Diablo Reporter

Grab a date or a few friends and head to San Francisco for a fun and unique event at the California Academy of Science! Every Thursday night from 6-10p, join the California Academy of Science for multi room dance floors, live music, creatures, craft projects, cocktails, shows and exhibits all together at one place. Experience the Academy with out the fuss of children with this adult only (21+) event. Each week features a live band or DJ, and a unique theme – from salsa dancing to sustainable seafood and beyond.

In honor of the 52nd anniversary of the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, explore the dark and mysterious abyss of space with a cocktail in your hand as the California Academy of Science offers Cosmic Night.

Join Astronomer George Davidson and his astronomical instruments in a rare Galileo and Frances Bacon books presentation form 6:30-9:00pm. Dance the night away in the Coral Reef & Piazza music hall with the Space Cowboys from 6:00-10:00pm. Experience the feel the rumble of the earth in the Academy’s own Earthquake show. Former Space Shuttle/ISS/Soyuz Astronaut plus Rusty Schweickart, Chairman Emeritus of the B612 Foundation, and Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 9 will offering the Planetarium experience at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 to watch the Cosmic Collisions. See the amazing Rainforest exhibit before it closes at 7:30pm. The Academy offers more cosmic talks, living roof, eco system green house, and aquarium club room with amazing music.

For information of directions and parking click here. Admission is $12 per person ($10 per member). To buy tickets, click here.

So the word on the street is this a great date night idea and good for smaller groups. Bring a jacket and show up early (6:00pm). Parking is $15 and it’s recommended to pay when entering so you can avoid the line when leaving. This place has multiple bars ($10-12 for cocktails, $6-7 for beer) that only takes cash. Also the Rainforest exhibit closes first at 7:30pm so if you want to see it, see it first. Secondly the planetarium fills up fast and its first come first serve. It’s recommended that you have a plan of what you want to do and when to do it before arriving. It does get quite crowded so getting there early is a must. For more information visit the California Academy of Science website  or see the flyer below:

Everybody loves ice cream. And everybody loves freebies. And free ice cream? That’s almost too good to be true.

So ice cream lovers understandably get excited about Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, an annual event. This is Ben & Jerry’s 35th year of giving away one free ice cream cone per customer, at participating Ben & Jerry’s locations. This year, Free Cone Day is Today, Tuesday, April 9, as you may have already seen on Twitter (#FreeConeDay).

Unfortunately we don’t have a Ben & Jerry’s here in Contra Costa County, but there are others throughout the Bay Area:

Ben and Jerry’s
1001 Fairgrounds Dr Vallejo, CA 94589-4001

Ben and Jerry’s in Berkeley
2128 Oxford St Berkeley, CA 94704-1311

Ben and Jerry’s in Napa
1299 Napa Town Ctr Napa, CA 94559-2502

Ben and Jerry’s in Oakland
505 Embarcadero W Oakland, CA 94607-3565

Ben and Jerry’s in Sonoma
408 1st St E Sonoma, CA 95476-6702

Ben and Jerry’s
Macy’s Department Store San Francisco, CA 94102

Ben and Jerry’s
475 Jefferson St San Francisco, CA 94109-1314

The Blue Devils ‘C’ Corps is accepting new members in the Brass and Color Guard sections. The “C” Corps is a beginning level music, dance, and marching activity composed of members ages 8 to 15. No experience is necessary.

Color Guard has their first rehearsal on Monday, April 8, 2013 at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord. There will also be a parent meeting that evening which will give more information, but if you cannot make it on Monday, feel free to come another night, as more parent meetings are scheduled. Color Guard rehearsals are Monday and Thursday nights from 7-8:30 pm. For more information, contact Annette Odello at (925) 383-0424 or email annette@bluedevils.org

The Blue Devils offer quality educational and performance experiences in the
areas of musical and dance performance. Their goal is to develop personal
character through challenging physical, emotional, mental, and social activities
while promoting the values of dedication, hard work, and commitment to a team
effort.

Musicians please contact Rick Odello at (925) 689-2918, ext. 3100 or email
rodello@bluedevils.org.  Musician rehearsals are now Thursday nights 7-8:30pm at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord. Monday night rehearsals will be added.

Families are encouraged to come and try out either of these activities free of charge. You can visit www.bluedevils.org/about for more information about these and other Blue Devils programs.

California Color Guard Circuit Championships will be taking place on Saturday, 4/6/13 at Independence High School (1776 Educational Park Drive, San Jose). The Color Guard show begins at 2:15 pm and runs through 8:30 pm. The Blue Devils ‘A’ perform at 7:04 pm and the Blue Devils Special Needs group will perform at 8:19 pm. Admission is only $15, and children under 5 are free!

The Blue Devils offer quality educational and performance experiences in the
areas of musical and dance performance. Their goal is to develop personal
character through challenging physical, emotional, mental, and social activities
while promoting the values of dedication, hard work, and commitment to a team
effort. For more information on the Blue Devils Color Guard Show, visit their website here.

Check out the Blue Devils at the 2012 World Championships!

Bring your kids to your local Home Depot so that they can participate and build a free bird feeder on April 6, 2013. Home Depot offers FREE hands-on workshops designed for children ages 5 – 12 offered the 1st Saturday of every month at all The Home Depot stores between 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Workshops teach children do-it-yourself skills, tool safety and instill a sense of pride and accomplishment.

All kids get to keep their craft and receive a FREE Kids Workshop Apron, commemorative pin and certificate of achievement. Paint will be provided at the workshop for children to personalize their bird feeder craft! Visit Home Depot’s site and click on the ‘Kids Workshop’ tab on the Home Depot site. Then, click on the register button next to the workshop. Fill out the required information and you’ll be all set!

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

Our readers have just notified us of an unlawful SMOG CHECK on Treat & Cowel Rd in Concord. Local law enforcement are out in force today! They are stopping vehicles that are legally registered and unlawfully detaining them for up to 20 minutes to conduct and illegal on site smog check investigation. If you happen to pass this, email us (diabloreporter@hush.com) pictures or video of the event and let’s get the word out so that unsuspecting driver’s are not stopped and harassed.

Let’s hear what our reader wrote:

“While traveling to work today, I came up on a checkpoint at Treat Blvd and Cowell Rd in Concord. I couldn’t believe it! This isn’t an unusual driver’s license or dui checkpoint, this is to check your SMOG. They have the big piece of equipment out there to run the checks and it could take upwards of 20 minutes of delay time to have testing done. Is this protecting and serving the public? What about REAL crimes being committed? I’ve been paying taxes for a long time, but I don’t want to pay for my delay and harassment!”

We have received several emails about this incident and the public isn’t happy. What do you think? Are these illegal? Waste of time and money? Should this be happening on the streets of Concord?

For more information on checkpoints and the legal issues that surrounds them, please visit our DUI Checkpoint Frequently Asked Questions Page!

UPDATE: We’ve got pictures!