Mark Pendleton, 49, of Martinez, was struck sometime in the early evening hours by a driver who remains at large. The California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the death, assigned officers to stop and question passing motorists Tuesday near the Highway 4 offramp at McEwen Road — about a half-mile south of the collision site. -Contra Costa Times Anyone with information should call the CHP at (925) 646-4980. This type of story makes me sick. I hope they catch the person who hit him and put them away for life. Sure the news is saying that with the visibility that the drive may not have seen Mark Pendleton. Even if that's the case, the driver must have known they hit something. I can't wait for the follow up story where they person turns themselves in or is turned in by their neighbors. Everyone be on the look out for a car with new damage and a front headlight out.

Walnut Creek is Concord's rich neighbor. Sure they have the stigma of being all classy and snobbish but just because they have more millionaires per capita than Concord doesn't mean we should think any less of them. The Walnut Creek Police Dept has also had their fair share of bad stigma handed down. Some people call them heavy handed and others say they that the WC Police treat outsider (yes, people from Concord) like trash. I have never had any run ins with the Walnut Creek Police other than a class I took at Diablo Vally College taught by one of their officers. The Walnut Creek Police Dept is doing what any good police dept should do and is being proactive with their policing. Recently the Walnut Creek Police Dept announced that they are going to be setting up shop in the popular Broadway Plaza Shopping Center for the holidays. Sorta like how Concord has sub stations set up all over the city, Walnut Creek will be placing a group of sworn officers just to keep an eye on all the shoppers spending their cash at high end stores like Davidson and Licht, Tiffanys and Neiman Marcus. With the holiday season ...

One of the best things about running a local blog is all of the people I get to meet along the way and see what they do. Regardless of the type of event you need a photographer for like a party, a wedding or just a great set of professional photos, finding quality is difficult. I know when we were looking for a wedding photographer, it was a long task to qualify everyone. Just choosing a random photographer from the yellow pages is never good enough. I was contacted through Facebook by a local photographer Wayne Miller in Clayton to be added as a contact. Once I saw that Wayne had a website, I had to check it out. There are many local photographers in the Claycord area but this site is one of the most professional and content rich I have seen in a while. Wayne Miller Photography of Clayton, California, specializes in Portraits and Commercial Photography. Creative Innovation in Photography with an Avant-garde style as he always pushes the envelope in photography.  HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, out of the box, and classic styles to meet client’s needs. Wayne Miller Photography even has an programs for models building their portfolios. The ...

Back in Oct. I mentioned the troubles Deputy District Attorney Michael Gressett found himself in. Today he and his attorney made a plea of "Not Guilty" in court. The charges, which were filed Friday in Martinez, include two counts rape, four counts sodomy, three counts forced sexual penetration, one count forced oral copulation, one count false imprisonment and one count of making criminal threats for allegedly threatening to kill the alleged victim, according to the complaint. Gressett, 51, also faces multiple enhancements for allegedly tying up the alleged victim and using a handgun and an ice pick during the alleged assault. If convicted, Gressett could face a life sentence, Deputy Attorney General Peter Flores said. Because Gressett is a county prosecutor, the state attorney general's office was prosecuting the case. "As firmly and uncategorically as anyone has ever entered a not guilty plea, we enter a not guilty plea," Gressett's attorney Michael Cardoza said in court. Video: MARTINEZ: Jade Hernandez "I can say it's been very difficult after all these years of prosecuting the bad guys," Gressett said. "The truth will come out ... I stand in the shadows of fear in a false accusation. I know the ...

There is no question that a website can become a call to action. Blogs have been used as a personal soapbox since their creation. Everything from people supporting a cause to people just wanting to share their lives. Blogging is a form of expression that allows for anyone to post their thoughts and opinions even anonymously. Technorati currently watches 112.8 million blogs. As for Concord, there are only a handful but even a handful of blogs are more than enough for people to pay attention to. Like most people I have a busy life. Between work, school, kids and grocery shopping, we have to find ways to get educated on matters that affect our lives especially when it comes to elections. Besides reading leaflets and seeing lawn signs we look of ways to understand what other peoples thoughts are as well. Sometimes that's talking to a friend in the area to see who they favor. Sometimes it's looking online to see what is being written outside the mainstream news agencies. The local blogs in Concord all rallied behind one accomplished group and it paid off. I'm a blogger and I didn't know much about the local politics until I started this site. ...

Most people are concern about the environment. The National Green Machine is gaining steam and people on a local level are trying to inflict change. Some support Green initiatives by recycling more others by promoting alternative energies. The Divas over at MuseGreen take it a few steps further by running a blog sharing and discussing all things GREEN. MuseGreen was started by five ladies that wanted to do more than just talk about ways to make the Earth a better place. MuseGreen is based out of Walnut Creek Ca. and uses the power of the internet and social media tools like Twitter to put a little bit of green all over the world. Green Games Play games on the site to have trees planted for real. Sow much for the planet! Warm up those brain cells and do something great for the planet at the same time! For every 10 questions you answer correctly, we’ll plant a tree on your behalf. Login and we’ll keep your all time score! Green Shopping MuseGreen’s green shopping experience donates 2% of all proceeds to our hand-chosen environmental causes. Now, of course, they’d love everybody to choose from their selection of eco-friendly, organic products, but we also know that life’s ...

