DUI Checkpoint Thursday

Today is WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2011. There is a lot going on today, so let's get right to it:

1. Thursday is the from 7 p.m. to midnight at the 3700 block of Alhambra Ave. Police will, traffic allowing, be stopping everyone for a license check and a sobriety evaluation. Those driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol will be arrested. You've been advised. 
2. In case you missed it Tuesday, Martinez Patch is . If you have something to say about our fair city and feel like you want to say it on a regular basis, then send an email to jim.caroompas@patch.com and we'll talk further. Bloggers don't get paid, but they don't have deadlines and are very lightly edited. And they get their voices heard. So if you want to be among them, write and let me know. 
3. The Community and Economic Development Department is asking for public participation in planning a new park on Center Avenue between Roman and Rolling Hill ways. The city is applying for a state grant that would fund a new park on open space the city owns there, and a series of meetings will take place about it, beginning Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. outside of Nob Hill Foods. Other meetings will be on Saturday, May 7, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the parcel itself, and Wednesday, May 11, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Local 159 Assembly Hall, 1308 Roman Way. The city also is seeking input at a series of meetings for improvements to Waterfront Park. Call Mitch Austin for more information — 372-3554. And read Martinez Patch later today for a more detailed story. 
4. If you're like me and were planning to attend today's Design Review Committee meeting, fuggetaboutit. It's been canceled.
5. Mayor Rob Schroder probably thought he was giving his readers some good news in a recent article he wrote in Community Focus newspaper about the consideration of ferry service from Martinez to San Francisco, and the commensurate ferry terminal that would go along with it, housing a much longed-for restaurant, etc. The mayor noted that the likely location would be the grassy area adjacent to the fishing pier, which is Ferry Point Park. The article drew some serious heat last night from Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commissioner Don Pollatta, who accused Schroder of bypassing the commission and personally selecting a spot for the terminal. " This is our park, and I’m outraged," Pollatta said. "As a commissioner, I find that an unacceptable use of that widely-used park, and if we needed to take a person-by-person use of that park on a daily basis, it's probably the most used park in the city, and for the mayor to come out and say we have this plan, I’m very disappointed."