MISSING DELIVERY OF THE NEWSPAPER TO YOUR HOME? Vol. 24, No. 27
Celebrating the Fourth
by Melissa van Ruiten Staff Writer
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Photo by Melissa van Ruten
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rentwood and East County residents lined downtown Brentwood sidewalks this week to celebrate the Fourth of July. This young participant took part in the Children’s Parade, which preceded the main parade. For more photos, see page 2.
Byron schools hire new superintendent School, a small Title 1 school in Martinez, for over seven years as she rose from the staff to become their leader. She led the school to higher levels of excellence, ultimately recognized as a Gold Ribbon School. The school was also recognized for its work with G.L.A.D. (Guided Language Acquisition Design) – a program that supports English Learners and struggling students. She has been recognized as the Educator of the Year well as the G.L.A.D. Administrator of the Year. Castaneda left Martinez to become the Director of Educational Services in Oakley where during her tenure in Oakley she
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CASTANEDA and the Contra Costa County Office of Education obtained a $5 million literacy grant. She provided district-wide multi-
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tiered systems of support (MTSS) training and provided support for social and emotional learning and the positive behavioral intervention and support system. In her role in Oakley, she was responsible for state and federal compliance mandates, audits, categorical programs and ensuring the programs were within the district budget. Most recently, Castaneda served as the Superintendent/ Principal in a small rural school district in Contra Costa County called Canyon. There, she learned the many facets of running a district with limited resources and personnel. To comment, visit www.thepress.net
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Serving East County
Council removes planning member Staff Writer
see Fire page 18A
BYRON Crystal Castaneda starts her new job this week as the new Superintendent of the Byron Union School District after the Byron Governing Board voted unanimously on June 23 to approve her appointment. Castaneda has a rich and varied background for this position. Her strength as an instructional leader has its roots in her early years as a teacher. She is a national board-certified teacher, which reflects excellence in the teaching profession. There are only 112,000 people nationwide who have received that recognition. Castaneda served as a Principal of Las Juntas Elementary
July 8, 2022
by Jake Menez
REGIONAL East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and Contra Costa Fire Protection District (Con Fire) held their official Transfer of Command Ceremony at Brentwood City Park, Friday, July 1. Con Fire’s annexation of ECCFPD has been in the works since August 2020, and in March of this year, the final hurdle to make consolidation a reality was finally cleared. Benefits of the newly merged Con Fire are immediately improved fire and emergency medical services, including additional crews and newly opened stations, which will serve to reduce response times. For the first time, residents of East County communities are now served by fire crews delivering advanced life support capabilities, according to a press release. The new consolidated fire district now includes all of the former fire district service area, expand-
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BRENTWOOD The Brentwood City Council voted to remove David Dolter from the Planning Commission due primarily to what they considered Dolter’s “unprofessional” behavior. The decision was made at the June 28 meeting, with the council members deliberating on the subject before it was ultimately decided that Dolter would be removed from the commission and that his seat would remain vacant until the next appointment cycle in 2023. “Mr. Dolter was upset that something had gone back to the Planning Commission and said he did not want it to come back to him,” said Councilmember Jovita Mendoza, referring to an incident in April 2021 that she said was an example of Dolter not performing to the council’s standards. “It seemed like he didn’t want to do his job.” Mendoza highlighted another example from the same month in which Dolter “took it upon himself to redefine what a business park was” in a way that she said diminished the importance the City Council had put on economic development in those areas. Additionally, Dolter had emailed colleagues in the Planning Commission ahead of a vote on a project and informed them of how he would vote while also informing them he would tell the project applicant to appeal the decision to see Dolter page 18A
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Inside the real estate industry
Oakley’s first police dog dies
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