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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 15, No. 7
Scout eyes community project by Dawnmarie Fehr
February 17, 2017
Living A Full Life After 50
Correspondent
Logan Dolnick of Discovery Bay may only be 14, but he’s already close to achieving the pinnacle of scouting rank – completing his Eagle Scout project. The Liberty High School freshman has been working closely with the Discovery Bay Lions Club to put together a free vision and hearing screening for his community next month. “Usually, children only get screened once or twice in elementary school, so this is a good event to give back to the community, because some kids haven’t been screened in a while,” Logan said. “It’s a hearing and vision screening; everybody is welcome and it’s free.” Logan knew just where to go for help with his screening initiative – his local Lions Club. “(The Lions) are great, local, community-oriented people,”
Living 50 Plus section, highlights all the the options for seniors in East County. Page 1B
Firefighters Honor Friend Photo courtesy of Logan Dolnick
Logan Dolnick, center, has been working overtime to put together a vision and hearing screening for his community, as part of his Eagle Scout project. Logan said. “They’ve been doing community service for a while, so I thought they’d be a great resource.” He thought right. After speaking with Glenn Hoffman, president of the Discovery Bay Lions
Club, Logan was well on his way. Hoffman spoke to the Lions and was able to get volunteer help for a vision-screening machine and two qualified volunteers to run it. “Logan came to the Lions and
asked if we would be willing to help by doing the vision screening, and that’s something we do,” Hoffman said. “We have some members who see Scout page 26A
Fire district response times increase by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The number of hours the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) was unavailable for calls has doubled from December to January. According to recently released statistics, all district resources were tied up and unable to respond to calls for a total of 4 hours and 14 minutes last month, compared to two hours in December. The district’s average response time also increased by 30 seconds during the same period, to 8 minutes and 12 seconds. “Our situation appears to be no better, if not getting worse,” said Board Director Joe Young. The district, currently comprised of four engines, may drop to three by midyear if additional funding isn’t found. The district cov-
“ Our situation appears to be no better, if
not getting worse.
”
Joe Young, ECCFPD board director ers 249 square miles in Brentwood and Oakley and in the unincorporated communities of Bethel Island, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Byron, Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory. As the closure deadline looms, the district’s response times are already lagging, even with Station 94 in Knightsen still active. Looking at the time it took crews to respond to calls for 90 percent of the time in January, the east and west areas of Brentwood, along with Oakley, Knightsen and Bethel Island saw response times increase from December. For 90 percent of the time in January, crew response time was in the double digits in
nearly every district service area. The exception was Oakley, where it took engines 9 minutes and 11 seconds to respond to calls for 90 percent of the time. The outer fringes of the district were hit the hardest, with engines taking 22 minutes and 11 seconds to respond to calls in Bethel Island for 90 percent of the time, nearly 15 minutes to respond to calls in Discovery Bay and Byron for 90 percent of the time and about 13 minutes to respond to calls in Knightsen, Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory for 90 percent of the time. The district’s response time to calls in east Brentwood for 90 per-
cent of the time was 10 minutes and 50 seconds, and in west Brentwood for 90 percent of the time, it was 10 minutes and 21 seconds. ECCFPD District Battalion Chief Jeff Burris attributes the increased response times to the district’s call volume jumping by 50 to 651 calls in January, which included 22 vehicle accidents, 15 structure fires and five accidents requiring crews to rescue people from their vehicles. District Board President Joel Bryant said the statistics and at least one incident where crews from Livermore were required to respond to a call highlight the district’s vulnerability. “Imagine that is the time (from Livermore to East County) you have to hold your breath or (are) stuck in a wrecked vehicle,” he said. see District page 26A
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PG&E reminds customers that loose metallic balloons can cause power outages.
Firefighters host annual memorial golf tournament in remembrance of fallen friend. Page 5A
Wrapping Up The Season
Heritage High enters its final regular-season game at 9-0 in league play. Page 17A Calendar.............................27A Classifieds..........................23A Entertainment..................11A Food.....................................10A Milestones........................... 8A Opinion...............................16A Pets......................................21A Sports..................................17A
New Bills
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Assemblymember Jim Frazier introduces two bills to help small businesses.