General News
Sal’s Family Kitchen moving to Main Street
MARTINEZ, Calif. – Sal’s Family Kitchen, one of downtown Martinez’s landmark breakfast and lunch spots, is moving to Main Street. The city of Martinez his buying the restaurant’s current home, 825 Escobar St., and intends to level the building to add more parking to the downtown area. To accomplish this, the city had to help […]
Old rail car, cannabis and postal problems made headlines in 2018
Part 2 of the Gazette’s 2018 Year in Review, recapping Martinez’s news from the previous year. MARTINEZ, Calif. – The Martinez Unified School District’s capital improvement ballot measure passed in 2016 has been accumulating revenues, and before the end of 2018, the Board of Education awarded a contract for the complete overhaul of John Muir […]
Pinole burglary suspects crash car in Martinez, three in custody
A car containing four people suspected of burglary crashed Thursday afternoon on California Highway 4 and Alhambra Avenue Thursday afternoon, authorities said. Three of the four in the vehicle have been apprehended, but police are still seeking the fourth person, they said. On Thursday, January 3, at 1:58 p.m., an alert citizen contacted the Pinole […]
Elections, fires, FBI raid among 2018’s top stories
MARTINEZ, Calif. – Martinez had plenty of news in 2018. Elections dominated much of the year, from the switch to by-district voting to the push for a half-cent general sales tax with the intent to use much of it to bolster police and water system budgets and an extended and expanded parcel tax for Martinez […]
Man dies in Howe Road collision
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A 37-year-old man died Thursday night after a passenger car collided with a parked commercial vehicle on Howe Road, according to a statement from Martinez Police Department. The statement, issued by Sgt. Patrick Salamid and Chief Manjit Sappal, said officers were sent to the 800 block of Howe Road after the department […]
Community Focus
At Home With Vivian: Hello Kitty
“Meow!” my chocolate-striped grandcat Tina complained when I opened the door to the guest room this evening. It was five minutes after her usual dinner time and she was not happy that I was late. “It’s only five minutes late!” I said with exasperation. She stared me down with her big green eyes until I […]
Park It by Ned MacKay: Monarch butterfly programs
Although monarch butterflies have not arrived in great numbers this year to spend the winter at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont, park naturalists are still offering programs highlighting the amazing insects, with emphasis on how their numbers can be preserved and increased. Monarch spotting programs are scheduled from 2 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays through […]
Special drop-off recycling collections return after the holidays
Ever notice you have accumulated way too much cardboard, Styrofoam, and plastic film packaging during the holidays? Good news, you’re not alone, and if you are a Martinez resident, Republic Services and the City of Martinez are again partnering on a free drop-off recycling collection program after the holidays to give you multiple opportunities to […]
Martinez Business Beat, Jan. 2, 2019
States Coffee Expands Responding to its growing popularity, States Coffee and Mercantile its seating from from its original 609 Ward St. address into the space next door that once was a local post office. Martinez, Hispanic Chambers Slate Mixer The Martinez Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will team up for a […]
Martinez artist creating since childhood
MARTINEZ, Calif. – Maggie Servantes knew her son, Richie, had talent when, at 4, he used a pad of paper to create scene-by-scene animation in a flip book. That’s how the classic animators who worked at Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and other studios painstakingly created cartoons before the days of computer-generated cartoons: One sketch at […]
History
New Year traditions vary around the world
The start of a new year, whether it’s celebrated Jan. 1 or on some other date, often is accompanied by some form of ceremony or tradition, no matter where in the world a person happens to be, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a publication that dates to 1792. Many of these traditions resemble each […]
Christmas, holiday imagery and customs from many sources
The annual festival called Christmas has grown to be one of the world’s largest celebration. It’s observed by billions of people, not only by Christians who use it to remember the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, but by those who observe it on a secular, rather than religious, level. The name “Christmas” comes from the […]
Accident starts era of Santa-tracking
A mistaken printing of a telephone number in a department store’s advertisement could have been a calamity. Instead, it launched an annual event through which children can track Santa Claus as he makes his worldwide Christmas Eve journey to deliver presents. In addition to watching the global excursion of a jolly elf and his team […]
Our Town: A city without a city hall
By CHARLENE PERRY Reprinted from January 1985 Editor’s Note: Due to the pressures of time, energy and upcoming knee surgery, this writer will return from time to time to reaching into the treasure chest of Charlene Perry’s well-researched columns from the 1980s and 90s. This piece, from 1985, will be the introduction to a forthcoming […]
Our Town: Celebrating Martinez’s movie fame
By HARRIETT BURT Martinez News-Gazette Contributor CARTER WILSON Martinez Historical Society Photographer Last week this writer thought she’d written the last story about Tucker: The Man and His Dream but then Carter Wilson, photographer of homes on the annual Martinez Historical Society Home Tour, brought over a handful of images of the Saturday’s film party […]
Sports
Alhambra beats Campo 56-51 (photo gallery)
Photos by Mark Fierner (Martinez News-Gazette) Alhambra girls Basketball beat Campolindo Cougars 56-51.
