The following information is from Claycord Congressman George Miller:

Friends,

What would you do with an extra $8,151? Pay down debt? Save for your kids’ college? Put a down-payment on a home?

Women in California are earning 84 cents for every dollar a man earns. That means that by the end of a year, California women have been paid $8,151 less than men.

It’s just not acceptable for businesses in the 21st century to have one wage rate for women and a separate, higher rate for men doing the same work.

And that’s why my colleagues and I are speaking up about The Paycheck Fairness Act. Today, I co-chaired a hearing where we heard from women, including renowned author and activist Barbara Ehrenreich, about the need for this important bill that would close loopholes and update the 1963 Equal Pay Act.

Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues don’t support the bill. Instead, they spent the afternoon attacking women’s health – again.

Paycheck fairness means that women who do the same work as men should earn the same pay as those men. This is worth fighting for. Don’t you agree?

Sincerely,

GEORGE MILLER
Member of Congress

Mountain Mike’s Pizza in Lafayette is kind enough to hold a fundraiser for our photographer, Mike “Radar” Dunn, who is having trouble paying his medical bills since he was diagnosed with stage-4 liver cancer a few months ago.

Click on the photo above for all the details on the fundraiser, which is taking place THIS SUNDAY June 3rd!

Thanks to Mountain Mike’s in Lafayette for your support!

To download and print a flyer, please click ON THIS LINK.

Look what’s on display at Buchanan Field in Concord! It’s the bombers that were flying over Claycord this past weekend.

These World War II bombers are available to check out from behind the fence (for free) or up close and personal (for a fee).

Thanks to “MarineMom” for the photos!

Another very loud boom was heard in Concord on Wednesday night.

Who heard it, and where in Concord do you live?

This guy is great!

He was photographed feeding the pigeons in Claycord the other day, and obviously, the pigeons love him.

Thanks to the Claycordian who sent the photos of the Pigeon Man of Claycord!

The Senate today with a bi-partisan 36-3 vote approved Senate Bill 1571. Titled the School Supplies for Homeless Children Fund, SB 1571 will create a tax check off program that will allow taxpayers to designate contributions on their income tax returns to provide grants to school districts to provide basic school supplies and dental kits to homeless children.

“This bill will help generate much needed funds for school and dental supplies for California’s most vulnerable population,” said Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). “California has the nation’s largest population of homeless children. This bill will give these children some of the basic tools they need to learn and to succeed.”

Last year, it was estimated that between 300,000 and 450,000 homeless children were attending California elementary, middle and high schools. These students struggle to afford the basic yet critical instructional materials necessary for a quality education.

This material resource gap not only stymies students’ confidence and academic achievement, but also burdens teachers and school districts. A recent TIME magazine cover story noted that California teachers spend about $1,500 out-of-pocket annually on school supplies, roughly $60 per student.

SB 1571 will address this material resource gap by allowing taxpayers to donate to provide these services to homeless youth when they file their annual state tax returns. School districts will likely partner with non-profit organizations to provide these specific services.

We received a photo and the following message from our friend “Rebel”….

Just wanted to remind you of the upcoming partial lunar eclipse on Monday, June 4th. It will be another full moon when the eclipse starts.

According to this msnbc article, the eclipse will start around 3am and will be at its darkest around 4:04am.

If the moon is in view, I will take some photos of it.

Thanks, “Rebel”, and thanks for the great photo of the moon (taken this week).

The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it!

The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon!

Today’s question:

If you could choose a business to move into the old Marie Callender’s building on Diamond Boulevard in Concord, what would it be?

Talk about it….

Today, with strong bipartisan support, the Senate approved Senate Bill 1117 with a 31-3 vote, calling for the creation of a statewide passenger rail plan that will be used to guide California’s rail transportation policy decisions.

“This bill ensures that the plans of the high speed rail program are integrated into the commuter and conventional passenger rail programs. This is extremely important if the high-speed rail plans for a blended system are to come to fruition,” said Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). “As the state is embarking upon a major investment program in rail transit, it behooves us to ensure that high speed rail will operate as part of the state’s entire rail system when completed.”

SB 1117 directs the California Transportation Commission (CTC), in cooperation with regional and state agencies, to create a statewide passenger rail plan to address the following issues:

• High speed rail, conventional intercity rail, commuter rail, and urban rail transit.
• Long-term infrastructure needs of the state and how rail can be used to meet them.
• Existing rail and increasing connections to rail, as well as high speed rail.
• A long-term plan for high speed rail.
• Existing corridors and rights of way issues.
• The goals of regional governance, greenhouse gas reduction, and the reduction of traditional air pollutants.
• Reducing congestion.
• Long term transportation energy needs.

Under SB 1117, the CTC will be required to hold public meetings and adopt a completed plan by September 2014. The plan would be updated every four years thereafter.

SB 1117 will next move to the Assembly for consideration.

