Parents, even before Sandra Cantu's kidnapping and murder, how much room did you give your kids to roam?

The March 27 disappearance of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu from her Tracy mobile home park, and the subsequent discovery of her body on Monday, has raised a lot of troubling questions, particularly among parents and caregivers.

Us parents and caregivers have definitely asked ourselves (and chimed in our views) about how closely we should monitor our kids. Some people on news websites—including this one—have lambasted the Cantu family for being unaware of this 8-year-old’s whereabouts for several hours on that fateful afternoon and evening of Friday, March 27.

At the same time, there are people springing to the family’s defense, people who describe living in similarly close-knit neighborhoods where kids roam freely—and safely. Or people who themselves grew up in such safe, non-threatening neighborhoods.

I grew up in Walnut Creek, in a neighborhood near downtown. When I was probably 6, 7 or 8 years old--on Saturdays, Sundays, or on summer days--I would be gone from home for hours at a time. I’d tear across my cul-de-sac to play with the neighbor boy across the street. I’d disappear into his big, hilly back yard with its orchards and groves, where the two of us would devise all sorts of amazing imaginary adventures.

My mother, as far as I knew, never worried that I wouldn’t return home by nightfall. And this was when I was pretty young—Sandra’s age, 8 years old, and even younger.

At some point, probably when I was a bit older, I remember how my neighbor friend, Steve, and I—and probably a few other neighborhood kids--would go on half-day summer adventures around our neighborhood, which would take us a half a mile, or a whole mile away from our homes.

We’d sneak behind the fences of people’s backyards, into creek beds that snaked behind their homes. I have a vague memory of being lost in one of those creek beds, searching for tadpoles, and splashing in the shallow pools of the creek, getting all wet, but feeling terrific, because it was a long, hot summer day, and we were feeling amazingly free.
That was then. Some 20—okay 30—years ago.

Now, it’s 2009.

My son is 11, and we're lucky enough to live in the same, safe Walnut Creek neighborhood in which I grew up. Perhaps, with my son at 11, I wouldn’t panic if he hooked up with some friend, and the two of them disappeared for a few hours--to go exploring around the neighborhood, even went trekking up and down those creekbeds behind people’s backyard fences…

Where it’s possible that Walnut Creek’s homeless now have their encampments…

Never mind.

Anyway, I read about the family of Sandra Cantu, being unaware of this 8-year-old’s whereabouts for three, four, five hours on a Friday afternoon and evening.

As a parent of a boy who was once eight and is now 11, I'm asking, WTF?

She was in second grade?

But wait! I’m not familiar with the layout of the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy, where Sandra Cantu lived. Maybe it’s like the cul-de-sac of my youth, where kids wandered in and out of one another homes on school afternoons, on weekends, and on summer days.

Maybe the neighbors in Sandra’s neighborhood aren’t all the best of friends (like the residents of my childhood neighborhood) but they live close enough to one another to share a certain level of trust—and hope—that everyone will look out for one another's kids.

What do you think?

Tracy girl's body found in recovered luggage

Sad news from Tracy and Sacramento TV station Fox40:

Sources within local law enforcement tell FOX40 News the body of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu was recovered from inside a piece of luggage pulled from a drained irrigation ditch north of Tracy.

Cantu had been missing since Friday, March 27. when she disappeared while returning home from a friend's house at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park.

Authorities have not made any arrests in the case, although their investigation has focused on several persons of interest.

KRCA.com adds:

Investigators said they were able to identify Cantu's body based on the
clothing she was last seen wearing.

Farmworkers found a black, sealed case Monday while they were draining a pond near Bacchetti Road, about two miles from Orchard Estates.

Police said it was a black piece of luggage of significant size with both hard and soft sides. Officials in white suits removed the luggage from the pond shortly after 5 p.m. It was loaded into a van and driven to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in French Camp. An autopsy will be conducted Tuesday morning.

Trial opens in murder of Walnut Creek man who was trying to protect his mom from intruder

It’s a sad coincidence, but last week I was driving in my neighborhood and pulled up to a stoplight behind a white GMC pickup.

I couldn’t help but notice the rear window of the cab. The owner had decorated the window with the words, in white letters, “In Loving Memory Joshua Dustyn Rhoads.” Besides the words was the silhouette of a helmeted guy on a dirtbike.

On Monday, the trial started for the man charged with killing 25-year-old Joshua Rhoads (pictured here).


