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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 17, No. 7
City taking Braving the elements closer look at green energy by Kyle Szymanski
see Energy page 26A
Living A Full Life After 50
Living 50 Plus section, highlights all the the options for seniors in East County. Page 1B
Staff Writer
The City of Oakley is once again exploring bringing green, clean energy to the city a year after opting out of the idea. The city’s leadership academy, a group of residents who graduated from a program aimed at teaching them about city operations and processes and who also studied community choice aggregation (CCA), will be tasked with looking at the city’s options and giving a recommendation to the council, during a city council work session on March 14. Under CCA programs, local governments join together to provide energy to their residents. The energy is generated primarily from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and bioenergy. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will continue to deliver power and bill customers as normal, with only the energy source varying. Under state law, customers are automatically enrolled in CCAs, but can choose to opt out and stay with their original energy providers. “(The leadership academy residents) are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts,” said Josh McMurray, Oakley planning manager. “They believe in Oakley and want to provide the city with a great recommendation.” The council took preliminary steps last February to
February 17, 2017
Firefighters Honor Friend
Firefighters host annual memorial golf tournament in remembrance of fallen friend. Page 5A Photo by Tony Kukulich
O
zoamaka Orji and Joelle Varsovia make good use of their rain boots during a walk through the flooded trails of Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley this week. Meteorologists are calling for more rain through the weekend and into next week.
Wrapping Up The Season
Fire district response times increase “ Our situation appears to be no better, if
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 re-
not getting worse.
”
Joe Young, ECCFPD board director sponse 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 com-
prised of four engines, may drop to three by midyear if additional funding isn’t found. The district 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 Desee District page 26A
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PG&E reminds customers that loose metallic balloons can cause power outages.
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.