editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
June 2012
Serving Alamo and Diablo 211
By Fran Miller Most people know to call 411 for phone information. Nearly everyone knows to call 911 to register a life-threatening emergency. Not so commonly known is the purpose of a 211 call – to receive information about emergencies declared in one’s town and outlying area. Taking it one step further is the Contra Costa County Community Warning System, which allows Contra Costa residents to register and, in turn, personally receive emergency information for their area. The Contra Costa County Community Warning System (CWS) allows residents to receive alerts on cell phones, via email or via Twitter. CWS is recognized as one of the nation’s most modern and effective all-hazard public warning systems and is a partnership of the Office of the Sheriff, the Health Services Department, other government agencies, industry, news media, and the non-profit Community Awareness & Emergency Response (CAER) organization – all of whom strive to deliver time-sensitive and potentially life saving information to the people of Contra Costa County. CWS alerts come in various forms: through a countywide telephone notification system, via sirens near major industrial facilities, and in other special safety zones, through a cell phone voice notification service, via NOAA weather radios, via radio, TV and cable, via the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and now through Twitter and Facebook alerts. (Radio and television broadcasts are still usually the best source of ongoing information about emergencies, but it is important to recognize that different stations and channels serve distinct areas, and information might not be entirely applicable to particular locations.) The Community Warning System (CWS) has averaged about one to two activa- CHP Steps Up Speeding Citations in Alamo tions per month over the last four to five years in various communities throughout By Sharon Burke the County, according to Katherine Hern, manager of CWS. “We have activated If you got a speeding ticket in Alamo in April, you had lots of company. At for active shooters in a neighborhood, downed power lines, missing persons, fire May’s meeting of the Alamo Police Services Committee, Officer Eric Brewer warnings, etc.,” says Hern. “We don't operate based on a list of specific events; of the CHP’s Community Response Team reported that the California Highway instead, we use the criteria of imminent threat to life or safety, for which there is a Patrol had increased traffic enforcement in Alamo this spring with particular recommended protective action authorities advise you to take.” emphasis on speeders. The increased enforcement came in response to citizen Hern provides the following example of a recent activation - one that was re- complaints from Alamo residents about speeding in Alamo. From April 1st to quested by Lafayette’s Police Chief. “An extremely high voltage power line was May 7th of this year, the CHP handed out over 100 speeding tickets in Alamo. down in an area between Highway 4 and Mt. Diablo Blvd in Lafayette,” says Hern. Enforcement was concentrated on Danville Boulevard between St. Alphonsus “The impact of this power line was not just that power would be out, but that due Way and Orchard Court, and on Livorna Road in front of Alamo School. These to the voltage, anyone coming near could suffer serious consequences, even death. two stretches of Alamo roads are where the CHP receives the most complaints See 211 continued on page 22 of speeders, Officer Brewer told members of the Police Services Committee. At St. Alphonsus Way, Danville Boulevard becomes a 25 mile per hour speed Welcome Aboard the Diablo Valley Lines! zone in the downtown business district, changing from the 35 mile per hour limit By Fran Miller in more residential sections of the Boulevard. The County lowered the speed The mention of a model railway likely evokes the mental limit downtown a few years ago due to the large number of entrances and exits image of a parent and child gathered ‘round the Christmas tree onto the Boulevard in the downtown stretch and the number of pedestrians that as their electric toy train chugs along on its circuitous route. cross in that block, rendering a 35 mph speed dangerous. However, a trip to the Diablo Valley Lines Railroad layout At Alamo School, in accordance with state law governing roads where schools of the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society (WCMRS) are located, the speed limit changes from 35 miles per hour elsewhere on Livorna in Walnut Creek’s Larkey Park will quickly terminate that Road, going down to 25 miles per hour in front of Alamo School while children image. “We are not playing with toys here; we are operating a model railroad,” says are present. It can be difficult to determine when children are present; however, member Ted Moreland modern day schools are in use almost continually, with after school activities til late at night, summer school operating in the summer and sports activities held with a wink. A survey of the on weekends, all of these meaning children are present outside normal school Society’sapproximately hours, which are generally 8am to 3pm. Officer Brewer stated that he had personally inspected all 100 citations and 1,800 square foot layout in their own building, that 99% of them were issued to drivers with an Alamo residential address. This specially designed surprised some in the room, as one perception in town is that commuters coming and constructed by off the freeway are responsible for speeding. Although the majority of the tickets WCMRS members, were for excessive speed, some were also confirms that this past issued for Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian, time is indeed more than particularly in the downtown area. A group watches trains go by at the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society. child’s play. Featuring Volume XII - Number 6 Officer Brewer also noted that the CHP 3000F Danville Blvd. #117, nostalgic steam locomotives, modern diesels, a narrow gauge logging road, and had received counter complaints from Alamo, CA 94507 electric traction lines on 4,300 feet of hand laid track with 175,000 individual ties Alamo citizens about the increased enforce- Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 See Trains continued on page 18 ment, but that this would not affect CHP Fax (925) 406-0547 efforts to enforce traffic laws in Alamo. Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher PRSRT STD In accordance with California state law, Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com U.S. Postage the CHP is primarily responsible for traffic Sharon Burke ~ Writer PAID Local enforcement in Alamo due to Alamo’s unsburke@yourmonthlypaper.com Permit 263 Postal Customer opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do Alamo CA incorporated status. Contra Costa Sheriff’s The not necessarily reflect that of Alamo Today. Alamo Today deputies may also issue citations, but it is is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising ECRWSS herein, nor does publication imply endorsement. not their primary responsibility.