So This Happened…Week of Sept. 2 through 8, 2024
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (Sept. 8, 2024) — A delegation from Kitakami, Japan, will travel to Concord next month to celebrate the Sister City relationship with the city.
“Like us, they started as an agricultural community, though theirs goes back a thousand years or more, and now are transitioning to a light industrial hub with numerous industrial parks,” writes Concord Mayor Edi Birsan. “Our relations are further strengthened by the fact that several Concordians have moved to Kitakami to teach English and spread the rather special way we pronounce Concord so as not to be confused with those other sites on the East Coast.” Read the complete story.
Traveling back in time: Gail Murray shares her experience visiting Israel in 2017, noting how such a trip would be impossible today.
“When I was in Israel, there was an uneasy peace,” she recalls. “We felt safe as part of a professional tour. Terrorist attacks, like the brutal Hamas slaughter on Oct. 7, 2023, were not foremost in the tour’s planning.” Read the complete story.
More stories
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Local VFW helps host POW/MIA service.
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The fans have spoken: “Lumina” returns to the big screen.
Providing complete history can speed up your pet’s diagnosis.
Is Microsoft the evil empire or just a misunderstood geek?
Emergency Preparedness Fair helps Concord residents stay ready.
Read past installments of “So This Happened…”: Click here.
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Bev Britton
Bev Britton graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of North Dakota and moved to the Bay Area with her soon-to-be husband Jim in 1986. She was features editor at the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek before becoming managing editor of the Contra Costa Sun in Lafayette in 1995. She retired from newsrooms in 2001, but an ad for the Clayton Pioneer drew her back in. The family moved to Lake Wildwood in the Gold Country a few years ago - but working at the Pioneer keeps her in touch with her old neighborhoods in Concord and Clayton.