Contra Costa Herald

By Lafayette Library and Learning Center

On Thursday, July 2, join us at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center for a fun community celebration to mark the 250th Anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence! Proudly presented by the City of Lafayette, in partnership with the Lafayette Historical Society, the Acalanes Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Chapter, and All Ages Recreation Downtown (AARD), with special thanks to Front Porch Music. Everyone is welcome!

From 4pm to 6pm outside the library

• Carnival games
• Craft activities – hosted by AARD
• Sign a giant copy of the Declaration of Independence and take a selfie with a founding father – hosted by the Acalanes DAR Chapter
• Live music in the amphitheater by The Au Contraires as well as Janel and the Magdalena Sage Band
• Learn about the Marquis de Lafayette
• Complete the Passport Activities to receive a free USA flag!
• Hot dogs and nachos available for purchase

Starting at 6pm in the Don Tatzin Community Hall

• National Anthem performed by Janel Wagne
• Comments by Mayor Carl Anduri
• Mary McCosker will share the story of how our town got its name
• Screening of Lafayette: The Lost Hero, a one-hour documentary on the Marquis’s extraordinary life and contributions to American independence.

The Lafayette Library and Learning Center and Don Tatzin Community Hall are located at 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd., in downtown Lafayette.

Details at www.lovelafayette.org/250th.

Celebrate America’s 250th and City’s 150th anniversaries

By Eve Kearney, Martinez City Manager’s Office

Martinez, CA – The City of Martinez is pleased to announce its 2026 Independence Day Celebration, featuring a full day of events for residents, families, and visitors. This year’s festivities honor two important milestones: the 250th anniversary of the United States and the 150th anniversary of the City of Martinez. The community is invited to celebrate with a series of events taking place on Saturday, July 4, 2026.

Parade – 10:00am

Hosted by Downtown Martinez & Co., the annual Independence Day Parade will take place on historic downtown Main Street and feature local organizations, civic groups, marching units, classic vehicles, and community representatives.

Martinez Sturgeons Baseball Game – 12:30pm

Join us for the great American pastime, with a special Independence Day home game featuring the Martinez Sturgeons, playing at Joe DiMaggio Field in Waterfront Park. Concessions will be available.

Fun Fest at Waterfront Park – 5:00 pm

The afternoon continues at Waterfront Park with a family-friendly Fun Fest featuring activities, food trucks, and entertainment. Highlights include Bubble Fun from 5:00–6:0pm, a professional kite show from 6:00–7:00pm, and music from DJ Rhythm Masters beginning at 6:30pm. This event is designed to offer residents of all ages a safe, welcoming space to enjoy the holiday together.

Fireworks Finale – 9:30 pm

The City of Martinez will conclude the day with its annual fireworks display over the Martinez Waterfront. This professionally produced show will begin at 9:30pm and promises to be an outstanding display of dazzling colors and community spirit!

The City of Martinez looks forward to celebrating Independence Day with the community and thanks its partners and public safety personnel for their efforts in coordinating this year’s events. The City would also like to thank the East Bay Regional Park District for their continued support and partnership with the City’s annual Fireworks Show.

Please note that general vehicle access to the Marina will be closed off starting at 6:00am and parking will be by permit only as City staff and contractors prepare for the event. Free parking for the day’s events is available in the surrounding Downtown area.

As a reminder, the use of personal fireworks is prohibited in both the City of Martinez and throughout Contra Costa County, to protect our community from the significant risks associated with fireworks, including fires, injuries, and disruptive noise impacts. We appreciate our community’s continued cooperation in helping to maintain a safe, respectful, and enjoyable environment for all residents, visitors, and pets.

We look forward to marking history together, celebrating 250 years of America and 150 years of Martinez, on an unforgettable day of community pride!

By City of Pittsburg

Get ready for an unforgettable Independence Day celebration as the City of Pittsburg proudly commemorates America’s 250th Anniversary with a spectacular waterfront fireworks show and community celebration!

Join us on Saturday, July 4, at the beautiful Pittsburg Marina for an evening filled with family friendly fun, great food, and patriotic excitement. Enjoy a variety of delicious food trucks along the marina, browse local vendors, and stop by the Waterfront Fireworks Party hosted by Dale Vino. Be sure to visit the Pittsburg Yacht Club 4th of July Membership Drive Party.

Then, as the sun sets, look to the sky for our dazzling fireworks spectacular beginning at 9:00 p.m. a breathtaking display you won’t want to miss!

Pittsburg Marina – 51 Marina Blvd., Pittsburg

Fireworks Show Begins at 9:00 p.m.

Sources: City of Pittsburg (left) and Gerald Glasper, Project 4 Band (right)

Space is limited, so we encourage attendees to arrive early and enjoy all the festivities.

Bring your family, friends, and patriotic spirit as we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday together on Pittsburg’s beautiful waterfront. We look forward to celebrating with you!

