The death penalty, community responses during disaster and white privilege are among the topics of speakers scheduled for St. Mary’s annual January speaker series.

All lectures are free and open to the public. All start at 7 p.m. in the Soda Activity Center at St. Mary’s College in Moraga.

Jan. 10: Former California Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation Jeanne Woodford, who carried out four executions during her tenure, speaks about her national organization opposing the death penalty. The group is gathering signatures for a California ballot measure that would replace capital punishment with prison without parole.

Jan. 17: Cultural historian Rebecca Solnit will speak on “Crossing the Public/Private Divide,” exploring the boundaries between public and private life and how they are policed during natural disasters and times of dissent such as the Occupy movement.

Jan. 24: Actor, hip hop poet and playwright Ariel Luckey speaks on “Free Land: Race and Land in the United States” and expands on his one-man hip hop0 theater production. The descendant of white homesteaders from Wyoming, Luckey looks at the dark side of free government land grant program of the 1800s.

In addition to the nighttime lectures, the speakers will visit classes during the day and participate in roundtable discussions.

For more information, visit http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-mary%E2%80%99s-announces-2012-jan-term-speaker-series-0

What do crab, fixing California and Sarah Palin have in common?

They are all subjects of upcoming political events in Contra Costa County. Check them out.

BRENTWOOD

Piepho

Rancher Jack Roddy, developers and farmers Ron and Bob Nunn and Tim Argenti with Allied Waste will host a re-election fundraiser on Dec. 15 for Contra Costa Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho.

Other hosts include John Herrington, Norm Hattich and Tom Bloomfield.

The event will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Vic Stewarts, 2270 Balfour Road in Brentwood.

For information, send inquiry to marynejedlypiepho@gmail.com.

PITTSBURG

Glover

Let them crack crab. Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg will host his annual “all you can eat” crab feed on Jan.7.

It’ll cost you $40 a person for the festivities, which begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails, at the Good Shepherd Parish Hall, 3200 Harbor St. in Pittsburg.

Glover is running for re-election but proceeds from this event benefit his officerholder account; that’s a fund that incumbents are permitted to use for expenses related to serving in office such as crab feed tickets.

For tickets or information, email crabfeed2012@yahoo.com.

WALNUT CREEK

Mitchoff

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg will headline the Feb. 2 luncheon hosted by Contra Costa Supervisor Karen Mitchoff.

These days, Hertzberg is co-chairman of California Forward and a leader of the California Think Long Committee, two groups of reformers whose members hope to persuade voters to make fundamental changes in the way the state governs itself.

The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Walnut Creek Marriott, 2355 N. Main St., in Walnut Creek. Call 925-299-1612 for more information.

Proceeds benefit Mitchoff’s officeholder account, a fund that incumbents are permitted to use to pay for expenses related to their official duties.

BLACKHAWK

South San Joaquin County Republicans’ founder and author Frank Aquila will talk about his new book on Sarah Palin at the Jan. 26 evening meeting of the Blackhawk Republican Women.

Aquila wrote “Sarah Palin: Out of Nowhere” and was the 2008 chairman for then-president candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain.  He lobbied early for Palin’s selection as McCain’s vice presidential running mate.

Aquila will also talk about the communist influence in America and present a 10-point solution to the nation’s woes.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Blackhawk Country Club, 599 Blackhawk Club Drive. The cost is $25 a person. For reservations, contact Marianne Lyons at rlyons@sbcglobal.net.

State Sen. Mark DeSaulnier and California Controller John Chiang will host a small business seminar this afternoon in Pleasant Hill.

Here are the details as provided by DeSaulnier’s office:

• What: State Controller John Chiang and Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) will lead a small business seminar to provide information and assistance to small businesses and to discuss regional business opportunities.
• When: Friday, November 4, 2011 • 1 – 4 pm
• Where: John F. Kennedy University, Room s209, 100 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill
• Who: Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) and State Controller John Chiang
• Presentations by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Internal Revenue Service, State Board of Equalization, Franchise Tax Board, Employment Development Department, US Small Business Administration, East Bay Economic Development Alliance and the Contra Costa Small Business Development Center.
• Small business owners are invited to learn about tax compliance issues, small business financing and other incentive programs.

