YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 16
Including Nearby Communities
Residents concerned about city cutbacks
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Giving voice to the dream Gas warfare declared
Columnist Vicki McKenna’s family fell victim to the aromatic adventures of a pungent pooch.
Staff Writer Twenty-seven City of Antioch employees have lost their jobs due to a $5 million budget deficit resulting from reduced sales and property tax revenue during the recession. More layoffs are likely due to a projected $6.7 million shortfall in the budget year beginning in July. While police officer positions have been saved so far, the city’s code enforcement staff is now down to two officers. Code Enforcement Director Ryan Graham told the audience at the April 4 Quality of Life Forum that, as a result, it will take longer for his department to respond to complaints about unkempt yards, garbage cans visible from the street, illegal RVs and
Page 4A Photo by Dave Roberts
one Tree Elementary School second-graders kicked off the recent Antioch Quality of Life Forum by reciting Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Their performance was appreciated by about 100 attendees of the forum held at the El Campanil Theater.
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other nuisances. That news worried several residents who have been pushing to improve Antioch’s quality of life by improving the appearance of its neighborhoods. One woman suggested cutting management
positions before cutting code enforcement. Terry Ramus suggested cutting employee salaries rather than furloughing employees one or two days per month. see Cutbacks page 21A
Oakley to fight peripheral canal plan Staff Writer Oakley officials, who are in charge of one of the few California cities with a shoreline on the Delta, have decided to become more active in the water war currently being fought in the state, including opposing the proposed peripheral canal. The City Council Tuesday night pledged support for efforts by Councilman Bruce Connelley and resident Roger Mammon to fight the proposal to build a canal along the edge of the Delta. The canal would take fresh water from the Sacramento River in the north Delta and ship it south to Central Valley farms and Southern California residents, bypassing the rest of the Delta. “If they build a peripheral
April 17, 2009
THIS WEEK
by Dave Roberts
by Dave Roberts
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“ If they build a peripheral canal and start exporting water around the Delta, our west Delta is going to be a stagnant, saltwater pool. It’s going to be contaminated with agricultural runoff … for you and I to consume.
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Roger Mammon canal and start exporting water around the Delta, our west Delta is going to be a stagnant, salt-water pool,” said Mammon. “It’s going to be contaminated with agricultural runoff … for you and I to consume. “What will happen to the property values out there? Who’s going to want to buy a home by a cesspool? There’s families here
and recreation interests here – and the people who want the water (in southern California) just don’t care. “The city of Oakley needs to get more involved because we are a Delta city and have the largest tidal estuary on the west coast of North and South America right out our front door – and they are going to kill it if we let
Sound off!
them. Oakley needs to get more involved because it’s the right thing to do.” The canal, which was rejected by California voters in 1982, is making a comeback due to widespread agreement that the current system isn’t working. The Delta ecosystem has been in decline and many fish, particularly endangered species, are dwindling. Some Delta levees are expected to fail in the coming decades, especially if there is a significant earthquake in the area, which could contaminate the Delta. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan has been proposed to help protect endangered fish while still guaranteeing a reliable water supply for about 25 see Fight page 21A
Citizens sound off
Want to know what your neighbors think about the issues? Check out our Op-Ed section.
Page 16A
Aquatic equality
In a splashdown between Deer Valley and Heritage, the Wolverine boys got deep-sixed while the girls stayed afloat.
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