Kids

632 children entered the foster care system in Contra Costa County during the 2008 calendar year, according to data provided by U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Social Services Research. In each instance, after allegations of child abuse are substantiated and the child is removed from the home, he or she is brought to a receiving center in Concord for processing.

In the majority of cases, the child arrives at the center, run by a local non-profit, with no personal belongings and often in an anguished state.more...

A Martinez Junior High School student was arrested this week for selling prescription narcotic drugs to fellow classmates, according to Commander Gary Peterson of the Martinez Police Dept.

School officials were alerted to the drug sales after another student came to the school’s health office last Friday with complaints of feeling ill after buying and ingesting the prescription drugs on campus.more...

Eighteen-year-old Eric Bean of Martinez was found dead Monday on McEwan Road, approximately one mile north of Highway 4. A Martinez resident notified the Sheriff’s Office at 10:14 a.m. Bean was pronounced dead on the scene, and the Crime Lab and Homicide Detectives were dispatched to the location.

According to Jimmy Lee, the Director of Public Affairs for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, the case is being considered a homicide. Lee estimates that the body may have been brought to the location post-mortem.more...

The founders call it the West Side Toy Drive, referring to the Martinez neighborhood surrounding Green Street and Arlington Way where the two 12-year-olds live.

Last year, best friends and Martinez Junior High students Hannah Hatch and Maria Filice brainstormed a campaign to gather donations for the Marines’ Toys for Tots program, after a serious talk with grandmother Mary Hatch about people who go without during the holidays  . more...

The Interim Superintendent of the Mt. Diable Unified School District, which includes  Hidden Valley Elementary School in Martinez, issued a warning to parents and students on Thursday morning about two disturbing incidents which occurred over the past week in Pleasant Hill. On Thursday afternoon, police received a third report of a similar incident in Concord.  All three police reports involve a description of what appears to be the same man.more...

16-year-old Allison Angove, a Junior at Alhambra High School, suffered severe head trauma during an equestrian competition on April 10 when her horse fell. An experienced equestrian, Allison has been competing for several years. It’s not clear what caused the fall. The extent of the damage is still unknown, as she is still in a coma. She was recently moved from Fresno to Kaiser Oakland. Her family is keeping an online journal on the Caring Bridge site, www.caringbridge.org/visit/allisonangove.more...

In response to vocal lobbying by Contra Costa County 4-H members and their parents, the County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to provide “full funding” of the youth program, at least until the end of the fiscal year – June 30.

After that, the 4-H program, supported jointly by the County and the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), must seek “other funding mechanisms” to continue, according to 4-H officials.more...

The entire Contra Costa County 4-H program is about to be discontinued by the Board of Supervisors – the latest casualty of budget cuts.more...