The brass plate marks the Mount Diablo Initial Point inside the Visitor’s Center. Left source: Mount Diablo State Park. Right photo: The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI)

Free historic public event commemorates one of the most significant survey monuments in the American West

By Mount Diablo State Park & Public Land Survey System Foundation

Join us on July 18, 2026, to commemorate a significant day in California mapping history.

On a hot summer day in 1851 Colonel Leander Ransom and his survey crew carried their equipment to the top of Mount Diablo and established the Mount Diablo Initial Point – the starting point for mapping property lines for much of California and all of Nevada.

Celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Initial Point with us…explore antique and modern surveying equipment, visit information booths, enjoy hands-on exhibits showcasing the science and practice of land surveying and activities designed to introduce younger visitors to the profession. Land surveyors and historians will be on hand to demonstrate equipment and answer questions about the history and significance of the Initial Point and Mount Diablo’s prominence. Guided tours will point out the original survey monuments housed inside the Summit Visitor Center.

with a day-long public celebration highlighting the history and enduring importance of one of the West’s most significant surveying landmarks.

The free educational event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Summit Upper Lot in Mount Diablo State Park. Visitors of all ages are invited to experience interactive exhibits, historical surveying demonstrations, educational presentations, and family-friendly activities that illustrate the vital role surveying has played in the development of California and Nevada.

According to The Center for Land Use Interpretation, the Mount Diablo Initial Point “is one of 37 federal survey points of origin covering the USA (outside of the 13 original colonies), known as Initial Points, selected over the course of 150 years, to anchor newly acquired federal land to the legal and cartographic grid.

“Most Initial Points are created incidentally, as baselines (and sometimes the meridians) are usually created first, with one end anchored on relatively immutable geographic features, such as the confluence of rivers, or latitudinal lines. The west has a number of exceptions, where prominent peaks were selected to be Initial Points, and then base-lines and meridians were drawn from them, as their visibility from great distances aided the surveyor’s task. Such was the case with Mount Diablo, an isolated mound rising above the surrounding valley, east of the San Francisco Bay area.”

A concrete column, built at the same time as the rest of the structure, sits atop the exposed bedrock of the summit and continues through the ceiling to a viewing gallery on the level above where it is topped with a brass plate. Photos: CLUI

“Mount Diablo has the most elaborate commemorative architectures of all the Initial Points. The building at the top of the mountain, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, contains a small museum and encloses a monument built on top of the summit. The building itself extends the peak another 45 feet in elevation. A concrete column, built at the same time as the rest of the structure, sits atop the exposed bedrock of the summit and continues through the ceiling to a viewing gallery on the level above where it is topped with a brass plate. The rock of the actual summit is exposed at the base of the concrete column. An opening at the base of the column was provided to allow access to the exact spot from which the survey was conducted, marked now by a copper bolt head left from a 1876 triangulation station.”

The survey lines from Mount Diablo extend from the Pacific Ocean to Utah, and from Monterey Bay to Oregon, covering an area that includes most of California and all of Nevada (in green) and U.S. Meridians and Baselines map. Sources: (left) CLUI and (right) U.S. Dep’t of the Interior Bureau of Land Management

According to the Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society, “California has three initial points; Mount Diablo Base and Meridian (est. 1851) (center), San Bernardino Base and Meridian (est. 1852) (bottom), and Humboldt Base and Meridian (est. 1853) (top). Initial points are the starting points, and were established to describe and enable the government to sell public lands covering California and Nevada which were part of the Public Lands Survey System (PLSS).”

Visitors are encouraged to bring lunch, snacks, drinks and sunscreen and plan to spend the day enjoying the mountaintop setting while learning about one of California’s most enduring historical landmarks.

California State Parks, the Mount Diablo Surveyors Historical Society and Mount Diablo Interpretive Association are presenting this event and invite visitors to drop in between 10am-4pm at the Summit Visitor Center parking lot. Parking in this lot will be very limited. Please follow signs to park in the lower parking lot. There is a $10 per vehicle park entry fee, but no charge for the event.

For more information about the Public Land Survey System Foundation visit  www.plssfoundation.org.

Click for more information about Mount Diablo State Park or www.facebook.com/MountDiabloStatePark#.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

America 250: Agricultural Roots & the American Dream

By City of Brentwood

This Fourth of July, celebrate more than America’s birthday. Celebrate the story of Brentwood.

Join us for America 250: Agricultural Roots & the American Dream, a one-of-a-kind community celebration that explores how our local history connects to the nation’s 250-year journey.

The day begins with the Children’s Parade and Brentwood Classic Parade at 9:30 AM, traveling from First & Birch through Historic Downtown to the Brentwood Community Center. Then, from 11:30 AM-3:00 PM, the celebration comes to life throughout City Park, the Community Center, Historic Downtown, and the Veterans Memorial Hall.

Along the way, you’ll experience Brentwood’s past, present, and future through interactive exhibits, local organizations, entertainment, and family activities.