Rhoads was killed on March 20, 2008 in the home he lived in with his family off Boulevard Way in the Saranap neighborhood. That's not too far from where I live, so I suppose that's why I saw the white pickup with the tribute to Rhoads' memory.

Rhoads' accused killer is Nathan Media, 43, of Martinez. Medina is facing life imprisonment, and is charged with fatally wounding Rhoads and with attempting to kill Rhoads’ mother Beverly “Sam” Rhoads.

As reported by the Contra Costa Times, prosecutor Steve Moawad said Monday during the trial's opening statements that Rhoads’ family had been friends with Medina’s family for more than 20 years.

But things between the two families grew contentious when Beverly Rhoads hired a construction company, belonging to Medina’s stepfather, to build an addition to her home. According to the Times, Moawad said:

When more than a year passed, and the proposed four-month project was still unfinished, Rhoads hired another contractor. ... She also filed a civil suit against Medina's stepfather to recover the money she lost. Medina, who had done the electrical work on the Rhoads' addition, took it upon himself to resolve the issue. …

Medina cut off the electricity for the Rhoads’ home, then broke into the house, and sprayed Beverly Rhoads in the eyes with pepper spray. She and her son, Joshua, sought shelter in the laundry room, and Joshua barricaded himself at the door between his mother and the intruder.

The gunman then opened fire, fatally wounding Joshua Rhoads. ...

Beverly Rhoads, hiding behind a pile of clothes, managed to call 911, and whisper into the phone: “It’s Nathan Medina. … He murdered my son. … He doesn't know I'm here. Please help me."

Medina broke the laundry-room door in half, reached inside and shot Joshua twice in the head. ... Medina was still searching for Beverly Rhoads when he shot at a Rhoads family friend who lived in a backyard cottage.

Medina’s defense attorney claims that it wasn’t Medina who broke into the house that day. In fact, attorney Dirk Manoukian said that Beverly Rhoads misidentified Medina as the gunman.

The Times furthermore says:

Beverly Rhoads only got a glimpse of the intruder before she was blinded by the pepper spray. She saw so little of the gunman, she couldn't tell police whether he was wearing a mask, Manoukian said. Though she was close to Medina's family, she had not seen Medina in more than four years. The misidentification of the killer, in turn, poisoned the police investigation against Medina, whom Manoukian said, was wrongly accused by Beverly Rhoads for an incident of vandalism at the house weeks before the killing.

All of the witnesses who identified Medina as the intruder after the killing had been led to do so during police questioning. No physical or DNA evidence that pointed to Medina was found at the crime scene, Manoukian said, but police never investigated avenues unrelated to Medina because of Rhoads' assertion that he was the killer.

Whatever happens with Medina’s trial, Rhoads’ death was a devastating blow to his family and friends. Rhoads was a native and lifelong resident of Walnut Creek who attended Las Lomas High School and graduated from Del Oro High School in 2001.

In his obituary, loved ones described him as a "kind-hearted and gentle young man" who had a deep love for his family and enjoyed spending time outdoors with his friends riding dirt bikes, rock crawling, jet skiing, and snowboarding.

Joshua was also well-known for his creativity and his ability to work with his hands and build things “from the ground up.”

"Josh was the love of my life, my best friend, and my confident,” wrote Joanna Katz, on his online guestbook on the Contra Costa Times. “I could tell him anything and I knew that he would always be there for me. His family accepted me into their lives as one of their own. I have never felt so much love from one person and I know that he is up in Heaven feeling all the love that everyone is sharing down here on Earth. I was lucky enough to have him for two years!!! Josh: Remember when you told me that dying was your biggest fear? Well, I guess in the face of your fear you went out like such a MAN. I'm so proud of you.”

Beyond the egg-throwers, more reports of out-of-control teens in suburbia this weekend

Four teens from Danville and Alamo, who refused to leave an underage drinking party, wound up in trouble with the police, the Danville Weekly reports.

Apparently, the police got a call from a teen resident on Campbell Place about 9 p.m. Saturday. The teenager said the home had been taken over by about 30 other teens who wouldn't leave, and the poor kid needed police help in making the partyers leave.

When police arrived, officers spotted a "number of juveniles running arond inside the home" and several bottles of alcoholic beverages.

