Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_08.15.08 - Index

YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
National Award Winning Newspapers
Vol. 8, No. 33 Antioch, California www.antiochpress.com August 15, 2008
Witnessing the making of Marines
by Rick Lemyre
Staff Writer
They scramble off the buses wearing typical
teenager haircuts, Nike T-shirts and looks
of bewilderment, trepidation and uncertainty.
Driven by sharp commands from a cadre of
men in crisp uniforms and impatient countenances,
they attempt to comply with orders to
both “Hurry up!” and “Stop running!” and
form up on precisely aligned yellow footprints
stenciled on the sidewalk. In a few moments,
they will be ushered through a nearby door
– which they will soon learn is properly called a
“hatch” – never to be seen again.
That’s because these young men are arriving
at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD)
San Diego, and over the next 12 weeks they will
be stripped of their hair, their civilian clothing
and their uncertainty as they are transformed
from what they were when they arrived into
United States Marines.
Jerry Black, an administrator with the
Liberty Union High School District, and David
Koch, a teacher at Antioch High School,
were among 72 educators– and one journalist
– from the San Francisco Bay Area, and San
Diego and Las Vegas areas recently given the
opportunity to observe that transformation
process up close during a weeklong Educators
Workshop hosted by the Corps. The workshop
was held at MCRD, the Corps’ Air Station
Miramar and Camp Pendleton in Southern
California.
The purpose of the workshop, said Brig.
Gen. Angela Salinas, commander of MCRD
Violent crime continues upswing
Councilman
calls for tax
district to hire
more police
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
Violent crime has continued
to increase in Antioch, up nearly
6 percent in the fi rst half of 2008
compared with the fi rst half of
2007. The increase was led by a
12-percent rise in robberies followed
by a 3-percent rise in aggravated
assaults.
The latest news follows the
31-percent increase in violent
crime in Antioch in 2007 – the
largest increase of any big city in
Visiting educators receive orders to fi nd a bunk (“Today, people, today!”) during
an Educators Workshop at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
San Diego and the Corps’ Western Recruiting
Region, was to “show community leaders
our commitment to excellence” and to give
them fi rsthand knowledge and experience they
could bring back to their students.
More than 22,000 recruits began the process
last year and 93 percent of them completed
it. The success rate is due to numerous
California.
On the plus side, there were
three fewer homicides and three
fewer rapes in Antioch in the fi rst
half of this year than last year.
And property crimes declined
more than 15 percent in the fi rst
half, led by a 39-percent drop in
arson and 22-percent reduction in
auto theft.
At Saturday’s Quality of Life
Forum, Police Chief Jim Hyde
acknowledged that the police are
still working on reducing the number
of robberies and assaults. But
he won big applause from most
of the 150 people in a sweltering
Deer Valley High School auditorium
when he pointed out the reductions
in six of the eight major
crime categories.
“Homicides down, sexual assaults
down, auto thefts, arsons,
burglaries and thefts are all down,”
said Hyde. “We are continuing to
push crime down. Overall, we are
down 11.3 percent.
“We are in the heart of our
crime season. Summertime is when
it’s busy because when there’s a lot
of folks out, there’s more opportunity
to do bad things to good
people. So what we’re fi nding is
because of the work the neighborhoods
are doing, the Crime
Prevention Commission, UCBN,
Neighborhood Watch, businesses,
schools are all being smart and
wise and we’re helping each other
out.
“Our Neighborhood Watch
and our citizens in neighborhoods
are calling us and saying, ‘There’s
someone suspicious over at that
house.’ And we’re catching a few
of these folks in the act. And that
pre-screenings that ensure only the best wouldbe
Marines ever get a chance to stand in the
yellow footprints. The days are long gone when
the Marines accepted recruits who only wanted
to escape problems.
“If you have problem kids, don’t send
see Marines page 12A
Photo by Rick Lemyre
gets the word out that Antioch’s
not a place to, kind of, do crime
any more.”
Hyde also touted a decrease
in the Priority 1 calls for police
service – the calls when “someone
calls the 911 Center and says,
‘I need someone over here right
away’” – as another indicator of
crime being down. But the slide
that accompanied his presentation
showed that the number of calls
were down only in January and
July – in the other four months,
the number of calls equaled or exceeded
that of 2007.
On the plus side, the time it
takes offi cers to respond to those
calls has dropped in every month
of 2008, which is helping catch
criminals in the act, said Hyde.
see Crime page 21A
THIS WEEK
An affinity
for caninity
A pack of house pets proved
that you don’t need to be Kennel
Club certified to lap up the
honors.
Page 3A
How to stop
the drop
Antioch’s alarming high school
dropout rate has caused
educators to look at ways to
inspire students to stick it out.
Page 10A
Acting like
Hot Shots
An East County softball team
lived up to its name by taking
on tough competition and
bringing home a title.
Page 1B
INSIDE
Art .................................. 9A
Calendar ........................23B
Classifieds ......................15B
Community .................... 3A
Education .....................10A
Entertainment ..............14B
Food .............................. 12B
Health & Beauty............11B
Milestones .......................9B
Opinion ........................16A
Public Notices ................18B
Sports ...............................1B