YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 8, No. 2
Including Surrounding Communities
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Bands work at getting Rim shot Tower of Power to boost fundraiser concert
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January 8, 2010
THIS WEEK
Excellent educator
by Samie Hartley Staff Writer
As the winter chill of the new year nips at our noses, the thought of being whisked away to Hawaii sounds heavenly, but that will soon be a reality for students in the Heritage and Liberty high school jazz bands. Members of both bands will be attending the 2010 Pacific Basin Music Festival in Waikiki in March. The festival is an exclusive international assembly of bands, choirs and orchestras, consisting of members of all ages. Only 12 bands are accepted into the week-long program, so for two Brentwood bands to be invited is a grand accomplishment for both bands, which auditioned two years in advance in order to earn a spot. “We are very excited to have both Heritage and Liberty high school involved in this year’s festival,” said Festival Manager Keith Bishop. “The Pacific Basin Music Festival is an international event, bringing together the most talented junior high, high school, community and college level bands and choirs from countries of the Pacific Basin and beyond. … This is a unique opportunity for international exchange through social functions and music.”
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Tower of Power member Mic Gillette rehearses with the Liberty Jazz Band in preparation for the band’s fundraiser concert this weekend. The event will raise money for the band’s trip to Hawaii in March. The teens representing Brentwood will be joined by bands from Australia, Japan, Singapore, the Kingdom of Tonga, as well as other schools from the United States. But before the students can say aloha, they each need to raise approximately $1,500 to pay for admission to the program, airfare to Hawaii, meals and personal expenses. In the past year, Heritage and Liberty students have been diligently working on fundraisers to offset the cost of the trip. Heritage students
took over the Breakfast with Santa program, which was canceled by the City of Brentwood as part of budget cuts. Rather than see the holiday program cease, various Heritage student organizations got together to host the event and keep the Brentwood tradition alive while raising funds for various causes, including the Pacific Basin trip. The Heritage band also partnered with the Streets of Brentwood as the beneficiary of the see Bands page 18A
Sheriff rules out P6 coordinator role by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Sheriff Warren Rupf says he has no intention of providing staff or coordinating meetings for a Discovery Bay P-6 citizens oversight committee, despite a written request from the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (BOS). “It (the BOS board order) does not say ‘must’ – it says ‘requests,’” said Undersheriff Scott Daly of the board order issued in October. “And the sheriff has said over and over again that we don’t have the staff for this, and he made that very clear to Mary (Supervisor Mary Piepho) in a letter on June 12.” Lakeshore resident Bob Mankin, who was instrumental in getting the BOS to approve an oversight committee, is frustrated by the sheriff’s refusal to participate in the process. “I was extremely disappointed
Press file photo
Sheriff Warren Rupf says he will not provide staff or organize meetings for the town’s P-6 citizen’s oversight committee. to learn that the sheriff will not be adhering to the Board of Supervisors board order and will thumb his nose at the citizen’s oversight committee,” said Mankin. “Many people worked long and hard on that effort and it appears he let that go forward with no intention of ever participating …
“It’s wrong in principle, if not in violation of a board order that created this fund in the first place, and in my opinion, I can’t see the residents paying into the fund standing by and allowing this to happen.” The letter Daly is referring to was written by the sheriff in response to Piepho’s suggestion to create a citizen’s advisory committee for the five P-6 zones in Discovery Bay as a way to allow the community to provide input on police services and expenditures of P-6 dollars. In the letter, Rupf objected to the idea that the Discovery Bay zones should be given preferential treatment in regard to how he should assign his deputies and allocate his budget. “I find this proposal unnecessary, and without practical benefit, or legal support,” wrote Rupf in an excerpt from the letter. “ … If however you need more community dialogue regarding our important
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services, I suggest that you turn to the many existing committees and boards rather than create a new layer of committees. It is ill-advised to spend the little money still remaining in the budget to create new advisory committees to find answers that are rather obvious.” The BOS authorized the formation of the P-6 citizen oversight committee last October following a request from Discovery Bay West P-6 contributors, whose approximately $500,000 in P-6 taxes funded the town’s two new resident deputies and crime prevention specialist. Piepho also recommended that the advisory committee’s structure resemble those in Blackhawk and Alamo. But in the same July 12 letter, Rupf pointed out that those communities’ advisory committees created their county service areas, or Psee P6 page 18A
An Excelsior Middle School teacher is passionate about getting that light bulb to switch on in her students’ heads.
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Hitting on all cylinders Discovery Bay’s Corvette Club has put the spirit of giving in high gear all year.
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Expelled by experience
In Liberty’s league opener against Deer Valley, the young Lions were given a tutorial in seniority rule.
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INSIDE Business .............................4A Calendar ..........................19B Classifieds ........................13B Cop Logs ..........................15A Entertainment .................. 8B Food ................................... 9B Health & Beauty ............... 6B Milestones ......................... 5B Opinion ...........................14A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
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