Okay, I'm going to say something mildy snarky, like, "shocking!" Teens at a party on a Saturday night. Alcoholic beverages. As if! Gee, never happened in my youth...

Then again, there is the poor kid whose home is being overrun by classmates probably hearing that his/her parents are gone for the weekend. And the home is being turned into a wild party scene--straight out of a bad teen movie, anything from Risky Business to Superbad--or from any of our youths

When police first arrived, Sgt. Dan Hoffman tells the Danville Weekly, the youth went so far as to lock the doors. But the juvenile resident allowed the officer in. Apparently the juveniles had attended a party at the residence the previous night and returned on Saturday with alcohol.

Police coralled the teens and cited four of them for possession of alcohol. Of the four cited, two were 17 and two were 18, and they were from Danville and Alamo.

Kids on spring break--or someone--throwing eggs at cars on Ygnacio Valley Road Saturday night/Sunday morning

Parents: do you know where your kids were at 4:45 on a Sunday morning?

A reader e-mailed to report being pelted by eggs while driving to work along Ygnacio Valley Road near Homestead Avenue early Sunday morning.

I called the Walnut Creek police, and wasn't able to reach the watch commander but someone on duty said that the police had received one or two reports of eggs being thrown at cars driving along Ygnacio Valley Saturday night.

Here's what the reader reported:

I was driving to work down Ygnacio Valley Rd at approx 4:45 this morning (Sunday), heading towards the freeway. In around the area of Homestead Ave, my car was hit with an egg thrown from the right side of the road.

I stopped at the 76 station on the corner of Ygnacio and Civic to wash it off, and called the police. I hope they caught the people responsible.

Have you heard of this happening on a regular basis? Or are there kids out there whose parents don't know where they are at that time of the morning? Is it Spring Break for the Acalanes School District?

I told the reader that it has been spring break for the Acalanes Union and Walnut Creek school districts this past week. If kids living in that neighborhood near Ygnacio Valley and Homestead attended public schools they would most likely attend public schools in either of these districts.

But if the egg-throwers had strayed over Shell Ridge from the side of town covered by the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, well that district's spring break is not until April 13-17.

Reader, thanks for letting others know about egg-pelting kids vandalizing cars on the weekends. I only have an 11-year-old, but I hope he won't be out in the middle of the night, throwing eggs or other items at passing cars.

I can see, how, if you're a middle-school-aged kid, or a teenager, you would think it's funny to throw eggs at cars. I myself have perpetrated my share of pranks in my lifetime. But, in my book, the first rule of pranks is: do no harm. They should be good-natured and fun for everyone involved: the prankster and the prank-ee. And throwing something--even something as seemingly harmless as eggs--at moving cars is dangerous.

Go flats! Fashionista first ladies demonstrate the style power of low-heeled shoes

No, this has absolutely nothing to do with Walnut Creek city affairs, though Walnut Creek is known for trendy shops selling not only clothes but top-of-the-line ladies' footwear.

Could it be--please--that women's Sex and the City-esque love affair with Manolo Blahniks and other stiletto-heeled shoe designs might be waning? Could flats and other low-heeled shoes be making a serious comeback, thanks to Michelle Obama and to Carla Bruno-Sarkozy, the former super model turned first lady of France? Both women sported very stylish (and comfortable-looking) low-heeled shoes and flats when they met in France this week (with their world leader husbands, of course) for the G20 meeting.

A co-worker, who is much more fashion-conscious than I am (and always wears chic-looking flats) assured me that flats have been coming back for a long time. I wondered, though, especially after Gwyneth Paltrow was seen parading the red carpet this past summer (to promote the blockbuster Iron Man) in skyscraper-high, six- and seven-inch heels.

It seemed like the fashion world was going gaga over these ridiculously high shoes, even as articles appeared, quoting medical experts about the long-term health consequences of wearing high heels daily: poor posture and body alignment, back and leg pain, nerve damage, sciatica.

Then Barack Obama took office, and his wife was hailed as the new international fashion icon. One thing fashion writers were watching (beyond Michelle Obama's penchant for baring her arms) was her preference for low or flat heels.

I was delighted. I'm a tall gal, so I was always self-conscious, especially in my teens, of wearing heels and towering over everyone--especially boys and men. Also, I always found high heels to be uncomfortable, but I often wore them anyway, especially in my early work days, because I felt like fashion dictated that I do. I never felt powerful or sexy striding around in heels--as the Carrie Bradshaws of the world would have us believe. I just felt hobbled and annoyed that walking a few blocks from car to office--or even from one desk to another--could be painful.