Discover Brentwood’s agricultural heritage with Harvest Time’s 50th Anniversary activation, visit Spinola Farm to purchase exclusive U-Pick Capital shirts, and learn about the people and places that shaped our community with the East Contra Costa Historical Society and the John Marsh Historic Trust.

Enjoy live music by The Ragdolls, a lineup of local favorites from The Foodie Crew, family activities including a mini train ride, arts and crafts, face painting, balloon art, and lawn games, plus the Veterans Memorial Hall Car Show, free hot dogs, live music, and a Historical Flag Scavenger Hunt.

While you’re here, stroll through Historic Downtown and vote for your favorite storefront in the Downtown Brentwood Coalition’s America 250 Business Decorating Contest.

Every stop tells a different chapter of Brentwood’s story.

See the City’s Facebook page for everything happening on July 4, then make plans to celebrate America’s 250th birthday right here in Brentwood.

Boys & Girls Club to help with distribution

By Martinez Police Officers Association

The Martinez Police Officers Association would like to extend our sincere thanks to Walmart for their generous donation of 40 children’s bicycles during the Walmart Martinez Grand Re-Opening celebration.

Community partnerships like this make a real difference. We are proud to accept this donation on behalf of the Martinez Police Department and grateful for Walmart’s continued commitment to supporting the Martinez community.

The MPOA has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Martinez to identify children and families who will benefit most from these bicycles, ensuring they are placed in the hands of local kids who need them.

Together, we can continue building a stronger, safer, and more connected community.

Thank you, Walmart, for investing in Martinez and helping create smiles that will last far beyond today.

Deyonne Anthony White was arrested for human trafficking and more charges. Photo: Hercules PD

Held on $425K bail, has history of arrests

By Hercules Police Department

The Hercules Police Department announced the arrest of 30-year-old Deyonne Anthony White (born 2/16/1990) of Oakland in connection with a multi-agency human trafficking operation. White was arrested during a U.S. Probation Office visit in San Francisco with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. He faces felony charges including human trafficking of a minor for commercial sex, pimping and pandering, and witness intimidation, with bail set at $425,000.

The arrest stems from Operation Cross Country, a federal operation conducted July 28, 2023, in partnership with the Contra Costa County Human Trafficking Task Force, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, the five-foot, eight-inch tall, 163-pound White has his next court appearance scheduled for July 17, 2026, at 8:30 AM in Martinez.

According to localcrimenews.com, he is Black and was also arrested last October by Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies for assault with a firearm on a person and being an addict in possession of a firearm and by Oakland PD in 2022 for murder, street terrorism, assault with firearm on person, being an addict in possession of a firearm and violation of parole: Felony.

Report suspected human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 (24/7), Hercules PD at (510) 724-1111, or text “HELP” to 233733. This investigation involved collaboration with the FBI, HSI, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, Contra Costa County Human Trafficking Task Force, U.S. Marshals Service, and Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. The charges are allegations; White is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

A Safe Drug Disposal depository is located in the lobby of the Brentwood Police Department. Photos: Brentwood PD

By Brentwood Police Department

Do you have unused or expired medications sitting in your medicine cabinet? As a reminder, the Brentwood Police Department lobby has a Safe Drug Disposal depository available for community members to safely and anonymously dispose of unwanted medications.

Properly disposing of unused medications helps prevent accidental poisonings, prescription drug misuse, and keeps medications out of our waterways and environment.

• The secure disposal depository is located inside the Brentwood Police Department lobby and is available during normal lobby hours. Informational signage in both English and Spanish is posted next to the depository and outlines what items are accepted for disposal.
• Please note: The depository does not accept sharps (needles, syringes, or lancets) or illicit drugs. Community members are encouraged to review the posted signage before depositing any items.

All medications collected are periodically serviced by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and transported to a DEA-designated facility for proper destruction.

Take a moment to check your medicine cabinets and dispose of any unwanted or expired medications safely.

The Brentwood Police Department is located at 9100 Brentwood Blvd.

Photo: San Pablo PD

By San Pablo Police Department

June 24, 2026 – Thanks to a concerned community member, San Pablo Police officers located another firearm. Officers responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle in one of our neighborhoods. During their investigation, officers observed a loaded firearm inside the vehicle. The subject was arrested and transported to county jail.

Police seek suspects

By Concord Police Department

On Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at approximately 3:12 p.m., Concord Police Department officers responded to a report of a robbery at Sunvalley Shopping Center.

The incident occurred inside the mall near Macy’s Women’s. Two masked male suspects approached the victim and grabbed his necklaces. A physical struggle occurred, and the suspects fled from the mall with the victim’s necklaces.

The victim sustained minor injuries as a result of the confrontation.

Concord Police officers are reviewing surveillance footage from the area to help identify the suspects and determine whether any suspect vehicles were involved.

This remains an active and ongoing investigation. No further information is being released at this time.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Concord Police Department Major Crimes Unit at 925-671-3030 or via our Anonymous Tip Line at (925) 603-5836.