A $10 entry fee entitles you to play against other contestants in either a Beginner or Advanced Bracket. $50 Best Buy gist certificate for winner of Beginner Bracket, and $100 Best Buy certificate for winner of Advanced Bracket. All proceeds from entry fee go directly to STAND.

A suggested donation of $20 per light can be made by sending a tax-deductible check to Hospice Foundation of the East Bay at 3470 Buskirk Avenue, Pleasant Hill , CA 94523. Credit card donations may be made by calling Joy at the Foundation office (925) 887-5678. Please note which tree you choose to buy a light for, and the name of the person being remembered or honored. See the Locations and Times or check the nearby Calendar of Events.

Property tax assessments for the 2008-2009 fiscal year reinforce the bleak picture that has been painted over the past 12 months of declining home prices caused by the mortgage meltdown, loan defaults and foreclosures.

Adult Grief Classes:
- April 22, 2008; 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Understanding Grief: Pleasant Hill Tuesday Evening,

Adult Support Groups/Classes:
- May 15, 2008 – July 3, 2008, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Adults Who Have Lost a Parent: Pleasant Hill Thursday Evenings,

May 19, 2008 – July 7, 2008, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Widow and Widowers’ Support: Pleasant Hill Monday Evenings,

Date TBA, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Grief Support for Family and Friends: Pleasant Hill Monday Evenings,

May 20, 2008 – July 8, 2008 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Grief Support for Family and Friends: Brentwood Tuesday Evenings

All groups and classes are offered for a fee and require pre-registration. Fees are waived for those who cannot afford them. For further information and/or to register, please call: (925) 887-5678.

“Raise your property taxes; Raise your income taxes; Raise the yearly registration on our cars; Close the State Historical parks…and early release of 22,000 prisoners”

Instead, Rao promises to target:

“Expensive and underperforming programs that have not met their goals; Hundreds of duplicate and unnecessary programs; Pork, fraud and waste out of government…and we can start by getting rid of the ‘elevator operators’ in the State Capitol. Our elected leaders can push their own buttons”

But with which hand will Rao press the electorate’s buttons? In pictures posted on his campaign web site we are given the impression Rao is ambidextrious; using both his left and right hands to sign documents.

Organizers promise a great line up of local businesses including Hanna Nichole and Enos Wineries will feature their wonderful wine’s for tasting, “Fresh Catering” will serve tasty hors d’oeuvre’s, A Fine Time for Tea will serve hot tea and their new cake truffles, Gran’ma Lillie’s Sweet Potato Pies will serve luscious pies, and Ruggerio’s Catering will serve yummy lemon cake. If you wish to pay ahead of time go to: http://www.guyhouston.com/contribute.htm. Please RSVP to: terri.tonge@sbcglobal.net or call 925.516.4851 or 408.391.6268 for Will Call at the door.

Grief Support for Family and Friends; Pleasant Hill
Mon. Evenings, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. March 3, 2008 – April 21, 2008

Children and Teens Support Group; Pleasant Hill
Tues. Evenings, 5:15 – 6:30 p.m. March 4, 2008 – April 8, 2008

Adult Grief Classes; Pleasant Hill
Tuesday Evening, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. April 22, 2008

Widow and Widowers’ Support; Pleasant Hill
Mon. Evenings, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. May 19, 2008 – July 7, 2008
Widow and Widowers’ Support; Brentwood
Tues. Evenings, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. May 20, 2008 – July 8, 2008

All groups and classes are offered for a fee and require pre-registration. Fees are waived for those who cannot afford them. For further information and/or to register, please call: (925) 887-5678.

If, as Tip O’Neill said, “All politics is local,” then the most important election results for Contra Costans last night were the landslide victory of the Pinole Recall and the loss of Prop 93, the cynical attempt by political insiders to dress up an incumbent insurance policy as term limit reform.

The Pinole Recall victory is momentous as it provides a wonderful example for cities like Brentwood, Concord, Disco Bay, and others where ordinary citizens (see video) were able to stand up to unions, the Democratic Party Machine, their curiously silent County Supervisor and neutered Republican Party, redevelopment interests, and an entitled incumbent, seemingly secure in her sinecure, to take back their City from runaway incompetence and pandering to special interests.

The defeat of Prop 93 is promising as it reveals that the electorate was able to see through the vast corrupt deception perpetrated by creeps like Dom Perata, Fabio Nunez, and their toadies in the Assembly, who, more often than not, get to choose their districts, rather than voters select them.