As I became more comfortable with my height, I also became comfortable with the idea of not wearing heels. And of being more true to myself and my own comfort. I like to feel like I can move in my every day life.

So, it's nice to read in the Huffington Post style pages that Obama and Bruni-Sarkozy share a preference for flat footware.

Of course, the article had to point out that these women might go for low heels because they don't want to stand taller than they already are or much taller than their husbands:

"Granted, both women already stand tall: Michelle Obama is 5'11" while Bruni-Sarkozy, a former model, is said to be 5'9". President Barack Obama stands 6'1" 1/2, but President Nicolas Sarkozy is a mere 5'5", which helps explain why his wife would wear flats."

Maybe the first lady of France wears flats, not out of deference for her husband's possible sensivity about being short, but because she finds flats more comfortable to wear. She does it
for herself, not for him. The same could be said for Michelle Obama.

They are busy, active women, even in their hostess, figurehead roles as first ladies. They probably have to shuttle from meeting to meeting and event to event, at which they have to stand for lengths of time. The last thing they need in their busy days is sore feet, sore legs, or sore backs.

Walnut Creek planners give OK to new Neiman Marcus plan

No surprise in this news, reported by the Contra Costa Times Elisabeth Nardi. The Walnut Creek planning commissioners Thursday night agreed that the City Council should approve the downsized proposal to build a 92,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus in Broadway Plaza.

The commissioners made their recommendation for approval at the behest of city staff—and despite complaints from some speakers at last night’s meeting who said they believe the plan still has flaws, including in how it will provide additional parking to accommodate Neiman Marcus customers. One of the naysayers was Ed Dimmick, who is suing over the project’s environmental impact report.

The City Council will review the project at its April 21 meeting. Click here to read more about last night’s meeting.

UC Berkeley president, under fire for executive pay raises, chased into aerobics class while coming to speak in WC

UC Berkeley President Mark Yudof didn't get a warm reception when he came to speak in Walnut Creek. Confronting him outside the Jewish Community Center were about five dozen UC employees who say they are fed up with executive pay raises and accuse him of ignoring rank-and-file UC workers in favor of executives.

CBS5.com's Joe Vasquez has this report. Vasquez shows how protesters greeted him with signs when he pulled his car into the center on Tice Valley Road, near Rossmoor. The president of the entire UC system initially paused and tried to drive away. After a protester stood and placed a sign right in his path, Yudof parked, but he wound up walking into the wrong building.

The protesters trailed him into the building, and he briefly sought refuge in an aerobics gym.
Yudof eventually made his way into the right building, where he presumably gave his talk.

Concord man killed on Walnut Creek freeway frontage road

Update: The Contra Costa County Coroner's Office identified the man killed in Friday's early morning crash in Walnut Creek as Brian McGhee, 36, of Concord.

A man, about 30, was killed early Friday when his pickup crashed head-on into a delivery truck traveling in the opposite direction on Camino Diablo.

Walnut Creek Lt. Mark Perlite says that his department and other police and fire agencies responded to a report at 1:55 a.m. of an injury accident in the 2700 block of Camino Diablo.

Police learned that a pickup truck traveling west on two-lane Camino Diablo crashed head-on into a delivery truck going eastbound. For a reason still under investigation, the pickup drifted into the eastbound lane and crashed into the delivery truck.

The pickup driver was pronounced dead at the scene; his identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The driver of the delivery truck was not injured.

Camino Diablo is a frontage road that runs along the north side of Interstate 24, just west of the 24/680 interchange.

WC Parking meter matters (Part 1): You can seriously consider IGNORING those parking tickets issued at private downtown lots

Ever get a parking ticket parking in downtown Walnut Creek? But not from the City of Walnut Creek for parking on the street at an expired meter, which is under the jurisdiction of a public, government entity.

I’m talking about those private lots in downtown Walnut Creek, like the lots behind Peet’s Coffee and Tea (pictured right) or Pyramid Brewery.

One legal expert says you don’t have to pay those tickets, although the companies that enforce parking on those private lots sure do a good job of making their meters and their tickets look as though they carry the “force of the law.”

But these privately issued tickets don’t have such force, this expert says, and Walnut Creek city staff concede that this expert has a point.

