Mike Prawicki

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Posts Tagged Concord

Hang glider crashes into Concord school

Mar 30

Posted by Mike Prawicki in News, Sports | No Comments

A hang glider pilot was critically injured this afternoon when his motorless craft went off course and plummeted to the ground at a school in Concord, police said.

A witness saw the glider circling a sports field at Mountain View Elementary School at about 3:20 p.m., apparently looking for a place to land. The pilot abruptly plunged about 30 feet and struck a cement walkway surrounding the field, said Lt. Steve Dyer, a Concord police spokesman.

He said the pilot, Christopher McKeon, 49, of Lafayette, suffered facial and head injuries and was in critical condition at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

McKeon wore a helmet and also carried a parachute, but apparently had no time to deploy it, Dyer said.

He said McKeon and other members of a hang glider organization called Wings of Rogallo took off from Mount Diablo State Park and planned to meet at Lime Ridge, an open space area. McKeon got separated from the group and crashed several miles away, Dyer said.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com

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Mt. Diablo school board cares about 1 thing only!

Nov 19

Posted by Mike Prawicki in News, Politics | 1 Comment

Split Mt. Diablo school board OKs pay raises, reorganization

Posted: 11/18/2009 06:23:10 PM PST

Updated: 11/18/2009 09:20:24 PM PST

CONCORD — Five Mt. Diablo school district employees will receive raises totaling more than $55,000 next year, while teachers and other workers are prepared to go without salary increases through 2013.

Trustees voted 3-2 Tuesday to extend three-year contracts to four top administrators and to boost the salaries of four administrators and a secretary as part of a reorganization that includes increased responsibilities for the staffers due to the elimination of some positions. The highest raise will go to General Counsel Greg Rolen, whose annual salary will jump by nearly $28,000 to $190,000.

The board extended contracts for Rolen and the assistant superintendents for administrative services, elementary education, and student services and special education. A facilities and operations project manager will receive a salary boost of more than $11,000; the budget and fiscal services director will get a bump of more than $8,000 as his position is escalated to chief financial officer earning $140,000; the director of certificated personnel’s salary will be hiked nearly $6,000; and the administrative secretary to the superintendent will take home about $1,800 more a year.

“Everything we do in this district is about making sure we are providing for the children and the families in this district,” said trustee Paul Strange, who voted for the raises and contract extensions. “The individuals we are dealing with have provided key support to the Kids in our district. Some of it has been through significant cost savings.”

The board’s action came as officials have proposed no pay increases for teachers through 2013. That proposal, however, would protect teachers from pay cuts and furloughs.Trustees Dick Allen and Linda Mayo voted against the administrative raises and contract extensions, saying they preferred to wait until a new superintendent is hired. A labor union representative and athletic foundation board member asked the board to better analyze the reorganization before voting.

James Jones, who represents classified employees such as custodians and bus drivers, said it would be hard to explain administrative raises to employees who are taking on increased workloads with no pay increases.

“We were told we had to sacrifice and to bite the bullet,” Jones said. “We’re talking about individuals that haven’t seen a raise in maybe three or four years.”

Athletic foundation board member Jeff Adams said the raises could create problems for groups that are trying to generate support for a parcel tax campaign and for music and sports programs.

“To tell you the truth,” Adams said, “there are some people who were angry today.”

Strange, board President Gary Eberhart and Trustee Sherry Whitmarsh said they had received numerous e-mails and phone calls complaining about pay raises in tight economic times. But the trio defended them, along with the three-year contracts, saying it is important to retain key staff people who will remain after the retirements of Interim Superintendent Dick Nicoll, Associate Superintendent Alan Young and Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Gail Isserman.

Isserman’s position and an administrative assistant are being eliminated as part of the reorganization, saving about $260,000. Young’s position is being downgraded to assistant superintendent, saving nearly $15,000 and reducing the net cost of the raises to about $40,000.

INFORMATION
Details about Mt. Diablo school district pay raises, contract extensions and proposed teachers’ union contract are available by calling 925-682-8000 ext. 4000 or online at http://esbpublic.mdusd.k12.ca.us. Click on Nov. 17 and choose items 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3.

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Future of Concord’s KidFest uncertain

Oct 22

Posted by Mike Prawicki in News | No Comments

CONCORD — Every year for two decades, Bay Area KidFest has drawn about 20,000 people to Todos Santos Plaza during Memorial Day weekend for fun, games and food.

This year will be different.

Instead of going to Concord, the vendors and entertainers of KidFest will be at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek on Memorial Day weekend as part of an as-yet-unnamed kids’ festival run by the same organizer, who said he wanted to continue KidFest in Concord.

That organizer wants to continue KidFest in Concord, he said, just not next year. And not on Memorial Day. And maybe not at Todos Santos Plaza.

Downtown Concord business leaders are happy — they had complained that the gated event discouraged participants from going to other downtown businesses and that the traffic and parking woes kept other customers away, according to a summary in a city staff report. At least one restaurant closes for the entire weekend; others lose money.

Council members Mark Peterson and Bill Shinn both want KidFest to continue, they said at a City Council subcommittee meeting this week.

Shinn said waiting until 2011 to do the next KidFest makes sense.

“It’s a reasonable thing to take a year, take a deep breath and try to resolve the issues,” he said.

Peterson is not so sanguine about taking a year off, he said, adding that he has not given up entirely on getting it together for this year.

“I’m not happy with how all this turned out,” he said. “Maybe it’s on its last breath (for 2010).”

Walnut Creek, meanwhile, is happy to add a third big event for Heather Farm Park, the others being the Art and Wine Festival and the Walnut Festival.

“We’re excited to see something focused on younger members of the family,” said Todd Trimble, Walnut Creek’s recreation manager.

The event would require about the same amount of space as the other two festivals, Trimble said.

The new event organizer, Jay Bedecarre, told the Concord committee that the bigger space at Heather Farm Park was better for size and structure of the Memorial Day event than is Todos Santos Plaza, which he said is too cramped.

In 2011 he hopes to do an event called KidFest in Concord — possibly at Todos Santos Plaza, possibly at Mt. Diablo High School. The school could be better, he said, because the site is already fenced in and downtown businesses would not be disturbed. A shuttle would be needed to move people from downtown parking garages, he said.

The festival also could change formats, either ditching the fenced-in admission policy or adding more adult-oriented parts to make it work better with businesses downtown.

Peterson and Shinn also differed in how concerned they were with the downtown businesses’ concerns.

Peterson said the city pours $1 million per year into downtown, so businesses can put up with some losses connected to KidFest.

Shinn said those businesses shouldn’t have to take those losses “just because we say they should.”

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