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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 9, No. 39
CSD director to leave committee by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Amid continued calls for his resignation from the Discovery Bay CSD Board, embattled Vice President Brian Dawson told his colleagues this week that he would be stepping down from the board’s School District Committee. Pressure for Dawson to vacate his seat has been building since his arrest on suspicion of spousal abuse and child endangerment after Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance at the Dawson home on Aug. 27. Free on $20,000 bail, Dawson will face misdemeanor charges at his arraignment on Oct. 31. At last week’s CSD meeting, resident Jeff Barber repeated his call for Dawson’s resignation, or at least his removal from the school board committee.
“I think it is completely inappropriate that you have a director out of jail on bail being charged by the district attorney for violence against his family, including child endangerment,” Barber said at the meeting. “I don’t believe that individual should be representing this board anywhere or anyplace and I think you should remove that director at your earliest convenience, tonight if possible, from any active representation on this board … I think it is completely wrong, especially anything to do with children, given the charges against the individual.” Contacted by phone on Tuesday, Dawson declined to comment on Barber’s demand. Later, however, he sent The Press a copy of a one-sentence email he had sent to his fellow board members Monday. see Director page 22A
Our Fall Home & Garden Edition is bursting with bright ideas on how to enhance your environs. Page 1B
Survey scrutinized Residents hopped online and registered their preferences regarding a new community center. Page 4A Photo by Richard Wisdom
CSD Vice President Brian Dawson listens as resident Jeff Barber calls for his resignation during last week’s board meeting.
by Justin Lafferty Staff Writer
Photo by Justin Lafferty
A construction worker digs along Somersville Road as part of the Highway 4 widening project. Savings from the project will likely help pay for improvements on the Bypass intersection at Sand Creek Road in Brentwood. of Rancho Cordova put in a bid of $42,380,000 to work on the Contra Loma Boulevard in-
terchange in Antioch – roughly $8.5 million less than expected. If Caltrans OKs the bid, the
Crucial clinic
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September 30, 2011
The lowdown on spiffing up
Savings lead to Bypass progress The effort to clear congestion on the Highway 4 Bypass got a boost recently, thanks to some savings on another highway project. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) received $25 million from the state earlier this year to convert the Sand Creek Road intersection to an entrance/exit-ramp interchange, a $33 million project. The officials were banking on savings on a segment of the Highway 4 widening project to cover the remaining cost, a notion that looks promising. According to CCTA Engineering Manager Hisham Noeimi, contractor CC Myers
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Local Rotary clubs are sponsoring a free medical clinic for the uninsured.
savings from that project will go toward improving the meeting of Sand Creek Road and the Bypass. “It’s nice to have positives in East County for transportation solutions,” said Brian Kalinowski, chairman of regional transportation board TRANSPLAN. “I think in about three or four years, when all these projects are done, people are going to really appreciate the hard work. It’s hard work that people have done for a decade to make these things come to fruition.” Noeimi noted that essentially, CCTA can start planning two projects – the Sand Creek Road interchange and the widsee Bypass page 22A
Move over
go to news/press releases Cops are targeting drivers who endanger highway workers.
Leaders of the pack
A trio of local cross country runners proved they were in it for the long haul. Page 17A Calendar ............................ 23B Classifieds ......................... 19B Cop Logs ............................15A Entertainment ................. 15B Food .................................... 16B Home & Garden ................. 1B Milestones ........................ 22B Opinion ..............................14A Sports .................................17A
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Teacherific
go to multimedia/videos Students treated the county’s Teacher of the Year to a highspirited parade.