Category Archives: Concord

Free Passes to the Spring Home & Garden Show

Posted on March 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

The 28th annual Home and Garden show is almost here!

Contra Costa Home & Garden Shows
29th Annual “Spring Show”~ April 4 • 5 • 6, 2014
Friday Noon-6 • Saturday 10-6 • Sunday 10-6

Enter the show with our free passes! At the show you will find all kinds of ideas for the homeowner and business owner alike. Many Local vendors and contractors ready to show off their best stuff. Booths displays and demonstrations of everything you can think of. Find a contractor for home improvement ideas or just to ask some questions to do it yourself.

Some of the services include:
* Landscaping, Stone work, Concrete, Decks
* Pools & Spas * Fencing
* Outdoor Furniture
* Furniture * Floors* Tile work * Kitchen and Bath * Solar
* Windows * Shutters * Roofing * Siding
*Fine Art
* Cabinetry * Remodeling

Admission is normally $6, except for Diablo Reporter’s readers. Click here to print out our free passes! Invite as many people as you want, or go multiple days! Pavillion parking is $6, however, there is local parking at the nearby churches for those that wanted to save money and exercise a little. Also receive a free $6 Ace Hardware Gift Card for the first 300 people each day.

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Posted in Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek

Grow Your Own Food – Free Gardening Workshop

Posted on March 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Learn tips and tricks from the experts! Navlet’s gardening classes are free, and each covers a timely topic in the garden. So learn from the pros, meet new friends, and have some fun. Classes are held at one of Navlet’s four East Bay garden centers, located in Concord, Danville, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill. Class size is limited, however, so it’s best to call ahead and reserve your space.

Location: Danville & Pleasant Hill
Date: Saturday, March 22
Time: 10:00 AM

Gardening Class: Cool Season Vegetables Cooler weather brings with it the fabulous fall to winter vegetable crops. Come learn how to grow your own produce. Nothing tastes better than food you’ve grown yourself. Let the pros at Navlet’s help you select the right vegetables to grow in your garden during the fall and winter season. From broccoli, cabbage, and onions to lettuce, carrots, and spinach, you’ll be amazed at the variety of tasty

Click here for a complete list of classes and locations.

Happy Gardening!

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Posted in Concord

St. Patty’s Day Tipsy Tow Offers Free Ride Home

Posted on March 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

aaa-tipsy-tow

AAA’s “Tipsy Tow” initiative will be offering St. Patrick’s Day partygoers a free ride home tonight in the hope of getting people home safely on one of the biggest party nights of the year.

Anyone who has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a little too much to drink will be able to catch a free ride with Tipsy Tow rather than risking more dangerous ways to get home.

The Tipsy Tow program is open to everyone. You do not need to be an AAA Member to take advantage of this service to the community.

AAA typically offers the service to drinking drivers from 6 p.m. on the holiday to 6 a.m. the following day in Northern California, Nevada and Utah. For specific dates and times, see the list below.

During the period Tipsy Tow is available, drivers, potential passengers, party hosts, bartenders, and restaurant managers can call 800-222-4357 (AAA-HELP) for a free tow home of up to ten miles. Just tell the AAA operator, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” and a truck will be on its way.

The service will provide a one-way ride for the driver and vehicle to the driver’s home. If there are additional passengers who need a ride, they will be taken to the driver’s home as long is there is sufficient room for them to be transported safely in the tow truck. You cannot make a reservation.

AAA provides its Tipsy Tow service for the following holidays:

St. Patrick’s Day: 6:00 p.m. March 17th – 6:00 a.m. March 18th
Cinco de Mayo: 6:00 p.m. May 5th – 6:00 a.m. May 6th
Independence Day: 6:00 p.m. July 4th – 6:00 a.m. July 5th
Halloween: 6:00 p.m. October 31st – 6:00 a.m. November 1st

Whatever you do, please don’t drink and drive. Take the Pledge! Join AAA’s commitment to driving only while drug and alcohol-free.

