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Vol. 14, No. 30
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
River Otters swim to success by Dawnmarie Fehr Correspondent
Discovery Bay is a town where water sports are both appreciated and practiced. Here in town, there are 108 perfect examples of this love of water, who just swam their way through a successful season of swim meets. The Discovery Bay River Otters Swim Team, in its third season, crowned their best year yet with a first place win in the B division at the East County Invitational at Los Medanos College. “This was a fantastic year,” said Rick Pierce, Discovery Bay resident and president of the organization. “Enrollment was up, and our kids did great.” The Otters, who swim from April through July, practice at the pool behind the Discovery Bay Community Center, on Discovery Bay Boulevard. The team’s goals
Press takes home national awards The Brentwood Press & Publishing Corporation recently won seven awards in the National Newspaper Association’s 2015 Better Newspapers Competition. Sports writer and Associate Editor Kyle Szymanski took home a secondplace award for best sports story for his coverage of the Pittsburg Diamonds. The Press also won a first-place award for best classified section; a second-place award for best advertising idea; a second-place award for best small-page ad; a second-place award for best use of ad color; a thirdplace award for best multiple advertiser section; and a third-place award for best sales promotion section or edition.
Photo by LeeAnn Garrity
Members of the River Otters team, from left are Rachel Avezzie, Sydney Garrity, Isabella Beeckman and Isabella Lopez. are to learn to swim, learn to love the sport and learn proper stroke technique. “We only run 14 weeks, and we’re here to get the kids to love it,”
Pierce said. “Yes, we want to win, but the point is to have the kids fall in love with the sport, enjoy the season and make friends. We’ve had some kids who grew to love it so
much that they leave our team for a year-round competitive team, and I consider that a success. This philosophy is the key to our success. That and our great coaching staff.” Haley Pantle, a Discovery Bay resident with 18 years of coaching experience, heads the team’s coaching staff. She has been a part of the River Otters since its beginning and enjoyed coaching all 108 of her swimmers this past season. “The kids this year were enthusiastic learners and have improved greatly,” Pantle said. “Swimming is a very technical sport, where there is much growth that occurs in a short period of time. I am looking forward to another great year in 2017.” While the team has enjoyed immense success during its short life, it has reached full capacity at 108 swimmers for no other reason than a lack of space. see Otters page 34
Fragile levees could have dangerous consequences
A ceremony signaled the completion of the Highway 4 widening projects. Page 8
Deliveries In Distress
Meals on Wheels and Senior Outreach Services is in need of drivers. Page 6
Blasting The Competition
Correspondent
A recent study has concluded that some of the most significant flood-defense mechanisms in Contra Costa County appear to be deteriorating to a point where the mash-up of agencies responsible for their performance need to consider a policy overhaul. Authored by a civil grand jury and accepted by a superior court judge in Martinez, the report provides evidence suggesting the county’s many levees are not up to the modern standards that ensure they can hold back the waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Fearing the levees could collapse like dominoes, if even just one should breach, jurors
Brentwood Blast team turns heads at Cooperstown All-Star Village Tournament. Page 23 Photo by Corey Hunt
A levee runs along Dutch Slough Road on the outskirts of Oakley. While a small segment of mostly urban levees in Contra Costa County are said to be meeting or exceeding acceptable standards, a report says many require more upkeep. stated boldly that no one should be taking chances, since more than a quarter of the county’s population and property rely on them.
“The Delta levees form a critical bulwark against flooding that see Levees page 34
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Milestone For Highway 4
by Corey Hunt
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Red Cross issues emergency call for much-neededblood and platelet donations.
Calendar................................33 Classifieds.............................28 Cop Logs................................32 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Health & Beauty..................14 Milestones............................27 Opinion..................................22 Pets.........................................15 Sports.....................................23
District Refund
go to news/press releases Refunding for local school district saves taxpayers millions in interest costs.