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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No. 9
Ex-cons headed to East County by Dave Roberts Staff Writer Some of the 20,000-plus convicts due to be released early to relieve overcrowding in state prisons will begin arriving in East County by the end of this year or early next year, according to David Fraser, chief of staff for County Supervisor Federal Glover, speaking at last week’s meeting of the Antioch Crime Prevention Commission. “You should know that individuals coming out of prison and returning to the city, many of them actually end up going right back to prison,” Fraser said to the two dozen people at the meeting in the community room of the Antioch Police Station. This is due to “social, economic factors and some individuals are simply hardcore criminals not bent on doing any thing good. They like the crazy life and doing harm.” The prisoner-release program was announced in September in response to a U.S. District Court ruling in August that state prisons, which are at nearly double their capacity, have two years to reduce overcrowding to no more than 137 percent of the prison space. That would require a reduction of about 40,000 prisoners, but Fraser believes the number returning to California communities will be about half of that. State officials responded with a three-
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February 26, 2010
This Week Local lass spreads cheer
NFL fans in Europe got a Super Bowl Sunday bonus when the Niners’ Gold Rush Girls made a morale-boosting appearance. Page 4A Photo by Dave Roberts
David Fraser, chief of staff for County Supervisor Federal Glover, said that residents must prepare for an influx of ex-convicts, possibly by the end of the year, to relieve prison overcrowding. year prisoner reduction plan that includes sending fewer parole violators back to prison, reducing the time that prisoners serve, deporting illegal immigrant prisoners, reducing to a misdemeanor thefts less than $950 and allowing low-risk offenders to serve the last year of their sentence under house arrest.
“We are faced with a court mandate to reduce the prison population, and individuals are coming back to the community,” said Fraser. “There’s really no way to circumvent that. We can’t assume that an overtaxed policing system can watch them all. The police
Torrid tomes Fans of Romance novels will catch an extra thrill when they get to meet the writers. Page 7A
Scoring spree on the books
see Prisoner page 18A
Pittsburg ratchets up road fight by Dave Roberts Staff Writer
Photo by Dave Roberts
Pittsburg officials have threatened to stop contributing to regional road projects if East County officials don’t agree to fund the extension of James Donlon Boulevard west to Kirker Pass Road. James Donlon currently dead-ends near Somersville Road.
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For the past 10 months, City of Pittsburg officials have been steadily ratcheting up their threat level – from code blue to yellow to orange – to pull out of an East County road funding agency if money isn’t provided to extend James Donlon Boulevard west to Kirker Pass Road. It currently dead-ends near Somersville Road. Since July, Pittsburg officials have withheld their monthly contributions to the East Contra Costa Regional Fee and Financing Authority (ECCRFFA).
Winter showcase go to news/WebExtras!
Special Gateway students laced ‘em up and found that ice can be nice.
That agency, which consists of the county and cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley and Pittsburg, collects transportation fees on new development. It has set as its top funding priorities the widening of Highway 4 and construction of the Highway 4 Bypass. And that has left Pittsburg officials feeling shortchanged. They are seeking $27 million to construct the James Donlon Extension, which would run parallel to Buchanan Road, helping relieve congestion on Buchanan from the traffic using it as an alternative to congested Highway 4. see Road page 18A
Student art
go to news/press releases Antioch’s Lynn House Gallery devotes major wall space to aspiring talent.
The Wolverines put a seasonhigh 90 points on the board in a promising tuneup for the playoffs. Page 2B
Plus: Business .............................12A Calendar ............................ 19B Classifieds ......................... 12B Cop Logs ............................15A Entertainment ................. 10B Health & Beauty ................ 6B Opinion ..............................14A Sports ................................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Epic memories
go to multimedia/videos World War II veterans helped keep the monumental events of 1945 alive.