Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_05.09.08 - Index

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 10, No.19 Including Surrounding Communities www.thepress.net May 9, 2008
Liberty grad is best of the best
by Rick Lemyre
Staff Writer
In 2001, Michael Broussard
was a skinny kid who
scrambled for playing time
on the football team, went to
the wrong parties and barely
passed enough classes to graduate
from Liberty High School.
That Michael Broussard,
however, might have a tough
time recognizing the man who
returned to the campus this
week. Clad in the forest green
dress uniform of the Army
Rangers, Staff Sgt. Broussard
stood before students as a veteran
of two deployments to
Iraq, two more to Afghanistan,
and the newly crowned winner
of the Army’s Best Ranger
Competition.
The competition, which
wound up on April 21, pitted
29 two-man teams against
each other in events designed
to test toughness, combat skill,
competence and commitment.
Broussard’s partner was Staff
Sgt. Shayne Cherry of Tennessee.
The grueling three-day
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
event provided no scheduled
rest for the Rangers, and required
them to don combat fatigues
and 60 pounds of gear,
climb a 60-foot-high rope net
and crawl through a watery
of East County residents commuting
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. Onequarter
of East County residents
drive more than an hour to get
to their jobs and another quarter
need 30 minutes to an hour
pit along a 3.8-mile obstacle
course – in near-freezing temperatures.
They also parachuted out
of a Black Hawk helicopter to
hit a target on the ground, com-
“ It is clear that additional highway capacity
is needed in this corridor to accommodate
anticipated growth.
”
East County Action Plan
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.
Photo by Columbus Ledger-Enquirer photographer Shannon Szwarc
Brentwood 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.
peted in various marksmanship
and casualty evacuation
events, and made the dreaded
“foot march,” a nighttime trek
see Best page 25A
As a result, the volume of
traffi c between now and 2030 is
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
see Traffic page 25A
National Award Winning Newspapers
THIS WEEK
Freshness
fest returns
East County foodies in the
market for unimpeachable
produce are taking their quest
downtown.
Page 8A
Shots fired
downtown
Six people were shot at and
an 18-year-old was wounded
in a potentially gang-related
incident.
Page 4A
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