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If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: is now also suspected in a home invasion robbery in unincorporated San Ramon the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office said Monday the district attorney's office in El Dorado County carried out an investigation into Muller and believe he committed a home invasion robbery in San Ramon in early 2015 The alleged crime was never reported to the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office but upon learning about the suspected robbery last November the case has now been turned over to the Contra Costa DA a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office said Muller was convicted in 2015 for the Vallejo kidnapping of Denise Huskins Huskins' abduction was the subject of "American Nightmare," a Netflix documentary series that chronicled her kidnapping and police and FBI suspicions that the abduction had been staged with her boyfriend Aaron Quinn He took Huskins to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe he drove Huskins to Southern California and released her Vallejo police initially believed the invasion and kidnapping was a hoax perpetrated by Huskins' boyfriend generating the reference to the novel and film "Gone Girl" Muller was eventually arrested for both the Vallejo kidnapping and a violent Dublin home invasion He pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and sexual assaults of Huskins and is serving a 40-year prison sentence at a federal prison in Tucson The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced that DNA testing led authorities to charge Muller in two 2009 home invasions and sexual assaults in Mountain View and Palo Alto Muller's DNA was eventually found on straps he allegedly used to bind one of the victims in the assaults and he was arraigned on two counts of sexual assault on Dec authorities allege Muller broke into a woman's Mountain View home made her drink a concoction of medications and said he was going to rape her-- the same modus operandi in the Huskins' case then fled," the district attorney's office said Muller allegedly "broke into a Palo Alto home bound and gagged a woman in her 30s and made her drink Nyquil," prosecutors said Muller allegedly started to assault her but was persuaded by the victim to stop "Muller gave the victim crime prevention advice The newest San Ramon investigation regarding Muller is on-going Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the Contra Costa County Sheriff's investigation division at (925) 313-2600 email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area 2019An attorney is filing a lawsuit on behalf of a man who was allegedly racially profiled by BART police in Walnut Creek last week the attorney for the man said Wednesday.OAKLAND -- An attorney is filing a lawsuit on behalf of a man who was allegedly racially profiled by BART police in Walnut Creek last week RELATED: BART leaders divided after controversial encounter with man eating sandwich The suit will be announced by attorney John Burris at 2 p.m at his offices in Oakland on behalf of Steve Foster Foster was stopped by BART police for eating on the platform at the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station at 8 a.m State law prohibits eating in the paid area of the BART system "These BART officers engaged in racial profiling RELATED: BART GM apologizes to man handcuffed after eating sandwich; more protests expected Law enforcement in that BART patrons routinely eat sandwiches and other food on the platform and BART trains without any law enforcement intervention chastisements or other admonishments by police," Burris said in a statement Foster was stopped by BART police Officer D McCormick at the station at 1365 Treat Blvd Burris said BART police typically do not enforce the "no eating" rule ORIGINAL REPORT: BART police handcuff, cite man for eating sandwich on platform See more stories and videos related to BART here By: 4:30 am on November 7 A new townhome project has been proposed in the Walnut Creek area in Contra Costa County The project proposal includes the development of 19 three-story condominium buildings SDG Architects is responsible for the design concepts and construction Oak Road Townhomes Site Plan via SDG Architects The project site is a parcel spanning an area of 5.94 acres The project proposes to bring 125 townhouse condominiums in 19 three-story buildings The site will be developed with a total built-up area of 293,139 square feet ranging in size from 1,362 to 2,250 square feet with attached one-or-two-car garages with three to four bedrooms and three to three-and-a-half bathrooms Oak Road Townhomes Front Elevation via SDG Architects The building facades will vary between 37 feet and 43 feet with rooftop deck structures extending up to 45 feet the existing eight parcels would be divided into 19 residential lots ranging in size from 7,706 square feet to 17,294 square feet ranging in size from 2,808 and 9,834 square feet Oak Road Townhomes Elevation via SDG Architects Thirteen of the 125 townhouse condominium units (10 percent) would comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Parking space with a capacity of 319 vehicles (278 on-site and 41 street frontage spaces) will be developed on the site The project site is located west of Interstate 680 The nearest BART station is Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre Station located approximately 0.35 mile northeast of the site Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Like YIMBY on Facebook Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews Not everyone uses all garage spacing for parking Parking in that area currently is a nightmare Where will maintenance and delivery people park ga('send', 'event', ‘Robert ‘Becker, 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/desktop-ad.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ADVERTISEMENT ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sfyimbyadnews.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/sf-yimby-dot-com-graphic.