Alhambra vs. College Park ends in draw
Photos by Mark Fierner (Martinez News-Gazette) Alhambra girls soccers vs College Park Falcons ends in 0-0 tie
Eglite, Bulldogs soar over Eagles 72-45
by Matt Sieger Martinez, Calif. – Now that’s the way to play a league home opener! Facing perennial nemesis Berean Christian, the Alhambra Bulldogs boys basketball squad was as tenacious as its mascot, blitzing the visiting Eagles 72-45 in the first Diablo-Valley League game of the season for both teams. In Alhambra coach Chris Petiti’s two previous […]
Curry’s love letter to ‘The Town’
Stephen Curry hosts event in Oakland By FELICIA D. PURCELL Martinez News-Gazette Reporter The Warriors have officially begun their final countdown at Oracle Area before moving into the new Chase Center in San Francisco next fall. To show his appreciation for the town he’s played for all 10 years of his NBA career, Stephen Curry […]
Tigers manhandle Tide as Clemson claims national title
Photos by Gerome Wright (Martinez News-Gazette) SANTA CLARA, Calif. — You simply don’t get blowouts against Nick Saban’s Alabama like that very often — or ever, in fact. And yet, that’s exactly what Clemson did by beating Bama 44-16 to win the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship and capture its second national title in […]
Opinion
Column 1: So it’s 2019!
By BILL SHARKEY III Martinez News-Gazette Columnist SO, IT’S 2019! Yippeeee! Now, what’s going to happen next? We’ve hooted and hollered, blown horns, fired off some fireworks, tilted the champagne glasses, toasted each other, grabbed someone nearby for a kiss, and sang the song associated with New Year’s Eve. Auld Lang Syne, I think, although […]
Column 1: Today is it!!!
By BILL SHARKEY III Martinez News-Gazette Columnist TODAY IS IT!!! If the shopping is not done for all those family, relatives or friends, and Fido, the crunch is really on. Tomorrow, the 24th, will be available for those ‘last minute items’ (which people really don’t need, but we must get them SOMETHING!). But the pick’ins […]
Column 1: Oh boy!!
By BILL SHARKEY III Martinez News-Gazette Columnist OH BOY!! Noticed the weather is getting cooler? Each morning there now appears to be some ‘dampness’ on the decks and walkways at our place. We’ve noticed it, but have not mentioned it to anyone. Why? Because, if we should slip, use the wrong words and find ourselves in […]
Letter to the Editor: The facts about Clippers baseball
Clippers Baseball, You’re Entitled To Your Opinion But Not Your Own Facts So, we had a little excitement this month, even made the bigs with stories being picked up by major online pubs (mostly because of the NASCAR connection) and some people have decided they need to try and capitalize on this unfortunate set of […]
Column 1: Thanks for what?
By BILL SHARKEY III Martinez News-Gazette Columnist THANKS FOR WHAT?!?! With the Thanksgiving holiday now behind us, we can imagine how many people near us in California, and those in the Southwest, Midwest and East Coast probably have had to ask the question, “Thanks for what?!?! Not hard to understand with the horrific storms ‘back […]
Arts & Entertainment
New Main Street Arts show illustrates ‘Heroes Around Me’
MARTINEZ, Calif. – A new art exhibit opening this month at Main Street Arts lets students illustrate “Heroes Around me.” The show is a partnership with the Martinez Council of PTAs, whose PTA Reflections chairperson is Colleen Gianatiempo. She is organizing the show’s Jan. 12 opening reception. Gianatiempo is a Martinez fine artists, graphic and […]
Martinez artist creating since childhood
Maggie Servantes knew her son, Richie, had talent when, at 4, he used a pad of paper to create scene-by-scene animation in a flip book. That’s how the classic animators who worked at Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and other studios painstakingly created cartoons before the days of computer-generated cartoons: One sketch at a time, with […]
MHS to host John Mercurio book and talk
What: Martinez Historical Society’s special presentation for the community with John Mercurio speaking about his book Highway 21: The Farm Road that Became an Interstate in the San Ramon and Amador Valleys When: Sunday, January 27, 2019; 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Where: Veterans Hall. 930 Ward Street. Martinez, CA. Event details: John Mercurio, past […]
Upcoming events at Main Street Arts
For December at Main Street Arts, our “Small Wall” will be back, presenting affordable art for the holidays! We will be participating in two activities for the Holidays. First is Sparkle Sip & Shop event in Downtown Martinez presented by Main Street Martinez to promote small business Saturday. You can stroll the shops in Martinez […]
Martinez author’s book recalls ‘The Railroad That Never Was’
MARTINEZ, Calif. – In an era when railroads throughout the United States were merging, two companies were so confident their merger request would be approved, they began painting locomotives and rolling stock in the bright, new logo pattern. After two years of consideration, the Interstate Commerce Commission denied the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe […]
