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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No. 10
Oakley YMCA set to close; playground still in the works by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer The Delta Family YMCA in Oakley will be closing its doors at the end of month, but plans for a Special Kids all-abilities playground at the O’Hara Avenue site remain intact. “We’re sorry to see this happening to the YMCA, but Special Kids is not going anywhere,” said Lisa McBride, founder of the Special Kids Foundation. “We were partnered on that piece of land with the YMCA to build the playground and I’m very confident that the City of Oakley will stand with us. The need is great and we will get it built.” YMCA officials announced
last week that a continued downturn in the economy and a drying up of donations has caused the organization to close its Oakley and Clayton sites. Plans for an expansion at the San Ramon facility has also been shelved, but the Pleasant Hill location will remain open. Repeated calls to the YMCA’s public relations company, Trainer Communications, were not returned. News of the closure of East County’s only YMCA came as a surprise to Oakley’s leaders, who only six months ago had reached their community fundraising goal of $400,000 for the construction of a new facility on the 6-acre parcel see YMCA page 18A
Fun-filled ‘Fest
Staff Writer Of the budget cuts still on the table to help the Liberty Union High School District (LUHSD) meet its projected $3.8 million shortfall next year, an idea to allow students from other districts to transfer in has been ruled out. “Where this all started was that back in January we did some brainstorming about different ways to reduce the budget,” said LUHSD Superintendent Jerry Glenn. “So we were tossing around the idea that we could take more kids – and therefore additional revenue – into the district, unless
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of course they had a bad record or had been expelled. But there quickly became a public outcry of concern from parents in the district, and because we are about serving our residents in
www.thepress.net Your Hometown Web Site
March 5, 2010
This Week Supes keep icon intact
The war isn’t over, but the most recent battle over Mt. Diablo’s name was decided on the county level. Page 4A
Solemn celebration Photo by Richard Wisdom
ore than 400 members of the Oakley community visited Freedom High School last week for the inaugural Falcon Festival, where guests participated in a variety of activities showcasing Freedom’s many academic and athletic programs. Principal Erik Faulkner said the event was great success and plans are already in the works for next year’s event. Above, Tanner Hartwig cheers on sister Jaine, 2, as she takes a swing at the softball challenge while mom Allison watches.
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‘More students’ budget idea flunks by Ruth Roberts
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our community, we took that idea off the table; it’s no longer a consideration or on the list of proposals.” What is on the list, however, and will be presented at the March 10 regular school board meeting, is the first of three recommended cuts designed to allow for some financial wiggle room should the governor’s budget revision in May be less devastating than expected. “What our board decided to do rather than take action now was phase in the cuts,” said Glenn. “By March we will have the first reductions of $1.2 million, and then another chunk by May of up to $2.5 million and we’ll leave the last bit
Flagpole fix
go to news/WebExtras! Sometimes an ordinary repair job can read like a fable from ancient lore.
until the governor’s revise and see where we are.” Included in the first round of cuts, are non-staff reductions such as the elimination of summer school for ninth-graders, the reduction of site allocation funding by 10 percent (discretionary dollars given to campuses each year), and the raising/lowering of classroom and office thermostats by 2 degrees for a savings of $25,000. Increasing class sizes for alternative education teachers is also on the list. But the biggest potential savings – $900,000 – will come from the implementation of five work see Students page 18A
Net gain
go to news/press releases Diamond Hills is offering a youth tennis league to non-members at a price to love.
Relay for Life troops are ramping up for an all-out assault in the war on cancer. Page 5A
Falcons blaze coveted trail
Freedom advanced to the NCS second round – a first in the school’s history. Page 1B
Plus: Business ............................... 8A Calendar ............................ 23B Classifieds ......................... 14B Cop Logs ............................14A Food .................................... 12B Health & Beauty .............. 10B Milestones ........................ 21B Outdoors ............................. 6A Opinion ..............................13A Sports ................................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Safe shelter
go to multimedia/videos Shepherd’s Gate offers abused women and children asylum and compassion.