Oakley Press_10.30.09

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa

Vol. 9, No. 44

Including Surrounding Communities

City Council OKs local fire district board by Samie Hartley Staff Writer The Oakley City Council joined the County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and the Brentwood City Council in voting Tuesday to provide local control over fire protection in far East County. By unanimous vote, the Oakley council approved the creation of a locally based governing board for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD). District V Supervisor Federal Glover told the council it’s time for the local communities to take control of the district, which is now run by the BOS in Martinez. “One of the things that was very clear from the residents of

this particular region is that there is a need for some local control, and we’ve been trying to work on that (for a few years),” he said. “Decisions for this region should be made locally and not in Martinez. It’s one of the things that the Board of Supervisors is willing to give up so that the local authorities will have that ability to make decisions and go forward to determine what quality of services are needed here and improve the safety of services for our firefighters for the East County region.” The new board will consist of nine members chosen proportionally according to the population of the areas within the district. Four will come from Brentwood, see Fire page 18A

www.thepress.net

4-H leader honored

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October 30, 2009

THIS WEEK

Be sure to set your clocks back Saturday night and grab an extra hour of sleep. Standard time takes effect at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1.

Photo by Samie Hartley

akley resident Guido Novero, seen above surrounded by friends and family, received a proclamation from Oakley Mayor Carol Rios at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, honoring his 40 years of volunteer service in the Knightsen 4-H program. Novero has served as a resource leader, mentor and role model to hundreds of 4-H participants in far East County over the years and continues to make an impact today. Rios also presented Novero with an Oakley decennial pin.

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Candidates debate from left to right

Brand-new tradition

Revelers devoured pumpkin pies and planners devoured praise at the first of what’s hoped to be Oakley’s annual Harvest Festival.

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Thriller a real killer

by Dave Roberts Staff Writer

The five candidates seeking to represent the 10th Congressional District break down into a group of three on the left and two on the right as revealed in a forum at Saint Mary’s College Monday night. Ranging from political left to right are: self-described socialist Mary McIlroy of the Peace and Freedom Party, Jeremy Cloward of the Green Party, liberal Democrat John Garamendi, conservative Republican David Harmer and libertarian Jerry Denham, representing the American Independent Party. State Lt. Gov. Garamendi is the presumed front-runner in Tuesday’s election to replace Ellen Tauscher, who resigned in June to take a job in the U.S. State Department. The career politician has the best name recognition due to his three decades in state politics and is running in a district in which Democrats outnumber Republicans 47 to 29

The Falcons’ last-minute heroics took the Panthers into OT, but the heart-stopping finale stopped short of victory.

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INSIDE Photo by Dave Roberts

The candidates for the 10th Congressional District discussing the issues on Monday are, from left, Mary McIlroy, Jerry Denham, John Garamendi, Jeremy Cloward and David Harmer. percent. Although both McIlroy and Cloward said they are running because neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have addressed the problems facing the country, both were in agreement with Garamendi on just about every issue discussed during the 1½-hour forum. Garamendi joined with Mc-

Ilroy and Cloward in supporting the proposed government-run health care plan now making its way through Congress. “The public option is necessary,” said Garamendi. “We need not be frightened about it. Every senior is involved in a public option that works well – it’s called Medicare.” Harmer opposes govern-

ment-run health care, saying it would replace insurance companies’ privately run bureaucracies “with one mammoth government bureaucracy.” He supports increasing competition by allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines, favors reducing lawsuits for medical malpractice see Debate page 18A

Calendar ..........................27B Classifieds ........................17B Cop Logs ..........................14A Entertainment ................13B Food .................................14B Health & Beauty .............10B Milestones ......................... 9B Opinion ...........................13A Sports ................................. 1B Talk About Town ..............5A WebExtras! ....................... 1B

FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A


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