Vive La Revolution, even if it makes me "too political" or there's no campaign slogan--yet

So, the Occupy movement is supposedly returning to Walnut Creek today. It is scheduled to start at 4 p.m., again in front of Bank of America at Mt. Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street, although more protesters, including members of organized labor, are expected to turn up at the BART station and hold rallies into November.

Some in Walnut Creek grumble about the some 200 protesters last week taking up space on the side walk or slowing traffic. Others dismiss them as disorganized, leftist Code Pink hippies or societal malcontents and predict this Occupy movement won't last because there is no clear message.

On one hand, Contra Costa Times columnist Tom Barnidge was correct in noting the disparate "all-you-can eat" buffet of messages espoused by protesters.

On the other hand, I heard the chant at last week's rally, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has gone to go." And, that summed things up for me--for now.

And, as Barnidge said: "Their disparate messages didn't detract from the sentiments shared: a fervent desire for a better America and exasperation at not knowing how to get there."

Some voiced surprise that Walnut Creek would become the site of such a protest--notably, members of the media covering the event. I shrugged and thought "there we go again with the stereotypes about Walnut Creek and suburbia." We have a Tiffany's and we're going to have a Neiman Marcus--in front of which the protesters knowingly or not planted themselves--so that means--right?--we in Walnut Creek all part of the greedy corporate, tax-break-hording 1 percent.

Actually, I saw people I knew at the protest, such as members of the Democrats of Rossmoor, the "largest Democratic club in Northern California." They're a feisty, politically active and socially conscientious group, and the ones with whom I'm acquainted worked hard all their lives, built a good living for their families, are civic minded, tax-paying "great Americans" -- in the words of Sean Hannity. They were not in a a Howard Beale-esque rage, shouting "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more."

They were just saying what's going on right now in America isn't right.

I saw people I knew observing the protest, more hard-working locals. I myself was one of those observers. I would say these other observers support success and the capitalist system, and probably have shopped or will shop at Tiffany and Co. or Neiman Marcus at some point in their lives. But they were privately saying: "I support what the protesters are doing." Maybe they couldn't say exactly why they supported the protesters. They just liked what they saw.

Yes, I would venture to say that most people I know in Walnut Creek are not part of the so-called 1 percent. Most have good jobs, or their spouses have decent paying jobs. They are middle class or perhaps upper middle class--though still not part of the 1 percent. They own homes but they have endured a la off or they work at companies, and are even executives at companies, that are "restructuring," downsizing, laying people off. They have dealt with or are dealing with financial setbacks. Their retirement accounts are not as healthy as they used to be. Basically, they might be doing OK, but they know others who are not. They are aware that a lot of people in our community and our country are hurting right now, and they, like the protesters, believe our economy and society is out of balance, stacked against the majority, steeped in inequity.

"I support Occupy Wall Street," they say quietly.

I wonder what they are afraid of in whispering their support. Would they prefer not to be labeled Code Pink malcontents? Members of a losing cause? People who are too "political"?

Yes, I, too, support the Occupy movement, even if there is no "clear message" yet and even if it makes me political and labels me a bleeding heart and a malcontent. I support the general idea of it, that somehow things need to change. It seems that politicians from either party are so entrenched in their ideology and saving their own political butts that they don't know how to listen. Throughout history, protests, uprisings and even the dreaded class warfare is how you get the attention of the powers that be. Democracy in action. It's a beautiful thing.

No, I'm not advocating that protests turn violent or that anyone storm Bank of America. Personally, I also hope that the Occupy movement doesn't get co-opted by the usual suspects of Bay Area protests or new groups as Anonymous (yes, there were a few people at last week's protest donning the Anonymous-esque Guy Fawkes mask) or the Fans of the Berkeley hikers (don't get me started on that Trio).

I expect that the message will become more clear over time, or someone will emerge who can articulate it. Isn't that what happens in revolutions, in times of social change? And if someone doesn't create a soundbite-friendly slogan sometime soon, well, I guess the Occupy movement will splinter and we'll fall into a state of societal inertia, a rut of disengagement and misery. You know, I've given up trying to predict or control the future.

The Occupy movement--certainly the one in Walnut Creek and communities like it--should truly come from the middle class, however you choose to define the middle class. In my definition, it is made up of people who are thoughtful, fair-minded and care about their community and this country. They believe in doing the right thing, and want leaders who believe the same thing.

Locating a new In-and-Out on far North Main Street is just--goofy

For the past year, I've been following from an unusually objective distance the brouhaha over In-N-Out's proposal to open one of its drive-through burger restaurants at the far north end of North Main Street. As Walnut Creek Patch has reported, residents who live in neighborhoods just west of the site are not happy.

