Save the Date: Group that advocates open display of handguns coming to Walnut Creek February 6

Bay Area Open Carry, a loosely-organized band of gun owners who advocate the open display of unloaded handguns, will bring their cause to a downtown Walnut Creek restaurant.

After discussion amongst themselves and on their forum, the group has decided on California Pizza Kitchen for February 6.
"We discussed making this a monthly meet," a message says on their forum. "We loosely decided to make it the first Saturday of the month and try to rotate around the bay area to cover most of it over time. We planned for Walnut Creek in Contra Costa County for this meet. California Pizza Kitchen was our choice and it looks to be well located. It is freeway close and GFSZ far."

Members of the group made headlines with one of their "demonstrations" at a downtown Livermore coffee shop Saturday.  They want to advocate the fact that in most of California, it is legal to carry a weapon as long as it is out in the open and unloaded. The gun carrier also has to be at least 1,000 feet from a school.

But according to this ABC7 news segment, one member, Walter Stanley, who carries an unloaded pistol on his right hip and two full ammunition clips on his left, raised alarm in downtown Livermore Tuesday, when someone called in a report to police of a man with a gun seen in downtown. Officers pulled up, just as Stanley was talking to an ABC7 news reporter, ordered him up against a wall and to raise his hands.

"I think that was a bit much," Stanley would later tell ABC7. "I don't think putting me up against the wall and putting my hands on top of my head is really the type of enforcement we're looking for here in the city of Livermore."

Walnut Creek will probably lose Del Oro, its longtime alternative high school

Del Oro, the 43-year-old alternative public high school that has served Walnut Creek and Lamorinda students "whose needs are not being met by comprehensive high schools" will possibly be closed, due to really scary budget news likely to come down from Sacramento in the coming weeks.

The Acalanes Union High School District staff has recommended that its board, at its meeting January 13, consider closing Del Oro High School, which currently has around 60 students.

I've been told by school administrators that it costs a lot of money to run a smaller, alternative high school. And even the Acalanes district, with its strong history of community support in the form of parcel taxes and generous parent fundraising, is facing some very tough choices. The district also covers Walnut Creek's downtown campus, Las Lomas High School, as well as Acalanes in Lafayette, Campolindo in Moraga and Miramonte in Orinda.

At that same meeting, the board will also discuss a likely shortfall of more than $5 million in the district's budget over the next two years and the possible layoffs of 16 teachers. 

 

The district must include a plan for achieving budget cuts," Superintendent John Stockton said in an e-mail sent out to parents before the holiday break. "In addition to the $2.6 million cut for 2010-2011, an additional $2.6 million in budget reductions will be necessary in 2011-2012. The bulk of these budget reductions require personnel releases."

With these budget cuts looming, the district will hold a series of parent meetings on January 20 and 21, to explain the challenges coming.

As for Del Oro? From what I've heard from administrators, it sounds like those students will end up returning to the regular high schools. And that could mean students, who have a difficult time fitting into a regular high school--especially high-achieving schools like those in the Acalanes district--and who are falling off track to graduate, might wind up struggling a lot more.

Just last February, Del Oro was named by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell as one of California's 14 Model Continuation High Schools "for their programs designed to help struggling students stay in school."

According to the state Deparment of Education, California created the concept of continuation high schools more than 90 years ago. "These schools focus on school-to-career education, individualized instructional strategies, intensive guidance and counseling, and flexible school schedules. Continuation high schools serve students aged 16 years or older who lack sufficient school credits and are at risk of not graduating. More than 71,000 students in the state attended 523 continuation high schools in 2007-08, the latest data available.

Del Oro says its mission has been "to provide an opportunity for all students to develop intellectual, social, physical and psychological skills necessary for life-long learning and success in a technological, global society."

Its course of study has offered "an individualized approach to the basic programs in English, math, science, social science, physical education, along with supplemental coursework in personal development, life skills, and work experience skills."

