Antioch Press_6.5.09

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa

Vol. 9, No. 23

Including Nearby Communities

www.thepress.net

Kids have blast at County Fair by Dave Roberts Staff Writer

Photo by Dave Roberts

Savannah Rogers, 4, was one of many kids petting the goat kids and other animals at the County Fair in Antioch.

One of the attractions packing them in at this year’s County Fair, which ended Sunday in Antioch, was the shark show, featuring a diver who played one shark like a banjo, waved its fin at the audience and danced with it while another shark swam through a hoop. The first show on Thursday, the fair’s opening day, began with a demonstration of the unbreakability of the shark tank to reassure the audience. David Farrell of Concord, a week short of 5 years old, was chosen from the audience to tap on the glass. The tank, of course, sprung a fake leak, surprising and soaking Farrell as he tried to plug it with his hands, and spraying

some in the audience before the water was turned off. “He was certainly surprised. He thought he was doing something wrong for a second,” said his father Robert. “I really just thought it was adorable; they handled it well. He will never forget it for his entire life.” The Farrells were among hundreds who took advantage of the fair’s free admission before 3 p.m. on opening day. They spent a lot of time in the Kids Zone building, which offered youngsters hands-on things to do – similar to San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Another popular handson area was the livestock barn, where human kids petted goat kids and other animals. Two of those human kids were see Fair page 21A

More city employee layoffs likely Police officers may “ Frankly, some of the (budget be cut to deal with subcommittee) recommendations may have $4.5-$6.1M deficit people scratching their heads and going, ‘Why by Dave Roberts Staff Writer

Twenty-seven City of Antioch employees have been laid off in the past year to deal with a $5 million budget deficit. And more layoffs are likely, including possibly police officers, to deal with a $4.5 million deficit in the budget year beginning in July. Word is circulating that city officials are considering laying off six police officers – a position that previously had not been affected by the staff reductions due to concerns about crime in Antioch. The police cuts might include elimination of the Community Action Team and traffic control. City Manager Jim Jakel declined to comment on the rumor,

would you ever do that?’

Councilman Brian Kalinowski but said that the City Council will be discussing the 2009-10 budget at a meeting on either June 16, 17 or 18, depending on the availability of council members. “Can’t comment on the future outlook for layoffs, but the projected deficit for fiscal 09-10 still stands at $4.5 million,” said Jakel via e-mail. The deficit might be even worse than that if state government takes $1.6 million from Antioch’s property tax funding, with the understanding that it would be paid back with interest in three years. That would put the city’s deficit at $6.1 million in the coming year. The City

Council on May 26 unanimously passed a resolution protesting the possible state takeaway. “The proposal to borrow or take city property tax revenue will make the fiscal hardships we are already facing even more severe,” Jakel told council members before they passed the resolution. “It’s money we can ill afford to quote-unquote loan to the state. We’ll join another 100 cities (in California) that are taking similar action.” Councilman Brian Kalinowski, who serves on the council’s budget subcommittee with Mayor Jim Davis, predicted that residents might not like some of

Say what?

the budget-cutting recommendations they are discussing, particularly if the $4.5 million deficit becomes a $6.1 million deficit with the state takeaway. “At some point we really will run out of money,” said Kalinowski. “We are at ’98 revenues. Overall we have some extremely difficult decisions to make. I was not happy with the first layoffs or the removal of hours for city staff, which results in a 10-percent pay cut, and all of these other issues associated with cuts. “Frankly, some of the (budget subcommittee) recommendations may have people scratching their heads and going, ‘Why would you ever do that?’ But we have to bring them all forward and see what sticks and how we can bridge that gap. Because I don’t know how we are going to do $4.6 (million). That just tells you there’s no way we can do see Layoffs page 12A

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June 5, 2009

THIS WEEK

At the head of the class

High school valedictorians and salutatorians tell how they got where they are – and where they go from here.

Page 9A

Pool of talent Check out the impressive array of East County athletes named to the BVAL All-League Swimming First Team.

Page 12B

Creating a cart apart

Meets the minds that took conventional electric carts and converted them into miniature classy classics.

Page 3A

INSIDE Calendar ..........................27B Classifieds ........................18B Cop Logs ..........................17A Entertainment ................13B Health & Beauty .............10B Milestones ......................... 8B Opinion ...........................16A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B

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Tell us your story: news, sports, opinion, or feature. Submit your stories online with a photo or video.

FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A


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