If you’re searching for a new furry family member, consider checking out the Contra Costa Animal Services Dept. in Martinez.

Watch the video above to see some of the available animals.

The shelter is open on Friday & Saturday from 10am-5pm, and is located at 4800 Imhoff Place in Martinez.

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A woman was the victim of a strong-arm robbery at about 4:45pm on Thursday near the bus stop at the downtown Concord BART station.

The woman suffered a bloody mouth after at least one of the suspects punched her, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.

The suspects are described as two black females in their teens. No other information is currently available.

UPDATE: According to BART PD, two teenage suspects under the age of 18 were taken into custody at a nearby residence. No phone was located. Both the suspects were also ordered to stay away from BART for 30 days.

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A 42-year-old Martinez man was arrested for murder last week in connection with an 18-year-old cold case, authorities said.

Fernando Leo Trujillo was arrested by deputies from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 11, as a suspect in the 1995 murder of Barstow resident Dwayne Askew and participation in a criminal street gang, according a news release from the Barstow Police Department.

Read the entire story on the website of the Desert Dispatch, which has all the information on the suspect and the crime he allegedly committed.

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A vehicle’s side mirror received major damage this week after an unknown vandal threw an egg at the truck while it was traveling on Willow Pass Rd. in Concord.

The victim’s brother tells us the story….

My sister was driving home on Willow Pass Rd. between Highway-4 and Landana Dr. when some one threw an egg at her truck. She doesn’t know if it was from the side of the road or from a passing car. But as you can see the damage is pretty crazy. The egg went through the exterior of the mirror. She said that when she drove past the next day in day light there was a Costco 30 pack egg carton on the right side of Willow Pass just past the apartments heading toward Highway-4. She did file a police report, and I’m not sure if there were any other victims.

That’s awful. Fortunately it didn’t go through her window.

Thanks for the heads-up. Everybody, use caution when you’re driving in that area.

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The National Transportation Safety Board today issued “urgent” safety recommendations to protect rail workers in the wake of the on-the-job deaths of two BART track workers in Contra Costa County two months ago.

The recommendations arose from the NTSB’s ongoing investigation into the deaths of 58-year-old Hayward man Christopher Sheppard and 66-year-old Laurence Daniels of Fair Oaks, who were struck and killed by a BART train on Oct. 19 while inspecting a dip in the tracks between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill BART stations.

At the time of their deaths, BART was using a controversial safety procedure known as “simple approval,” in which track employees were responsible for their own safety and required workers to clear the track in 15 seconds if a train approached.

BART has since eliminated the practice. Following that revelation, the NTSB is urging “redundant” safety measures for rail workers, such as implementing a safety monitoring system known as positive train control, secondary warning devices or the use of a shunt that workers attach to rails to send a stop signal to approaching trains, according to a statement from the safety board.

The NTSB today also urged Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to require transit agencies to review safety procedures and eliminate practices that rely solely on the track worker to protect themselves from an oncoming train.

“Having redundant protection measures in place for track workers is not only a best practice but common sense,” NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said. “A positive safety culture is not a solo act — everyone needs to look out for each other.”

The letter to Rogoff also cites other track worker deaths investigated by the NTSB in recent years, including fatal incidents in the Washington, D.C., New York and Boston areas.

The investigation into the deaths of Daniels and Sheppard is ongoing and the NTSB has not yet determined the accident’s probable cause.

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The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it!

The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.

Have you ever had something stolen from your vehicle or your home? If so, what was it, and was the person who stole the item(s) captured?

Talk about it….

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No injuries were reported after a rollover crash in the parking lot of the Sunvalley Mall in Concord.

The crash occurred just before 11am on Thursday.

Thanks to Perry for the picture!

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The Concord Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI Checkpoint on Saturday December 21, 2013 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 9:00 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

The deterrent effect of DUI checkpoints is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints and proactive DUI patrols are conducted routinely.

In California, this deadly crime led to 774 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Nationally, the latest data shows nearly 10,000 were killed by an impaired driving. ‘Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 8 lives and resulted in 110 injury crashes harming 154 of our friends and neighbors.” said Sgt. Cody Harrison.

Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment with officers checking drivers for proper licensing delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving.

Recent statistic reveals that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while also yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent. Nearly 90 percent of California drivers approve of DUI checkpoints.

DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests affording the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence. Locations are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public.

Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000 not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.

Funding for this checkpoint is provided to Concord Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Report Drunk Drivers – Call 9-1-1.

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A Claycordian made a public records request to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) regarding Spare the Air Alerts, and this is what he discovered about when & why the BAAQMD decides to issue a Spare the Air Alert, as well as how many citations were issued between Nov.1 – Dec. 12. (a total of 9 spare the air alerts were issued during that time frame).

Here’s the information:

I made a public records request to BAAQMD, the answers are attached.

I called them when we had 10 mph winds in Concord and high wind warnings on the Benicia Bridge. They were very nice and explained that if the is a bad air forecast anywhere in the District, they shut the whole district down, and they don’t change their proclamation, once they make one. Hardly my definition of an agile organization.

The one interesting thing is they absolutely will not identify who makes the decision to have a burn ban, either by phone or in response to my PRA request.