The expert I’m talking about is Len Tillem, the KGOAM810 radio personality and lawyer who has a noontime Monday-Friday show.

“If you get a ticket from the real cops, a city police department, if you don’t pay the ticket, it will ride on your DMV record,” Tillem said on his show Tuesday. “When you renew your registration, the DMV will make you pay it off or they won’t let you renew your car registration.”
Tillem was specifically addressing the practices of private parking lot owners in Walnut Creek—though his message could apply to private lot operators throughout the Bay Area. On his show, Tillem took a call from someone who identified himself as “Bill from Petaluma." Poor Bill had found himself caught up in an all-too-typical and annoying downtown Walnut Creek parking snare.

Bill said he had come to Walnut Creek to meet some friends for lunch at a restaurant a week or so earlier. He parked in a lot near a restaurant off an alleyway. He didn’t mention the name of the restaurant, but the alleyway he’s referring to is probably Commercial Lane, which runs between North Main and Locust Streets. Bill said he parked, dashed into the restaurant to see if his friends were there, and got an unpleasant surprise when he dashed back out. There was a ticket on his windshield, which said he needed to pay $25 in the next 21 days. If he let the payment go beyond 21 days, the fine would go up to $40.

The ticket looked very official, Bill said.

But Bill had his doubts. And he was right to have doubts, Tillem said, after Bill described the wording on the ticket.

Tillem took the matter one step further: “I would ignore it. You have a fake parking ticket. From a company that is operating a parking lot. I don’t think it has any force of law. It’s unenforceable.”

Yes, Tillem said, the company could pursue Bill to pay up, but the company could only do so civilly, not criminally. The company would have to go to the trouble of filing a suit in small claims court.

And, under the city ordinance dealing with private parking operators, no private operator can “threaten to report an unpaid notice of a parking charge to a credit bureau or a collection agency unless a small claims court or other judicial proceeding has established the debt.”

Moreover, Tillem said, Bill shouldn’t worry about this unpaid ticket being reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. “If you get a ticket from the real cops, a city police department, it will ride on your DMV record," Tillem said. "When you go to renew your registration, the DMV will make you pay it off, or they’ll not let you renew your car registration.”

Yes, state law says the owner of the private lot can say you’re trespassing on private property and have your car towed. But that’s a different matter than just getting one of their tickets, and assuming (incorrectly) that the consequences will be the same as getting a city-issued violation if you don’t pay it.

Basically, Tillem said, it would cost the private parking lot operator a lot of time and money to go after Bill (or others of us) civilly to pay that $25 ticket—a lot more than accepting the loss of the $25 he refuses to pay. City law says the private lot operator must provide motorists with a process for appealing their tickets, which includes trained, impartial mediators to help settle disputes. That sounds like another costly endeavor for these private lot operators.

Brad Rovanpera, Walnut Creek’s public information officer, checked with the city attorney and confirmed my interpretation of Len Tillem’s analysis.

“You are correct that if someone doesn't pay in response to a notice of a parking charge, this is not reported to the DMV and does not affect the renewal of a vehicle registration.” Rovanpera said. According to Rovanpera, the city attorney “added that the City does not have any role in enforcing the notices of parking charges.” Nor is the city involved in the mediation process.”

In response to a question I had about whether Walnut Creek in any way benefits financially from the revenues these private lots earn by issuing tickets or towing cars, Rovanpera said: “The city does not benefit financially from the private parking enforcement companies other than receiving the payment of business license taxes that are applicable to all businesses.”

Thanks Mr. Rovanpera for giving the city’s take on this issue.

And thanks to Len Tillem (I'm a fan of his show, when I get the chance to listen to it) for addressing this downtown Walnut Creek parking perplexity. I know it has been a source of frustration for me and for a fair number of people I know who live in Walnut Creek or who regularly shop and dine here.

WC Parking meter matters (Part 2): Lost my appeal over my complaint after getting ticketed on President’s Day. Oh well.

Just as KGO810 radio host and legal expert Len Tillem aired his analysis of the (non) enforcement power of private parking lot operators in downtown Walnut Creek, I received word that I had lost my appeal of the parking ticket I received from the city on President’s Day.

