YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 52
Including Nearby Communities
www.thepress.net
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December 25, 2009
From the Press family to yours to all our Press Readers
THIS WEEK
Homework helpers
Elementary schoolers get oneon-one mentoring and high schoolers get academic credit in an ingenious win-win program.
Page 6A Photo by Jennifer Fink
s another year draws to a close, it’s time once again for our annual message of thanks and good wishes to the communities that we at the Press newspaper group have been proud and privileged to serve for 10 years now. A lot has changed for a lot of people and companies during 2009, and due to the economy, not all of the change has been pleasant. Nevertheless, we hope your difficulties this year have been offset just a bit by the stories of success, achievement and caring we’ve been able to share in these pages and on our Web site, thepress.net. As we all look forward to a more prosperous 2010, we hope you’ll continue to share your lives with us and your neighbors, and we wish you a world of health and happiness along the way.
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Police play Santa for needy families by Dave Roberts Staff Writer The Antioch police, who normally focus their attention on those who have been naughty instead of nice, are once again switching gears to play Santa through their Adopt-a-Family Christmas program, providing turkey dinners and presents for some of Antioch’s poorest families. “It’s just the right thing to do,” said Sgt. Mitch Schwitters, who heads up the police Community Action Team when asked why the police have been
doing this every Christmas for the past 20 years. “There’s a lot of people out there helping each other out. And that’s what it’s about, isn’t it?” The police “adopt” 25 Antioch families each year that might not have much of a Christmas otherwise. One of those families is headed by Arnice Dahawei Lampkins, a disabled single mother of six children who lives on Social Security and has no money left over after paying her bills. It was looking like a meager Christmas for her family until see Santa page 20A
Sign in!
Police Sgt. Mitch Schwitters shows off this year’s hottest toy, Zhu Zhu hamsters, which were donated to needy kids in Antioch for Christmas. Photo by Curtis Evans
Landing the leviathan
A sea lion joined the hour-long fray, but three local anglers managed to haul in a big one.
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INSIDE Calendar ..........................19B Classifieds ........................12B Cop Logs ..........................15A Entertainment .................. 8B Health & Beauty ............... 6B Milestones ......................... 5B Opinion ...........................14A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
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