It's the 4th of July, Have a GREAT Weekend!

Oakland: Monday, July 4^th Festival of Family Fun, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. No fireworks display over Jack London Square again for 2011.

Alameda:  Mayor’s July 4th Parade; 9:45 a.m. – Alameda Race; 10:00 a.m. – Parade; 12:00 p.m. – 4:00p.m. – Jumpin’ & Jivin’ Jubilee; Rittler Park, Otis Drive and Grand Street.

Berkeley: Fireworks Monday, July 4^th at 9:30 p.m. off the end of the Berkeley Pier. Celebration at Berkeley Marina from noon to 10 p.m. with live entertainment, food, arts & crafts, kids’ playground and pony rides. More Info 

Piedmont:  Fourth of July Parade: Homegrown Spirit, 11:00 a.m. – Parade begins at Highland Avenue and Park Way

Richmond: Sunday, July 3^rd, The Oakland East Bay Symphony performs in concert at 5 p.m. at the Craneway Pavilion followed by fireworks at dusk. More info 

San Francisco: Monday, July 4^th at the Waterfront Festival / Pier 39. Live music from noon until the fireworks at 9:30 pm. More Info 

The Oakland Police Department has set up an anonymous, multilingual hotline for people to report illegal fireworks: (510) 777-8814.

To help get illegal fireworks off the streets, the Oakland Fire Department has set up fireworks collection barrels at the Station 3: 1445 14th Street.

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The California Highway Patrol is instituting a maximum enforcement period this Fourth of July weekend to keep the state’s motorists safe.

The maximum enforcement period will start at 6 p.m. Friday and continue through noon Monday.

“With many people taking to the roadway this holiday weekend, motorists can rest assured our officers will be on the lookout for those in need,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow in a press release.

The CHP will also be focusing on removing impaired drivers from the road, discouraging speeders and encouraging motorists to buckle up. These are the three primary causes of death on the road. (Story Via)

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Starting today (July 1^st) California courts will no longer erase traffic violations from a driver's record, even after that driver has attended traffic school.

Under a new law taking effect Thursday driver's who receive a traffic citation can still attend traffic school to prevent insurance companies from being notified of the violation.

However, AB 2499 changes the way that citation is recorded on a driver's record. The record will now show a conviction not a dismissed citation.

The DMV said the change was intended to erase a loophole in the prior law.

Before the change, the courts had no way to know why a ticket was dismissed.

DMV Spokesman Jaime Garza said that system was allowing chronic offenders to get around the law, attend more than one traffic school in an 18 month period and have multiple tickets marked dismissed without the courts knowing. (Story Via)