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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 11, No. 39
Wounded warrior returns home by Rick Lemyre Staff Writer
As he stood outside a construction trailer in Afghanistan, Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Marquart knew exactly what he was hearing. “It was that unforgettable ‘whooossssh’ a rocket makes,” he said. “It was right at eye level, coming straight at me. I saw the smoke, heard the bang, and stuff started flying all over.” A member of Navy Construction Battalion 18, a Reserve unit out of Ft. Lewis, Wash., the Oakley resident was starting his second tour in the war zone in August of 2010 when the rocket attack occurred. His unit, commonly referred to as “Seabees,” was part of a joint task force assigned to oversee $250 million in construction projects. Marquart made it unscathed through his first tour in 2008-09, but not his second. As the 107mm rocket approached, he had enough time only to turn around and put his back to the incoming missile. It hit the ground 10 feet from him,
memory) after that. I remember waking up on the floor inside the trailer, but I don’t know how I got there.” He reached up to check his shoulder, and his hand came away crimson with blood. Treated by a series of coalition medics, doctors and nurses – and dosed up with morphine – Marquart was told to call his wife, Lynne, to tell her he’d been wounded. The result was “my most bittersweet day,” he said. The call came in to Oakley, waking Lynne up at about 1:30 a.m. “The only thing I heard was ‘I got hit,’” said Lynne. Wanting to cheer her husband as best she could, she passed along some great news: “We’re pregnant,” she told him. Unable to do anything else Photo by Rick Lemyre for her injured spouse, Lynne Petty Officer first Class Chris Marquart and his wife, Lynne, standbegan stuffing yet another care in the couple’s Oakley living room near a wall covered with Chris’package to send him, this time commendations. In his hand is the Purple Heart he was awardedwith something special from their after being wounded in a rocket attack in Afghanistan. 7-year-old-son, Ryan. “I thought I’d been hit by a showering him with shrapnel and “He snuck a Spiderman hurling a chunk of hot steel into rock or something,” he recalled dur- Band-Aid in there,” said Chris. “ I his back, just two inches from his ing an interview last weekend at his home. “There’s a blank spot (in his spine. see Warrior page 22A
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September 30, 2011
The lowdown on spiffing up
Our Fall Home & Garden Edition is bursting with bright ideas on how to enhance your environs. Page 1B
Floating on air Students threw an Oakley educator a heroine’s parade after she was named the top teacher in the county. Page 10A
Leaders of the pack
Savings lead to Bypass progress 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.
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 of Rancho
Crucial clinic
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Local Rotary clubs are sponsoring a free medical clinic for the uninsured.
Cordova put in a bid of $42,380,000 to work on the Contra Loma Boulevard interchange in Antioch – roughly $8.5 million less than expected. If Caltrans OKs the bid, the 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.” see Bypass page 22A
Move over
go to news/press releases Cops are targeting drivers who endanger highway workers.
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.