These northwest neighborhoods of homes and tree-lined streets happen to lie within Walnut Creek's city limits. Meanwhile, the proposed In-N-Out property sits literally just over the border in Pleasant Hill. That city, therefore, has jurisdiction over any planning decisions regarding the property, now a field of weeds and an oak tree. It also stands to enjoy the tax benefits.

Walnut Creek neighbors say they will have to deal with the fall-out. They have aired their concerns at both Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek city meetings, saying the property, between the Oak Park Hill mortuary and the big parking lot for Black Angus Steakhouse, is too small to accommodate a nearly 4,000-square-foot drive-through restaurant and the high volume of customers and motorists it is likely to attract.

Laura Milstead and other residents cited numbers from the city of Pleasant Hill that the restaurant could bring an additional 1,200 to 1,500 cars a day into their neighborhood.

They also said the drive-through will open 30 feet from the home of a resident who has lived in the neighborhood for 60 years, near a family with small children and next door to the Oak Park Hills Chapel mortuary. The restaurant would bring unwelcome noise, odor, crime and late-night crowds who have been drinking and partying into the area.

As the Planning Commission prepares to release an environmental impact report, dueling Facebook pages and petitions have been posted this week to gather signatures for and against the project. As the blog Claycord has reported, "just a few days after Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce supporters created a Facebook page & petition in favor of In-N-Out Burger, a citizen stepped up and created a petition and Facebook page against the proposed restaurant.

The Limit In-N-Out Burger in Pleasant Hill Petition says that the location next door to homes is simply inappropriate for this kind of business and that the fast-food burger chain already has the greenlight to open a location three miles up the road at Contra Costa Boulevard and Concord Avenue.

Meanwhile, the petition created by chamber supporters says the North Main Street location is appropriate because the area is zoned commercial The restaurant will "bring in much needed tax revenue for Pleasant Hill and good paying jobs to area residents."

OK, let me say first that I like In-N-Out burgers--though, .for the sake of my waistline, they should remain rare indulgences. A lot of the residents who live near the proposed North Main Street location have admitted that they, too, like In-N-Out.

Even die-hard foodies have to give In-N-Out its due ever since top American chef Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame, said the following in 2007 to Via Magazine; "I really respect a company that holds its ground when there is so much pressure to follow the 'what’s next, what’s new' trend. In-N-Out’s quality lies in the simplicity of what it promises and delivers. To be able to do something over and over with integrity and excellence, even if it is fast food, is something to be truly admired."

So, there you go. Thomas Keller says In-N-Out models integrity and excellence in the way it prepares its fast food.

I have long been in favor of the chain opening a location in Walnut Creek, as I wrote in September 2009 on my CrazyinSuburbia blog. Indeed, when the controversy over the North Main Street location first boiled up, I talked to a top representative at In-N-Out and asked if the company--please, please, please--would consider moving its sights south to my hometown. He assured me that the company was considering Walnut Creek in its future plans.

But for now we in Walnut Creek would have to settle for this North Main Street location.

Oh joy.

I'm sorry but this location makes absolutely no sense to me.

For one thing, there is what I believe to be a guiding ethos of the In-and-Out model. The company locates restaurants close to freeway entrances and exits so that its car-bound customers can enjoy easy access--they can literally drive in, get their burgers, fries and shakes, and drive out.

Yes, this proposed location sits right across North Main Street from Interstate 680. But getting there from the freeway is not as easy as it looks. To get there from either north or southbound 680 involves exiting a mile or so south or north of the location, traveling through several intersections, a U-turn on Contra Costa Boulevard, crossing the freeway or a confusing turn off Oak Park Boulevard. Residents in the neighborhood say people often miss the Oak Park turnoff to North Main Street and wind up wandering through their streets to find the thoroughfare.

I'm also going to say something that some will no doubt find objectionable about that particular stretch of North Main Street, between the mortuary and the Oak Park Boulevard overpass. But here goes: The first word that comes to mind is "armpit." It's just a remote, unappetizing, almost pointless location. And I am just talking about North Main Street, notthe pleasant residential neighborhoods to the west.

Yeah, Black Angus Steakhouse is there-. The longstanding steakhouse looks like it recently received a new paint job and landscaping. Black Angus used to be a central Contra Costa hotspot before downtown Walnut Creek's nightlife took off.

I'm sure in the years since, the durable Black Angus has evolved and maintained a legion of loyal fans.

But again, that North Main Street stretch makes me think "armpit." There is no nice way to put it.

As for the mortuary, I wonder: A happy-skippy food preparation joint next to a mortuary?

There's a disconnect here. I'm mystified that the company's corporate leaders signed off on this location. In-N-Out usually seems so spot-on in choosing desirable sites that will accomplish its goals of serving as many double-doubles to as many customers and as quickly as possible.

