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July 17, 2020
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Two movements, one common cause as Concord residents stage protests
TAMARA STEINER
Tenant protection, police services at heart of rallies for racial justice
PUBLISHER
Are you an ‘odd’ or an ‘even’?
If you found this issue of the Pioneer in your driveway this month, you are an “odd” one, indeed. Starting with the June issue, we began rotating free delivery in our Concord distribution area. Half of Concord , roughly 94518 and 94521 in the southwest corner of the city, will receive delivery in EVEN months. The rest of our Concord routes in the northeast parts of town will receive free delivery in ODD numbered months. Our full distribution map is on our website. Check there to see if you are ODD or EVEN. If you don’t want to miss a single issue of the Pioneer, please SUBSCRIBE. There is a form on our website. Payment is by credit card or PayPal. Your paper will come in the mail, every month. We are now four months into COVID 19. It has been a time of confusion and fear for many. We have stayed home, gone out, masked up and stayed home again. Our businesses have suffered, some fatally. But we are a nimble people. We are finding new ways to go to school, work and play. None of it is anyone’s first choice. Never has the role of community journalism been more important than now. Demand for news has tripled, even quadrupled. Our advertisers are staggering under the economic realities of months of closure with no revenue and now the added costs of retooling for the new normal. Despite the hardship, they continue to support us and the community. This month, we welcome new advertiser Whit’s Painting to the Pioneer. Many will recognize the work of this family owned company on homes and condos throughout Clayton and Concord. Please see their ad on page 13. Support all the advertisers in the Pioneer. Because of them, we can bring you local news that you can’t get anywhere else. This month, we also introduce a new correspondent. Diane Zermeno is a broadcast journalism major at CalState Northridge. She is taking her classes online at home in Concord for this semester. Look for more from her in future issues.
DIANE ZERMEÑO Correspondent
Diane Zermeño
Protestors stood outside Concord City Hall during the City Council’s meeting time on July 7, calling for a shift in some funding from the Police Department to community services.
Concord residents gathered at two separate protests on July 7 to demand better tenant protections and to defund the Concord Police Department, with both relating their causes to racial justice issues. One group of residents drove to Meadow Homes Park at 11 a.m. to participate in “Day of Action: Housing Justice is Racial Justice.” The caravan then passed by the homes of Mayor Tim McGallian and Councilwoman Carlyn Obringer to ask that the city implement better tenant protections than those in the City Council’s proposed solution, as well as an extension of the eviction moratorium. The city’s proposed ordi-
See Protest, page 2
Buy honey and keep the bees working KARA NAVOLIO Correspondent
National Honeybee Day on Aug. 15 is a time to celebrate the insect responsible for more than a third of our food supply. If not for honeybees, crops like almonds and other nuts, fruits and many vegetables would not be pollinated and bear fruit. Even herbs, coffee beans and clover that feeds our cows would not survive without the honeybee. And, of course, there is also the honey made by the busy insects in 2.5 million hives across America. TROUBLING POPULATION DROP
But as we take time to honor the honeybee, beekeepers want us to understand the dangers the population faces. The number of hives has declined by half since the
1960s and ’70s. “I got into beekeeping for environmental reasons,” said Clayton resident Bassam AlTwal, who is on the Planning Commission. “We are losing bees every year, and they are so important for our food chain.” The major factors in the declining population are pesticides, loss of habitat and the Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that came from China in the 1980s and affects only honeybees. Asian bees have evolved to have a symbiotic relationship with this mite, but the European bees (which we have in the United States) have not adapted. The University of Maryland is conducting a large study on this pest. According to Al-Twal, the murder hornets in the press recently are not yet a threat to U.S. honeybees. These hornets are 10 times the size of honeybees and do kill them, but so far they have not appeared
beyond a few in the Northwest.
DON’T BLAME THE BEES The Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association (MDBA) is dedicated to supporting honeybee hobbyists and professional beekeepers, as well as educating the public about the benefits of honeybees. They receive more than 100 requests a year for presentations to groups of adults and children. Mike Vigo, president of MDBA, says people should not be scared of bees. “Bees don’t want to sting you. They are vegans, only eating pollen and nectar,” he said. “The insects that bother your picnics are most likely yellow jackets. Yellow jackets can be aggressive and sting or bite The Pioneer multiple times. Bees, on the other hand, can only sting once Beekeepers Bassam Al-Twal (left) of Clayton and Isa Orta of and then they die. They only Concord captured a queen bee and the unwelcome swarm with her in the backyard of a Dana Hills home in Clayton
See Bees, page 4 last month.
MDUSD selects new superintendent from Vallejo JAY BEDECARRÉ The Pioneer
Next issue, August 21, Deadline, Aug. 12 Postal Customer ECRWSS
ADAM CLARK MDUSD SUPERINTENDENT
Exactly two weeks shy of one year since the announcement of their last appointment, the Mt. Diablo Unified School District said that Dr. Adam Clark, Vallejo City Unified School District superintendent the past three years, has been selected as the finalist to become the new MDUSD Superintendent. The 51-year-old Clark will be the third leader of the 29,000-student MDUSD since last spring. The board terminated the contract of
Dr. Robert Martinez, who also came from a Solano County district, on May 28. Martinez served in that capacity for only nine months after he was selected following the surprise resignation of Dr. Nellie Meyer, who held the position for six years from 2013. Board president Brian Lawrence announced on a June 29 Zoom call with his fellow board members that they had selected their candidate following interviews that day with superintendent finalists. Dr. Clark’s appointment was officially revealed
July 1 in a press release from committed to helping every student succeed and making the District. In part, Lawrence was every employee feel valued.” quoted as saying, “It is with great excitement that I share See Supt., page 5 the news that the MDUSD Board has selected a finalist to become our next Superintendent. The Board was thoroughly impressed by Dr. What’s Inside Clark’s dedication to student Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 achievement, building posi- Directory of Advertisers . . . .7 tive relationships throughout From the Desk of . . . . . . . . .6 the community, fiscal discipline and academic excel- Graduate Celebrations . . . .11 lence. Dr. Clark embraces Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 working with a diverse stu- Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 dent population like the one we have in MDUSD. He is
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