NEWS24-680 – Page 121 – News24-680.com

Taking Off The Muzzle; Ducking The Rocket’s Red Glare

We’re back, lifting a self-imposed “cone of silence” after a difficult news run and sensing that – like a ringing telephone no one is answering – we were just adding to already-bubbling stress levels out there. Things began to manifest last week when, in the face of some unsettling national headlines and apparent confusion over…

ScreenShots: Invasion Of The Capgras Delusion

Never a fan of gore and splatter movies and with limited time to entertain ourselves after a workday we searched for a sci-fi classic in black and white and settled on the trailblazing “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” No, not the Donald Sutherland/Leonard Nimoy re-make in which dear old San Francisco becomes the garden of…

County Currently “Swimming Upstream” On Homeless Issue; Annual Count Deemed “Consistent”

Almost to the day Contra Costa Supervisors admitted they were “swimming upstream” with “absolutely no system” to effectively address the issue of homelessness, County Health released findings showing a four percent rise in the number of people homeless in the county in 2023 compared to 2020. The report, released by Contra Costa Health’s Health, Housing…

The Last Call; Skull Highway; “But Baby, I…”

Here we are, coming up on the end of the week and looking for reinforcements after a messy Mercury spill in Martinez, shenanigans on our local campuses, crashes, fires and other calamity all duly recorded on our pages. During our week, when we weren’t busy decontaminating or dodging street people asking if we were “The…

Video: Tandem, Fatal Crash In Martinez Wednesday

Two people died following a crash on westbound Highway 4 east of Center Avenue Wednesday, a collision causing both cars to come off the freeway together and into separate trees along Arnold Industrial Drive in Martinez. Killed were Diana Zuniga, 18, of San Pablo, and Jeremiah Smeby, 49. The crash occurred at around 10:40 p.m.…

Knifing Reported At Concord Home Depot Wednesday

A 19-year-old woman has been detained and Concord police officers have locked down a crime scene at the Home Depot store on Meridian Park Boulevard after a reported stabbing at the store Wednesday. Details remain sketchy as the incident was only just reported at approximately 6:30pm, although a woman – reportedly with blood on her…

Cal High Classroom Intrusion Sparks Questions About Campus Security

As we noted at the time, three Dublin teens made their way onto the Cal High campus Monday, pushed past a math teacher and assaulted a student in class as classmates scattered. The trio eventually left campus and have subsequently been identified, but the incident was – of course – filmed by a student with…

Antioch PD Chief Pledges Cooperation With DOJ Investigation; Announces Trust Building Policy Shift

A bit far afield, but interesting shift in policing policies at Antioch PD: On May 10, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a civil rights investigation into the Antioch Police Department. Chief Steven Ford welcomes this investigation and pledges full cooperation with DOJ officials, just as we…

Latest “Swatting” Incident Panics Pleasant Hill School, Parents

The latest in what appears to be a nation-wide trend toward “Swatting” – or calling down a heavy police presence on an unwitting subject – briefly panicked students and parents in Pleasant Hill Monday. As we reported via our Flash Alert system at the time, police responded to Pleasant Hill Elementary School, 2097 Oak Park…