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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 11, No. 39
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September 30, 2011
City could renew blight fight by Justin Lafferty
The lowdown on spiffing up
Staff Writer After roughly two years without code enforcement, Antioch might soon hire an officer to help address the city’s blight issue. Antioch’s City Council will make a final decision on Oct. 25, but discussion at Tuesday night’s meeting seemed to be on track with what many residents have been clamoring for. If approved at next month’s meeting, the city will use money from the solid waste fund ($40,000), the abandoned vehicle fund ($80,000) and $51,000 in Community Development block grants (CDBG) to pay for a code enforcement officer. The city could also use a portion of grant money that usually goes toward recreation to help pay for code enforcement. However, Deputy Director of Community Development Ryan Graham pointed out that the CDBG money can only be used in low-income areas of Antioch. Because of this stipulation, Antioch officials are planning to limit code enforcement activities to the northwest sector of the city at the outset.
Our Fall Home & Garden Edition is bursting with bright ideas on how to enhance your environs. Page 1B
Press file photo
Antioch could soon hire a code-enforcement officer to handle blight such as this at a housing complex on East Sixth Street, seen earlier this year. “I think we need to start this sooner rather than later,” Mayor Jim Davis said. Antioch leaders can fill the position inhouse, hire a private code enforcement firm, or contract services with the county – a notion at which Councilman Brian Kalinowski bristled
when he heard the $100 per hour price tag for salary and benefits that would come with that third option. The council decided that the best option see Blight page 22A
Savings lead to Bypass progress by Justin Lafferty Staff Writer The effort to clear congestion on the Highway 4 Bypass got a boost recently, thanks to some savings on another highway project. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) received $25 million from the state earlier this year to convert the Sand Creek Road intersection to an entrance/ exit-ramp interchange, a $33 million project. The officials were banking on savings on a segment of the Highway 4 widening project to cover the remaining cost, a notion that looks promising. According to CCTA Engineering Manager Hisham Noeimi, contractor CC Myers of
Rancho Cordova put in a bid of $42,380,000 to work on the Contra Loma Boulevard interchange in Antioch – roughly $8.5 million less than expected. If Caltrans OKs the bid, the savings from that project will go toward improving the meeting of Sand Creek Road and the Bypass. “It’s nice to have positives in East County for transportation solutions,” said Brian Kalinowski, chairman of regional transportation board TRANSPLAN. “I think in about three or four years, when all these projects are done, people are going to really appreciate the hard work. It’s hard work that people have done for a decade to make these things come to fruition.”
Photo by Justin Lafferty
A construction worker digs along Somersville Road as part of the Highway 4 widening project. Savings from the project will likely help pay for improvements on the Bypass intersection at Sand Creek Road in Brentwood. Noeimi noted that essentially, CCTA can start planning two projects – the Sand Creek Road interchange and the widening of the Bypass from Laurel Road to the interchange. He estimated that it would take Caltrans a couple months to formally award the
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The Belle of the Ball Fashion Affair will offer prospective prom goers some deep dress discounts. Page 10A
Textbook triangulation
Tennis, music and academics – one Deer Valley ace is keeping the intimidating triad in faultless balance. Page 17A
Crucial clinic
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Frugal finery
Local Rotary clubs are sponsoring a free medical clinic for the uninsured.
bid. Once that’s finalized, groundbreaking could commence by February. “They came in line with our expectations,” Noeimi said. “We’re getting two projects moving here.” see Bypass page 22A
Move over
go to news/press releases Cops are targeting drivers who endanger highway workers.
Calendar ............................ 23B Classifieds ......................... 19B Cop Logs ............................15A Entertainment ................. 15B Food .................................... 16B Home & Garden ................. 1B Milestones ........................ 22B Opinion ..............................14A Sports .................................17A FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Teacherific
go to multimedia/videos Students treated the county’s Teacher of the Year to a highspirited parade.