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Vol. 18, No. 26
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
City OK’s grants for local events
Real Info On Real Estate
Beating the heat
S
ummer roared into town this week with triple-digit temperatures throughout East County, but Jaiden Brown, 7, found a fun way to cool off in the water jets at Brentwood’s City Park.
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
Event organizers that promote Brentwood and foster commerce and tourism here have received a financial boost. The city recently doled out $128,000 in grants to 12 event organizers whose events support the business community. “The events cover a wide variety of activities that will support key community events, business training, downtown shopping and cultural activity and promotion of Brentwood,” said Senior Community Development Technician Peggy Berglund. The largest grant - $30,000 - went to Harvest Time in Brentwood for its annual Harvest Time Festival, which celebrates the farmland’s harvest in downtown Brentwood. Other grants included $25,000 for the Downtown Business Coalition’s various events; $15,000 for Harvest Park Bowl’s 2017 PBA50 tournament; and $12,000 for the Police Activities League’s Brentwood Blues Festival.
Photo by Tony Kukulich
Sexual assault suit brought against LUHSD Staff Writer
A young woman with special needs is suing the Liberty Union High School District (LUHSD) and two special-needs males she claims sexually assaulted her on the campus of the district’s Gateway program, in Brentwood. The joint-damage claim is asking for $2 million in compensation resulting from the alleged incident, which occurred on Nov. 5, 2015. According to the woman’s attorney, Michael C. Cohen, the then 20-year-old student was forced to participate in oral sex
“ The district attorney was consulted, and he said that there was no crime, because both were willing participants and were over 18 at the time.
”
Lt. Doug Silva, Brentwood Police Department with at least one of the adult males on two separate occasions in November, during school hours. The Liberty Adult Education Gateway Program is part of the LUHSD and is for students 18-22 with special needs. “From what I understand, this happened more than once,
and I am under the impression there were two boys involved,” said Cohen. “What I’ve got here is a terrible situation where a young woman is being supervised by the school district, and a situation is allowed to occur where she is involved with two other specialneeds students.”
According to Cohen, the woman, who reportedly has the mental capacity of an 8 to 10 year old, was returning from the restroom on Nov. 5, when she encountered the two males, who were known to her. They then went into an empty classroom where the incident occurred. Eric Volta, LUHSD superintendent said the situation was discovered by a student and reported that same day to the Brentwood Police Department. “Obviously, if we think someone has been harmed or an illegal act has taken place, we call see Suit page 30A
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This week’s special edition gives you all the tools to make smart real estate decisions. Page 1B
Get Ready For Fireworks
There’s no shortage of fun with the area’s many Independence Day celebrations. Page 12A
see Grants page 30A
by Ruth Roberts
June 24, 2016
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In-Shape Health Clubs to open new SafeSplash swim schools in East Bay.
Vazquez wins PBA50 Classic
Noel Vazquez slays Pete Weber to win the PBA50 Northern California Classic. Page 26A Calendar.............................25A Classifieds..........................26A Cop Logs.............................18A Entertainment..................13A Food.....................................12A Health & Beauty...............19A Milestones.........................10A Opinion...............................20A Pets......................................15A Sports..................................21A
Saving Money
go to news/press releases PG&E helped customers saved $227 million on their energy bills in 2015.