As a Walnut Creek resident, who is sitting here craving some In-N-Out fries as I write this, I don't see myself frequenting this North Main Street location. Despite it's apparent proximity to the freeway, the 680 entrance and exit configurations make the location not that convenient. Also, I avoid that part of North Main whenever possible. I just find driving through it a bit depressing and annoying. As you travel south, approaching Treat Boulevard, it gets clogged with cars. But that's the route I'd have to take when returning home from a North Main Street In-N-Out burger run--which I wouldn't do very often, if at all.

I still have high hopes for In-N-Out someday coming to Walnut Creek. In the meantime, I'll stick to The Habit, The Counter and even Burger King closer to downtown if I have a burger and fries craving.

Martha Ross is the editor of Walnut Creek Patch and the publisher of the Walnut Creek-based blog, Crazyinsuburbia.blogspot.com.

Three Oakland residents arrested in gas station robbery

Walnut Creek police arrested three people from Oakland early Sunday, including a 17-year-old boy, on suspicion of strong-arming a clerk at the Shell Gas station on North Main Street.


Lt. Bryan Hill said that at about 1:55 a.m. an officer on patrol saw the clerk involved in a struggle with two people inside the station's food mart. The officer broke up the struggle and arrested those two people, and detained two others who were with them.


Police subsequently learned that the two had just stolen several cartons of cigarettes and had returned to steal more when the clerk tried to stop them. As the clerk was dealing with those two, a third went ahead and stole the cigarettes. That's when the officer intervened.


The clerk was not injured, and police determined that the fourth person in the group was not involved in the thefts. 


The two adults arrested were Ivan Nesby, 32, and Ethel Hands, 25. They were booked into County Jail in Martinez. The 17-year-old boy was booked into Juvenile Hall. 

Fitness center, "healthy" fast-food restaurant may go up on site of former North Main Street concrete plant

That's right. Under a plan submitted by Hall Equities Group, you can spend an hour or more sweating, elevating your heart rate, toning up, and burning some calories at a new 24 Hour Fitness Center on North Main Street. Then, you can reward yourself.

You can walk across a parking lot to Chick-fil-A, a restaurant that serves what it calls "nutritious and tasty" chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, fruits, milkshakes and cheesecakes.

Walnut Creek's Design Review Commission will get a look at the plans for this fitness center/fast-food-drive-thru combo at its meeting Wednesday evening.

Hall Equities Group bought the former concrete batch plant on North Main Street in June 2008. The plant ceased operations in 2006, and the property covers a little more than four acres along Interstate 680, just south of Geary Road (and the now destroyed Piedmont Lumber Company). Hall Equities wants to tear down the old plant and construct two buildings and a parking lot.

The larger, 42,300-square-foot building would house the 24-Hour fitness club. The 4,300-square-foot chicken restaurant would also be a drive-thru. The two businesses would share a parking lot with space for about 280 vehicles. And, the developer would install landscaping and plant about 50 trees around the site.

Maybe you all from the South are familiar with the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A chain. The founder, Truett Cathy, opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia in 1946. Cathy is also credited with inventing the boneless breast of chicken sandwich. The first Chick-fil-A officially opened in suburban Atlanta in 1967 and has since spread to 38 states and Washington D.C. with more than 1,400 locations. It looks like the only other Bay Area location for Chick-fil-A is in Fairfield.

The Chick-fil-A website goes to great effort to assure patrons that its food is healthy, with ingredients and preparations that are committed to freshness. The website also provides nutrition information that tells you, for example, that the chain's signature Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, served on a toasted, buttered bun, has 430 calories, 17 grams of fat, and seven grams of sugar.

"Since the invention of our signature Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich in 1964, we've always cooked our breaded chicken products (and more recently, our Chick-fil-A-Waffle Potato Fries, too) in 100-percent fully refined peanut oil that's cholesterol and trans fat free," the website says. "The delicious taste of Chick-fil-A can fit into almost any healthy diet through moderation and balanced food choices."

Yes, I think you would have to enjoy those signature chicken sandwiches and waffle potato fries in moderation if you wanted to maintain a balanced diet...

Of course, I'm no facist when it comes to food choices. In fact, I'm a little bummed that In-N-Out isn't getting this prime spot in Walnut Creek. What better reward would there be for a good, hard workout at 24 Hour Fitness than an In-N-Out Double-Double? Plus chocolate shake?

Sure, there is a proposal to build an In-N-Out a bit up Main Street near Oak Park Boulevard, but that's over the border in that other town, Pleasant Hill. How can Walnut Creek truly be the center of Contra Costa's culinary universe without an In-N-Out?