"Whether your goal is to return to the comprehensive program or receive a diploma from Del Oro, we are here to assist you in accomplishing your goal," the school says on its website.

If you have a job, how happy are you with it? Survey finds highest level of job dissatisfaction among U.S. workers in 22 years

I'm fortunate to have a job right now. Are you? If so, how are you feeling about it?

I guess a lot of Americans who are lucky enough to  be employed right now, in the worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s, aren't feeling so great about it. This is according to a survey by the Conference Board research group, as reported by the Associated Press.

This survey says that only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work, and that this is "the lowest level ever recorded" by the resesearch group in more than 22 years of studying the issue. In 2008, 49 percent of those surveyed reported satisfaction with their jobs.

The Great Recession is partly responsible, researchers believe, because it has made it difficult for people to find challenging and suitable jobs. Besides having jobs that might be pretty boring, American workers are also dissatisfied because incomes have not kept up with inflation, and soaring health care costs are eating into take-home pay, the story says.

I know.  I know. Those of you who have been out of work for a few months or longer are thinking that us horde of employed should quit griping.

But maybe there is something to this overall decline in job dissatisfaction, something that speaks to a general lack of confidence and fear about our individual and national future.

You know, I hear this dissatisfaction expressed among those who have hung onto jobs. These workers toil at companies hit by layoffs, pay cuts or furloughs. Their workplaces are in survival mode, playing it safe, without any shared sense of anything beyond survival.

With individual and organizational horizons becoming limited by a fear of dimming prospects, a workplace culture can become depressing, demoralizing.

Again, I know it might not be fair to gripe if you are employed. People who have been laid off are worried about keeping their unemployment benefits, paying for health care. Oh, they've also got to buy food, pay for rent or a mortgage, car insurance, and whatever continuing costs of basic living come their way...

Signing their kids up for soccer... Getting new tires for the car ...

Just so you know, while I still have my job right now, I have also been through a lay-off and dealt with unemployment and keeping up with Cobra payments to maintain our family's health insurance. We went a month without health insurance... a gap ... and it scared me the entire time...

"Soccer Moms" support legalizing pot in California, according to poll

Californians are likely to have the chance to vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana.  Proponents of an initiative, known as the Tax and Regulate Initiative, have gathered more than enough signatures to put it on November's ballot, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting. The measure would give local governments the authority to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana to adults 21 and older.

And, apparently that's a key reason that suburban "soccer moms," the swing voters on this issue, are likely to say yes.  These moms apparently want their adult children to have a safer way to buy pot, Ruth Bernstein, a pollster with EMC Research in Oakland told the Chronicle. The firm is doing polling and focus groups on behalf of the measure's proponents.

"One of the scary things to some people is that their kids may be buying it from someone dangerous," Bernstein said.

The story continues:

Some soccer moms acknowledge that it is relatively easy for even their adult children to buy potm Berstein said. They have talked with their kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Twelve percent of those surveyed have smoked weed and 19 percent say a family member has, according to an EMC survey of 800 likely voters in August.



Bernstein said parents are worried about "this scary black-market system."

The story adds:

Legalization advocates want to capitalize on a wave of renewed interest in legalization, much of it bolstered by a state Board of Equalization study saying that the taxing and regulating of marijuana could raise as much as $1.4 billion in annual revenue.


Proponents say that resonates with Californians in light of the state's projected $20.7 billion budget deficit from now through the fiscal year that begins July 1.

This Soccer Mom has raised questions about medical and recreational marijuana in this story (and others listed below)--specifically why we affluent adult suburbanites can legally and recreationally enjoy our wine bars and apple-tinis and sports park brews--and get sloshed at fundraising galas for worthy local charities and school auctions. 

But people who prefer marijuana as their drug of choice can't officially use it for recreational use.

Oh, and my guess is that a lot of us affluent suburbanites enjoying our wine flights and artisan cocktails at least tried pot, recreationally, back in our younger days...

