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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 18, No. 5
January 31, 2020
State of Town gala honors own
BUSD Teacher Negotiations
by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
It was an evening of food, spirits and music at the Discovery Bay State of the Town’s “Havana Nights” gala Saturday, Jan. 25. Held at the Discovery Bay Country Club and hosted by the chamber of the commerce, the black tie event honored the town’s Citizen, Business and Nonprofit of the Year winners and included updates from local officials and dignitaries. “This year’s gala was a wonderful representation of what the community of Discovery Bay is truly about,” said Chamber Executive Director Amy Agno. “The list of nominees were all so amazing and deserving. It was exciting to see so many people get involved and place their votes for the deserving candidates. We appreciate our community and congratulate all the nominees.”
Citizen of the Year honors went to Brandy Woolman for her commitment to the community and her work as one of the founding members of the Discovery Bay chapter of Helping One Woman, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping and supporting women. The group also won Nonprofit of the Year and is headed up by Woolman, Debbie Neely, Jeannette Hemenway, Shelly Williams and Tiffany Violich. The family-owned and operated Callahan’s Coffee & Cones was named Business of the Year for its commitment to the community, dedication to quality and service, and a founding principal that “ice cream makes everyone happy.” The Byron Union School District also honored its own with Teacher of the Year honors going to Alicia Woodson, a first-grade teacher at Discovery Bay Elementary School; and three Classified
Contract talks between the Brentwood school district, teachers union continue. Page 4
Support For Samantha Photo by Steve Nosanchuk
Brandy Woolman, with Discovery Bay General Manager Mike Davies, was honored as Citizen of the Year at the town’s annual gala. Employee of the Year awards to Debbie Auer, special education aide at Timber Point Elementary School; Janelle Craig, special education aide at Excelsior Middle
School; and Angelina Delgadillo, custodian at Discovery Bay Elementary School. To view a slideshow, visit www. thepress.net/multimedia/slideshows
Developer aims to restore Byron hotel by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
Sitting oddly out of place among the arid rolling hills of rural East Contra Costa County, the Byron Hot Springs Hotel now offers only the vaguest hints of its former glory, but a Bay Area developer is determined to breathe new life into this once-stunning building. Last year, Robert Cort purchased a 300-acre lot in Byron that includes the hotel. Working with Lance Crannell of the Brentwood-based firm SDG Architects, Cort submitted a preapplication review to county officials in December that proposes restoration of the hotel and the creation of new amenities. “I figured I could do a brew-
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Photo by Tony Kukulich
Robert Cort is the new owner of the Byron Hot Springs Hotel and surrounding property. Court has plans to restore the hotel and build a restaurant and possible event center ery or a winery with a restaurant, kind of a farm-to-table restaurant, some event space and a little
German beer garden – something not super small but small scale,” Cort said. “I want to do some-
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thing really nice there with a good chef that would make really good food for not a lot of money, good beer and then maybe some event space for weddings out there. I want to utilize the building that’s existing there – just fix it up. It’s about to fall down. It’s crumbling, literally crumbling.” The task faced by Cort is considerable. Time, vandals and general neglect have taken a heavy toll on the four-story hotel that dates to 1914. Referred to as “hotel three” after two previous hotels burned to the ground, it is the only building on the grounds that, according to Cort, once featured more than 20 structures. Windows and doors are long gone. All of the interior appoint-
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Ironhouse Sanitary District receives six prestigious awards at annual conference.
Community continues to rally for paralyzed Brentwood girl still hospitalized. Page 6
Heritage Honors Muse
Basketball star Abby Muse honored for scoring 1,000 points in high school career. Page 14 Calendar................................23 Classifieds.............................19 Cop Logs................................10 Education ..............................4 Health & Beauty..................21 Milestones..............................9 Opinion..................................18 Adopt a Pet.............................6 Sports.....................................14
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League of Women Voters hosting forum for District V candidates.