YOUR HOMETOWN NEWS | SERVING EAST COUNTY
Vol. 23, No. 1
Council appoints Rarey
Williams takes on city role
Pandemic protection
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
and next week really start to stack on top of one another, impacting the emergency rooms, our hospital wards and our ICU wards,” Ghaly said. The county reported that intensive care unit (ICU) capacity is 9.2% as of Dec. 29. ICU capacity for the Bay Area region is slightly higher at 10.4%. The region’s capacity dropped below the state imposed threshold of 15%, triggering a regional shelter-in-place order Dec. 17. That order was originally set to expire Jan. 8, but Ghaly announced that regional shelter-in-place orders will remain in effect until a region’s ICU capacity is at least 15%.
OAKLEY When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020, Anissa Williams launched a Facebook group for the community to solicit or offer help during the trying times. Some nine months later, the online community has grown to 8,400 members, and Williams is set to tackle a new challenge: improving the entire city as a newly elected councilmember. “Just one small act can make someone’s life better,” she said. “That is what really inspired me to run. I love Oakley, and I want to make it the best place it can be. I hope my kids want to stay here and make Oakley an even better place.” Williams, a six-year city resident, former restaurant executive and current owner of the local Wanna Waffle? food truck business, already has a long list of priorities in her new role. They include drawing living-wage jobs to the area; supporting the resource-stretched fire district; rejecting the practice of rubber-stamping projects that residents don’t want; attracting unique small-businesses; and increasing resources for children, such as a new library. Fueling her drive is a natural ability to turn life’s challenges into opportunities. She recently launched her Wanna Waffle? business after she was furloughed as a restaurant executive for a New York-based chain with 60 locations. Around the same time, she picked up on the community’s de-
see COVID-19 page 18
see Williams page 18
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
BRENTWOOD Mayoral candidate and former councilmember Karen Rarey, has been appointed to serve out the remaining two years of a vacant council seat. The 4-0 vote to appoint her was taken during a long and contentious city council meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 29 — the second meeting in as many weeks to determine how to fill Joel Bryant’s empty council seat when he was elected mayor this November. Rarey previously served one full council term and finished second behind Bryant in November’s seven-person mayoral race. She is expected to be sworn in Jan. 12. Her term will expire in November 2022. “I can’t wait to get back on the dais and
Photo by Tony Kukulich
M
onica Jay with the Contra Costa County Health Services Department, administers a COVID-19 vaccination to East Contra Costa Fire Protection District firefighter Aaron All in Concord, Monday, Dec. 28. All is among the first of the district’s firefighters to receive the vaccine.
see Rarey page 18
Mixed signals emerging on COVID-19 “ Vaccinating those most vulnerable among
by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
REGIONAL While health officials are pleading with residents to avoid New Year’s gatherings, there is some evidence that the current surge of COVID-19 infections in Contra Costa County might be beginning to ease. The seven-day average of new cases peaked at 596 on Dec. 15 and has been dropping steadily since then. As of Dec. 23, the last date reported, the seven-day average of new cases was 507, a 15% decrease over eight days. By comparison, the seven-day average of new cases during the summer surge peaked at just 222 on July 20.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom Whether this trend will continue in a positive direction remains to be seen, and there are other troubling indicators in the data. During a Dec. 28 press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that the most difficult days of the COVID-19 pandemic may still lay ahead, the result of gatherings and traveling related to the holidays. “We likely will experience in
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two weeks — 10, 14 or 18 days from now — this surge stacked on top of these other surges related to holiday activities,” he said. Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary for the California Department of Health and Human Services, echoed those concerns. “We certainly anticipate that the middle of January is going to be a pretty difficult time in our hospitals, where the cases from this week
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