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); Follow on Instagram © COPYRIGHT New York YIMBY LLC 2024 at 12:41 am PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}AC Transit is cracking down on vehicles parked or stopped at bus stops which provides public transportation in Contra Costa Centre El Cerrito and San Pablo in Contra Costa County as well as Oakland and numerous cities in Alameda County has installed automated cameras equipped with artificial intelligence—AI—on 100 buses to detect potential bus stop violations The AI-powered cameras will detect and issue citations to any vehicle—including taxis and delivery trucks—stopped or parked at AC Transit bus stops a warning notice for violations is sent to the vehicle’s registered owner by U.S warnings will be replaced with a $110 citation AC Transit has equipped 100 buses with two small forward-facing cameras mounted on the front windshield to detect potential bus stop violations The AI technology employs innovative computer vision developed by Bay Area-based Hayden AI to monitor bus stops for potential parking violations Instead of sending the data to a central server an onboard processor analyzes the information in real time AC Transit played a central role in passing Assembly Bill 917 which now permits transit agencies statewide to use forward-facing cameras to issue citations for vehicles illegally parked at bus stops and in transit-only lanes AC Transit upgraded its legacy software on Tempo buses to more advanced AI hardware and software designed to recognize lane lines This upgrade follows four years of issuing citations for station and bus-only lane violations along the Tempo Line 1T corridor During the activation of AI cameras June 16-July 25 along the 9.5-mile Tempo corridor onboard AI cameras documented 1,102 potential illegal parking evidence packages for review by law enforcement This represents a 34.4-fold increase in citation efficiency with the AI cameras compared to the legacy system the actual number of motorists cited for violating the bus-only lane laws reinforced the safety imperative to expand AI-powered camera use across the bus network AC Transit has collaborated with a leading AI developer to ensure the responsible deployment of this automated camera enforcement and that the deployment closely adheres to California law: Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. 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By: 5:00 am on May 1 Further information about the proposal has yet to be shared including the level to which construction will intervene with the existing office block and the rear surface parking lot Residential amenities and parking will be provided The six-story office building was constructed in 1988 with 271,500 square feet The site is located at the corner of Treat Boulevard and Oak Road located a block away from the BART Station and the Iron Horse Trail The closest grocery store is just three blocks away The property is owned by the California State Teachers Retirement System through CSHV Pacific Plaza LLC Love this direction and the site’s proximity to transit and amenities By: 4:30 am on March 14 the final Environmental Impact Report has been published showing that significant impacts will be avoided or reduced during construction which established a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the project which states it can “reduce or avoid the potentially significant impacts of the proposed project to the extent feasible for the reasons described in the Draft Environmental Impact Report.” rendering by Robert Becker for SDG Architects Oak Road Townhomes site map with labeled open space The project will reshape the 5.94-acre property of predominately single-story structures with 19 new three-story structures each with between three to nine condominiums there will be 293,140 square feet of building area Over two acres of the site will be landscaped with 278 spaces on-site and 31 along the streets ranging in size from 1,360 to 2,250 square feet each Thirteen units will also be built to comply with ADA At least 15% of the units will be sold for ownership as affordable housing SDG Architects is responsible for the design The architecture is guided by the city code to retain the neighborhood’s character The palette will be muted with whites and grays The property is located by local bus stops and is ten minutes away from the Pleasant Hill / Contra Costa Centre BART Station by foot along with several relatively high-density office buildings and other apartment complexes Downtown Walnut Creek is also just 30 minutes away by foot with most of the city within 15-20 minutes away by bus or train 2740 Jones Road property roughly outlined and wider neighborhood context The estimated timeline and cost for construction have not yet been shared These site plans continue to make me pull my hair out What do they have against a few conventional straight city streets 2025) — Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) will suspend train service between the Concord and Walnut Creek stations Jan 18-19 to replace decades-old track components and improve reliability Free buses will shuttle passengers between the Walnut Creek Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre and Concord stations during the service disruption Passengers traveling in the affected area should anticipate delays of 20 to 30 minutes BART officials say the closure is necessary to ensure a safe work environment and allow for the replacement project to proceed efficiently the southbound trains departing Concord at 5:37 a.m Southbound trains to San Francisco will begin at Walnut Creek at 5:45 a.m. Connecting buses will depart Concord at 5:23 a.m. The last southbound train departing Antioch at 11:58 p.m Saturday and Pittsburg/Bay Point at 12:12 a.m Passengers must take an earlier train departing Antioch at 11:32 p.m the southbound trains from Concord at 7:37 a.m Southbound trains to San Francisco will start at Walnut Creek at 7:45 a.m. The project comes as part of BART’s ongoing system modernization to enhance safety and reliability across its 131-mile The agency will undertake more rebuilding projects than at any other point in its 50-year history For more information about this and other infrastructure improvements riders can review the 2024 Measure RR Annual Report published by the independent Measure RR Bond Oversight Committee Passengers can manage their journeys using BART’s Trip Planner, which includes bus bridge details. They can also check real-time train departures via the agency’s website at BART.gov Contra Costa Herald News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County November 26, 2021 By 2 Comments Contra Costa Board of Supervisors approved the 2021 Redistricting Map D During their final public hearing for the 2021 redistricting process on Tuesday, Nov. 23 the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve the 2021 Redistricting Map D on Tuesday that shows Supervisor Candace Andersen’s District 2 and Supervisor Federal Glover’s District 5 gaining territory at the expense of District 3 Supervisor Dianne Burgis and District 1 Supervisor John Gioia The supervisors’ action on the final redistricting map beat the mandatory Dec. 15 deadline by 22 days after county officials conducted a series of public hearings and workshops that drew meager citizen input. (See related article) “For the six workshops a total of 21 individuals provided public comment either in person or by Zoom or phone call; and an additional 72 individuals were on the Zoom or phone call in portions of the workshops but chose not to speak,” a county document stated in defense of the public participation No matter how uneven the county process might have been in attracting public participation two districts – District 2 and District 5 – scored the most territory and potential political clout from the decennial redistricting process Board Chair Burgis of Brentwood put a positive spin on the two-month redistricting activity stating “The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors thanks the community for its participation in this decennial process,” she said “We have been committed to a robust