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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No. 48
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November 26, 2010
Seeking to right Poultry in motion historical wrong by Justin Lafferty Staff Writer Antioch historian and lifelong resident Elizabeth Rimbault is working to correct what she feels has been a long-overlooked mistake. When William Wiggin Smith founded Antioch in 1851, he staked out a portion of land near the river as his own, calling it Smith’s Point. Smith, who according to Rimbault was a master carpenter, built three houses on the land. But a legal snafu after Smith’s death in 1898 changed the name to “Rogers’ Point” – a moniker that has stuck ever since. Rimbault, who recently tran-
scribed Smith’s diary into a book, wants the city to issue a proclamation to change the name back, honoring Antioch’s founding father. The area is located near the end of Fulton Shipyard Road. “We spent the entire 1900s calling it Rogers’ Point, and it’s like everything that Smith did or contributed to the community was just kind of wiped off the face of the earth,” Rimbault said. Rimbault noted that Smith is the only one with the legal claim to that land, and reverting his name would be the proper thing to do. She said Smith received the first United States Land Title to see Wrong page 22A
From all of us at
The Press This Week Let there be lights Photo by Justin Lafferty
etty Smith, a member of the board of directors of Delta 2000, a local nonprofit helper, gives a frozen turkey to Sam Otero from Street Outreach, a group of 15 local churches organizing a Christmas dinner for the homeless at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds.
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Putting a cork in underage drinking by Justin Lafferty Staff Writer No matter how many times Megan Joseph looks at the statistics, the numbers are still sobering. According to the 2009 California Healthy Kids Survey, 20 percent of seventh-graders polled in the Antioch Unified School District said they’ve drunk alcohol within the past 30 days. That figure is 21 percent in the Pittsburg Unified School District. In the Liberty Union School District, 49 percent of 11th-graders polled said they’ve been sick after drinking. Joseph, the policy coordinator for the year-old East County Alcohol Policy Coalition, hopes to help bring those numbers down by holding liquor stores accountable and changing an environment where underage drinking is becoming more common. The coalition is organized by Center for Human Development, and similar
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Photo courtesy of Megan Joseph
Members of the East County Alcohol Policy Coalition, including Antioch City Councilmember Martha Parsons, Paul Adler from Supervisor Federal Glover’s office, Pittsburg police officer Dan Callahan and policy coordinator Megan Joseph, brainstorm at a recent meeting. groups are active in other areas of the county. “It’s scary,” Joseph said. “It’s been shown that if you start drink-
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ing before 15 years of age, you’re four times more likely to become addicted to alcohol later in life. That’s four times more likely than
Holiday history go to news/WebExtras!
Read the Lincoln proclamation that pinpointed the day we hold Thanksgiving.
if you started at 21. That has a lot to do with brain development.” Members of the coalition, which Joseph said range between 10 to 15 and growing, have been talking with members of the community about the problem of underage drinking and studying alcohol distribution at major local events, such as the Contra Costa County Fair, Brentwood CornFest and Pittsburg Seafood Festival. Right now, the coalition is working with liquor stores to make sure they follow California’s “Lee Law,” which mandates that no more than one-third of window ads hawk alcohol. Joseph said the group wants to create a responsible alcohol merchant rewards program for stores that follow the Lee Law, and encourage the separation of regular energy drinks from those mixed with alcohol. On Tuesday, the coalition will conduct a training session with several local vendors to make sure see Drinking page 22A
Tough talker
go to news/press releases A traveling preacher is taking aim on the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
An outdoor Chanukah Festival will climax in the lighting of a monumental menorah. Page 6A
Ready to rumble
The defending champion Panthers are set to pounce on the new soccer season. Page 6B
Plus: Business .............................20A Calendar ............................ 23B Classifieds ......................... 16B Entertainment ................. 14B Food .................................... 12B Health & Beauty .............. 10B Milestones .......................... 9B Opinion ..............................16A Sports ................................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Robot rave
go to multimedia/videos Ingenious contraptions rattled the rafters of the Heritage gymnasium.