News

At this week’s Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission meeting, City Engineer Tim Tucker unveiled the latest designs for what is being referred to as the new Martinez Aquatic Center.more...

Rather than waiting until the 2013 expiration date of the current California State Lands Commission’s (CSLC) lease for the Martinez Marina, the City of Martinez negotiated a new lease early in an effort to get started on improving the 40-plus-year-old facility.more...

A public “scoping” session is scheduled for a March 9 Planning Commission meeting to discuss a new Environmental Impact Report for the renewed Alhambra Highlands residential housing proposal.

The Alhambra Highlands developer, Richland Development Corporation, is seeking City approval to build 112 new single-family custom homes on an undeveloped hilltop ridge in the Alhambra Hills, at the southern edge of Martinez. The 296.26-acre building site is bordered by the major arteries of Alhambra Avenue, Alhambra Valley Road and Reliez Valley Road.more...

Two Concord offices of the Seeno family of developers were searched and shuttered by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation division and the Secret Service early Thursday.

The agents executed sealed warrants, said Arlette Lee, information officer for the IRS. “I don’t have any other information,” she said.

Secret Service Agent Charles White confirmed that the FBI was leading the investigation. “We in the Secret Service work with other agencies on financial kinds of investigations,” he said.more...

It’s fun being in a band. I know this because I’ve been in a band in one form or another since I was 16 years old, and now I’m nearly as old as Yoda was at the end of “Return of the Jedi.” So that’s quite a few years and quite a few bands. I got my inspiration, as did most of my generation, from the Beatles. There is something about the sight of millions of girls screaming to get at those guys with guitars that inspires even the shyest of young men to forgo sports, academics and all other diversions and practice those chords, sing those songs.more...

In the future, Contra Costa County sex offenders can expect more than just unannounced law enforcement sweeps, as they were treated to a couple of weeks ago. Soon, they may have to notify officials three weeks in advance of their travel plans.

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), who represents the 3rd District, has once again taken on sex offenders. Lungren was instrumental as Attorney General in adopting Megan’s Law in California, which requires sex offenders to register in a public database. Now he wants to take it international.more...

After eight years of attending night classes and spending her weekends conducting research, local educator Rona Zollinger recently completed her Ph.D., and is slated to receive her diploma in May from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Zollinger is a nine-year veteran teacher with the Martinez Unified School District, who founded the Environmental Studies Academy (ESA) program at the District’s Vicente/Briones School.more...

With a tagline of “Eat more food grown from plants — and eat less food made in plants,” the Wellness City Challenge is a program designed by the eponymous Walnut Creek non-profit that encourages a change in eating habits to reduce obesity in kids and adults through nutrition education. After establishing the program in Walnut Creek, founder Cindy Gershen has partnered with the City of Martinez and the Martinez Unified School District to pilot the program in District schools before taking it countywide.more...

Recently the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association (MDIA) published a sixth edition of a comprehensive, topographical Mt. Diablo State Park trail map, available for a nominal fee at the Park’s visitor’s centers, local bookstores and sporting goods stores.

Printed in full-color on waterproof plastic, the latest edition was two years in the making, and MDIA staff went to great lengths to include extensive trail information, according to retired MDIA president Rich McDrew.more...