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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 9, No. 45
CSD board votes Fond farewell to rescind benefits W by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Bowing to public pressure, the CSD board voted last week to rescind benefits for the town’s directors and retirees. In a 4-1 vote at the Nov. 2 regular CSD meeting (Director Brian Dawson voted against the action), the board agreed to curtail the health and ancillary care packages previously offered to directors, but will retain the plan for town staff. The decision followed a growing debate between the town’s board of directors, general manager and a contingent of residents who claim the board intentionally voted to include themselves in the benefits package without making the decision
public. On Nov. 17, 2010, the CSD board agreed to offer medical and ancillary benefits to the town’s 11 full-time and one part-time employee through the Special Districts Risk Management Authority’s (SDRMA) medical program. “Just prior to the November 17 meeting, a board member asked if the board members were eligible for coverage,” said General Manager Rick Howard during a prepared statement at the Nov. 2 CSD meeting. “After checking with the legal department, the response to the question was yes. However, at the time, I thought the inquiry was just an inquiry, and I was still just
ith mixed emotions, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection on Monday accepted the retirement request from Paid on Call Assistant Chief Maggie Fajardo after 44 years of service. Fajardo began his service with the Oakley Fire Protection District in 1967 and has held the ranks of lieutenant, training officer and captain. He was promoted to the rank of assistance chief after the formation of ECCFPD in 2003. Said Fire Chief Hugh Henderson, “Maggie has performed an outstanding job of handling the role of support services for the district, making sure
Photo courtesy of ECCFPD
that our day-to-day needs were handled in a timely manner. Maggie has always been available to all of us in the middle of the night, to make sure there were cold drinks and replacement air bottles.”
Orphan buffalo gets new home to roam Staff Writer
Driving through the back roads of East County, passersby often see an array of farm animals, from cows and horses to chickens and goats. If you happened to be driving along Byron Highway last Thursday afternoon, chances are you passed a buffalo and didn’t even know it. It’s OK. She didn’t see you, either. It took months of planning, but orphaned buffalo Nakoma finally made it to her new home in Byron after being abandoned at a ranch in Bethel Island earlier this year. Members of the UC Davis Large Animal Clinic were called to sedate the 800-pound beast for transport, and when she awoke, she was greeted by the smiling face of her rescuer and new owner, Charles Ward. “We knew going into the rescue that there were risks,” Ward said. “But the poor thing was all
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Byron rancher Charlie Ward offers an apple to Nakoma, a buffalo he rescued from an abandoned property on Bethel Island. Ward has kept buffalo on his alone out there. Luckily the story has a happy ending and now she’s ranch for years, so when a family doing great. As soon as she saw me friend discovered an abandoned Thursday night as she was coming buffalo at a foreclosed ranch in out of it, she sat right up. She’s still Bethel Island, she called Ward and getting acclimated to her new sur- asked if he’d be interested in bringroundings, but she seems to be hav- ing the buffalo to his ranch. The ing fun walking around the ranch, buffalo was one of three, but since the original owners abandoned the investigating the property.”
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The Salvation Army has scheduled an ambitious array of holiday activities.
November 11, 2011
Venerating our veterans
We dedicate this day to those who dedicate themselves – every day – to protect our freedom. Page 1B
see Benefits page 17A
by Samie Hartley
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bison without warning, two died of starvation before a neighbor found the remaining buffalo roaming the back of the property. Ward went out to meet the buffalo and began to visit her daily, eventually feeding her apples by hand, and the two formed a bond. “She was nothing but a bag of bones,” Ward said. “I couldn’t leave her out there to suffer, so I started the process of going through the proper channels to get permission to bring her to my ranch. I knew it was going to take some time but it was worth it. Now she’s safe.” Ward contacted the owners of the property and explained that he was willing to take the buffalo off the property, but when Ward got the OK and tried to load the buffalo into a trailer, the creature instinctively rushed out as soon as the doors began to close behind her. Having worked with UC Davis vets in the past, the Ward family got in touch with the Large see Buffalo page 15A
More memorials go to news/press releases
A USDVA grant will allow a regional veterans cemetery to expand.
Name your faves Nominations are being accepted for Discovery Bay Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year. Page 3A
Patriots make waves
The goal-oriented Heritage water polo team checked off two big boxes on their 2011 to-do list. Page 21A Arts .....................................10A Business .............................16A Calendar ............................ 15B Classifieds ........................... 8B Cop Logs ............................ 14B East County Life ................ 1B Food ...................................... 4B Milestones ........................ 13B Opinion ..............................18A Outdoors ............................. 6A Sports .................................21A FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
War memories
go to multimedia/videos A WWII Navy veteran recalls his harrowing tour of duty in the Pacific.