Long-time Monte Gardens Elementary school Kindergarten Teacher Denise Dobson (formerly Denise Willis) is retiring from the school district this year.

The parents are putting together a retirement party for her on June 3rd, as she said she would like nothing more than to spend time with all of her students, past and present.

Here are the details:

Mrs. Denise Dobson (formerly Mrs. Willis) is retiring! Come have a fun afternoon with us as we celebrate her final year teaching.

All students, past and present, and anyone willing to wish Mrs. Dobson a happy retirement are invited.

• Sunday, June 3rd 11am-3pm
• Hidden Lakes Park (Morello Avenue at Chilpancingo Parkway) Martinez, CA

There will be a potluck lunch. Please visit the Facebook event page to sign up and RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/events/371639566227521/

A man who identifies himself as College Park High School English Teacher Andrew Nolan lists his job description as ”babysitting society’s mistakes“, and posts photos of “College Park kids I can somewhat tolerate” on his personal Facebook page.

The photos pictured above (click on each one for a larger view), are screenshots from Nolan’s Facebook page.

Nolan, who has been with College Park High School in Pleasant Hill since 1999, also allegedly posted a portion of an 11th grade student’s English paper with the caption “All I’m asking is that the next time you hear somebody bashing teachers and saying how easy our jobs are, please show them this”, in reference to the student’s posted paper. When one of Nolan’s former students questioned him, saying if the student was really bad at English, then the teachers should be to blame for letting him make it through high school, Nolan allegedly responded with “Glen, you’ve become a real asshole“.

Two emails were sent to Andrew Nolan and one was sent to College Park High School Principal Paul Gengler for a comment regarding the Facebook page, however, nobody replied.

What’s your opinion on this? Is it ok for a teacher to write whatever he or she wants on Facebook, and do you appreciate a teacher calling your son or daughter a “mistake”?

The Clayton Valley High School Lacrosse teams held a benefit game for our wonderful photographer “Radar” on Tuesday.

As we’ve told you in the past, “Radar” is currently battling stage-four liver cancer, and the Lacrosse teams were nice enough to give all proceeds from the game directly to “Radar’s” anti-cancer fund.

Guess who took the photos of his own benefit game? Yes, Radar! Nothing was going to stop him from watching the game, not even chemo!

Thanks again to the Lacrosse teams from Clayton Valley High School for showing us your big hearts and holding this benefit game for “Radar” (we’re hearing the girls won 7-6).

Click on each photo for a much larger view.

A small fire, which was very close to several homes, was extinguished on Tuesday night in the creek area behind Netto Drive in Concord, off Ayers Road.

The blaze started at about 7pm, and fortunately, nobody was injured and no homes were damaged.

A witness tells Claycord.com a white male adult with blonde hair was spotted running from the creek at the time of the blaze. The man got on a motorized bike with high handlebars.

Thanks to the anonymous Claycordian for the information & the photos!

These photos are of Concord BART’s Grand Opening Celebration in the early 1970′s.

“Radar” took these photos, which show the parking lot celebration (top) and current Concord City Councilman Dan Helix standing with KGO-TV Reporter Steve Davis (bottom).

Did anybody out there besides Radar and Councilman Helix attend this celebration?

ABOUT THE CLAYCORD ONLINE MUSEUM: The Claycord Online Museum is made up of historical photos, documents & anything else that has to do with the history of our area.

If you have any old photos or items that you’d like to place in the Claycord Online Museum, just scan or take a photo of them, and send them to the following address: news@claycord.com. It doesn’t matter what it is, even if it’s just an old photo of your house, a scan of an old advertisement or an artifact that you’d like us to see, send it in and we’ll put it online!

Click on the tag below titled “Claycord Online Museum” to view other items!

This fantastic news came from the Clayton Valley Lacrosse Team:

The Clayton Valley Lacrosse program is excited to announce our second annual Boys vs. Girls Benefit Lacrosse match this Tuesday, May 29th 6:00 p.m. at Gonsalves Stadium at CVHS.

The girls lacrosse team has again challenged the boys team to play with girls sticks and girls rules. The lacrosse program has established this annual fundraiser to benefit a member of our Clayton Valley community. Last year’s game benefitted a LAX family who suffered losses due to a house fire. This year the beneficiary will be Mike “Radar” Dunn. He is best known as the Clayton Pioneer and Claycord.com photographer. He has covered numerous Clayton Valley High school events, including last year’s Boy’s vs. Girls Benefit Lacrosse match. Radar is currently in a battle with cancer, and funds raised at this event will help him with his medical expenses.

Players will be donating $20.00 to play and will receive a commemorative tee shirt. A gate fee donation of $3.00 per student and $5.00 per adult will be collected at the gate. All proceeds from shirt sales and gate donations will go to this year’s recipient.

Please invite your family, friends and neighbors to witness a what should be a fun and funny event! We hope to see you all there!

Thank you all!