Discovery Bay

We never hesitate to complain of a court decision that doesn’t square with our notions of fairness and/or common sense. We ought, then, to give credit when it is due and to acknowledge decisions that might be seen as striking a blow for common sense in a world gone overboard with self-proclaimed victims who persistently seek to blame others for the consequences of their own bad judgment.

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The Easter Bunny is coming to Discovery Bay a week early this year, but the eggstravaganza of fun for local residents and friends is still on.

Sponsored by the Discovery Bay Lions Club, the annual Easter egg hunt and celebration, held Saturday, April 16, features a visit from the Easter Bunny, prizes for the most beautifully decorated Easter baskets, activities for the kids, and the traditional egg hunt.

Also, for the first time this year, the event includes an Easter bonnet and cap contest on three levels: ages 5 and under, 6 to 12, and 12 and up, including adults.

Local churches will be selling food and drinks during the event, and proceeds will go toward Vacation Bible School programs.

The festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. and all are welcome. For more information, call Grace Milne at 925-516-7234.

thepress

Delta enthusiasts will usher in the start of the summer boating season on April 16 with the Discovery Bay Yacht Club’s Opening Day Parade, which sets sail from Lighthouse Bay at 1 p.m.

The theme of this year’s parade is Make A Wish – Make It Special. For more information, call Pat Anderson at 925-216-4411. 

the press

If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, residents in the Cherry Hills Drive section of Discovery Bay are getting their fair share of prevention this week – in the form of 600 feet of new sewage pipes.

What began as the rehabilitation of some manholes in the Discovery Bay Country Club neighborhood recently turned into an emergency situation in which town managers discovered a partial blockage in one of the manholes on Cherry Hills Drive.

Read more: thepress.net – Town replacing old corroded pipes

Contra Costa’s eastern and San Ramon Valley supervisorial districts must shrink, while their three counterparts in the western and central portions of the county must expand.

The shifts were revealed in a Times mapping analysis of 2010 census data released this month and confirmed by county officials.

After every decennial census, elected boards must redraw their political district boundaries to attain equal population under the “one vote, one person” clause in the U.S. Constitution.

California voters awarded the job of redistricting congressional and state legislative boundaries to an independent, 14-member commission.

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The winds of change are blowing toward Contra Costa County regulation of new wind turbines, and county officials want to make sure the big energy machines don’t create a safety risk to motorists driving by them on a busy commute route south of Byron.

The goal of promoting clean, renewable energy while protecting public safety will be discussed Tuesday when the county board of supervisors considers revamping its wind turbine development rule for the first time since 1985.

Back then, in the infancy of the industry, turbines converting wind into electricity were smaller, less powerful and reliable, and often placed in locations prone to fatally hacking eagles, hawks and owls.

County planners and wind energy officials say it’s time to modernize the ordinance to accommodate the new generation of larger turbines.

County Supervisor Mary Piepho, of Discovery Bay, however, said she wants to make sure the sight of new turbines doesn’t create a distraction to motorists traveling on busy Vasco Road. Parts of the road south of Brentwood are adjacent to areas where new turbines as tall as 427 feet are proposed.

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DISCOVERY BAY — Deputies arrested two more teenagers in connection with a string of strong-armed robberies in the small town last week.

A 14-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, both from Discovery Bay, were booked into Juvenile Hall in Martinez on Tuesday, Contra Costa sheriff’s spokesman Jimmy Lee said in a news release. Their names are being withheld because of their age.

Last Friday, sheriff’s deputies arrested two 16-year-old boys, one from Discovery Bay and the other from Antioch, in connection with the robberies. They were charged with two counts of robbery and conspiracy, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

A 19-year-old pizza delivery man, two 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy were attacked and robbed in a single 24-hour period last week, Lee said. The attackers took cash, two iPods, several pizzas, a soda and a set of headphones in the robberies, which occurred on Cullen Drive and Lakeshore Circle.

Deputies are still investigating the case and ask anyone with additional information to call Lt. Mike Burton at 925-427-8510 or the Sheriff’s Office at 925-646-2441.

contra costa times

– A Discovery Bay man died in a weekend motorcycle crash that remains under investigation, the California Highway Patrol said.

Steven Lavelle, 42, was found dead about 9 a.m. Sunday off the road near where Holland Tract and Delta roads meet, said Officer Tom Maguire. His 1996 Harley-Davidson was nearby.

Maguire said Lavelle was last seen alive 3 that morning. An investigation revealed he was eastbound on Holland Tract when he tried to take a curve and instead went into an oncoming lane and struck a barbed-wire fence, which threw him off his motorcycle.

Lavelle was wearing a helmet, though it was not one sanctioned by the state Department of Transportation, Maguire said.

There appear to have been no witnesses to the crash and no other vehicles were involved. Maguire said investigators are awaiting toxicology tests — which usually take several weeks to complete — to determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.

Anyone with information for CHP investigators can contact 925-646-4980

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