And, hey, maybe some of the local school districts could get ahold of some of that legal pot tax revenue. Why not? We could get those class sizes back down in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and save its fourth and fifth grade music programs and spare other local districts the now annual uncertainty over whether they will have to lay off teachers and cut more programs....

Pot, a treatment for alcoholism? But no "cure" yet for what ails Walnut Creek's own pot club

Could Walnut Creek follow West Hollywood's medical marijuana example?

Marijuana Paranoia: Our perplexing attitudes about pot and crime, but what about crime and that other socially acceptable mind-altering substance?

Walnut Creek man killed in crash near Fresno, wife and daughter hospitalized

The Contra Costa Times reports that a 40-year-old Walnut Creek woman and her 5-year-old daughter survived a head-on crash that killed the woman's husband and the driver of the other vehicle on Saturday.

According to the Times, the 43-year-old Walnut Creek man was identified by friends and family as Darren Brown. His wife, Victoria Brown, and daughter, Bethany Brown, were hospitalized--Victoria Brown in serious condition. The little girl was not seriously hurt and released from the hospital Monday.

The crash occurred about 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Madera County, about 25 miles north of Fresno. The family was riding in a pickup truck that for reasons still under investigation crossed into traffic coming from the opposite direction. The family's pickup crashed head-on into an oncoming pickup truck. Both trucks caught fire. The Walnut Creek man died, and passers-by pulled the mother and daughter from their pickup. The driver of the other pickup died in the fire.

Should Taubman be worried about its challenge of Broadway Plaza and Walnut Creek over Neiman Marcus?

UPDATE: Or rather, should Broadway Plaza owner Macerich and the City of Walnut Creek take action against Taubman Centers Inc. for its anti-Neiman Marcus efforts, in the same way that a rival mall developer and a city in Connecticut did? Of course, some would say, that Macerich and Walnut Creek brought some or all of this on themselves....What do you think?

It looks like Taubman Centers Inc. will be paying out $34 million for delaying for a year a rival developer's effort to build a shopping mall in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The Hartford Courant says that Michigan-based Taubman agreed to pay all these millions to settle a lawsuit filed after it organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges to the construction of a new mall in West Hartford's downtown, a few miles from one of its own malls.

Sound familiar? 

Taubman, which owns Sunvalley shopping mall in Concord, organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges and a political campaign aimed to stop retail rival Macerich, which owns Broadway Plaza, from bringing a new Neiman Marcus to downtown Walnut Creek. Taubman also hoped to bring a Neiman Marcus to San Ramon's long-planned city center. Neiman Marcus had shown interest in San Ramon, but, in the end, chose Walnut Creek instead.

In the West Hartford case, the Hartford Courant says that Taubman, "the parent company of Westfarms mall paid $34 million to the developers of Blue Back Square [in downtown West Hartford], compensation for a protracted legal battle that delayed the opening of the retail-residential complex by a year."

The story goes on to say:

The payment ... ends a lawsuit filed in 2007 by developers of the Blue Back retail-residential complex. The suit sought damages for, among other things, lost revenue, higher financing costs and increased construction expenses.


The lawsuit claimed that Taubman organized and bankrolled citizen legal challenges to Blue Back in hopes of preventing the retail rival from being built a few miles from Westfarms.


Blue Back opened in the fall of 2007, a year later than first scheduled. The opening coincided with the onset of a severe economic recession.

And another potential worry for Taubman?

A similar lawsuit filed against Taubman by the town is pending. Town officials allege that the delay resulting from Taubman-financed opposition added to the town's portion of the cost of Blue Back and resulted in lost tax revenue. The town is seeking $4.5 million in damages.

Walnut Creek voters in November overwhelmingly approved Measure I, an initiative which will allow Broadway Plaza to build a new 92,000-square-foot department store at the corner of South Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Neiman Marcus said it intends to occupy that spot.