Redistricting and public outreach process with public hearings a dedicated website at CoCoRedistricting.org and multiple ways for the public to share input including an online mapping tool to draw maps and submit comments We want to thank you for staying informed and playing a role in this important process.” “I’d like you to not vote on this today,” requested Sherrill Grower one of three persons who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting “I feel like this map disenfranchises the public particularly along the northern waterfront I am not pleased with the proposed district boundaries.” District 4 now covers most of Walnut Creek split at Highway 24 and Interstate 680 with District 2 Supervisor Andersen representing the other portion of the city District 4 underwent the smallest population gain of the five districts with a 1.65 percent increase from 2010 to 2020 Whites represent 51.7 percent of District 4’s population followed by Latinos at 22.4 percent Blacks at 3 percent and 7.7 percent for others who has announced she won’t seek re-election in 2022 split with Glover’s District 5 by Highways 4 and 242 and the former railroad right-of-way Mainly because Andersen’s District 2 experienced the biggest population gain of any of the other districts from 2010 to 2020 it gained more territory District 2’s population rose from 218,017 in 2010 to 243,565 in 2020 Whites make up 55 percent of the district’s population followed by Asians at 28 percent and Blacks at 1.6 percent and others at 6.8 percent District 2 will now cover Tassajara Valley all formerly were represented by Supervisor Burgis which saw its population rise 2.85 percent to 203,711 from 2010 to 2020 covers most of Antioch and the other growing cities of Brentwood and Oakley and communities of Bethel Island District 2 also contains the cities of San Ramon and Castle Rock as contained in District 2 In addition to the cities of Pleasant Hill and Clayton San Miguel and North Gate are in District 4 who offered no comment on the final redistricting map He not only retains the Northern Waterfront an area now under planning study for future industrial and economic development from Crockett to Oakley no longer has a portion of Pinole that was formerly split by District 1’s Gioia and District 5’s Glover District 5 is due to benefit economically and demographically when bulldozers rev up at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station where the Seeno Company has won City of Concord approval to build 13,000 housing units and commercial developments on 5,046 acres on the former Naval weapons base property in north Concord Construction should be well underway over the next 10 years Map D keeps Antioch split in two between Districts 3 and 5 This time the districts are split along Somersville Road and Auto Center Drive and the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way Herald publisher Allen Payton asked the supervisors to consider splitting Antioch along the city boundary line with Pittsburg and Highway 4 which he said makes more sense for residents to know what district they live in and to match the current and expected district boundaries for Antioch City Council District 1 Burgis said she tried to make that happen but the population figures to comply with the 5% deviation legal requirement District 5’s population increased from 203,744 in 2010 to 228,463 in 2020 Thirty-five percent of the district’s population is Latino 17.9 percent is Asian and 12.4 percent is Black Supervisor John Gioia was pleased with the redistricting results especially when more urban-like district contains the cities of Richmond and Bayview are also included in District 1 District 1’s population grew from 203,437 persons in 2010 to 224,726 in 2020 Latinos represent 40.9 percent of the district’s population followed by whites at 21.7 percent Asians at 16.8 percent and Blacks at 16.8 percent “The boundaries are very similar to our local transportation district,” observed Gioia Contra Costa County’s population increased 11.4 percent to 1,168,064 Filed Under: News, Politics & Elections, Supervisors and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Copyright © 2025 · Contra Costa Herald · Site by Clifton Creative Web Smart growthers tout transit-oriented development more often than any other strategy Yet with the exception of a few few showpiece developments the American Planning Association recognized one such development in the hopes that located between Walnut Creek and Concord in the inland reaches of the Bay Area will be receiving the 2012 National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation one of 15 awards to be presented April 16 at the APA's National Conference in Los Angeles (They will be joined by two other recipients from California: San Francisco's Hunters Point redevelopment and Pasadena's 1925 City Beautiful plan.) The award comes roughly three decades after the concept of developing a mixed commercial and residential around the Pleasant Hill station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District's Pittsburg/Bay Point line CCCTV sits on 125 acres in unincorporated Walnut Creek and features approximately 2.4 million square feet of Class A office/commercial space 50,000 square feet of retail/restaurants and nearly 2,700 multi-family residential units.  Planners say that the project has created a 30% decrease in traffic congestion in the area as commuters have opted for BART and other means of transportation that do not require single-passenger vehicles.  planners say that the center's development was anything but smooth a complicated partnership between developers the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency as is inherent to transit-oriented development (The agency was led at the time by Jim Kennedy now interim executive director of the California Redevelopment Association.) "It was remarkable that the project spanned political leadership We felt it was an example of what should be done across the country," said Ann Bagley who is a planner in the Dallas area and chair of the APA's awards jury program manager with the former Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency noted that the plan took as long as it did in part because market conditions never would have accommodated so much vacant space all at once "The Contra Costa Transit Village will accomplish positive changes as a result of planning and the implementation award emphasizes long-term measurable results," said Bagley.  not everyone was so enthusiastic about the project It received intense local opposition from neighbors who were accustomed to the area's bedroom-community feel said that a series of charettes helped diffuse that initial opposition in part as residents discovered that the transit village would likely be an improvement over existing conditions.  "The BART property was all parking; it wasn't attractive; it was just a sea of thousands of cars," said Murray "Putting all the cars in a garage and building this TOD was an amenity to the surrounding neighborhoods."  Murray also said that the logic of TOD took hold when residents came to understand that the project would not encroach on their lifestyle.  "People are accepting the fact that around the BART station is the right place to have more density," said Murray "It doesn't make sense to have single-family homes around a station." CCCTV operates on the familiar premise that commuters will opt for rail rather than driving because of the project's proximity to the rail station But planners say that the project required careful planning and programming in order to actually realize those goals developers included several programs to encourage commuters to stay out of their cars during the workday and to make sure that non-driving workers could get around.  Toms cited such features as a car-sharing program and a hiking/biking trail that runs alongside the freeway The Contra Costa Association – the business association that includes all office tenants – also sponsors regular traffic monitoring with the goal of maintaining or improving upon that 30% traffic reduction.  "That's something that we keep tabs on," said Toms "We want to make sure that that isn't moving backwards." The village's master plan includes several large parcels that remain vacant.  "It's taken a number of years to complete the vision that they had back in the '80s to do this kind of project," said Toms "It can't be that you adopt the general plan and you have build-out right away Even among the relatively high concentration of transit oriented greenfield developments in the Bay Area "It wasn't as successful because it was the first one out the door." other communities are looking forward to forming their own plans Toms said that delegations from other cities have come to observe the project and Bagley said that California seems to be on the leading edge of transit oriented development.  "We're always fascinated with California planning because y'all do a good job," said Bagley "It's very important that we draw attention now to these transit areas All over the country people are needing to live in more urban situations A successful transit area is critical to that." APA 2012 National Planning Awards Update: Yesterday the leadership of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association decided to oppose the current draft of Assembly Bill 904, which seeks to lower parking minimums in transit-oriented areas. Here is the APA's letter (.doc) to bill sponsor Nancy Skinner With friends like the cities of Palo Alto Certainly not the California High-Speed Rail Authority.  but the completion of Phase I of the Los Angeles Expo Line light rail marks a momentous occasion in the history of westward rail expansion Loath as I am to make grand pronouncements is possibly the best plan I've seen for a transit oriented development.  As almost any transportation planner in Los Angeles County will attest the car capital of the world is well on its way to becoming a transit capital as well With tens of billions of dollars invested in recently opened and anticipated mass transit lines the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has transformed the county The California Chapter of the American Planning Association presented the following awards at its annual conference in Riverside this week The California Chapter of the American Planning Association presented the following awards at its annual conference in Fresno last week will participate in the "Big Conversation" on homelessness at the Calfornia APA Conference the morning of Monday The California Chapter of the American Planning Association announced its annual awards in September at its virtual conference CP&DR’s Josh Stephens spoke with California APA President Julia Lave Johnston about the pandemic’s impact on the planning profession The California Chapter of the  American Planning Association announced its 2019 planning awards at its conference in Santa Barbara Carolina Martinez, in conjunction with Paradise Creek Partnership, received one of five 2019 Excellence Awards from the American Planning Association >>read more (Place your advertisement on CP&DR.com) (Place your job ad on CP&DR.com) (Place your RFP ad on CP&DR.com) Bill Fulton's AICP CM courses   Follow us on Facebook and Twitter Subscribe to our Free Weekly Enewsletter On March 10, 2022, the BART Board of Directors voted to approve a final redistricting map for the nine districts which will affect elections for the next 10 years. View the presentation for the 3/10/22 board meeting According to the Map Plan E2 Description “This plan presents districts with varying levels of similarity to the current BART districts The greatest change is in District 7 with only 27.9% of its current population remaining in District 7 The next district to show major changes is District 3 with 31.3% of its current population remaining in the proposed Plan E2 District 4 maintains 48.8% of its current population District 1 maintains greater than 75% of its current population and 9 maintain greater than 81% of their current populations The districts most similar to the current boundaries are District 2 with 91.4% of its current population and District 6 with 95.6% of its current population.” Most of Contra Costa County is now in Districts 1 District 2 District 2 is in Contra Costa County and includes the City of Pittsburg the Northeastern part of the City of Concord including the former Naval Weapons Station and the Northern part of the City of Martinez including the unincorporated neighborhoods of Mountain View and Vine Hill BART Stations included in District 2: Concord (shared with District 1) District 1 District 1 is in Contra Costa County and includes the Southern portion of the City of Martinez the Northern part of the City of San Ramon BART Stations included in District 1: Orinda Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre and Concord (shared with District 2) District 3 District 3 is in both Contra Costa and Alameda Counties and includes the City of Hercules the majority of the City of Berkeley including the University of California Berkeley and excepting a few neighborhoods to the South of Ashby Avenue and unincorporated parts of Contra Costa County including North Richmond BART Stations included in District 3: Richmond Downtown Berkeley and Ashby (shared with District 7) District 5 District 5 is in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and includes a portion of the City of Hayward ranging from the Castro Valley BART station in the North to the Hayward station in the South Major places and landmarks in this area include the Bishop Ranch Regional Open Space District 5 also includes the City of Pleasanton expect for a portion near Kilkare Woods BART Stations included in District 5: Hayward (shared with District 4) West Dublin / Pleasanton and Dublin / Pleasanton The new districts will be in effect for the November elections which include Districts 2 currently represented by Director Mark Foley XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong> © 2025 Antioch Herald - Entries (RSS) - Comments (RSS) - Log in The October heat wave continues to impact multiple regions across the state The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services encourages residents