Downtown

Dixieland is alive and well in Martinez. A standing-room only crowd at Armando’s on Thursday was entertained by Mal Sharpe and his band (Big Money in Jazz – also known as Big Money in Gumbo). 74-year-old Sharpe, a trombone player, comedian and TV personality, performs at the local music venue on the fourth Thursday of every month. Since the band started its standing gig at Armando’s, the number of loyal attendees has grown steadily, attracting many out-of-towners with toe-tapping renditions of classics such as St.more...

Official Groundbreaking Ceremony for Marina Vista Streetscape Project 

On Monday morning at 8:00 am on April 12th, the City of Martinez City Council will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony for the long awaited commencement of the Marina Vista Streetscape Project.  The ceremony will take place at the corner of Marina Vista and Estudillo in Downtown Martinez.   more...

An April court date has been set in the legal battle between a group of Downtown residents and the developers of a housing development known as Berrellesa Palms.

The City and the Dunivan Trust, in addition to developer Resources for Community Development (RCD), were also named in the suit filed by the Martinez Fair and Responsible Growth Coalition in an effort to block the project’s planned Spring 2010 construction start.more...

To fill the gap left by this year’s cancellation of First Night Martinez, a few Downtown businesses are planning shindigs to ring in the new year close to home.

The Willows Theatre Company is hosting a show at the Campbell cabaret venue entitled Hollywood and Ward,  the popular local band Garage Land Rodeo will rock Ferry Street Station and the newly-opened Martinez Events Center will be the scene of dinner and dancing.more...

2000 Martinez residents received an alarming phone call on Tuesday evening after a 22-year-old man escaped from police custody, prompting a 12-hour manhunt by several local police agencies.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office used the TENS (telephone emergency notification system) to call residents surrounding the Martinez Detention Facility, where Brentwood police had brought Brentwood resident Patrick Libbey following his arrest on sexual assault charges. more...

Sept. 24 — Of the 17 members of the City’s Housing Element Task Force only five showed up to the group’s second meeting on July 2, and 12 came to the first one on June 4.

Scheduled to meet for a third time tonight, the Council-appointed group plays a key role in the current updating process of the City’s state-mandated Housing Element. They are responsible for setting policy on future development of housing in Martinez, and at tonight’s meeting, will review the working draft of what will become the City’s Policy Directions Report. more...

Sept. 10 — The Martinez City Council denied appeals on Wednesday night regarding a Planning Commission approval of a low-income senior housing development known as Berrellesa Palms, prompting one of the appelants to seek recourse in the judicial system.more...

Although the end of the year is still four months away, it’s out with the old and in with the new at the Martinez Museum.

On Monday the museum closed for nearly three weeks to provide director Andrea Blachman and volunteer staff an opportunity to change exhibits and comb through hundreds of items in storage in a daunting organizational effort.

The museum has outgrown its storage area and is currently seeking new space to house non-display inventory.more...

Sunday’s 40th Art in the Park, an annual event held each August since 1969 and hosted by the Martinez Arts Association, drew hundreds of art lovers and families looking for a fun-filled local celebration. Two hits of the days were the Dumpster Diversion project, for which M.A.A. membership chair R.C. Ferris led participating kids in creating Art Heads, Styrofoam heads that “the kids stuck all kinds of weird things into, all recycled and found goods.” M.A.A. artists also turned donated reusable grocery bags into one-of-a-kind pieces that sold out at $5 a piece.more...