Here are some of the stories from Martinez that made news this past week.
Pipe bomb scare
Police cordoned off Hidden Valley Park for more than two hours Saturday after a suspicious device was discovered.
Officers were alerted at 11:30 a.m. about the device, which resembled a pipe bomb. It was found in a grassy area with picnic tables in the middle of the park.
The Walnut Creek police bomb squad was called in. The device was determined not to be explosive and the park was re-opened at 2 p.m.
Fire station hearing
A town hall hearing will be held on Jan. 10 to discuss the impending closure of a Martinez fire station.
The hearing will be begin at 6:30 p.m. at Martinez Junior High.
The closures take effect Tuesday, Jan. 15. The Martinez station is on Shell Avenue.
In early December, Contra Costa County supervisors voted to close three stations and cut back operations at a fourth station to help erase a deficit in the Contra Costa Fire Protection District's budget.
Water supply
Water officials say we've already received more than half our normal seasonal rainfall with the typically wet months of January and February still ahead.
EBMUD reservoirs were at 76 percent of capacity as of Dec. 11. Water had been released from some storage facilities in anticipation of future storms.
