YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 20, No. 8
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Alleged threats made to schools
Living Your Best Life
Enjoy this week’s Living 50 Plus section for tips on fitness, travel, finances and more. Page 1B
by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
As police continue to investigate two incidents of alleged threats to Brentwood school campuses this week, school officials are working to quell fears and copy cat rumors in the wake of the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Students at Heritage High School and Bristow Middle School delivered the threats, both made via social media. Police have determined the threats to be noncredible but could not comment on the current status of the individuals or what punitive actions might be taken. “The Brentwood Police Department has identified the students in-
Photo courtesy of Diane Alexander
Raising readers, funds
T
he Brentwood Library Foundation is partnering with the Brentwood Union School District to raise funds, from Feb. 26 to March 16, with a Love Our Libraries – Bucks for Books drive to provide additional books for the school libraries and for the collection at the new Brentwood Library. The campaign will include fundraising activities in each of the classrooms of the district’s eight elementary schools and the advisory classes of the three middle schools. Half of the funds raised
will go to the schools’ libraries and half will go to the opening day collection for the new library. Checks should be made out to the Brentwood Library Foundation and are tax-deductible. “We’re excited about the potential of bringing a wide array of new books to the youngest readers in our community,” said Diane Alexander, Brentwood Library Foundation president. The Brentwood Public Library, under construction at 104 Oak St., is expected to open July 2018.
see Threats page 26A
Animal exemptions include East County by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has moved to exempt four East County towns from a proposed ordinance regulating the raising and keeping of farm animals. The ordinance would implement guidelines on owning farm animals on single-family and two-family residential districts. But District III Supervisor Diane Burgis has expressed concerns about the county’s ability to enforce the regulations in her large district,
“ It’s not something I am personally against; I just received a very overwhelmingly strong communication from my community that they did not want this.
”
Diane Burgis, District III supervisor prompting her to request that Byron, Bethel Island, Discovery Bay, Knightsen and Diablo be exempt from the provisions. Advisory committees in all five of those communities have voiced opposition to the proposed ordinance, Burgis said. “It’s not something I am
personally against; I just received a very overwhelmingly strong communication from my community that they did not want this,” she said, citing the size of District III and the limited resources for enforcement of the ordinance. District III, which is about
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113,000 acres larger than the second largest district in the county, covers the unincorporated areas of Antioch, Oakley, Bethel Island, Knightsen, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Byron, Clayton, Camino Tassajara, Diablo and Blackhawk. If a full county ordinance were to be approved, then one code enforcement officer and two animal services officers, a sergeant and lieutenant would be tasked with enforcing regulations throughout District III. “That is a coverage of approximately 165,000 acres comsee Animal page 26A
Honoring Women ww.thepress.net/news/webextras
Diablo Valley College will host a discussion as part of Women’s History Month.
Local Artists Taking A Bow
Betty and Jack Gaughan retiring after lifetime in the performing arts. Page 10A
On To The Next Round
Heritage girls’ basketball team makes second round of North Coast Section playoffs. Page 17 Calendar.............................27A Classifieds..........................21A Cop Logs.............................25A Entertainment..................10A Food.....................................11A Milestones.........................12A Opinion...............................16A Pets...................................... 15B Sports..................................17A
Banning Testing
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The Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act is introduced in the State Legislature.