Our Town

BY DEBRA J. MORRIS We never imagined that a COVID-19 pandemic would upend nearly every aspect of society and the local food supply chain. Thankfully, farmers markets were declared essential businesses early on, albeit smaller and with limited access and with extensive safety guidelines and restrictions. More than ever before, …

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that 30-year-old Martinez resident Joseph Osuna has been charged with three criminal counts, including two felonies, for his alleged action of the unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person on Sunday, July 5. Osuna drove by a Black Lives …

No one is non-essential. Families and businesses around Martinez have felt the economic impact of the government shut down orders. To help out families hardest hit by the shelter in place, and local restaurants that lost business, a local attorney is stimulating Main Street with $30,000 in free meals. Tully …

At a special Board meeting on July 14, 2020, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an urgency ordinance that continues an eviction moratorium for residential tenants and small businesses in the County through September 30, 2020. The urgency ordinance also continues a moratorium on certain residential rent …

Putting both the drama and trauma of a recent series of racist incidents the past few weeks behind it, a crowd estimated of close to 2,000 people gathered in downtown Martinez Sunday afternoon for a peaceful protest march from the county courthouse to Waterfront Park calling for an end to racial …

With Martinez bracing for Sunday afternoon’s protest march from the county courthouse to Waterfront Park, many downtown merchants have taken the hint from Police Chief Manjit Sappal and decided to err on the side of caution by boarding up their storefront windows. Hopefully the event will come off peacefully, but given …

Tobie Gene Levingston, who founded the East Bay Dragons, one of the nation’s first all-Black motorcycle clubs, died Tuesday morning of natural causes at the age of 86. Levingston was born in Louisiana in 1934 to a sharecropper father who made the migration West, along with thousands of other black …

Martinez Police Chief Manjit Sappal has released the following statement in regards to the protest march scheduled this Sunday: Many of you may be aware that we are planning for a large scale protest on July 12th. We have received numerous emails and messages from concerned business owners and residents …

New information has been released by Martinez Police Chief Manjit Sappal confirming that a peaceful protest is planned on Sunday, July 12 at 4 pm beginning at 725 Court Street and continuing to Waterfront Park. Several groups are in planning to help organize the protest. Police Chief Sappal’s statement is …

Contra Costa County has updated its health order about when and where members of the public should wear face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic to align it with current state guidance. Local data indicate that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Contra Costa County. The county is currently on the California …