to visit their county’s community services pages for resources including heat safety information and places to stay cool For Extreme Heat safety tips and resources, visit the Listos California website Note: all information is current as of October 4 Some county specifics may have changed since the latest update 2023 at 8:20 pm PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Fare gates at the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station at 1365 Treat Boulevard in Walnut Creek 2021 (Samantha Laurey/Bay City News)BAY AREA CA — BART stations will soon feature new fare gates intended to prevent fare evasion after the transit agency's governing board unanimously approved a $47 million contract on Thursday BART awarded the contract to Virginia-based STraffic America for the first phase of replacing some 700 fare gates across all of BART's stations which will tentatively include a set of clear swinging doors rather than the orange fins on the current fare gates will ostensibly prevent BART riders from circumventing the gate in either direction while also ensuring that they will not slow down the flow of foot traffic The project will ultimately cost an estimated $90 million to replace the fare gates at every station by 2026 A prototype for the new gates will be installed by the end of the year at the West Oakland station which is an ideal location due to its singular entry and exit point "We look forward to working with the BART team and providing new technology the highest performance and the best possible customer experience to all riders in the Bay Area," said Paul Korczak BART officials estimate that fare evasion costs the agency up to $25 million in fare revenue each year BART officials have also argued that fare evaders make up the majority of those who are cited by BART police for other infractions "The project will go a long way in curbing the bad behavior the crime that our riders are forced to live with every time they get on a train," BART Board Director Debora Allen said "It's imperative to our customer experience and the return of riders to get this done as quickly as possible." BART has secured roughly $73 million of the project's estimated cost including the use of $21.7 million in state and federal funding and $22.9 million of BART's own capital project funding STraffic and BART will begin installing new fare gates at more than a dozen stations next year 2022 at 11:26 am PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}A BART train arrives at the Pleasant Hill BART station in Walnut Creek (Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News)CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CA — BART this week announced plans to shut down train service between the Concord and Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre stations on three weekends in October and November so crews can make repairs on part of the tracks where a train derailed in June The tracks will be closed between the two stations on the weekends of Oct and service will be reduced to one track on the two upcoming Sundays of Sept Trains have been going through the area at reduced speeds since the June 21 derailment of a train that BART officials said was attributable to hot weather that caused a curve in the rail During last week's extreme heat wave in the Bay Area 6 had to shut down the tracks between the two stations again saying the high temperatures caused a "minor deviation in a small section of track" and also caused problems to trackside equipment during which crews will replace concrete ties near the Pleasant Hill station County Connection buses will take riders between the two stations People should expect delays of 30 minutes on the Antioch line those days No BART trains will run between Walnut Creek and Concord on Saturday and Sunday BART will replace decades-old track components between the Walnut Creek and Concord stations to ensure reliable service Riders will get off their train and take a free bus to move between the Walnut Creek Click here for the full story via CBS San Francisco CBS Local Digital Media personalizes the global reach of CBS-owned and operated television and radio stations with a local perspective 2023) — Center for Elders’ Independence plans to address an expected 485% increase in the population of seniors over 80 by 2060 CEI has a mission to provide every senior access to highly coordinated health care and social services They strive for this with their Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model of care The group designed PACE for seniors with preexisting conditions Some call it the gold standard of long-term care It places much focus on preventive care so people stay healthy and happy and out of the hospital It also provides transportation to a robust team of professionals who specialize in caring only for seniors “We plan to open a new PACE Center on the Richmond El Sobrante border in late 2023 so West County residents can receive PACE services in their own neighborhood,” CEI’s President and CEO Maria Zamora said “We are firmly committed to this community CEI has been serving West County for 22 years and we want to provide more robust services by locating a PACE center in the heart of West County.” Because PACE West County will be opening in late 2023 CEI will be closing Guardian Adult Day Health Center this year “COVID brought many challenges to Adult Day Healthcare and the model is not fully meeting the needs of the community Current PACE members attending Guardian will have uninterrupted service through our Berkeley PACE center We will be working with the health plans in the area to make sure any current Guardian participants who are not in PACE can get other community services,” Zamora said “All of the talented and committed Guardian staff are being offered the opportunity to work at other PACE centers until West County PACE opens later this year,” she said “They are such caring people and we hope to keep each of them employed through this transition.” The new PACE West County center will span 18,000 sq.ft a robust rehab gym designed specifically for seniors a senior social center will host activities and hot meals August 17, 2016 By Leave a Comment Challenging three-term incumbent Gail Murray County pension board trustee Debora Allen announced, Wednesday morning, that she is running for District 1 BART Director, in the 2016 general election. The chief financial officer of East County Glass is challenging incumbent Gail Murray who is seeking her fourth term on the BART board. District 1 includes the Concord Allen’s campaign platform is focused on five primary objectives: Allen stated “BART needs strong leadership that is willing to stand up for change and hold management accountable for its revitalization.” prominent East Bay leaders have joined in supporting Allen’s campaign including California State Senator Steve Glazer a Democrat who has been an outspoken critic of strikes by BART employees “Debora Allen will bring an important voice and fiscally responsible vote into the BART boardroom “She will stand up to special interests and management incompetence and fight to improve BART while protecting the interest of taxpayers.” “Debora Allen brings a refreshing new energy and approach to getting BART’s fiscal house in order,” said Assemblywoman Catharine Baker “She will be a champion for the transit rider and taxpayer.” President of the Association of Bay Area Governments (known as ABAG) and Vice Mayor of Clayton Julie Pierce also endorsed Allen stating “Our BART system is incredibly important to the residents of Contra Costa County I am confident that Debora Allen will be strong leadership on the Board of Directors and a loud voice for transparency and financial accountability to the stakeholders as we rebuild BART into a world class transportation system of which we can all be proud.” Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen also offered her support “Debora Allen brings the business experience and financial acumen we need to lead BART in the right direction,” she stated Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson also endorsed Allen stating “I trust Debora Allen to protect the taxpayers’ investment in BART Former California State Assemblywoman (1996-2002) Lynne Leach added her support trusted and experienced businesswoman,” Leach said “Her background of working to stem the ever increasing growth of public pension costs prepares her well to serve on the BART Board.” Also endorsing Allen are Mayor of Pittsburg Ben Johnson Contra Costa Community College District Board President Vicki Gordon Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Board Member and Past President Contra Costa Taxpayers Association Michael McGill attorney and Contra Costa County Employees Retirement System Board Trustee Scott Gordon Alamo Municipal Advisory Council Member Steve Mick former Walnut Creek School Board Member Dan Walden willing to take on the challenges of the troubled BART system,” Allen said “I have spent over 25 years in a career in various financial management and board level positions I now want to use that experience and knowledge to help the BART stakeholders This is Allen’s second run for public office She ran for State Assembly in the 14th District in the June primary placing a close third in the race behind the top-two candidates She has a college degree from Sac State in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting is married to Tim Allen and they have two adult sons For more information visit www.deboraallen.com or www.facebook.com/deboraallenforbart, or email her at debora@fixourbart.com The Walnut Creek Police Department on Wednesday presented the case to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office and the DA filed significant charges against Jose Manuel Chavez The charges stem from an incident Sunday just before the opening of the regular Sunday Farmers' Market in downtown Walnut Creek the Walnut Creek Police Department received a call about a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on Locust Street between Cole and Lacassie avenues — a section of street typically closed Sundays for the Farmers' Market It is alleged that while vendors were setting up for the event Chavez struck two female victims with his SUV and then fled the scene Officers arrived to find the two women suffering major injuries from the collision The victims were taken to the hospital and remained in critical condition Thursday The Sunday Farmers Market was closed for the day while police investigated the incident Walnut Creek police located Chavez's damaged SUV entering I-680 at Lawrence Way Officers pulled him over on Buskirk Avenue near the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART station the DA's Office filed charges against Chavez He faces two felony counts of driving under the influence causing injury to both victims The charges include enhancements related to injuries sustained by both victims He is also charged with felony hit and run resulting in serious injury and a misdemeanor for driving without a valid license after a DUI offense Chavez remained in custody Thursday at West County jail in Richmond where his bail was set at $260,000 He was expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez "This case continues to be under investigation and the names of the victims are not being released at this time," Jower said "If you or someone you know has information about this case please contact the Walnut Creek Police Department at 925-943-5844 or call the Anonymous Tip Line at 925-943-5865." January 15, 2022 By Leave a Comment Have a direct say in democracy by participating in BART’s redistricting meetings The next virtual meeting is scheduled for January 15 followed by two 6pm meetings on January 22nd and February 2nd BART election districts are redrawn every 10 years following the U.S The primary purpose of redistricting is to ensure population equality among districts This process is guided by traditional redistricting principles as well as the U.S the federal Voting Rights Act and the BART District Act Districts must be contiguous and should also be compact respect communities of interest and follow natural and man-made boundaries Since decennial redistricting began in the late 1960s traditional criteria and principles have developed While the equal population of election districts is the overriding principle there are accompanying goals All are not of equal weight and all are subordinate to an equal population Care must be taken not to dilute the voting strength of minorities Compactness refers to a districts’ geographic shape and how its interior is dispersed within its boundaries the notion of compactness is difficult to evaluate because one begins with irregularly shaped borders and the political subdivisions may be irregular in shape Geometric measures of compactness are often misleading because geographic features and relationships are more complex than simple geometry The principle of compactness should be considered functionally and must compete with other criteria Continuity requires that all parts of a district be connected Districts can be drawn that are contiguous by way of water or a bridge While crossing water is allowed it should be minimized as it makes it more difficult to respect communities of interest An attempt should be made to minimize splitting cities and well-defined neighborhoods Communities of interest are subjective and difficult to define A community of interest has some common thread of shared interest Those communities can be based on such diverse elements as geography but it may not be the sole reason for drawing a district in a particular manner Preserving the core of a previous district is thought to be the least disruptive to the voters in each area would not seek to maintain a previous district that was legally objectionable New districts should be drawn deliberatively and with common sense Adherence to traditional redistricting principles and the federal Voting Rights Act will ensure fair and reasonable districts Community participation is available via Zoom on January 15, 2022 starting at 9 am at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88956838390 You may join the Committee Meeting via Zoom by calling 1-669-900-6833 and