AAA offers the following tips to stay safe and keep others safe on the roads:

Drive only while drug and alcohol-free
Plan ahead and designate a non-drinking driver before a celebration begins
Don’t let your friends drive impaired. Take their keys away
Never ride in a car with someone who is impaired
Plan to take a cab or stay with a friend

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Posted in Clayton, Concord, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek

Exclusive: Singing Flag Series Will Not Go On

Posted on March 11, 2014 | 3 comments

It looks like the days of the Singing Flag performances at Dave Brubeck park are over. Tonight Linda Reynolds, the Artistic Director of Calvary Temple Church announced tonight that the Singing Flag performances will not continue. In an emotional City of Concord Counsel meeting, the director announced that the choir has decided to make last year’s 25th performance of Calvary Temple’s Choir and Singing their last. We will keep you updated as a press release comes out.

Also out tonight, the Concord High Jazz Band performed today before the Concord City Counsel and they agreed to make “Take 5”, as performed Dave Brubeck, “The Most Treasured Song” of the City of Concord. The measure voted on and past at tonight’s City Counsel meeting.

What are your best memories of the Singing Flags? What will you do this year instead? Tell us your thoughts and comments!

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Posted in Concord

Free Do It Herself Workshop – Installing Glass Mosaic Backsplash

Posted on March 10, 2014 | 2 comments

It’s time to get creative and learn to create your own mosaic backsplash!

Learn how to create a mosaic backsplash and save money by doing it YOURSELF. Home Depot offers a wide variety of free workshops for do-it-yourselfers of all ages and experience levels.

The class will be held Thursday March 20 from 06:30P.M. – 08:00P.M.

Come gain the confidence necessary to improve your home improvement skills and stretch your budget as you learn the following:

Understand how to select the best mosaic tile for the project
Learn to prepare the surface before tiling the backsplash
Learn to set the tile using SimpleMat or other innovative products
Identify the best grout for a mosaic backsplash project
Identify the tools needed to prepare surfaces and to complete tile installation

Interested in taking this class or learning about other available classes? Visit Home Depot’s site for more information or to sign up for the class.

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Posted in Concord, Martinez

Free Comedy Show Tonight @ Clayton Valley Bowl

Posted on March 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Come check out a free comedy show the First Wednesday of EVERY month in the lounge of Clayton Valley Bowl. This show will feature seriously funny local talent, so come down and celebrate their one year anniversary show!

Show will be held tonight at 8pm in the Clayton Valley Bowl Lounge arrive early for a seat. This is your chance to see an amazing lineup of Bay Area headlining comedians all for FREE!!

Added Bonus: Watch for the Good Stuff Coupon Book for bowling coupons good for two free games!

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Posted in Concord

Court Ruled Cellphone Maps Okay While Driving

Posted on March 5, 2014 | 2 comments

cellmap1

Drivers in California can legally read a map on their hand-held cellphones while behind the wheel, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

The 5th District Court of Appeal reversed the case of Steven Spriggs, a Fresno man who was ticketed in January 2012 for looking at a map on his iPhone 4 while stuck in traffic. Spriggs challenged the $165 fine.

The incident that entrapped Spriggs happened when he was stopped by roadwork. He was grabbing his cellphone and trying to find an alternate route when a California Highway Patrol officer spotted him and wrote him a ticket.

Spriggs first challenged the case in traffic court, where he lost, and then appealed it himself to a three-judge panel in Fresno County Superior Court, where he lost a second time. Confident the law didn’t apply to him, Spriggs took it to the appellate court, but this time with help of a law firm that stepped in to represent him pro bono.

In the 18-page ruling, the appellate judges said California’s law that prohibits people from talking on their cellphones without a hands-free device could have been written more clearly, but it doesn’t apply to looking at maps on cellphones. The law the CHP officer used to ticket Spriggs applies specifically to people “listening and talking” on cellphones, not using their mobile phone in other ways, the court said.

Spriggs, who is entitled to recoup his $165 fine, said the Superior Court judges who had upheld his violation were guilty of overreaching by applying the spotty law to him.