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Vol. 17, No. 17
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
A Long Road To Recovery
Sane verdict All in a days work rendered in murder trial Shultz facing 25 years to life
Local student’s dream of college in jeopardy after severe injury from car accident. Page 5
by Tony Kukulich
Bar Takes Back Roads
Correspondent
Jurors in the William Shultz murder trial returned a verdict of sane in the 2015 murder of 9-year-old Jordon Almgren. The verdict was read in court on Friday, April 21. “On so many levels – emotionally, factually and legally – this is a really complex case,” said District Attorney Simon O’Connell. “Mental illness and insanity are two very separate and distinct versions of someone’s mental state. I was confident that when the jurors (heard) what the see Verdict page 34
Photo by Michele Chatburn
T
his mama goat worked a full day, trimming the weeds along Deer Creek Road in Brentwood and giving birth to two kids on Monday afternoon. She is one of the weed-eating goats working for the City of Brentwood. Worried neighbors contacted the goat company, and a herder came out and corralled her and her babies until the owners were able to come out and collect the new family.
No deal for fourth fire station by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The Brentwood City Council has backed out of a plan with the fire district to keep a fourth fire station open, in hopes of building a collaborative agreement that includes the county and the City of Oakley. The reversal comes after the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors offered up funds and the City of Oakley requested time to mull over the issue last week – all after representatives of Brentwood, Oakley, the county and the district met, but failed to quickly commit to a deal to save the fourth station. The failure prompted the district and Brentwood to begin crafting a deal to put the fourth station in Brentwood, instead of its current Knightsen location, since
Brentwood would be forking over funds. “My position on this is (that) I want to allow all parties to come together,” said Brentwood Vice Mayor Steve Barr. “There seems like there is more desire to have the station in Knightsen, and the only way we do that is to have all four – the fire district, Oakley, the county and Brentwood – (as part of the agreement).” Interim Fire Chief Brian Helmick confirmed this week the delay in working out a deal means the district’s Knightsen station will close on June 30. “There are some excess funds, and we do have some reserve funds,” Helmick said. “With that said, we do not have enough to fund the fourth station.” Helmick added that excess funds will allow some personnel to
avoid layoffs, although how many people and for how long needs further evaluation. District firefighter Bob May, who represents the district in the local firefighters union, supported Brentwood’s move to go back to the table. “We are recommending right now that we hit the reset; everyone comes back to the table, and we come up with a long term solution once and for all for East Contra Costa,” he said. Brentwood officials said the now ill-fated deal with the district was moved forward quickly to ensure it could maintain a fourth station and layoffs could be averted. Brentwood and district officials have also said they came away from meetings with Oakley and county officials feeling like the two entities didn’t want to be part of the solu-
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April 28, 2017
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tion. “I think everything Brentwood has done has been to try to prevent the fourth station from closing,” Barr said. “There has been more resistance to our method of moving quickly to prevent the closure than movement to find a solution.” Brentwood City Councilman Joel Bryant, president of the fire board, expressed disappointment that there was no firefighter union support for the deal between Brentwood and the district. “(The firefighter union) requested that we not keep 25 percent additional resources available to save lives in this district,” he said. “I am going to honor that request and let it be on their heads.” Oakley City Councilman Kevin Romick, who last week indisee Deal page 34
Chief of Police
www.thepress.net/news/webextras
Carlos Rojas recently named as new chief of police for Bay Area Rapid Transit.
A local watering hole has undergone a change in name and ownership. Page 16
Falcons Pound Pittsburg High
Freedom’s hot Bay Valley Athletic League start continues in rout of Pittsburg High School. Page 23 Calendar................................35 Classifieds.............................29 Cop Logs................................33 Entertainment.....................16 Food........................................15 Health & Beauty....................8 Meet The Beat........................7 Opinion..................................22 Pets.........................................10 Sports.....................................23
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Delta Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility helps out with spring cleaning.