YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No. 1
Including Nearby Communities
www.thepress.net
City accused of Looking Back altering evidence in Section 8 suit by Dave Roberts Staff Writer The lawyers for five AfricanAmerican women suing Antioch police for racial discrimination have accused the city of deleting evidence showing racial bias by an officer, an accusation that the city attorney dismisses as irrelevant and which one African-American resident said does not indicate racial bias in any case. In a press release, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR) states that the “AfricanAmerican Section 8 tenants charging Antioch police misconduct … blasted the City for altering au-
diotapes of police conversations before submitting the tapes to the Court – including editing out an expletive-laden tirade in which officers complain about Section 8 tenants and make coded racial references.” The LCCR filed a motion to strike some of the city’s submitted evidence from consideration, including an audiotape of police officers W.N. Dillard and Desmond Bittner that the press release states the city submitted in “an attempt to show that the officers treat Section 8 tenants and their landlords in a professional manner.” The LCCR motion complains that the tape has been cut so that it does
Photo by Dave Roberts
G&E News Representative Tamar Sarkissian and Project Manager Tom Allen check out the industrial scenery on a media tour of the Gateway Generating Station. The story on the new power plant in Antioch appears this week on Page 3A as part of the Press’ annual Looking Back retrospective.
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Obama calls for delay in 2-Gates project Staff Writer Opponents of the proposed Delta 2-Gates project won the battle if not the war last week when the Obama administration called for the delay of the controversial test plan to save the Delta smelt. “We’re excited that they are slowing it down, but I’m not super surprised,” said Mike Guzzardo, publicity chairman for the Discovery Bay-based group San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation (SFBDF). “It’s a minor victory, but we’re happy.” The Federal Interim Act report, released Dec. 22, promises a stronger working relationship between state and federal agencies as it pertains to California’s drinking water and the declining Bay-Delta environment. The 23-page report also calls for, among other items, a reevaluation of the scientific process and cost efficiency behind the proposed 2-Gates program. “Federal agencies have undertaken intensive review and permitting efforts on this project in recent months,” reads an excerpt from the report. “As the reviews have proceeded, it has become clear that the project purpose could most
January 1, 2010
TO ALL OUR PRESS READERS
FAREWELL 2009
see Suit page 18A
by Ruth Roberts
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Na t
ward Winning News al A pa
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ion
“ We’re excited that they are slowing it down ... It’s a minor victory, but we’re happy.
”
Mike Guzzardo, publicity chairman San Francisco Bay and Delta Foundation expeditiously be advanced by first proving (or disproving) the underlying hypothesis that must be established for the 2-Gates project to be effective as a potential water supply enhancement.” The 2-Gates project is a five-year, $80 million, experimental program designed to save the Delta smelt by rerouting them away from the water pumps on Old and Middle rivers in Byron. The project is a joint venture by the State Department of Water Resources, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Southern California Metropolitan Water District, and would implement the installation of gates at Old River
between Holland Tract and Bacon Island, plus a Connection Slough between Mandeville and Bacon Island. The automatic gates would be closed at various times of the year for as much as 20 hours per day, depending on flood tides. Over the past few months, local groups and organizations up and down the Delta have lobbied for a halt to the gates project. In Discovery Bay, the SFBDF was able to extend the public comment period on the project, and eventually hopes to force the Bureau of Reclamation to provide an Environmental Impact Report for the Discovery Bay and Delta regions. Members of the SFBDF also met recently, along with Congressman Jerry McNerney and Supervisor Mary Piepho, with the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation to discuss the 2-Gates project. “Clearly this was all already in the works (the plans to delay the project) before we had the meeting,” said Guzzardo. “But it was still good (to meet) and it was a good first step toward local government and citizens working together to find a solution.” Pete Lucero, public affairs officer for the
ePress easy!
see 2-Gates page 18A
As we’ve done with the first edition of the year for a decade now, this week the Press looks back at some of the stories that graced our pages over the last 12 months. As always, the selection isn’t meant to suggest what were the most important, they’re just a sampling of some of what went on in the year just past. As always, we consider it our privilege to have been a part of life around here and hope that 2010 brings prosperity, peace and happiness to all our readers. Thanks for sharing with us, and enjoy this stroll down memory lane.
INSIDE Calendar ..........................19B Classifieds ........................13B Cop Logs ..........................15A Entertainment ................18B Food .................................10B Health & Beauty ............... 8B Milestones ......................... 7B Outdoors ...........................8A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
Flip the online pages.
Browse the pages of the Press just as they appear in the hard copy at www.thepress.net. See page 7A.
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A