Local News

Now that we have moved to the orange tier, more businesses and community activities can reopen today: 

Worship services and other cultural activities indoors at 50% occupancy or 200 people, whichever is fewer; Indoor dining at 50% occupancy or 200 people, whichever is fewer; Indoor swimming pools; Bars and other businesses that sell alcohol without meals to open for outdoor operation; Family entertainment centers to open indoors for “naturally distanced” activities, such as bowling alleys, escape rooms, and climbing-wall gyms, at 25% occupancy; Cardrooms to open indoors at 25% occupancy; Small amusement parks to open at 25% of occupancy or 500 people, whichever is fewer; Professional sports venues to open at 20% occupancy; Live entertainment to open with no more than 50 people, if approved by the Health Officer.

Contra Costa County will remain in the orange tier for at least two weeks.  If the county’s average daily case rate continues to go down, it could be reclassified to the least restrictive yellow tier at that time.  To be in the yellow tier, the county would have to have less than 1.0 daily new cases per 100k residents and less than a 2% positive case rate.

Despite this positive change to the county’s status, the community is urged to continue following the county health order guidelines with respect to face coverings, social distancing, no large gatherings, etc.

Following state and county orders, Pump It Up will be reopening its doors for limited size Private Parties (5 & 10 kids) and Private Play Groups (5, 10 & 15 kids) on October 31st with significant disinfecting and physical distancing measures. We are taking online bookings and are answering phone calls or responding to voicemails remotely on a daily basis. We have relaxed our required deposit policies allowing store credits for parties canceled or rescheduled up to 3 days prior to the event. For details on our Private Playtime, go to the Group Events section.

For more details, click here.

THE SLANTED DOOR REOPENS AT CITY CENTER BISHOP RANCH; RAMEN HIROSHI ALSO NOW OPEN 

San Ramon, Calif. – (October 13, 2020) – City Center Bishop Ranch officials today announced that The Slanted Door has reopened for indoor and outdoor dining at the 300,000-square-foot shopping, dining, and entertainment destination. In addition, a popular Japanese restaurant, Ramen Hiroshi is now open.  

“We’re very excited to welcome the community back to The Slanted Door at City Center Bishop Ranch,” said Charles Phan, the restaurant’s owner, and founder. “We’ve missed cooking and the camaraderie that comes with sharing a meal with family and friends.”

The nationally acclaimed Vietnamese cuisine-inspired restaurant is serving lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 7:00 p.m.

Also, open for outdoor dining and takeout is Ramen Hiroshi, a casual Japanese restaurant dishing up classic bowls of ramen.

“We are excited to have The Slanted Door back open and to finally have Ramen Hiroshi open. We’re really proud of the food mix at City Center,” said Alexander Mehran, Jr., president, and chief executive officer of Sunset Development Company, which owns and operates the center.

City Center Bishop Ranch has implemented numerous revisions to its operations designed to ensure guests’ safety, in keeping with guidelines encouraged by the state, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control. Among them:

• Outdoor dining patios expanded to accommodate social-distancing guidelines.
•  Tables and chairs at sit-down restaurants reconfigured to ensure appropriate spacing among diners.
•  Voluntary health screen and temperature-check station located in Alexander Square.
• Sanitation stations equipped with hand sanitizers installed at four locations throughout Alexander Square.
•  Signage outlining precautions visible to all center guests.

Blackhawk Plaza has been around since 1989 and recently sold to Southern California Investors. Ramanujan Group in Orange County bought the shopping center for a little over $38 million in April. This isn’t the first time the Plaza has been up for sale. It was previously owned by Los Angeles-based CenterCal Properties.

The Plaza has some competition from Bishop Ranch, which is seen from the freeway with easy access. Unfortunately, the Plaza is about 5 miles away from the freeway and not viewable. However, The Plaza sits near the beautiful Blackhawk Country Club and close to residents in the area. With the increasing numbers of new residents leaving the city and Southbay and purchasing homes in Blackhawk and Danville, this may be a positive for the Ramanujan Group.

The history of I Can Do That! Performing Arts Center:
Founders Shayna Ronen and Jarusha Ariel founded the I Can Do That Theatre Company in 2016 with the goal of raising the bar on youth musical theatre. In their 1,000 square foot studio they started with just 18 actors in their first cast and within a year had casts of over 50. For 4 years ICDT produced 4 musicals per year with approximately 50 cast members per production and also offered classes, workshops, and summer camps. Over those 4 years, Shayna and Jarusha realized that their students were looking for more than just theatre training. They were looking for a place to belong, to be accepted, and to create meaningful relationships. They realized their purpose was so much bigger than they had originally planned. As their mission grew, their vision grew to meet this new purpose. In 2020 ICDT made the leap to move to a 6,000 square foot location and expand their offerings to include more performing arts as well as community and wellness programming to give their local youth community the tools they need to become the empowered change-makers they are destined to be.

The Update:
Demolition is now complete, and walls are being constructed! The Center will have 3 large studio spaces for a multitude of performing arts, community, and wellness programming. In addition, a lounge/cafe is being built at the entrance to the Center where all are free to meet with their friends, do homework, and have a safe and healthy place to be. In this new space ICDT! will continue raising the bar in theatre arts education as they challenge and expand those interested in exploring the arts with more productions, classes, and workshops. They will begin hosting activities and events for the entire family such as karaoke nights, family dance parties, and open mic nights to create a more connected and supportive community. They will also begin offering wellness programming focused on the physical, mental, and emotional health of our youth, giving them access to local teachers and leaders with classes in meditation, yoga, journaling, stress management, and more.

Benefits to Danville:
This project will allow local youth to have a place to call their own. This new center will not only impact the lives of children, but it will also better the lives of adults as well. Our main population is families within a 20-mile radius who have and will be coming to the Center for various performing arts, community, and wellness programming. Our students will range in age from 1 year through 18 years and our general parent age is between 25 and 55 years old. We do imagine that by year two we will expand to allow for Senior Citizen programming as well and we will be able to expand our scholarship program to help our Tri-Valley Families who are not able to pay for our services. Through this expansion in programming, we will also be employing more and more teaching artists and providing an opportunity for adults to become part of this community as teachers and mentors to these students.

They just released social distancing class options:
in-person masked outside
in-person masked inside
virtual

Check out their website!

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise, 30 counties will now be required to close indoor operations, including; bars(both indoor & outdoor), Wineries (indoor tasting rooms), fitness centers, places of worship, offices for non-critical sectors, personal care services, hair salons & barbershops, & malls.

As of Monday, there were also seven Bay Area counties on the state’s watch list: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma.
Only two Bay Area counties(San Francisco and San Mateo) will still be allowed to operate hair salons, gyms, nail salons, and indoor malls.