Gary Eberhart and Sherry Whitmash have gathered a very large crowd around Concord. I saw groups gathered at two locations around the city. I expected to see some supporters but they have about 100-150 people holding signs supporting the candidates. They have my vote. This is a quick picture I took with my cell phone. The quality sucks but you can see the people.

I don't think I want to get into the habit of dissecting other bloggers posts but I read one recently that really got me scratching my head. Over at a popular Concord blog Claycord there was a "press release" stating that Concord crime was declining. Immediately something caught my eye about this "Press Release"from the Concord Police Department. If this was a real "Press Release" that Claycord had gotten a hold of then why is there an obvious page break in it? I think that this was not an actual press release but just some information that somehow was sent around and he decided to add the Concord Police logo for effect. I have searched far and wide for a copy of this press release and if it exists online then even the great power of Google can't see it regardless of what searches I ran. If crime in Concord is really declining even with all the news of bank robberies and drive-bys then I guess I can sleep better at night. I would think that local media not just blogs would be highlighting this information as well. Even the CC Times would publish something about this to fill a column up ...

Ethanol fuel is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It can be used as a fuel, mainly as a biofuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely used in cars in Brazil. Because it is easy to manufacture and process and can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane and corn, it is an increasingly common alternative to gasoline in some parts of the world. California only has five of these stations, including the new one at Highway 4 and Willow Pass Road.

Last week there was news about a drive-by shooting in Concord. I don't hear about too many of these, in fact this is the first I know of in Concord. I hope this isn't just more escalation in the gang violence in the city but with the growing crime in general is enough to make me sleep with one eye open at night. I don't live in an area of Concord that would be considered high crime but I guess you never really know. Here is some information on the drive-by shooting that happened in Concord. A 16-year-old Concord boy who was shot three times early Monday morning in a drive-by shooting is expected to survive his injuries, Concord police Lt. Andrew Gartner said. Police received a call reporting a shooting shortly after midnight Monday at Grant Street and Olivera Road, near Hillcrest Park. When officers arrived, they found the victim with gunshot wounds to his left wrist, his right shoulder and possibly his left shoulder, Gartner said. According to witnesses, the boy had been walking along the street with some friends when a vehicle drove by and the right front passenger shouted out the window, asking if they "bang," Gartner said. The witness ...

The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert this morning, asking the public to be on the lookout for a Kings County man who allegedly stabbed his wife and abducted their two children. Police in Lemoore say Jose Barraza Orellana, 36, fled with his two children after stabbing their mother, Roxana Arevalo, multiple times around 10:45 a.m. Thursday. She reportedly is hospitalized in critical condition. "We do have solid information which leads us to believe that the suspect is somewhere in the Bay Area," said CHP Sgt. Trent Cross. "We can't release that information because it could compromise the investigation." If you were watching the news this morning, then you would know what this "solid information" is. I guess the police put the kabosh on the key data after it was initially released. But be sure to take note of the vehicle information. There is a good chance he is in the East Bay. He was last seen wearing black jeans and a T-shirt and was driving a 2000 gray Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with a camper shell, California license plate No. 6E70253. Make sure you go to CodeAmber.org and get an Amber Alert ticker for your computer or website. UPDATE: The California Highway ...

Some people like eHarmony.com, others like the more conventional method of going to a bar to meet people. When all else fails and you just want a late night booty call, just head over to craiglist.com and get a local prostitute for an hour or two. Hooker, prostitute, call girl, whatever you want to call them, they are offering sexual services for money. *Warning* This post will have links of an adult nature and is Not Safe for Work. Also, if you are easily offended you way want to stop reading now. by telethon - Actual picture from Oakland Craigslist is great for finding jobs, free stuff and information about your area. There is a dark side to Craigslist few know about and one of those sides is the not so hidden list of available hookers in any given city. Why can't they be stopped? The answer is pure volume. With the police being reactive to all the crimes they currently have, setting up a proactive group to stop people from selling sex in their city just takes the back burner. Am I being to harsh? There must be a reason for it, anyday of the week I can go to Craigslist in ...

I just wrote about the crime rate in Concord mentioning how low the violent crime was in the city. I was  surprised to hear that recently there were two armed robberies in Concord in the same day. I am not completely surprised, the economy sucks and crime tends to trend up when that happens. Armed robberies are nothing unheard of, Oakland has been seeing a large number of them and though they have a few people in custody, that hasn't stopped copy cat criminals from following suit. Maybe Concord just seems like an easy target. Three armed robberies this month took place in businesses around Concord. Men with weapons bust in, take the cash from the register and sometimes even the victims wallets, then they're gone. The CPD responds quickly but the criminals have always gotten away. Maybe I'm paranoid about the criminal element in Concord but the lack of reporting from the Concord PD being followed up by blogs reporting on additional crimes makes me worry. I want to make clear this is nothing against the line officer on patrols everyday responding to call after call. I know what thats like to some level and want to be clear that the ...