The following is from the BAAQMD:

1. Number of violations by City for 11/1/13 to 12/12/13. (Warning letters are no longer issued)

City # of Violations

Antioch 1
Benicia 1
Campbell 1
Concord 1
Cotati 1
Daly City 1
Fairfield 2
Forest Knolls 2
Fremont 1
Half Moon Bay 6
Lagunitas 1
Los Gatos 3
Montara 7
Moss Beach 2
Novato 5
Oakland 1
Pacifica 11
Palo Alto 1
Petaluma 2
Rohnert Park 4
Saint Helena 1
San Carlos 1
San Geronimo 2
San Jose 3
San Mateo 1
San Rafael 2
Santa Clara 1
Santa Rosa 11
Sebastopol 1
Sonoma 2
Vallejo 3
Walnut Creek 2
Windsor 3

2. There are no designated “Spare the Air” enforcement personnel. The District has 70 inspectors who enforce not only the regulation that applies to wood burning, but also the many air quality regulations that apply to large industrial facilities such as refineries and power plants, to a wide variety of manufacturing facilities, and to commercial facilities such as gas stations and dry cleaners. These inspectors are routinely in the field carrying out scheduled inspections of facilities and responding to a wide variety of complaints.

3. From 11/1/13 to 12/15/13, the District received 1,929 complaints in the wood smoke complaint system.

4. The District has staff meteorologists who make the forecasts. Under the wood burning rule, the trigger for a curtailment period is the 35 microgram per cubic meter federal particulate matter standard. When the District meteorologists determine that levels are expected to approach the federal standard, a Spare the Air Alert is called.

The meteorologists make these determinations after (1) considering current and forecasted weather information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and other forecasting services, (2) running forecast models such as MM5, CANSAC, and WRF, (3) examining particulate matter concentration data from the Air District atmospheric monitoring network and the networks of other California agencies, and (4) running statistical models that correlate variables with atmospheric particulate concentrations. The determination is a matter of professional judgment based on many current and forecasted variables such as wind directions and speeds, mixing heights, ground level temperatures, temperatures aloft, solar gain, cloud cover, and relative humidity.

Sincerely,

Rochelle Reed, Public Records

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On December 14th and 15th, the Mt Diablo Soccer’s Fall 2013 Under 12 boys team “Men in Black” faced off with eight other soccer teams in the AYSO Section 2 Tournament in Foster City. AYSO Section 2 covers Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and most of Nevada (except Las Vegas). The teams qualified for the cup by winning first place in their AYSO Area Cups. “Men in Black” won the Area 2C Cup in Pleasant Hill on November 17 in a close victory over the top team from Concord AYSO.

In addition to our very own Clayton team, other teams from Menlo Park, Millbrae, Davis, Capay Valley, Reno, Cupertino, and Hillsborough faced off in the under 12 boys division in the AYSO Section 2 Tournament.

The Men in Black had not played together since their Area 2C Cup victory on November 17th and got off to a slow start with a 2-2 tie over Capay Valley Saturday morning, but they came back strong that afternoon with a 7-2 victory over Cupertino securing a 3rd place seed of the 9 teams for the Sunday morning quarter final elimination game.

Their next game was a frigid 35 degrees at 8am on Sunday morning where they defeated the 6th place seed team from Menlo Park 6-2.

The Men in Black then faced Capay Valley in a rematch in the semi-final round defeating them 5-1. This advanced Men in Black to the Championship game to face the top seed team from Hillsborough. The Hillsborough team had handily won each game in the tournament thus far with only 1 goal scored against them across all games played. Men in Black faced them head on and the boys had to play hard and dig deep to secure a lead.

The first quarter ended in a 1-1 tie, the second with a 3-2 lead, the third with a 4-2 lead, and a game winning final score of 5-3. As the AYSO Section 2 Under 12 boys champion team, Mt. Diablo Soccer’s Men in Black advances to the California Cup in Bakersfield on March 15th and 16th, 2014.

The California Cup pits the winners of each of the 4 AYSO sections that cover the state of California against each other – Sections 1, 2, 10, and 11.

Good luck to the Men in Black, and thanks to Eric Sandoz for the information!

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It sure was a beautiful sky above Claycord on Wednesday.

The top picture shows the morning sky, and the bottom three were taken throughout the day ending with the sunset.

Thanks to “Spare My Air” for the top photo, Deena for the second one, Diane in WC for the third one and GoGo Gomez for the bottom picture.

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Assemblywoman Susan A. Bonilla honored Concord residents Liz Lamach and René Henderson for their hard work and passion in founding “Matteo’s Dream – A Playground for Children of All Abilities.” Lamach and Henderson received a certificate from Assemblywoman Bonilla for making “Matteo’s Dream” come true, at a ceremony today at their playground in Concord.

“‘Matteo’s Dream’ is unique because it is one of the few playgrounds in the nation where children with physical challenges can play with other children,” said Assemblywoman Bonilla. “It is truly inspiring for me to see Liz and René realize their son’s dream by creating this playground from land donated by the City of Concord and see it receive national praise.”

“René and I are both humbled and honored that Lions Club International chose this project for its Rose Parade float,” said Liz Lamach. “We are very proud to represent our son on this float, and the fact that we are going to share Matteo’s Dream with the country is incredible. Any time playgrounds get adapted to be more inclusive so that all children can play, we feel great pride.”

Their crowning achievement, built in honor of their son, Matteo, now deceased, will be the focus of a Rose Bowl parade float sponsored by Lions Clubs International. Lamach will ride on the parade float along with Christian Campbell, a 17 year-old boy with cerebral palsy from Concord. At today’s ceremony, Christian and his mother Kausha King were congratulated by Assemblywoman Bonilla, City of Concord officials and the Concord Police Association, all who raised funds to send Christian and his family to ride in the 125th annual Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

“Many individuals and local organizations were inspired by Christian’s story and made generous contributions to enable him and his family to live the dream and ride in the Rose Bowl Parade,” said Assemblywoman Bonilla. “I am very proud to be a part of this community effort.”

top photo: Matteo’s Dream Rose Bowl Parade Float – Courtesy of Lion’sClubs.org

bottom photo: Courtesy of Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla

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