entering access code 889 5683 8390 Dial *9 to raise your hand when you wish to speak and dial *6 to unmute when you are requested to speak Virtual Meetings of BART’s Redistricting Committee and Archived Video  The BART Redistricting Committee consists of Directors Lateefah Simon (Chairperson) Here is the remaining proposed redistricting outreach meeting schedule and videos of previous meetings are provided below the list of meetings dates: January 8, 2022 Meeting – A virtual meeting was held Saturday, January 8, 2022 from 12 to 2 pm. Watch the video of the 1/8/22 meeting. December 15, 2021 Meeting – A virtual meeting was held Wednesday, December 15, 2021 from 6 to 8 pm. Watch the video of the 12/15/21 meeting. BART has rolled out mapping tools to enable public input for redistricting BART interactive mapping tool for redistricting: This tool gives residents the ability to create and share a Community of Interest and/or draft Board of Director districts Map submissions will appear in the gallery on the main landing page enabling residents to view public input for redistricting BART Districts and Demographic Data: This web mapping tool is for visualizing BART districts and demographic data In addition to the interactive mapping tool BART is providing a Community Input Map to allow residents to identify and provide supplemental information regarding their Community of Interest This feature can be used on a mobile device and is offered in English and Spanish (Español) providing residents with an app that can be used to submit community information in their language of choice Community Input Map: English Community Input Map: Spanish Information about current District boundaries Learn more at www.bart.gov/redistricting Filed Under: BART, News, Politics & Elections 2021 at 10:10 am PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}Clipper card vending machines at the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre BART (Bay Area rapid Transit) station at 1365 Treat Boulevard in Walnut Creek CA — BART is offering half-off fares for people using Clipper starting Wednesday and lasting through all of September available for those using the Clipper card or smartphone app is an effort by the transit agency to encourage riders to come back to the system which is still seeing only about 25 percent of its pre-COVID weekly ridership numbers and 40 percent of its weekend ridership Clipper is free when set up using the new Clipper smartphone app or when a card is ordered online and set up for automatic reloading of funds The card costs $3 if purchased at a station vending machine Other transit agencies in the Bay Area are also offering discounts and promotions during September. More information about the programs can be found here Project could have significant negative environmental impacts The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the city of Pittsburg after it approved the development of a data center did not appropriately address environmental impacts Pittsburg Data Hub, a subsidiary of Avaio Digital Partners (ADP), proposed Project Pegasus in July 2022 after acquiring a defunct golf course in Pittsburg The Pittsburg City Council formally approved the project unanimously this week “The city of Pittsburg and Pittsburg Power Company (PPC) have a long history of supporting innovative industrial uses and we see these developments as the core of our workforce and economic development initiatives The city and PPC are excited about the opportunity to continue to work with ADP to bring this data center online,” said City of Pittsburg Mayor Juan Antonio Banales The project is expected to cover approximately 100 acres in the city's southern portion Its first phase would include a 99MW data center spanning 347,000 sq ft (32,237 square meters) 37 backup diesel generators housed in separate buildings a PG&E electrical substation with access to seven different 230 kV power lines Development is expected to begin in Q2 2025 and the project's initial phase is planned to come online in H1 2026 "We thank the city of Pittsburg for their confidence in and shared vision for the development of the Pittsburg Technology Park We are excited to begin construction on Perseus which represents the cutting edge in sustainable hyperscale data centers," said Mark McComiskey of ADP In its petition to the Superior Court of the County of Contra Costa the Center asserted that the project would have significant adverse environmental impacts on biological resources (including special status species) The petition argues that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) failed to disclose or adequately analyze these impacts identify and adopt feasible mitigation measures to reduce them The project was initially approved on 4 November eleven days after the end of the draft EIR process they pose huge risks to the air quality and water supply of our communities,” said Meredith Stevenson Avaio declined to comment on ongoing litigation Several lawsuits have challenged the construction of data centers on environmental grounds. In March 2023 the environmental nonprofit Citizens for Fauquier County and ten local residents filed a lawsuit in the Fauquier Circuit Court to stop an Amazon data center in Warrenton The suit sought to overturn the Town Council’s decision to approve Amazon Data Services' request to build a 220,000 square feet (20,400 square meter) data center on its property using a special-use permit Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia This mixed-use proposal brings an unaccustomed level of clarity and order to the design of mixed use-neighborhoods near transit stations makes most other TODs look almost slipshod and disorganized by comparison appears casually planned and suburban compared to Bay Meadows while others look like dense business parks But is high-density urban design really incompatible with pedestrian activity the irregular and flexible parts of the plan may be equally responsible for its success.  Planned for the former site of the Bay Meadows horse racing track just south of the San Mateo County fairgrounds Bay Meadows is entitled to build up to 1.25 million square feet of office space 90,000 square feet of retail space and 1,170 apartments and condos was earlier responsible for conversion of the Ferry Building in San Francisco into office space and retail.)     