YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 21, No. 47
READ NEWS YOU CAN TRUST AT WWW.THEPRESS.NET
City set to hire more police
November 22, 2019
Show Of Celebrating the Olympic spirit A Support
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The Brentwood Police Department is responding to the city’s increasing population with a plan to hire additional officers. The City Council recently approved the future increase of five police officers and two dispatchers. The move is aimed at increasing service and altering workload in the face of growth, said Police Chief Tom Hansen. Brentwood’s population has steadily climbed about 11,000 (to 63,000) in the last nine years, and calls for service rose by 1,330 to 31,342 in 2018. “It’s a great thing for the city,” Hansen said. “Our goal is to stay on top of
Two local charities step up to offer support, friendship and a special wish. Page 6A
Here Come The Holidays Photo by Tony Kukulich
H
eritage High School hosted the Special Olympics Soccer Event in Brentwood, Thursday, Nov. 14. More than 400 athletes from 21 Bay Area schools participated in the event. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia/slideshows
see Police page 22
County supervisors ban vaping sales by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has extinguished the sale of vaping, flavored tobacco and menthol cigarette products in the wake of nationwide safety and youth addiction concerns. The prohibition, which includes both tobacco and cannabis vaping products, applies to unincorporated county areas only. It comes as vaping products have been blamed for many nationwide lung ailments and deaths, and widespread evidence suggests flavored tobacco and electronic cigarettes are driving up youth smoking rates. “While there have been many successful efforts to re-
“ Vaping was kind of marketed as a transition product to get out of smoking, and what we are seeing now is it’s been an entry level into tobacco.
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District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis duce underage tobacco use, the growing availability of electronic cigarettes and flavored tobacco products has reversed positive trends in public health,” said Ryyn Schumacher, the county’s tobacco prevention manager. Most alarming is a nationwide increase in serious and sometimes fatal lung injuries tied to electronic cigarettes or vaping product use, county health officials said this week.
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In recent months, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have documented 1,888 such cases, including 37 deaths. California alone has documented 150 cases (two in Contra Costa County) and three deaths, said Dr. Chris Farnitano, a county health officer who noted the cases have been tied to multiple devices and products, including cannabis vaping, can-
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nabidiol (CBD) oil and nicotine. “There are probably multiple factors and multiple causes of this that we are still trying to understand,” he said. “Until we know more about the causes and which vaping devices and products, if any, are safe, the prudent measure is to place a moratorium on all vaping sales until we can learn more about the safety.” The sale of menthol cigarettes, vaping solutions and other flavored tobacco products were already prohibited within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds and libraries in unincorporated parts of the county, but the new regulations will ban all unincorporated county sales. see Vaping page 22
Citizen of Year
www.thepress.net/news/webextras
Nominations are open for Antioch’s Citizen of the Year and other honors.
The holidays are here, and The Press has a list of local events to make the season bright. Page 11
Lions To Take On Pirates
Liberty Lions defeat Cal High 50-18, setting the stage for rematch with Pittsburg. Page 15 Calendar................................23 Classifieds.............................20 Cop Logs................................18 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Milestones..............................9 Opinion..................................14 Pet of the Week...................13 Sports.....................................15
Laying Wreaths
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Wreaths Across America program is coming to East County.