Discovery Bay Press 07.11.14

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Vol. 12, No. 28

YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER

Delta weeds forum draws crowd by Heather Brewer Correspondent Frustration over the state's decision to halt the spraying of certain aquatic weeds in the Delta this year spilled over into a packed house at Discovety Bay Elementaty School Tuesday night, where a contentious and angry crowd gathered for a community forum aimed at addressing the controversial issue and the public's growing concerns. " Discovety Bay got a threeyear treatment for Egeria densa when the average treatment plan foUows a two-year schedwe," said Col. Christopher C. Conlin, USMC (Ret.), deputy director of the state park's Division of Boating and Watetways. "Due to this treatment, the presence of Egeria densa in the area has diminished tremendously and will not be treated this year.

" Howevet~ just because we are not treating this year does not mean we won't be treating next year," he added. "We just cannot treat the entire Delta every year. " Hosted by Assemblymember Jim Frazier (District II ), the forum was comprised of panel members from the Division of Boating and Waterways, U.S. Depattment of AgricLdture, the State Water Resources Control Board, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Contra Costa County Depattment of Agriculture. Each group gave short presentations outlining their areas of responsibility in determining where and how the Delta gets treated for which aquatic weeds during the year and their roles in the issuance of permits for those treatments. Unfortunately, in the absence of the Egeria densa, another inva-

July 11,2014

A salute to agriculture

The Brentwood Harvest Time Festival makes its debut at City Park this weekend. Page 18

Photo by Richard Wisdom

Water Resource Engineer W. Ru ssell Norman talks with Lazy M Marine owner Dee Mygrant about the state's plan to halt aquatic weed spraying in Discovery Bay this year. sive aquatic weed has taken hold in the channels. "Once we got the Egeria densa under control, another plant, the

Taking a bite out of cancer

curly-leaf pondweed, filled in that gap," Conlin said. "At this time, we

see Weeds page 26A

Press awards Firefighters working overtime

American Cancer Society fundra iser Bark For Life returns to The Streets. Page 7A

The Brentwood Press & Publishing Corporation won five awards in the National Newspaper Association's recent 20 14 Better Newspapers Competition. Associate Editor Samie Hartley won third place in the Best Humor Column category for her Simple & Sassy column "A reflection in selfies." To read her column, visit www.thepress.net/features/columns/samie_hartley. Anne Ray and Sharon Finerty won first place for Best Use of Ad Color in their Got A Party Brentwood Pumpkinfest advertisement. Lonnie de La mbert and Michele Chatbum collected second place for Best Single Ad Idea fo r The Little Gym Date N ight advertisement, a nd Ray a nd Rebecca Po rterfield took third place in the Best Use of Ad Colo r for the Sunshine H o use ad, which was described as "absolutely adorable" by NNAj udges. Carol La ird and Connie O 'Neill once again received an ho norable mention for Best Classified Section, which you can check out on Page li B.

Motocross mini master

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by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer

East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) firefighters are working a n average of three extra shifts a month to make up for vaca ncies within the department, F ire C hief Hug h Henderso n told the district board during its meeting Monday night. The department has I 0 vacancies, requiring each of the district's 35 fire suppression personnel to work a n average of 72 extra ho urs a month at a cost of $85,000 to the district per month. However, with the district expected to vote on Aug. 4 whether o r n ot to proceed with an attempt to create a voter-approved benefit assessment district , Henderson s uggested the di strict continue filling the vacancies with e mployees working overtime as opposed to closing a stati o n, which would a lleviate nine of the I 0 vaca ncies. "The best service that we ca n provide fo r o ur community in this hot, dry s ummer that we are having, a nd to ma intain o ur coverage, is to ma intain our staffing level," H enderson sa id.

Furthering the cha llenges ahead, if the board proceed s with the attempt for a benefit assessment a nd voters approve it during a mail-in election that ends in October, it could take up to five months for additiona l firefighters to hit the streets due to the lengthy hiring a nd training process, Henderson said. In a ll, the district might need firefighters to work overtime for the next 10 months to maintain current service levels. The revelation prompted board director Joe Young to ask Henderson for a repo rt outlining methodology of closing stations. Director Greg Cooper suggested the board vote on closing a station next month. "We are in this perfect storm where for years this district has struggled," Cooper said. "We've had layoffs; we've h ad the SAFER (S ta ffing fo r Adequate F ire and E mergency Respo nse) g rant kic k in. T he re has neve r been a ny solid fo undatio n to the district. Now a ll of a sudden, as we get closer to this decisio n, we have a ll these openings and people a re being fo rced to work a lo t more. I think it's a ll coming together at the same time and having a n impac t o n the

see Overtime page 26A

Jacob Jones is making a name for himself in the racing world, and he's only 8. Page 17A Calendar .. ..... ........... ..... ..... 158 Classifieds .... ..... ...... ..... ..... 11 8 Comics ...... .. .............. ..... ..... .. 98 Cop Logs .. ..... ........... ..... ..... 148 Classifieds .... ..... ...... ..... ..... 11 8 East County Living ... .. ..... . 18 Health & Beauty ................ 88 Milestones ......... ..... ..... ..... .. 78 Opinion .... ....... ................... 18A Sports .. .. ... ..... ..... ...... ..... ..... 19A

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~~~~~~. .- Get outside and

enjoy California's wildlife areas this summer to get in touch with nature.

I. W

Volunteers are needed to assist Project Homeless Connect 20 14 in August.


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