So This Happened…Week of July 15 through 21, 2024
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CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (July 21, 2024) — Just as organizers prepared for the Port Chicago Weekend, news came that the U.S. secretary of the Navy officially exonerated the Port Chicago 50 – the Black sailors charged with mutiny after refusing to return to work after a munitions explosion killed 320 people in 1944.
“Today our nation stands one step closer to fulfilling its founding promise of equality and justice for all,” said Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, who relentlessly pressed Washington officials to correct the injustice at the Concord facility.
The Port Chicago Weekend featured music, art, theater, exhibits and entertainment across several Bay Area cities July 18-21.
Going for the gold: Rower Kara Kohler and wrestler Amit Elor will represent our area at the Paris Olympics. This will be the third Olympics for Clayton’s Kohler, while former College Park standout Elor will be competing for the first time on the global stage.
Meanwhile, the College Park boys wrestling team achieved the highest collective grade point average of any boys wrestling team in the state this past school year. Coach Jim Keck’s team posted a 3.82 GPA. “So proud of these young men,” Keck said. “They are winners on the mat, in the community and in the classroom.”
More stories
Here are some other stories the Pioneer covered recently:
In the garden and at the market: Don’t rush to the garden hose just because it’s hot out, and now’s the time to seek out delightful heirloom tomatoes at farmers market.
In entertainment: Still time to enjoy Clayton’s Concerts in The Grove; local theaters offer one-act plays, plus soap opera drama; Contra Costa’s Tapestry Choir tours Ireland; a primer on how musicians bottle their magic; Clayton’s JOR Fine Art Gallery hosts “Radiant Visions” exhibit; and anxiety rules in “Inside Out 2” and “Quiet Place: Day One.”
Back to school: School supply give-a-way July 27 in Pittsburg.
From the police: Pleasant Hill, Clayton to celebrate National Night Out; Pleasant Hill PD bids farewell to K-9 officer Bodie; and the latest report from Concord PD.
Letter to the Editor: Pioneer Biased?
Obituares: Ronnie Carroll Peterson, Marsha Jean York, Gerald “Jerry” Cabral and Jeanne Elise Kirchhoff Boyd, co-founder of the Clayton Community Library.
From Concord’s mayor: Art and history will outlast us.
From Pleasant Hill’s mayor: Library has become a community hub.
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.