Week In Review: Roads, Towers and Court Appearances

This week it was reported that Walnut Creek streets are in better shape than many other Bay Area cities.

The information was contained in the 2011 Pothole Report, released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The MTC ranked the overall pavement conditions of streets and roads on a scale of one to 100, giving each jurisdiction a “pavement condition index” or PCI.

Walnut Creek has a PCI of 73, according to the MTC report, compared to an average index of 66 for the Bay Area.

On Thursday, the four defendants in a police corruption scandal appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Walnut Creek.

, the most recent suspect arrested in connection with the case, pleaded not guilty to several charges related to the alleged conspiracy.

Lombardi, 38, a former San Ramon police officer, has been charged along with former Central Contra Costa County Narcotic Enforcement Team Cmdr. , 50; former private investigator and Antioch police Officer , 49; and former Danville police Officer Stephen Tanabe, 47.

Wielsch, Butler and Tanabe re-entered not guilty pleas to a 38-count amended complaint.

Charges against the men include conspiracy and the sale and possession of marijuana, methamphetamine and steroids. The group is also accused of possession of assault weapons, embezzlement, receipt of stolen property and bribery.

On Tuesday night, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission's approval of a cell phone tower at St. Stephen's church in the Buena Vista neighborhood.

Residents there had appealed the approval. They said the 20-foot-high communications tower atop a hill on the church property would emit high enough levels of radio frequency waves to endanger the health of nearby residents.

They also said there were better sites to place a tower to fill the coverage gap in AT&T service in the neighborhood.

However, council members said they did not have sufficient grounds to overturn the Planning Commission decision.

On Monday afternoon, a patient at Kaiser Walnut Creek reportedly committed suicide by leaping to his death from the top of the hospital's parking garage on Newell Avenue.

Michael Spence, 54, was the director of custodial services at the Livermore Joint Unified School District.

Authorities say they are convinced the death was a suicide.

Kaiser officials and Walnut Creek police have released few other details of the incident, citing laws regarding patient privacy.