It was a costly battle for Macerich and Taubman--and the City of Walnut Creek. Macerich spent around $1.3 million on the Yes on I campaign, while Taubman Centers spent $700,000. The city had to fork out money for the special election, plus the staff costs and time associated with addressing the legal challenges.

The "Bernie Madoff Auction" draws about four dozen to Concord Hilton Sunday

The auction of items advertised as associated--somehow--with convicted swindler Bernie Madoff went off as scheduled at the Concord Hilton Sunday.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tom Abate attended, and writes that auctioneer, Gary Getz of East Coast Auctions based in Georgia, displayed "six watches, a gold Buglari bracelet and necklace, and a mink coat that he said were once owned by Bernard Madoff," who is serving a 150-year prison sentence for perpetrating what many say was one of Wall Street’s most brazen investment scams.

No one bought any of those items, Abate reports. He adds to what I reported on Saturday, that these Bernie Madoff auctions have been taking place all over the country, with auctioneers claiming that the items come from either Madoff himself or from some of his victims.

A sticker advertising this auction appeared on the front page of Saturday's print edition of the Contra Costa Times. In fine print, though, the sticker said that the items up for sale did not come from the Madoff estate but came from his victims, and were being sold to "recoup their losses."

The U.S. Marshals Service is looking into the legitmacy of these auctions, as are other law enforcement agencies. The Marshals Service already held its own auction in November to sell off jewelry, furs, and other items seized from Madoff and his wife. Money earned from that auction was to help compensate Madoff's victims.

Abate observed some people winning bids for items, but none that appeared to have any connection to Madoff, or, possibly--it's not clear--to any Madoff' victims. A Martinez woman bought a silk rug with a bid of $2,350. A Lafayette woman, meanwhile, spent $13,000 on an original oil painting by Austrian-born painter Itzchak Tarkay who survived internment in a Nazi concentration camp. 

ARF's Celebrity 2010 calendar: Sully (of course), Warren Buffet, some other cool (and sexy) people--but Greta Van Susteren?

The East Bay's patron saint of animal rescue, former Oakland Athletics and current St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, has put out a 2010 celebrity calendar to raise money for his worthy and well-regarded Walnut Creek-based Animal Rescue Foundation.

On the cover of the calendar is none other than America's favorite hero commercial pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, with his wife, Lorrie. The Danville couple are posed with "Twinkle," a retired canine member of Guide Dogs for the Blind, and an Animal Rescue Foundation adopted kitty. Sully and Lorrie, who have become international celebrities since Sully's last year's "miracle" landing of his crippled jet on the Hudson River in New York, are also featured in the calendar's month of April.

Other celebrities--local, national, and international--and pets who grace this "one-of-a-kind' calendar are: The Office star Jenna Fischer: Iron Chef Cat Cora; uber-cool filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (friend of George, Julia, and Brad); and iconic businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett. Each calendar costs $15 and benefits ARF's various programs: pet adoption; pet spay and neutering' and children's animal care education. ARF also provides financial assistance for veterinary care for low-income families in Contra Costa County. You can purchase one of your own calendars at ARF's website.

Also in the calendar is--va-va-va-voom--Holly Madison, described as a TV personality, model, and Vegas star. In the ARF calendar, the blond bombshell is more modestly attired, posing with two dogs. 

OK, now my quibble: Fox News Anchor Greta Van Susteren.  Ewww. "Mike," the big furry cat she's clutching is cute, but Greta?  BFF to Sarah and Todd Palin? Greta, who traded in her authentic hangdog legal analyst look of her O.J. Simpson trial coverage days for her current obnoxious, and highly publicized plasticized Fox Anchor persona?

Greta is, along with Nancy Grace, on my top 10 list of annoying TV cable "news" personalities. Couldn't ARF have done without her?

What kind of empty bottle would a drunken slob leave in one of Walnut Creek's gutters?

Not a 40-ounce bottle of King Cobra malt liquor.

No, a Walnut Creek drunkard might display a bit more class.  At least on the surface, showing a willingness to spend quite a bit more money at Safeway (or CVS or Beverages and More) for his poison of choice.

