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Vol. 19, No. 7
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
It takes a village to throw a party by Aly Brown
February 17, 2017
Living A Full Life After 50
Staff Writer
The life-skills students from Liberty, Heritage and Freedom are in for the time of their lives come May 6, when the entire town plans to throw a superhero-themed prom, complete with fine dining, a parade and a red-carpet style dance. Officer Mitch Brouillette, Heritage’s school resource officer, is one of the driving forces behind the event. He says it has grown beyond anything he could have hoped for, with businesses, city officials, teachers, students and parents coming together to build what is sure to be an unforgettable evening for the special-needs students. A huge part of the vision for this event was incorporating the general-education students
Living 50 Plus section, highlights all the the options for seniors in East County. Page 1B
Firefighters Honor Friend Photo by Tony Kukulich
Officer Mitch Brouillette, center, with life-skills students, is working with various community groups and the three area high schools to bring a superhero-themed prom to Brentwood, on May 6. and community as a whole to support the life-skills kids. “The whole thing is to unite the entire community,”
said Brouillette. “It started when Officer Michelle Keady and I got into a conversation with a teacher to gauge the
availability of a dance for special-needs students, and there see Village page 26A
Fire district response times increase by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The number of hours the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) was unavailable for calls has doubled from December to January. According to recently released statistics, all district resources were tied up and unable to respond to calls for a total of 4 hours and 14 minutes last month, compared to two hours in December. The district’s average response time also increased by 30 seconds during the same period, to 8 minutes and 12 seconds. “Our situation appears to be no better, if not getting worse,” said Board Director Joe Young. The district, currently comprised of four engines, may drop to three by midyear if additional funding isn’t found. The dis-
“ Our situation appears to be no better, if not getting worse.
”
Joe Young, ECCFPD board director trict covers 249 square miles in Brentwood and Oakley and in the unincorporated communities of Bethel Island, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Byron, Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory. As the closure deadline looms, the district’s response times are already lagging, even with Station 94 in Knightsen still active. Looking at the time it took crews to respond to calls for 90 percent of the time in January, the east and west areas of Brentwood, along with Oakley, Knightsen and Bethel Island saw response times increase from
December. For 90 percent of the time in January, crew response time was in the double digits in nearly every district service area. The exception was Oakley, where it took engines 9 minutes and 11 seconds to respond to calls for 90 percent of the time. The outer fringes of the district were hit the hardest, with engines taking 22 minutes and 11 seconds to respond to calls in Bethel Island for 90 percent of the time, nearly 15 minutes to respond to calls in Discovery Bay and Byron for 90 percent of the time and about 13 minutes
to respond to calls in Knightsen, Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory for 90 percent of the time. The district’s response time to calls in east Brentwood for 90 percent of the time was 10 minutes and 50 seconds, and in west Brentwood for 90 percent of the time, it was 10 minutes and 21 seconds. ECCFPD District Battalion Chief Jeff Burris attributes the increased response times to the district’s call volume jumping by 50 to 651 calls in January, which included 22 vehicle accidents, 15 structure fires and five accidents requiring crews to rescue people from their vehicles. District Board President Joel Bryant said the statistics and at least one incident where crews from Livermore were required see District page 26A
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PG&E reminds customers that loose metallic balloons can cause power outages.
Firefighters host annual memorial golf tournament in remembrance of fallen friend. Page 5A
Wrapping Up The Season
Heritage High enters its final regular-season game at 9-0 in league play. Page 17A Calendar.............................27A Classifieds..........................23A Entertainment..................11A Food.....................................10A Milestones........................... 8A Opinion...............................16A Pets......................................21A Sports..................................17A
New Bills
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Assemblymember Jim Frazier introduces two bills to help small businesses.