Ledger Dispatch - Fri Jul 03

Contra Costa County Fire District Chief Keith Richter is photographed in Concord, Calif.

Ledger Dispatch - Fri Jul 03

Chuck Baker grows pears on land his family has worked since 1851 and has a farmer's sensitivity to the plagues of modern agriculture - pesticide regulations, the intrusive hand of federal regulators, the threat to private property posed by wetlands restoration - and, most of all, the need for water.

Ledger Dispatch - Fri Jul 03

A 533-home Antioch community for "active adults" 55 and older got the City Council's blessing last month, but the ongoing economic downturn means baby boomers may not be moving in for years.