Fire damage at Piedmont Lumber estimated at $5million; cause still under investigation

Here are some updates coming in Sunday on the four-alarm blaze that destroyed Piedmont Lumber on North Main Street Saturday:

--The fire caused an estimated $5 million in damage, but the cause is still under investigation.

--However, investigators don't believe the cause is related to an arson fire that occurred last August at Piedmont's location in Pittsburg, and damaged an adjacent business. Although that fire was labeled arson, no one was ever found to be responsible.

--Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigators are joining firefighters in searching the large property, but Contra Costa Consolidated Fire Protection District authorities said their participation is common.

--The Contra Costa Times reports that the company's headquarters in the Pleasant Hill Executive Park on Taylor Boulevard in Pleasant Hill appeared to be vacant, with no sign on the door and no furniture or fixtures seen inside. The state Secretary of State's office lists that location as the company's heardquarters.

Piedmont Lumber burning up on North Main in Walnut Creek, explosions heard, haz-mat team called, major traffic tie-up, animals evacuated

A four-alarm fire tore through Piedmont Lumber on North Main Street Saturday and kept firefighters busy for several hours until they brought it under control early in the evening.

Contra Costa Consolidated Fire District Interim Chief John Ross said that both the warehouse at the rear end of the property and the retail store were destroyed, but there were no injuries.

Investigators believe the fire originated somewhere between the warehouse and the store, but Ross said that the cause was unknown.

Late Saturday afternoon, a Contra Costa County's hazardous materials team was on site because hazardous materials such as paints, solvents, and petroleum materials burned in the fire.

Thick smoke from the fire messed up traffic on surface streets in the area and in both directions of Interstate 680. The photo below, from a reader, shows the smoke rising from the blaze at 4:15 p.m.

The fire also prompted evacuations and closure of businesses along North Main Street, including a dog grooming business and kennel.

Ross said the fire immediately went to three alarms after a call came in at about 1:40 p.m. of a fire in the lumber yard in the rear of the business.  A tower of black smoke could be seen all the way across town at about 1:45 p.m.

(I could see it from my living room in the Parkmead neighborhood, and, ambulance chaser that I am, I jumped in the car to see what was going on.)

Sometime after 2 p.m., Ross told me and another reporter that the fire did not appear to involve any hazardous materials, just wood materials in the lumber yard. Authorities did not issue a shelter-in-place warning at that time, but Ross said later that the warning was considered as temperatures decreased later that evening since "as it cools off, smoke tends to lay down more."

But sometime around 2:15 or 2:30 p.m., as black smoke was still billowing up and out of the lumber yard, the fire moved into the main building of the lumber business, whose sign says it has been in existence since 1934.  A transformer on top of a power pole in front of the business exploded into flames, likely from the heat of the fire, and prompted concerns that the power lines along North Main would become "hot."

Police moved the crowds, gathering in closed-off North Main Street back into the parking lots of businesses across the street, including Burger King and Lawrence Volvo. During this time, more explosions could be heard. Firefighters moved onto the top of the blue tile roof, and chopped holes into it, to ventilate the building and to shoot water from a hose into it.

The hazardous materials alert was called shortly after 3 p.m., though, at that time, it wasn't clear if the alert as due to concerns about the power lines or about any chemical products in the business. Besides selling lumber, Piedmont Lumber's website said it also carries a "broad inventory of building products and services for the contractor and DIY'er."

As of 3:40 p.m., the Contra Costa Times reports, flames were shooting from the roof and through the front entrance of the business' storefront, and onlookers could hear more explosions.

PG and E crews also arrived on scene. A spokesman told KTVU that PG and E de-energized the power circuit nearby, cutting off power to 306 customers,

One of the businesses evacuated was Four Paws Grooming, whose front door opens toward the back of Piedmont Lumber. Owner Sarah Weyland said a client rushed in, "screaming, panicky" saying the lumber yard was on fire.

"We opened the doors and there was a wall of flames!" Weyland said. She had about 15 dogs in the business waiting to be groomed.

She rushed as quickly as possible to get the animals out. Suddenly, other people rushed in to help her, including teens. She explained that many people who work along North Main Street bring their pets into her business for grooming, or into the adjacent North Main Pet Lodge for kennel services; those people or others who live nearby rushed in to help evacuate the animals.

She estimates that about 50 animals, dogs and cats, had been evacuated from her business and North Main Pet Lodge.

(In this above photo, dogs evacuated from the kennel and grooming business find refuge in a Contra Costa animal services truck; in the photo at right, locals move the evacuated animals into a parking lot along North Main Street, to wait for their owners to come pick them up.)

As readers have said, a fire damaged the Piedmont Lumber location in Pittsburg in late August. According to the Broakley blog, a two-alarm fire fully engulfed the lumber area.