In a previous post, I griped about receiving a ticket in front of the Starbucks on Locust Street on Presidents Day, February 16. That day had been designated both a national and city holiday. I made the assumption that I didn’t have to feed coins into the meter that Monday, after reading the sign in the window portion of the meter, saying that payment was required on all days “except Sundays and holidays.” There is a secondary sign on the meter that explains that only six days in the calendar year are designated “meter holidays,” and the city only gives motorists a pass on those “meter holidays.”

I wrote a letter to the city’s Parking Enforcement Center essentially saying that:

--The sign in the upper window portion of the meter (about Sundays & holidays being exempted) led me to the very reasonable assumption that I didn’t need to worry about feeding coins into the meter this day.

--The signage of the meters, certainly the Locust Street meter at which I was ticketed, is misleading, vague, inconsistent, and fails to give motorists fair warning of certain specific conditions. If the top portion of the meter states “Except Sundays & Holidays,” but the city has designated “meter holidays,” the sign in this top window of the meter should give motorists fair warning.

--If the sign stated “except for Sundays and holidays specified below,” it would direct motorists to check the secondary signs on the meter which list the city’s designated meter holidays, which, I later discovered, did not include Presidents Day.

Well, the city’s Parking Enforcement Center disagreed with my analysis, as stated in a letter I received.

“Meters are enforced Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.," the letter said. "Sundays and meter holidays (New Year’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day) are exempted. The hours of operation and days meters are enforced are indicated on the meter head. "

The letter said the hours of operation and days meters are enforced are indicated on the meter head, and my citation was being upheld because “Presidents Day is not a meter holiday.”

So, I can pay $35 or continue the appeal process and fill out some more paperwork and request an in-person hearing with a hearing officer.

My husband told me to just pay the ticket. And I did.

I understand the city’s analysis. I also think the city needs to improve the signage on its meters. I decided not to pursue the matter further not because I think the city is entirely right. I'm giving up for the sake pf convenience. My husband’s convenience—and my own. Like a lot of us, I’m busy with work, family, and whatever I do with Crazy in Suburbia. For those who think I should have fought some more, I’m sorry to give up.

For those who thought I should just suck it up and accept my punishment, well, I’ve decided to do that.

But, I’ll get in a last word. (It’s my blog, and that’s my prerogative.) I still think the city should look at its parking policies. They annoy people, turn them off, make them not want to come to Walnut Creek to shop, dine, be entertained. Many see these policies as aggressive and a sign that the city think it's better than any place else.

In some cases--as in issuing tickets on a federal holiday like Presidents Day--these policies are mercenary, IMHO. Is the bad PR that the city receives worth the $$$ it might earn from ticket violations? Especially in these tough economic times, when the city might not be getting the retail and dining traffic it has long counted on.

Should the city reconsider which holidays it designates as “meter holidays” and make them more consistent with federal, state, or city-designated holidays?

These are among the questions that I think are worth asking.

Five teens arrested trying to break into Northgate area home in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek police Wednesday arrested five teens, three of them juveniles, in connection with the attempted burglary of a home off Oak Grove Road, near Arbolado Park.

Sgt. Lanny Edwards provides this account:

Just after noon, Walnut Creek police received a 911 call from a homeowner, who saw two young men jump a fence into a backyard on Kirby Lane. The witness saw the burglars try to get into a house. When the burglars noticed they were being watched, the fled towards a waiting vehicle.

Responding police stopped one person in the neighborhood, and then "observed vehicle" on Northgate Road. There were four in the vehicles.

Police arrested all five on suspicion of attampted burglary. The two adults were booked into County Jail in Martinez. They were identified as Andre Silva, 18, of Concord, and Ahmad Amin, 19, of Oakland. The three juveniles, ages 16, 17 and 17, were taken to Juvenile Hall in Martinez. They are from Pittsburg and Concord.

WC’s $50,000 website makeover: What do you think?

The city spent nearly $50,000 to redesign its website, to make the site more user-friendly, the city’s web master, Brad Rovanpera, told the Contra Costa Times.

The site looks similar to the old one, but it's more interactive, he said. "We didn't want a wholesale redesign because we liked the look of the old one," said Rovanpera. "But this one puts us in a whole new level of Web experience."

Apparently, even in a tight budget year, the different departments found money to contribute to the upgrade, since each department will benefit, Rovanpera said.

I, of course, will be making much use of the new website, as I dig around for various bits of information on the city and its business, so I’ll be finding out for myself if its search features function better.

If you want to share your experiences with the new site, please do.