Anyway, some slob left this empty bottle of Grey Goose French-made vodka in the gutter outside my bank's ATM on North Main Street. This slob--and maybe some of his or her buddies--look like they had a good New Year's Eve, or Saturday night, ringing in 2010 in style.  I wonder if this slob was wearing a D&G lambskin leather jacket and had a fresh metrosexual mani/pedi job from one of our local spas.

I wonder if this slob is carrying a bit too much debt on his platinum Visa. All that spending at our downtown watering holes and on high-priced vodka.

Oh well! Ring a ding ding! Happy 2010.

Alas, coming soon: another empty downtown storefront with Pottery Barn Kids closing

Pottery Barn Kids is closing its Walnut Creek store, between the Apple Store and Barnes and Noble on South Main Street as of January 17.

A sign in the window said the store will be closed permanently as of Sunday, January 17. Other Pottery Barn Kids locations in the Bay Area in the Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton and in the Village at Corte Madera.

In other downtown retail news ...

Or, rather, I have a question.

Has anyone shopped at the Eco Shoppe? It's part of the same company that operates the Vitamin Shoppe next door in Olympic Place.

Olympic Place, and this corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Locust Street have proven to be tricky locations for retailers, despite the presence of the movie theater. Remember Bombay Company, which closed last fall?

I'm pretty sure the Eco Shoppe has had 50-percent off signs in its window ever since it opened. It sells eco-friendly home furnishings, such as bedding, clothing, baby supplies, personal care products, and books and gifts. I've never been in. Maybe I should check it out, and maybe it has nice stuff.

Just wondering.

Maybe what this guy said justifies Crazy in Suburbia's existence

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."


- Martin Luther King Jr.
 
 
He said it. I didn't.
 
Happy second day of the new decade!

Orinda man arrested for allegedly exposing himself in three East Bay 'burbs

Todd Hager, who was reportedly under a lot of "stress," was arrested at his home Thursday for a string of indecent exposure incidents in three East Bay suburbs that date back to August, according to Bay City news.

Orinda police arrested Hager in connection with an incident Wednesday in which he was in his car, reportedly with his pants pulled down. He rolled down his window when a woman and some children, walking near an elementary school, passed by. Police told the blogger, the East Bay Daze, that Hager admitted to the string of incidents and that he was under a lot of "stress."

The Bay City News report doesn't say, but I'm assuming he was fondling his you know what. 

That happened to me way back when I was living in the big city of San Francisco. I was out early in the morning, just as it was getting light, walking from my apartment to my gym, when some guy in a car pulled up next to me, rolled down his window, and called out something to me.  

Yeah, he had his pants down and was playing with his you know what.

My reaction? I shrugged, rolled my eyes, and kept walking.  I wasn't afraid; it was a busy street, and I could have easily screamed or sprinted away if he tried to grab me. I wasn't even that grossed out, and I personally didn't feel offended or violated. I just thought, how pathetic of this guy.

I suppose I could have called the cops, but this was when we weren't living in such a posh neighborhood, and I figured cops in that 'hood had other many other things to deal with. Like the guy having a nervous breakdown outside the 24-hour liquor store near my apartment.

I'm sure that now, as a mom, walking with kids near my local elementary school, my reaction would be much different. I'd be on the phone in a flash.

It turns out that Hager matches the description of a suspect who had allegedly committed similar acts several times in Orinda, Moraga and Danville as far back as August, police told Bay City News. Most of those incidents took place near schools.

Hager was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and booked into county jail with bail set at $10,000.

Staff furlough oops means no tickets for expired meters in downtown Walnut Creek Saturday!

Yeah, you can kind of park for free on the street in downtown Walnut Creek today--a bonus meter holiday if you will. Normally, city meters are enforced on Saturdays. But not today, I've just been told by police.

