MERRY CHRISTMAS
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 19, No. 51
December 20, 2019
Tri Delta driver commended for help in locating missing man
Remembering Coach Ferrill
by Deanna Gordon Staff Writer
A bus operator from Tri Delta Transit has been formally recognized and called a hero for her vigilance in helping to bring a missing Brentwood man back home to his family. Becky Vanderpool — a Pittsburg resident who has worked for Tri Delta Transit since 2006 — has always represented the agency well, according to her supervisors, but her quick thinking went above and beyond in October. Dirk Burton, a 20-year-old autistic man from Brentwood, went missing after he was last seen at the Safeway store on Brentwood’s Second Street on Oct. 28. A few days later, Vanderpool was on her route in Bay Point when she saw him. “I was waiting to pull from 380 eastbound, and he was pacing back and forth,” she said. “I recognized him from one of the posts that he was missing.” She approached Burton, asked him if he
Tri Delta Transit bus operator Becky Vanderpool was recognized at the agency’s board meeting, Wednesday, Dec. 11, for her work in helping to bring a missing Brentwood man home.
Photo courtesy of Tri Delta Transit
see Missing page 18
County picks prospective pot businesses Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has formally invited four storefront cannabis retailers and seven commercial cannabis cultivators — including some in East County — to submit land-use permit applications in anticipation of possibly being allowed to operate in unincorporated county areas. The move comes on the heels of state voters approving the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act in November 2016, which gives local agencies the option of allowing and controlling
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“ There is no guarantee that anyone who applied is successful at the end of the process … There will be notices to the public and public hearings.
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John Gioia, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors commercial marijuana cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and testing laboratories. “There is no guarantee that anyone who applied is successful at the end of the process, because there is going to be a full public process, as we have with all land-use is-
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sues approving any type of development,” said John Gioia, chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. “There will be notices to the public and public hearings.” The three invited East County businesses at four locations — all classified as prospective commercial cannabis
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cultivators — are Lifted Spirit Collective at 5930 Balfour Road in unincorporated Brentwood; Element 7, hoping to operate separate locations at 3645 Willow Way in Byron and 0 Chestnut St. in unincorporated Brentwood; and Diablo Valley Farms, looking to operate at 4425 Sellers Ave. in unincorporated Brentwood. Those invited businesses, along with three Richmond commercial cannabis cultivators and four storefront cannabis retailers in Bay Point, El Sobrante and North and South Pacheco, now have until March 9 to formally submit see Pot page 18
Community mourns loss of longtime Liberty coach and local icon Jack Ferrill. Page 4
Making A Run For Congress
Brentwood resident William Martinek announces his candidacy for Congress. Page 5
Heating Up The Hardwood
Liberty boys’ basketball team participated in annual Stonebarger Tournament. Page 11 Calendar................................19 Classifieds.............................15 Entertainment.......................2 Legals.....................................16 Opinion....................................8 Adopt A Pet..........................19 Sports.....................................11
Pet Scams
Brentwood
Food Maxx Shopping Center 925.308.5756 SiteforSoreEyes.com
www.thepress.net/news/press_releases
Consumers are warned to be careful when shopping for a pet this holiday.