Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - DiscoveryBayPress_05.09.08 - Index

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 6, No.19 Including Surrounding Communities www.thepress.net May 9, 2008
Parents’
night
a blast
by Ruth Roberts
Staff Writer
Cindy Davis and her son
Jacob have a contest going. If
she can answer seven or more
questions correctly, Jacob must
agree to do seven chores – of
her choosing – with no complaints.
However, if mom misses
more than seven questions, she
owes her eighth-grader a Jamba
Juice.
The scene Tuesday evening
was Excelsior Middle School’s
back-to-school night, and the
topic was American history.
In a tongue-in-cheek take on
the popular program “Are You
Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”
parents were invited to brush off
their constitutional coats and see
how much middle-school history
they actually remembered.
Armed with a list of 13
questions and a scantron (which
Best of the best
was in itself a test), the history
pop quiz ranged from such
challenges as naming the three
primary authors of the Federalist
Papers (John Jay, Alexander
Hamilton and James Madison)
Photo by Columbus Ledger-Enquirer photographer Shannon Szwarc
East County native Staff Sgt. Michael Broussard, left, and his teammate Staff
Sgt. Shayne Cherry, hold up Colt 45 pistols they were awarded after winning
the Army’s Best Ranger competition at Ft. Benning, Ga. on April 21. For more
on this story, see page 4A.
to defi ning the 18th Amendment
(think Prohibition) to the
term of offi ce for the House of
Representatives (two years).
The result was less embarrassing
than many feared, but
still suffi ciently humiliating.
“The number to beat is
12,” U.S. History teacher Staci
Maslen told the intensely fo-
Congestion to continue for decades
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
Traffi c congestion on Highway
4, Vasco Road and many
other major thoroughfares in East
County will continue for decades,
despite the best efforts of local
leaders and more than a billion
dollars being spent on improvements.
That’s one of the conclusions
of a new study entitled “East
County Action Plan for Routes of
Regional Signifi cance.” The study
was done for Transplan, the East
County transportation planning
agency, as one of the requirements
for receiving a share of $3 billion
in half-cent sales tax funds for
road improvements.
The congestion will continue
because the current pattern of
East County residents commuting
“ It is clear that additional highway capacity
is needed in this corridor to accommodate
anticipated growth.
”
East County Action Plan
elsewhere to work will continue,
despite an expected infl ux of businesses
and jobs into this area, according
to the study.
Currently, only a third of
East County residents work in
East County. About 87,000 workers
commute elsewhere each day,
half of them using Highway 4 to
get to work. One-quarter of East
County residents drive more than
an hour to get to their jobs and
another quarter need 30 minutes
to an hour to arrive at work or get
home from there.
The bad news in terms of
road traffi c is that East County’s
population is expected to grow
by 34 percent by 2030 – an additional
94,000 residents. The good
news, however, is that the number
of jobs in East County is expected
to nearly double – an additional
58,000 new jobs.
The bad news: by 2030, there
will still be 71,000 fewer jobs in
East County than employed residents.
As a result, the volume of
traffi c between now and 2030 is
see Kids page 25A
expected to increase 49 percent on
the freeway portion of Highway 4,
increase by 108 percent on Marsh
Creek Road, by 82 percent on the
surface street portion of Highway
4 through Oakley and Brentwood,
by 145 percent on Highway
160, by 22 percent on Vasco Road
and by 66 percent on Kirker Pass
Road.
To help head off some of this
congestion, the action plan outlines
several goals:
• Widen Highway 4 from Loveridge
Road to the Highway 4
Bypass; complete the Highway
4 Bypass; extend James Donlon
Boulevard west to Kirker Pass
Road; widen Highway 4 through
Oakley, Brentwood, Byron and
Discovery Bay; complete Highway
84 and build Highway 239.
see Congestion page 25A
National Award Winning Newspapers
THIS WEEK
Kids stand
up for Earth
Timber Point Elementary was
the site of a massive recycling
effort, and the school’s firstgraders
did the heavy lifting.
Page 9A
Freshness
fest returns
East County foodies in the
market for unimpeachable
produce are taking their quest
downtown.
Page 8A
Lions whiff
in squeaker
Liberty allowed only one runner
to cross the plate – but
that’s all the Falcons needed.
Page 1B
INSIDE
Calendar ........................27B
Classifieds ......................20B
Community .................... 3A
Education ....................... 9A
Entertainment ..............15B
Food ...............................14B
Health & Beauty ...........10B
Home & Garden .............8B
Milestones .....................25B
Opinion ........................18A
Public Notices ................21B