You'll see why if you go downtown. A bunch of parking meters are out of order, the little yellow flags in their windows indicating as much. Soccer Son and I, out for a Starbucks run this morning, drove up and down Locust and Main Streets between Bothelo and Civic and counted 55 out-of-order meters alone. We didn't get a chance to check out Broadway or cross streets like Olympic, Cypress and Bonanza.

Blame the Great Recession for this Oops in the city's parking meter program. Or blame an unforseen consequence of the city putting most of its city staff on furlough between December 24 and January 3, to offset budget shortfalls.
 
A reliable tipster tells me that every city department was affected by the furloughs, except for police, police dispatch, and parking enforcement. The rest of the city departments either had no one in office, or a skeleton crew. Among those furloughed were those staff members who go around collecting coins from all the downtown parking meters.

Guess what happened? A lot of the meters filled up to capacity. My tipster contacted me on Thursday, saying that visitors to downtown found meters so stuffed they were blinking "Out of Order."  My tipster also says that parking enforcement officers were told to stop issuing citations for even expired meters.

Yesterday, Friday, was New Year's Day, a city-designated meter holiday. But today is not. Still, with the coin collectors not returning to work until Monday, visitors, choosing to park in the street, will get a bonus holiday. The police department just confirmed to me that parking enforcement officers will not be issuing tickets for expired meters.

We parked at an Out of Order meter in front of Starbucks, and were prepared to feed coins into the slot, just to see what would happen, but a quarter was stuck in there. 

Bernard Madoff items for auction in Concord Sunday?

On the front page of my Contra Costa Times, above the fold, is a sticker that reads:

Bernie Madoff Auction

It promises that you can pick up "original art by Peter Max, Dali, Rockwell ... jewelry, Rolex, and other 'flashy items' duly instruction by Millionaire's (sic) estate as well as other promiment traders. Seized assets and general order merchandise which constitutes the majority, will be liquidated to the highest bidder to recover losses from Ponzi Scheme." 

Well, if you're interested, head over to the Concord Hilton. The preview will take place at 12:30 p.m.; the auction at 1 p.m.

The notorious financier, as you might remember, was sentenced in late June to 150 years in prison for perpetrating what many say was one of Wall Street’s most brazen investment scams. Billions of dollars were lost as a result of securities fraud and money laundering. No doubt, Madoff accumulated lots of property and really nice, luxe stuff with all that money he earned illegally. And no doubt, lots of that stuff has been auctioned off already.

But in fine print on the ad on the front of today's Contra Costa Times, you will find that you're not being invited to bid for items actually owned by Madoff or his estate.  The sad reality is that, according to the ad, they apparently belonged to his victims, and are being sold to recoup their losses.  

Actually, these Bernie Madoff auctions have apparently been taking place all over the country, but some have been greeted by skeptism, including by law enforcement. The Connecticut Attorney General's Office is investigating one Madoff auction that took place in early December. The Hartford Courant reported that the "auction offered few Madoff items, if there were any at all and the auctioneer would not provide details on where the items came from."

At an October auction in Naples, Florida, buyers snagged what were said to be an original Picasso lithograph, a 23.25-carat emerald necklace, and an original Norman Rockwell painting.

This October auction was advertised in the Naples Daily News in a similar way as the one to be held in Concord Sunday.  Little information is given on the ad about who is holding the auction.  The only contact information is a one-page website, www.madoffhelpline.com. It asks, “Have you been a victim of Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme?”

It provides an e-mail address: info@madoffhelpline.com.

The Naples Daily News found that the auction in its town was held by a company called Southern Star Auctioneers of Chamblee, Ga. A representative of that company admitted to the newspaper that “we ourselves do not know (if an item) comes from a Madoff victim or not," adding that company wouldn’t identify merchandise as such even if they did know its origins. "The person who sold to us doesn’t want us to say. We are just doing a public service,” the company's representative said.

Well, if you go check out the auction, and are eager to get ahold of some supposedly priceless art and jewels, just remember that old Latin phrase: caveat emptor. You know, "buyer beware."