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This is the new, combined Pioneer, covering both Concord and Clayton in one community newspaper.
August 16, 2019
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Blue Devils are World Champions for the 19th time, this year by a hair JAY BEDECARRÉ The Pioneer
The Blue Devils are considered the New York Yankees of drum corps but this season the Concord team had to chase down two talented corps in what was called “one of the most compelling races in drum corps history” in order to win their 19th Drum Corps International World Championship last Saturday night. Title No. 19 came at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis over a talented field of corps in the finale where the Blue Devils finished 0.087 points ahead of the season-long favorite Bluecoats. This is the 13th year in a row the Blue Devils have placed first or second, including eight titles since 2007. This season began in California during June with the 2018 DCI champion Santa Clara Vanguard winning their first four face-to-face meetings from their Bay Area rivals. The Blue Devils finally prevailed in the fifth matchup.
Then it was the Canton, Ohio-based Bluecoats with a Beatles-themed program who defeated the Blue Devils in four consecutive shows, setting the stage for a rivalry that would go back and forth all the way to Finals Week when the Bluecoats won the preliminaries before the Devils came back to win the semifinals and finals in three razor-thin outcomes. Veteran Blue Devils senior executive advisor David Gibbs spoke to the Pioneer from Indianapolis the day after the finals while he shopped with son Peyton, getting the younger Gibbs ready to start college at Purdue University this week. About the Blue Devils performance in the finals Gibbs said, “Wow. Wow. That was by far their best performance. I told them they had that in them.” He described scoring the three finals competitions Ryan Carr photo courtesy Blue Devils between the Blue Devils and Concord’s Blue Devils reign over the drum corps world once again after winning their 19th DCI World Championship and eighth in the past 13 years last Saturday evening in Indianapolis. The Devils color guard perform See Blue Devils, pg 4 in “Ghostlight” at Lucas Oil Stadium in the finals.
Marsh Complex fire burns 757 acres in rural Clayton rest stretched along Marsh Creek Rd. from Bragdon Rd. to Deer Valley, charring 757 acres. Area residents were under a shelter-in-place order until 9 p.m. that evening. Marsh Creek remained closed through Monday for mop up. More than 300 firefighters battled the blazes, which were 85 percent contained by Saturday night. Two firefighters went to the hospital for heat-related injuries not considered life threatening. No structures were lost. Nichole Cook, a resident at the Clayton Palms Mobile Home Park, woke up to banging on her door and the dogs barking. “I opened the door and could smell smoke. I stepped outside and could see the hills were on fire.” Cook hustled her two children and the dogs into her car and drove through the park honking to alert her neighbors. “My youngest son was really scared and crying. I tried to calm him and told him we were gonna be ok and we’re gonna be at
grandma’s in just a couple minutes.” The park was briefly evacuated but residents were allowed to return a few hours later. Residents in the Morgan Territory/Marsh Creek area are getting used to living with the threat of fire. The last big fire was almost exactly one year before when the Marsh Fire burned 125 acres and destroyed one home. Area residents have been proactive in creating defensible space and communicating with each other. More than 100 neighbors attended a fire season preparation meeting in May with officials from fire agencies, PG&E and the County Office of Emergency Services. Many residents were alerted of the shelter in place order in a 5 a.m. text from OES. In an area where Internet and cell service can be sketchy, officials encourage residents to have a land line in case of a power outage and to register their phones with the Office of Emergency Services. Register online at cwsalerts.com/registration
ers are playing an increasingly Chief Elise Warren in larger role in crime enforce- Clayton adds that building ment, says Concord Police community among neighbors Chief Guy Swanger. also goes a long way to kicking crime to well-manicured curbs. That’s why last week’s National Night Out and programs such as the Neighborhood Watch in Clayton’s Peacock Creek neighborhood are vital for public safety. “In general, we only have two officers on shift. So we really rely on the community,” Warren says. If neighbors know each they, they are more likely to notice things like suspicious cars, barking dogs and strangers “casing” a neighKristin Markova, right, helped organized a National Night Out block party in Concord’s Canterbury Village neighbor- borhood, she says. Clayton was hit by a minihood, where families gathered for pizza, ice cream and games. crime wave the nights of July
18-19, when many residents reported car break-ins. Warren believes it was an organized group of thieves from close by who were looking for what she calls “crimes of opportunity.” Thieves broke into cars, rummaging for loose change or something of value in the glove box. Eighty percent of cars affected were unlocked, she says. “If a car is unlocked, it makes it that much easier.” Car break-ins are still a thorn in the side of the Concord Police Department, Swanger says, especially around apartments. But in his biannual report to the City
TAMARA STEINER The Pioneer
Noah Berger
A helicopter drops water on the Marsh Complex fire Aug 3. More than a dozen fires quickly merged into three big fires and charred 757 acres in rural Clayton.
What’s Inside
Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B6 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B5
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Directory of Advertisers . . . .7 From the Desk of . . . . . . . . .6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B1 Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
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The first reports came in Saturday morning Aug. 3 at 3:15 a.m. Residents in a remote area of Morgan Territory Rd. smelled smoke. Then the next call came in and the next and the next. “Residents were calling the fire house even before dispatch got it,” said Cal Fire Deputy Chief Mike Marcucci. In all, there were more than a dozen separate fires reported within minutes of each other. “It’s difficult to know exactly how many because they were so close together they merged into three big ones,” Marcucci explained. Cal Fire investigators have not determined the cause of the fire. “We know it’s human caused, either accidental or intentional,” Marcucci said. Arson has not been ruled out. First reported were five separate small fires on Morgan Territory that burned five acres. The
Watchful neighbors a key crime-fighting tool PEGGY SPEAR The Pioneer
Briane Ray is well-known to Concord police. And he likes it that way. Ray’s home in Concord’s Crossings neighborhood is “decked out” with cameras, where he has captured petty crimes from mailbox thefts to smash and grabs in cars. He turns that information over to the police, often with good results. “I see myself as the protector of the court we live on,” he says. Ray is part of a new breed of security experts that seem to be popping up in neighborhoods across Concord
and Clayton. With surveillance cameras and doorbell technology that can see potential thieves, homeown-
See Neighbors, page 3
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