Talks have begun about what Mayor Bob Taylor will do to ramp up his promise once his The Mayor Is A Turkey fundraiser breaks through the 300 mark. Taylor has been collecting $8 donations for about three weeks now, and his stated goal of 300 is about to be reached – he’s at 273 as of press time. Once he makes his goal, he’ll be obligated to wear a turkey suit at the Christmas Basket distribution on Dec. 19. The once-modest goal doesn’t actually cover the full 500-turkey need for that program, though, so hizzoner is going to keep plugging away and, with the help of the good people of Brentwood (who really want to see him in that suit) he might just get ’em all. If you have a suggestion for what the added payoff ought to be, call 925-634-1441 and ask for Rick. If you just want to donate a bird to someone who can sure use it, send your $8-per-turkey donation to the Brentwood Regional Community Chest, P.O. Box 845, Brentwood 94513.

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What can you buy with $25? Just ask any teacher in the . The Friends of Oakley recently gave every teacher in the district a $25 gift card to Office Depot so that they can buy additional supplies for the classrooms to make up for recent budget cuts.

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So those little munchkins in their oh-so-cute costumes failed to materialize on Halloween. Maybe that, or maybe you “accidentally” bought too much candy. Well, there’s a perfectly good alternative to pigging out: Antioch Military Families & Friends continues to send packages to our troops overseas, and they’d love to take those sweets off your hands, pack them up and ship them to someone who can use it more than you. Just drop them off at the Winners Circle Western Wear store across from City Park on 10th and A streets or e-mail www.antiochmilitary.com and they’ll come get it.

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Some folks take the “just add water” principle to extreme lengths. In Brentwood recently, an unidentified person pushed a barbecue grill into the backyard pool of a residence on Carlisle Drive. We can only hope the victim was preparing ingredients for a super-wet burrito.