Check out these upcoming East Bay political events:

Pleasanton

The holiday cards for America’s troops program sponsored by Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, is under way.

Last year, his office collected more than 7,000 cards.

They will be sent to troops stationed overseas in packages organized by East Bay Blue Star Moms, Pleasanton Military Families, Packed with Pride and Summerset Veterans clubs.

Cards will also be sent to veterans at Bay Area veteran’s hospitals, Camp Parks, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

Cards should be signed and addressed to a generic person, such as “Dear Service Member.” Please do not include inserts such as photographs.

Send cards by Dec. 15 to McNerney’s office at 5776 Stoneridge Mall Road, Suite 175, Pleasanton, CA 94588.

San Ramon and Walnut Creek

San Ramon and Walnut Creek activists will participate Nov. 5 in MoveOn.org’s national “Make Wall Street Pay” action targeting banks.

In Walnut Creek, activists will gather from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of Newell and South Main streets.

San Ramon protesters will appear from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 3100 Crow Canyon Place in San Ramon.

They will ask people to move their money out of the offending major financial institutions and protest the mortgage crisis and bank greed.

Richmond

National Democratic Party campaign leaders will speak at a reception Nov. 6 in Richmond about the upcoming presidential election.

Democratic National Committee Executive Director Patrick Gaspard and Obama Campaign Battleground States Director Mitch Stewart will talk about key swing states, local organizing and other campaign topics.

The event begins at 3:30 p.m. at the Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way South, Marina District, in Richmond.

Admission is $30 per person. For more details, visit https:/donate.barackobama.com/OneYearCA.

Antioch

Contra Costa faith leaders will on Nov. 7 call upon elected officials to focus on key social justice issues in East Contra Costa County.

The Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization, or CISCO, will gather at 7 p.m. at the St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church, 3351 Contra Loma Blvd., in Antioch.

Clergy and faith leaders will speak on the need to keep families in their homes, holding banks accountable for blighted properties, establishing local hiring programs, expanding health care access and improving communications with immigrants.

The free event is open to the public and a broad range of local elected leaders have been invited.

Participating organizations include St. Ignatius, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Most Holy Rosary and St. Anthony Catholic churches; Antioch Christian Center; Community Presbyterian Church; St. John Lutheran Church; Antioch Church Family; Islamic Faith Center of the East Bay; and International Christian Ministry.

Lafayette

California Advocacy Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council Ann Notthoff is the featured speaker at the Nov. 10 evening meeting of the Lamorinda Democratic Club.

Notthoff will talk about what she views as Republican attacks on the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.

In 2010, Notthoff led the successful bipartisan campaign to defend California’s landmark climate law, Assembly Bill 32.

She has also helped advocate for the council’s work on stronger marine life protections, cleaner cars, global climate regulations and water policy reforms.

The event begins at 7:15 with the club’s business meeting followed by the speaker at 8 p.m.

It will be held at the Lafayette Library and Community Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Boulevard in Lafayette. Admission is $5 per person. Students are free.

For more details, call 925-567-3367 or visit www.lamorindademoclub.org.

Walnut Creek

The Contra Costa Women’s Summitt will be held Nov. 14 in Walnut Creek.

Sponsored by Assemblywomen Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo,  the event features a variety of speakers and workshops.

Former state superintendent of public schools Delaine Eastin will serve as the moderator.

Among the speakers are Connie James, manager of Contra Costa County Reducing Health Disparities team; Katy Ertz-Berger, executive director for the Contra Costa Child Car Council; and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center Director Anna Roth.

Registration begins at 12:30 followed by the program at 1 p.m. and a reception at 5 p.m. It will be held at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.

For reservations or more information, call 925-521-1511 or visit www.asmdc.org/kp.

Walnut Creek

Contra Costa County Administrative Officer David Twa will speak on the county’s grim financial picture at the Nov. 16 evening meeting of the Diablo Valley Democratic Club.

Twa will talk about the effect of budget cuts on law enforcement, the judicial system, health care and other county services.

He oversees county operations, a $1.2 billion budget and a staff of 8,220. He has served as county administrator since September 2008.

Twa joined Contra Costa in 2008 after working as a county manager for Ramsey County, Minnesota, and serving two terms as an elected county attorney. He holds a juris doctor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and is a certified public accountant.

The free event begins at 7 p.m. at the Ygnacio Valley Library, 2661 Oak Grove Road in Walnut Creek.

For information, call 925-946-0469 or go to www.dvdems.org.

Are you in the mood to protest today?

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement comes to Walnut Creek on Wednesday in a “Main Street Meets Wall Street” demonstration at the corner of Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard from 4-6 p.m.   If you can’t make it, they’ll do it again on Oct. 19, same time, same place.

The organizers will have signs but you can bring your own.

“Occupy Wall Street” has occupied the front pages and television newscasts in New York and Boston, where demonstrators have set up tents and gotten themselves arrested. The Walnut Creek edition is likely to be quite tame in comparison but no one wants to be left out of the action.

Questions? Email Kathy Klein at kathyrklein@hotmail.com or Ken Richard at ken@tkmediadirect.com

Read the full release below: Read the rest of this entry »

The California Republican Party launches tonight in Lafayette its first-ever town hall for high school students as part of the “California Speaks Out Tour.”

The free town hall begins at 7 tonight at the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Building, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., in Lafayette. Hosts include CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro, who lives in Lafayette.

The event is co-hosted by KSFO-AM morning radio show host Brian Sussman and will feature Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho of Discovery Bay, UC Berkeley College Republicans President Shawn Lewis and Ivy Allen from the Monte Vista High School Republican Club.

Read on for the CRP’s news release and more details: Read the rest of this entry »

San Ramon

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement will come to San Ramon on Oct. 11 and 12 as protesters plan a demonstration in front of Chevron’s headquarters.

MoveOn.org, a liberal political activist group, will gather from 4-6 p.m. at 6121 Bollinger Canyon Road on both days.

Protesters will focus on their opposition to federal subsidies of the highly profitable oil industry.

The “Occupy Wall Street” movement is a loosely defined but growing sign of discontent as protests expand in American cities among progressives who say corporations exert too much control over the economy and U.S. politics.

Lafayette

Economic author Joshua Holland will speak at the Oct. 13 evening meeting of the Lamorinda Democratic Club.

Holland, who wrote “The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy,” will speak about his views on the economy, jobs, federal deficit, taxes and trade.

He is also an editor and senior staff writer at AlterNet and edits it’s special coverage of corporations, work and immigration.

The event begins at 7:15 p.m. with the club’s business meeting followed by Holland at 8. m.

It will be held at the Lafayette Library and Community Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. Admission is $5 a person.

For more information, call 925-567-3367 or visit www.lamorindademoclub.org.

Pittsburg

Contra Costa County Administrator David Twa is the keynote speaker at the Oct. 14 breakfast club meeting of Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg.

Twa will discuss the new supervisor districts and other county issues.

The event begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Wedgewood Banquet Center, 2222 Golf Club Road, in Pittsburg.

Tickets are $50 for nonmembers of Glover’s breakfast club and $25 for members. Proceeds benefit the supervisor’s officeholder account, which is used for expenses related to serving office but not for campaigns.

For reservations, send email to gloverbrkfst@yahoo.com.

Walnut Creek

The League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley will host on Oct. 15 a celebration of the 100-year anniversary of women’s right to vote.

The celebration features a suffragists’ march around the Bortin Fellowship Hall courtyard, re-enactments by actors form the San Ramon museum of history and historical information about the historic California vote on Oct. 10, 1911, to give women the vote.

Wine, cheese, finger food and pink tea will be served. There will be singing. And participants are asked to wear suffragist colors of white, yellow and purple.

The event will be held from 2-5 p.m. at 55 Eckley Lane in Walnut Creek. Admission is $10 a person.

For more information, visit www.lwvdv.org.

Antioch

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, will speak at the Oct. 19 evening meeting of the East County Democrats for Action.

McNerney will discuss jobs, federal budget cuts and take questions.

The free event will be held form 7-9 p.m. at Carpaccio Ristorante, 274 Lone Tree Way, in Antioch.

Danville

Contra Costa Supervisor Gayle Uilkema will host a “meet and greet” on Oct. 20 in Danville to introduce herself to her new constituents.

The Board of Supervisors revised district lines this summer and her district now includes San Ramon, Danville and Alamo.

The event will be held from 1-3 p.m. at the Danville Chamber of Commerce, 117E Town and Country Drive, Danville.

Uilkema will hold similar events in Alamo and San Ramon on future dates.

Contra Costa County will celebrate the centennial anniversary of woman suffrage in California with a five-part lecture series that kicks off Oct. 13.

The county favored a woman’s right to vote by just 21 votes on Oct. 10, 1911, a slim victory reflected throughout California where the measure passed by 2 percentage points.

Sponsored by the Contra Costa County Historical Society, the first lecture by local historian Beverly Lane is called “American Women Fight for Their Rights and Win the Vote In California 1911.” The evening also features Carmen Curtis portraying Alamo pioneer Mary Ann Jones, who registered to vote in 1912 at age 87.

All lectures begin at 7 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 930 Ward St., Martinez, for a suggested donation of $5 a person.

The other lectures are:

• Oct. 20 — Local historian Sandra Threlfall will speak on Maud Younger, a millionaire waitress who founded the Wage Earners Equal Suffrage League
• Oct. 27 — Diablo Valley College professor Melissa Jacobson on, “Unearthing the Past: Women’s Suffrage in Martinez.”
• Nov. 3 — Historian Darlene Thorne on, “In Their League: California Suffrage Through Vintage Postcards.”
• Nov. 10 — Authors Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi on. “Wherever There’s a Fight: Woman Suffrage and Civil Liberties in California.”

The historical society is also sponsoring a suffrage centennial exhibit through Nov. 23 at its history center, 610 Main St., Martinez. For information and hours, call 925-229-1042 or visit www.cocohistory.com.

Ellen Tauscher

Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security and former East Bay congresswoman, will speak at the July 28 meeting of the Commonwealth Club.

Tauscher’s talk is titled, “Arms Control and Nonproliferation: The Road from Prague.”

The event begins with checkin at 6 p.m. followed by the program at 6:30 p.m. at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd., in Lafayette.

Tickets cost $22.

Read on for the details from the Commonwealth Club:

• SPEAKER: Ellen Tauscher, U.S. Under Secretary, Arms Control and International Security
• TITLE: Ellen Tauscher: Arms Control and Nonproliferation: The Road from Prague
• DATE: Thursday, July 28, 2011
• TIME: 6 p.m., Check-In | 6:30 p.m., Program
• PLACE: Lafayette Library and Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette
• PRICE: $22 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

To buy tickets call 415/597-6705 or register at www.commonwealthclub.org

As the former U.S. congressional representative and current senior adviser to President Obama and secretary of state for arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament, Ellen Tauscher, will discuss the prospects for U.S. and international security in the midst of continued global unrest. Spurred on by the belief that the containment of nuclear weapons in the 21st century is imperative to international security and world peace, last April President Obama delivered a speech in which he declared the Administration’s dedication to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. During the ambitious speech he set forth the end goal of completely irradiating the world of nuclear weapons. Since then, Tauscher has led the progress in moving toward making this goal a reality.

Under Tauscher’s direction, the Administration has already achieved the entry into force of the New START agreement— a U.S.-Russia agreement that will reduce each nation’s nuclear arsenals to their lowest levels in more than a half century, adopted a nuclear posture review that promotes nonproliferation and reduces the role of nuclear weapons in our national security policy, and has achieved a consensus action plan at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review.

Tauscher previously represented California’s 10th Congressional District for 13 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 2007, she has chaired the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and was a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In addition, she has chaired the New Democrat Coalition, a group of more than 60 centrist House Democrats. Before winning a seat in Congress, Under Secretary Tauscher spent 14 years working on Wall Street and was one of the first women to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and later served as an officer of the American Stock Exchange.

The Newark, New Jersey native earned her B.S. from Seton Hall University in 1974.