the biggest buildings are closest to the transit station in this case a future Caltrain stop (which will replace the current Hillsdale station) Also familiar is the strategy of scaling down development the further one gets from the station it's the straightforwardness of the design is what makes Bay Meadows a model for other TODs I might say that Bay Meadows has lifted the klutzy phenomenon of transit-oriented development to a recognizable building type  Let's start with the obvious features of the design Rather than blurring the difference between residential the designers here have made each building type as distinct as possible Each of the building types–office buildings apartment clusters—has its own identifiable size the notion of mixed use is more horizontal than vertical with different kinds of buildings sitting side by side rather than stacking housing atop storefronts atop one another each building type is arranged in long rows that run down the width of the plan with the regularity of rows of beads in an abacus Nearest to the station is a set of five office buildings known collectively as "The Station." This is Bay Meadows' gesture toward the noble if elusive goal of jobs-housing balance  Immediately east of the big-footed office buildings is a neighborhood-serving shopping street which appears relatively narrow and pedestrian friendly plan This is the place for residents to pick up the dry cleaning and a quart of milk and it provides some eating places for office workers multifamily housing starts on the eastern edge of the shopping street the housing is interrupted by a linear park that parallels the almost rigid arrangement of buildings active and inviting for dog walking and bicycling One sign of refinement of the Bay Meadows plan is that the landscaping tends to be active as is only secondarily used as a buffer or negative space  The major recreational site is a 12-acre park on the north edge of the plan which looks like a scoop of ice cream atop a piece of apple pie The park also provides a buffer (see above) to the immense parking lot for the fairgrounds on the immediate north the pie-shaped site does not allow the designers to use a strict contract and sometimes take on irregular contours Slight irregularities in the shape of individual blocks grow more pronounced as we head east also makes it possible for the developer to develop the land efficiently triangle-shaped spaces left over in the transition from the square grid to the diagonal street the soft-edge nature of the plan allows the designers to provide a pleasant concave edge to the southern boundary of the big park Nothing in life or urban design is perfect The designers of Bay Meadows cannot entirely avoid the awkwardness of the site with the parking lot to the north and a large industrial parcel to the east Bay Meadows may look like a stand-alone suburban island of medium-density development amid big empty spaces The next place to plan is that parking lot where hopefully some future developer can extend the orderly urban fabric created at Bay Meadows An earlier version of this article listed Bay Meadows in Santa Clara County As planners have increasingly embraced the principles of smart growth over the past few years suburban areas have increasingly borne criticism as examples of how not to plan This criticism often ignores a crucial point: even if suburbs are imperfect-largely because they promote automobile dependency-they are not necessarily hopeless Thanks to the recession and various iterations of the dot-com boom and bust stagnant pool of empty office and light industrial space The same region is woefully underbuilt with housing homebuilders are making inroads into the underused office parks and industrial sites in Santa Clara County When Pasadena first began to transform its moribund downtown into Southern California's premier urban destination neighboring Glendale took a more cautious approach to urban renewal the city's Planning Department established it own Urban Design Studio with the intent of enhance existing urban character One of the least scenic ways to visit Napa Valley is to enter from the south through the industrial zone between the cities of American Canyon and Napa The congested traffic and office parks near Highway 221 are a long ways from the idyllic pastoral stretches to the north A developer is proposing a new town of up to 6,800 housing units and 2.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial space in the northwest corner of San Benito County, just across the boundary of Santa Clara County. >>read more Proposed Board of Supervisors District Maps Plan A by Contra Costa Redistricting Task Force Issue on Board Agenda for Tuesday’s Meeting Director of the county’s Department of Conservation & Development  and Patrick Roche has produced four alternative maps and a citizens group (led by yours truly) has officially submitted two alternative maps for the new district lines for the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Concept 4 is significantly different and is very much like the citizens’ group which was given to staff at a meeting with them known as the Contra Costa Redistricting Task Force The task force drew a total of eight different maps based on a list of principles (see below) which we developed from Supreme Court rulings which was passed by voters in 2008 and created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission in charge of redrawing the state legislative and congressional district maps such as geographic boundaries and common issues The staff was given the following Principles/Criteria in their Adopted Work Program by the Board achieve near equal population for each district according to census data Total population for each district should be within 5% of each other ♦ Use easily identifiable geographic features and topography to draw compact and contiguous adjusted boundaries ♦ Maintain communities of interest in a single district and avoid splitting communities when adjusting boundaries Communities of interest may be defined by existing boundaries for cities The task force drew their lines based on the following principles first and foremost being “Let the people choose their representatives and not the representatives choose their people;” – Districts be Reasonably Equal in Population Size (within 1%) – Compactness of Districts – with the smallest perimeters – Respect for Political Subdivisions (city and community boundaries) – Common Issues – such as transportation While all of the staff’s plans meet their 5% population deviation goal Concepts 1 through 3 violate their criteria of compactness as well as splitting cities and communities of interest The task force’s Plan A is the plan that splits only one community since it’s the largest city in the county plus the remaining “Census Designated Places” of which there are 53 in the county “Public Comment-Contra Costa Redistricting Task Force.” The task force’s two maps are also posted here for the public to review Below are the population and community information for each plan Following Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting county staff will be holding public meetings in each of the five districts to seek public input on all the maps that have been submitted for the process times and locations will be posted on their redistricting website ——————————————————– Census Designated Place Population District Total Deviation % Deviation Plan B by Contra Costa Redistricting Task Force Census Designated Place Population District TTL Deviation % Deviation TOTAL District 1 213,318 +3,513 +1.674% TOTAL District 2 207,635 -2,170 -1.034% TOTAL District 3 211,713 +1,908 +0.909% TOTAL District 4 209,019 –786 -0.375% TOTAL District 5 207,340 -2,465 -1.175% A light magnitude 2.7 earthquake hit 5 km (3.1 mi) away from Berkeley, California,  United States The quake had a very shallow depth of 6.9 km (4.3 mi) and was felt widely in the area.