Antioch GPAC Weighs Land Use Map as LMC Receives Indian Harmonium

The City of Antioch's General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) will hold its fourth meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the Antioch City Council Chambers at 200 H Street in downtown Rivertown to review Working Draft Version 3 of the city's Land Use Map, according to Antioch Herald publisher Allen D. Payton.

Antioch GPAC Land Use Alternatives and Sand Creek / Zeka Ranch Debate

Building on foundational land use data presented on Sept. 1 and economic development discussions on Oct. 6, the General Plan Update team will use Tuesday's input to prepare 2 to 3 Land Use Map alternatives (written public comments may be submitted by 12:00 p.m. Tuesday to P.O. Box 5007 or planning@antiochca.gov). The meeting comes as Save Mount Diablo distributes fliers urging residents to oppose housing on the 640-acre Zeka Ranch site in southwest Antioch:

• Zeka Ranch & Sand Creek Planning History: After Measure T in 2020 sought to reduce Zeka Ranch from 300 homes (previously scaled down from 1,100 homes) to 8 homes before being struck down in court—and after 6 citywide votes affirming urban limit boundaries—the Zeka Group proposed 338 homes on 196 acres (under 200 acres, averaging 1 home per 2 acres across the parcel) while preserving over 440 acres as open space.
• Road Access & Regional Caps: Vehicle access is planned via Dallas Ranch Road and Sand Creek Road through the neighboring 1,177-home The Ranch development by Richland Communities, keeping Empire Mine Road as a non-vehicular recreational path. All projects west of Deer Valley Road remain within the 4,000-home Sand Creek cap approved by the City Council in 2003, down from 9,500 homes originally envisioned prior to 2003.

Los Medanos College Music Department Receives Gujarati Harmonium Donation

In nearby Brentwood and Pittsburg, Experience reporter Amisatu Kamara detailed how Los Medanos College (LMC) adjunct history professor David Hlusak rescued a wooden Indian harmonium that had been in storage for more than 20 years and donated it to the LMC Music Department, where lab coordinator Aaron Nakaji accepted it and faculty accordionist David Chong plans to test it. Bearing a "Jai Bahuchar" devotional label from Anand, Gujarat, the hand-pumped reed instrument was gifted between 1998 and 2000 to Hlusak's Gujarati father-in-law—who was born in Tanzania, grew up in the United Kingdom alongside Hlusak's mother-in-law (whose family was expelled from Uganda in 1972 at age 5 under a 90-day order), and played along to qawwali recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Originally patented in Paris by Alexandre-François Debain around 1840 and redesigned into a floor-seated hand-pumped model by Dwarkanath Ghose in Kolkata in 1884, the harmonium endured an All India Radio broadcast ban from 1940 to 1971 to remain a cornerstone of South Asian music.

Meanwhile, in LMC student arts coverage, Experience's Review Crew critics Jordyn Williams and Angie Bruno reviewed creator Mike Flanagan's 2026 Amazon Prime Video series adaptation of Carrie, with Williams awarding 4 out of 5 stars for its deeper character work around Carrie White, Sue Snell, Tommy Ross, and Chris Hargensen, and Bruno giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars.