Let's start things off by saying that if you're not reading Claycord, you're not living out loud. Really. It's a formidable site on all things Concord, Clayton, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek and Martinez. They use wonderfully mysterious terms like "Ygnacio Valley" while posting entertaining and informative articles bearing such titles as "Man Flipping Off Kids at Meadow Homes Elementary School." See? Fun. Furthermore, MSM and other mainstream sites pinch from them regularly without giving them credit — a victimization we know all too well, sadly — so you know they're good. They're that good. Shove Clayord in your RSS today, if you know what's good for you. more ›

This lady, Dava Alizabeth-Ann Steen, 41, was arrested last week in the November death of longtime boyfriend Danny Ray Bennett, 47, whom she said at the time had died of natural causes. A witness contacted police this month to tell them that Steen had in fact suffocated and killed Bennett during a fight, and police then obtained evidence corroborating that story. more ›

What should have been a routine traffic stop ended in a fatal car accident yesterday evening when a driver in Concord refused to stop for a patrol car that spotted him talking on his cellphone while driving. Instead of pulling over, the driver of a white pickup sped off down Solano Way, leading police on a brief chase before broadsiding a BMW, killing the innocent driver inside. more ›

Mission / Shooting: Around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, two suspects near Alabama and 16th Street in the Mission fired shots at each other, hitting an uninvolved bystander in the process. The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries and police arrested both suspects early Sunday morning. [BCN/SFAppeal, Mission Local] more ›

Do you know what airy expressions of love will get you? Powerlessness. Take, for example, what happened in Concord today. "A stray Valentine’s Day balloon drifted into power lines in Concord Monday morning, causing an outage that affected 1,775 customers, reports CBS 5. "The Mylar balloon hit the power lines at 8:15 a.m., knocking down one wire." more ›

Yesterday, we brought you the story of choking chicken murders at El Monte Elementary School in Concord, where a custodian discovered the bodies of two strangled chickens. Today, police arrested three teenagers in connection with the foul fowl strangulations. The trio "have been taken into custody for animal cruelty & burglary." [SFGate] more ›

A 2-year-old Concord boy died this morning after an attack by family pit bulls. BCN reports: "Investigators determined that the boy had been home with two adult family members when he walked into the garage and was attacked by the dogs, Concord police Lt. Jim Lardieri said." The boy was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Police are investigating the case. more ›

Can the High School Musical franchise do no wrong? Not likely. Take, for example, two Concord bank-robbery suspects who were arrested in connection with an October 2008 robbery of a U.S. Bank on Clayton Road in Concord. It seems Donte Maurice Turner, 29, and Sterling Isaac Garner, 22, used a totally awesome High School Musical bag in which to hold their booty. Said bag was later identified and used to bust the two HSM fans/bank robbers. more ›

Our current obsession? Concord. Why? Because the craziest stuff goes down there. Claycord, Contra Costa Country's best blog for breaking and bizarre East Bay news, reported on an unidentified pilot who has been harassing the fine citizens of Concord with their low-flying plane. Annoying, right? But wait, it gets better. Or worse. See, just last night said plane (allegedly) dropped offensive flyers meant for the city's Canterbury Village neighborhood. According to Claycord, "[t]he low flying plane was heard once again the morning of the thunder and lightning storms over the weekend." Later, "an anonymous resident of Thornwood Drive found the flyer pictured [here] in her backyard, then found more scattered on her street, in her neighbor's yard & in some bushes." The racially-insensitive flyers have the name of the small plane's pilot's girlfriend. Go here to read more about the drama in Concord. more ›

Jaycee Lee Dugard, the girl who was kidnapped on her way to catch a school bus in 1991 only to reveal herself to police this week, had spent most of her life in captivity. According to reports, Dugard was "kept hidden from the world behind a series of fences, sheds and tents for nearly two decades, even giving birth to her suspected abductor's children." (Take an aerial look of the yard via this Google Maps view.) CBS 5 / AP reports that her kidnapper, 58-year-old Phillip Garrido, "raped her and fathered two children with her, the first when Jaycee was about 14." The children, girls ages 11 and 15, "also were kept hidden away in the backyard compound behind the Antioch home." more ›

Oh wow. According to Claycord (who has been going above and beyond excellence in covering this story), Jaycee Lee Dugard's alleged abductor, Phillip Craig Garrido, is all kinds of batshit insane. Above is his registered sexual predator page profile. (His offense: "rape by force.") more ›

Yesterday, a woman walked into the Concord Police Department claiming to be Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was kidnapped in 1991 in Lake Tahoe. Dugard, now 29, "was last seen on June 10, 1991 as she was walking to a bus stop in South Lake Tahoe." As her mother Carl Probyn "looked on from the family’s driveway two blocks away, a gray sedan pulled up and someone yanked Jaycee into the car and sped off." Two people have since been arrested in connection with her dissappearence. According to the Chronicle Probyn, 60, said, "I gave up hope for 18 years, just went into recovery mode. I thought it would be nice just to recover her and capture the people and find out why they did this," said Probyn. "Now, I just won the lotto. It's just unbelievable. This is going to be a great day today." Probyn is en route from Orange County Riverside to reunite with her daughter. more ›

According to the Mayor of Concord (a blogger's moniker, not Laura Hoffmeister), "a black man wearing a blue bandanna and carrying a blue duffel bag," robbed the CD Federal Credit Union in Concord this morning. After grabbing some loot and running on foot, the bandit got into a car and zoomed off into economic glory. That is, until the two men were captured via a GPS device that was dropped into one of the bags of money.Good job, science! Anyway, the "suspects have been detained in Pittsburg." more ›

On Sunday, while attempting to get the sweet love of a woman he met through a Craigslist sex ad, a 37-year-old Concord man found himself dodging bullets instead. Rendezvousing at the 4700 block of Matheson Court, the victim says that he had "responded to a Craigslist ad posted by a woman named 'Angel' and arranged for her to come to his house." more ›