Participants in the first Martinez Police Department Citizen Academy Class who recently completed their 10-week training. The academy gives participants an inside look at the Martinez Police Department’s operations through a series of lectures and hands-on training. For more information on the academy, visit www.cityofmartinez.org/depts/police. (MARTINEZ POLICE DEPARTMENT)

Dear Mr. Grinch, We are bees, not flies. Our buzz is productive buzz, signifying the telos (goal) of sweet honey. I think you have grown accustomed to the buzz of flies downtown, circling a decaying garden. We are a different creature. This is not the place to discuss why the …

By MANJIT SAPPAL Martinez Chief of Police Feb. 14, 2016, the police department made the transition to a new Neighborhood Policing Area structure. The Neighborhood Policing Areas (NPA) have been in existence for some time, but we have modified the geographic boundaries so that we now have 4 areas for …

By GERARDO RECINOS Martinez Tribune In the first two years of John Sasaki’s time at the helm of the Lady Bulldog lacrosse program, the team had won a total of four games. Last season the team matched that total in a full season. And now, with five games having been …

The Grinch Slowly comes the gossip, Quickly comes the yack. The more you treat a grinch right, The more he shows his back. – Harlan Bailey

Dear Mr. Rishell, Thank you for illustrating my point so beautifully (see the March 4-10, 2016 edition). All that yapping about bees buzzing, feasting off organically grown fruit in the garden … going “paleo.” Your letter reminded me of the old radio broadcasts, full of metaphors and sound effects. Only …

Our neighbors in Pleasant Hill are reaching out to help Melody Massuk, the 4-year-old Martinez girl recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. When Martinez residents told their employer at Melo’s Pizza & Pasta about Massuk, the manager offered to help fundraise, giving a percentage of sales to help fund Melody’s …

By JONATHAN B. LANCE After a number of speeches made by coaches and individual awards were presented to exceptionally performing students, the 35th annual Contra Costa County High School Mock Trial awards ceremony concluded with the naming of this year’s championship team: Miramonte High (Orinda). Miramonte beat Acalanes High Feb. …

By PAUL CRAIG Special to the Tribune Elizabeth Koehler-Pentakoff is one of Martinez’s best-known writers. Her latest book has lessons for all of us. “The Missing Kennedy” is the story of Rosemary Kennedy, brother of President John F. Kennedy. Rosemary was born in 1918, with intellectual disabilities. Despite the best …