said.  This is the result of years of inept classroom management, which has led to a lack of respect for authority.  It comes about because, as with English and math, students don’t appear to be learning basic civics.

I recently lost my bid for election to the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Trustees.  That doesn’t mean I’ll be silent, though.  I’ll continue to advocate for the change that’s needed to turn our schools around and deliver better educational, and life-choice, outcomes for our students.  And I’ll be encouraging parents to educate themselves about school policies, and to make sure their voices are heard.  But I’ll be doing so by speaking and writing in the appropriate forums, not by disrupting traffic, disrupting classes, or by otherwise impinging on the rights of my fellow citizens.

Finally, I applaud Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando for speaking out about this incident at the PUSD School Board meeting.  I applaud AUSD Superintendent Stephanie Anello and Antioch High School Principal Louis Rocha for taking swift action to prevent similar disruptions in Antioch schools.

Now, let’s all come together to provide our students with the educations they deserve.

Navarro is a member of the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees

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By Allen Payton

According to the Contra Costa County Elections website, as of 10:43 am, Wednesday, November 23dr, Dr. Sean Wright maintains his lead in the race for Mayor of Antioch. But it has shrunk to just 102 votes or .34% of the vote over incumbent Mayor Wade Harper. There are  “approximately 8,500 ballots to be repaired and 28,000 provisionals county wide,” said County Clerk & Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla. The final vote count is expected to be completed by Friday, December 2nd.

“I can call all the races right now in the county except for Antioch Mayor,” he continued. “We’re down to ballots that have come in at different times. Ballots with mistakes could have come in at any time. Provisional ballots tend to come in late, generally on Election Day.”

“There are two different trends happening,” Canciamilla explained.” If you look at Election Day results, Sean does better. So I would have to think he does better with provisionals. But I don’t know how many are from Antioch.

There are roughly 607,000 registered voters in the county. We had 442,000 who have cast a ballot. We had a turnout of almost 73%. So a rough number is 11% of the provisionals come from Antioch. Those should theoretically trend in Sean’s favor.”

“All the other races are callable with the exception of Antioch,” he stated. “It is the election that will represent the slogan that ‘every vote does count.’ Every vote could impact the final outcome and it could go either way, right now.”

He was asked how many ballots had been counted since the last update.

“I believe in that batch it was 9,200 ballots that were counted,” Canciamilla responded. “If you extrapolate the traditional line you get to the point where Wade wins. But that doesn’t take into account the Election Day trend which favored Sean. But we’re at the point where there’s no clear, consistent trend that would allow us to make anything close to a valid projection. It’s going to be slogging through and counting them one by one, now.”

“We have multiple sets of eyes looking at each ballot,” he added.

He was then asked if representatives of each campaign can be there to oversee the counting.

“We always welcome observers,” he replied. “Each ballot has to be handled one at a time, and they get handled by multiple people and it just takes time.”

Asked if observers can challenge ballots, he said, “No. The law doesn’t allow observers to challenge an individual ballot, an individual signature match. You can raise issues and they’re entitled to an explanation.”

“At this stage there are very few ballots like that,” Canciamilla continued. “That’s usually over voter registration where it’s a question of if someone is registered or not. This is about whether people have drawn an arrow or crossed something out. If there’s a mistake or a double vote on one item we don’t throw out the whole ballot.”

He was then asked when will the ballot count be completed.

“We anticipate we will have our final unofficial count by next Friday (December 2nd),” he shared. “Then we’ll certify it by the 6th for the presidential election and until the 8th for everything else.”

“Then it goes to the Board of Supervisors on the 13th for their acceptance,” Canciamilla explained. “It will be done that morning.”

Asked about when oaths of office ceremonies could be held, he responded, “We advised the cities, and the school and special districts early on. I sent them a letter that due to the complexity of the ballot, we anticipate requiring the full 30 days to certify the election. So don’t plan on swearing in their folks early, like the week before.”

Asked when is the soonest new officials can be sworn in Canciamilla said, “That night (December 13th) is fine. It doesn’t have to be accepted by the Board to put it on the agenda. You just won’t have the actual OK from the Supervisors. It doesn’t have anything to do with the notice stuff. It’s not up to them to certify the election. Just accept the results.”

He was then asked about recounts.

“There are time frames for people to request recounts,” he stated. “If it gets close enough to where it becomes an issue we will sit down with the candidates and the City to figure something out. The reality is…recounts can be very expensive.”

“The goal is we want people to be comfortable with the results and they’re fair,” Canciamilla added. “This is an unusual circumstance.”

“Of all the races on the ballot, right now this is the only race too close for me to feel comfortable calling,” he reiterated.

For more election results, visit www.cocovote.us.

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