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Oakley starts Water tender overturns move to new voting process by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
OAKLEY City leaders recently launched the process to change how future city councilmembers will be selected. The switch will replace the current at-large election process with a system in which councilmembers are elected by a district that each would represent. The change is in response to threats of a lawsuit from a Southern California-based attorney alleging that Oakley’s current voting system violates the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) by fostering an arrangement that makes the Latino vote disproportionate. The CVRA, signed into law in 2002, bans at-large election methods that impair a protected class’s ability to elect its sesee District page 26
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n East Contra Costa Fire Protection District water tender responding to a vegetation fire this week overturned on West Cypress Road. The solo firefighter in the vehicle sustained minor injuries. The cause of the crash is under investigation. For the complete story, see page 3. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia/ slideshows
“ I’m sad about what happened on Sept. 11.
by Dawnmarie Fehr Correspondent
But the other side of it is people ask if I feel survivor’s guilt . . . My answer is no, I don’t. I didn’t have control over whether I survived or not.
BRENTWOOD Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic events on Sept. 11, 2001. The most devastating terrorist attack on American soil, the events of 9/11 have changed the U.S. forever. As East County residents reflect on the day two planes were flown into the World Trade Center towers, another was crashed into the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in a field in Pennsylvania, Brentwood resident Victor Brandstetter remem-
bers his two cousins who were in the towers on one of the most infamous days in American history. “I had two cousins, who didn’t know each other, who
worked in the World Trade Center,” said Brandstetter. “One was Mike Hingson. He was in the second tower on the 78th floor. It was very smoky and there were 20
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Mike Hingson
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Oakley police chief placed on paid leave
or 30 people and they were trying to get out. He had his dog and he said, “Follow me, folks,” and the dog led them right out and it was amazing.” Hingson’s story was one of the few with a happy ending. Born blind, he was working for a technology company in 2001. On Sept. 11, he and his guide dog, Roselle, were able to lead a group of people down a stairwell to safety moments before the tower collapsed. He now travels the world speaking about his experi-
Photo by Melissa van Ruiten
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September 10, 2021
OAKLEY Police Chief Dean Capelletti has been placed on paid administrative leave, Oakley City Attorney Derek Cole confirmed this week, but city officials aren’t divulging why. “I can confirm Chief Capelletti is on administrative leave,” Cole said Monday. “I can’t provide any other information at this time.” Oakley Mayor Sue Higgins and city councilmembers both referred inquiries back to Cole when reached this week. “I do not have anything to share and was only informed four minutes before our last meeting on districting,” Higgins said Tuesday. “It is actively being investigated and I have no further information.” Capelletti joined the department in September 2020 with 18 years in law enforcement, having previously served as a captain of the La Habra Police Department in Southern California. Capelletti, a Bay Area native, said in an earlier interview with The Press that his wife had stumbled across the Oakley police chief job opening. It checked all the boxes that he wanted in a chief’s role and provided the added opportunity to return to the Bay Area. “Immediately when I got in the city, I just felt like this was
Brentwood resident recalls stories of family in World Trade Center on Sept. 11
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Residents Honor fallen soldiers
Heritage wins overtime thriller
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