Hot Cars, Drills And Spills, And Upstaging Quakes
Busy Wednesday in the 24/680 as stolen and otherwise wanted cars zip to and fro, police officers tiptoe through the neighbor’s rose bushes, some school drills go awry and an actual quake clears its throat a day ahead of a planned, statewide earthquake drill. As if we’re not all edgy enough – our phones are…
Circuitous Oakland PD Chase Bisects Lamorinda Wednesday
An air and ground pursuit of three men wanted in connection with an assault with a deadly weapon case in Oakland whipsawed through Lamorinda – entering from the Canyon side – and briefly toured the area before heading back to Berkeley on westbound Highway 24 Wednesday. The pursuit, which at times included several police cars…
Tuesday TattleTales – Zoomies, Movies, Flying Tortillas, Andy Goes Bad
Full of The Stoke this morning as The Rolling Stones, Stripped is thundering the newsroom and breathing new life into the gasping, heaving newsies who chased stories and jet fighters over the weekend and on into the early morning hours of this new week. Funny how it took some punky, gittar-slingin’ English Boys to figure…
County Health Deploys HazMat Team After Petroleum Coke Dust Release In Martinez Friday
The Contra Costa County Health department was notified of a release of petroleum coke dust at the Martinez Refining Company plant on Friday morning, sending a HazMat team to the area to monitor what, if any, effect the release had on surrounding neighborhoods. Flash users and Facebook subscribers lit up those interfaces with news of…
Barriers Back Up In Broadway Plaza After Tuesday Morning Ram Raid
The city installed barriers on either end of Broadway Plaza after the infamous 2021 Nordstrom robbery, the barriers preventing cars from driving through the shopping district for more than a year. Those barriers were removed in March of this year, the city taking steps to increase protection for downtown merchants. Tonight, Tuesday, after early morning Ram…
NEWS24/680: “We Deal In Now…”
One of our small but merry staff gave us the title for today’s effort, explaining our model to a call-in subscriber convinced we were robots and AI-generated minions of some giant super-corporation. “Nope, all human,” our man told the suspicious caller. “Call anytime. We deal in now.” We liked that so, we’re using it today.…
Thunder Runners; Highway Hiker; Coppa Choppa, And Sideshow Olé
After a deceptively quiet start to the evening, Friday night devolved into a Code Three blur of sirens, apparitions, and screeching tires as random incidents of criminal intent and psychotic breaks turned the evening into a mélange of breakneck events. By now, you’ve no doubt caught up with us regarding that pursuit from Pittsburg through…
Walnut Creek a Go-Go; Boom Booms And Messages From The Wildlands
Being risk-takers and heat-seekers we roamed the wilds of the 24/680 Saturday night, looking for the latest fashion trends, dance crazes, and conducting our usual hyperlocal study of cultural anthropology – to put a fancy-schmancy name on it. We can report that hemlines are rising, hotpants still haven’t made a comeback, there’s actually line-dancing going…
When The Smoke Gets In Our Eyes
Nothing burning locally and yes, we hope we haven’t just jinxed our night, but we’re clear so far with low pressure and wildfires burning in Northern California and Oregon drawing smoke south into our swirlie little valleys. Kind of a (cough) pain isn’t it?
Rolling Bicycle Party Visits Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill Friday
A colorful convoy of two-wheeled bicycle enthusiasts roamed between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill Friday – carrying their own music, pedal fuel, and burritos and attracting lots of attention. The East Bay Bike Party, a loose coalition of riders who organize through social media for semi-regular rides turned out in force for Friday’s ride, numbering…