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Vol. 14, No. 32
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
School district First day smiles welcomes new principals
August 5, 2016
Dancing To The Music
by Dawnmarie Fehr Correspondent
The Byron Union School District (BUSD) has begun the school year with new leaders at the helm of two of its schools. Excelsior Middle School (EMS) welcomed Paul Gengler as principal, and Discovery Bay Elementary (DBE) welcomed Pierre Laleau as its principal. Kelly Basmagian and Kerri Van de Star, who formerly held these posts, have been promoted to positions within the BUSD. “I am so pleased to have two experienced principals come to serve us in Byron School District,” said Debbie Gold, BUSD Superintendent. “Both Mr. Gengler and Mr. LaLeau were respected, highly talented, student-centered principals in their previous district.” Gengler and Laleau both come to the BUSD from different schools in the River Delta Unified School District. Their simultaneous transfers were coincidental, and both men are Brentwood residents looking forward to a reduced commute. As 35-year veteran of the education system, Gengler has accomplished much. During his tenure as principal,
From classic rock and pop, to country and blues, it’s all here for area music lovers. Page 6
Hunting For Stories
Photo by Tony Kukulich
C
lockwise from bottom left, Timber Point Elementary School kindergartener Dillon Knott and third graders Kaycee Knott, Dayton Knott and Kaden Asturias wrap up their first day of school Monday. Students throughout East County loaded up their backpacks and headed back to the classroom this week.
see Principals page 30
ECCFPD struggling despite reopened station by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
East Contra Costa Fire reopened its Knightsen station in July, but critical issues remain for the four-station district, Fire Chief Hugh Henderson told the fire board this week. “We are still averaging about eight hours a month that we have no resources, so we are no where from fixing this problem,” Henderson said. “We need to continue to focus on letting people know the situation that we are in.” Response times district wide improved by six seconds
“ We are still averaging about eight hours a month that we have no resources, so we are no where from fixing this problem.
”
Hugh Henderson, ECCFPD fire chief to 8 minutes, 21 seconds with the fourth station in service in July, but many calls went unanswered due to all resources being tied up. Eight times during July, all resources were tied, totaling 11 hours, 38 minutes of time where no district engines were available to respond to calls.
During that period, ambulances handled medical calls, and mutual aide from Contra Costa Fire, Alameda County Fire, San Ramon Valley Fire and Federal Fire out of Concord were required to handle fire calls. The district’s vulnerability was especially apparent on
July 2, 3 and 4, when the district handled 84 calls and were unable to respond to 18 others. During that stretch, Henderson was required to respond solo to a reported vegetation fire in Discovery Bay, while all district crews were fighting a four-acre fire in Brentwood, on July 3. The call was a false alarm, but crews from three different fire departments, including Concord, Livermore and Danville, were the closest available units had additional help been required. Just minutes after that call, outside dissee ECCFPD page 30
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Contra Costa Library offers free mass transit passes with Discover & Go.
Brentwood Library hosts first StoryWalk, inviting residents to stroll and read. Page 4
Chasing The Olympic Dream
Heritage tae kwon do fighter CJ Nickolas is pursuing a place in the 2020 Olympics. Page 21 Calendar................................31 Classifieds.............................26 Cop Logs................................29 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Health & Beauty..................14 Milestones............................25 Opinion..................................20 Pets.........................................15 Sports.....................................21
Delta Diablo
go to news/press releases Delta Diablo expands residential recycled water fill station hours on Wednesdays.