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Flood protection funding slashed for projects in California, Washington



On Thursday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, joined the Washington state Senate delegation for a press conference calling out what they said is President Trump’s “outrageous” and “overtly political” decision to zero out critical funding for Army Corps of Engineers construction projects in blue states like California and Washington while steering hundreds of millions more to red states.

Senators Padilla, Schiff, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) criticized the Army Corps’ plan released late last week that announced their intention to zero out all Army Corps construction funding for California ($126 million), as well as cut $500 million for the Howard Hanson Dam in Washington state.

This funding was included in the Corps’ fiscal year 2025 budget request, in the Senate’s bipartisan draft fiscal year 2025 funding bill, and even in House Republicans’ draft fiscal year 2025 funding bill.

However, the Trump Administration — using the new discretion afforded by the yearlong continuing resolution House Republicans drafted that was signed into law — ignored the draft bills and instead apportioned funding on what the senators said is a brazenly political basis.

The four California flood control projects losing Army Corps funding include the American River Common Features Levee Improvement Project, the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, the Lower San Joaquin River Project, and the West Sacramento Project.

These projects will protect some of the most at-risk areas in the nation, including Sacramento County, which the Corps considers the most at-risk region for catastrophic flooding in the United States.

“When anyone takes the oath of office, even Donald Trump as President of the United States, you become the president for all Americans — not just for red states or for blue states, but for every state and every community equally,” said Sen. Padilla. “Yet, since the minute Donald Trump returned to office, he’s set out to politicize the office he holds, now trying to take hundreds of millions of dollars in flood prevention funding away from the states that happened to not vote for him and redirect them to projects in states that supported his election. It’s absolutely wrong. In California, that means cutting every last dollar of funding that was allocated for certain flood control projects. For a president so obsessed with fighting waste, fraud, and abuse, I know where he can find it. He just has to look in the mirror. Communities up and down California — including farmers and farm workers in the Central Valley and Pajaro — will now be at a higher risk of flooding because Donald Trump’s playing politics with federal funding.”

“Natural disasters don’t discriminate based on whether a state is red or blue, and the administration and Congress shouldn’t either when it comes to protecting communities from natural disasters. This puts us on a very dangerous path, a path where anything can be on the chopping block for a partisan reason. Today, it’s funding for these projects. Tomorrow, it could be another form of funding meant to save lives. There will be a domino effect of threats aimed at blue states. When you’re elected to be president of the United States. You’re not a half president. You’re not president for only half of the country, not if you do the job right. These baseless attacks threaten millions of people from both parties whose lives are endangered by floods,” said Sen. Schiff.

Overall, the Army Corps’ plans would steer roughly $258 million more in construction funding to red states while ripping away roughly $437 million in construction funding for blue states, relative to the Corps’ FY 2025 request, which was fully funded in the draft FY 2025 bills that were produced on a bipartisan basis in the Senate and by Republicans in the House. These requests have historically been fully funded.

Trump’s work plan steers two thirds of all Army Corps construction funding to red states while the budget request and House and Senate bills would have split that funding evenly to red and blue states.

Padilla and Schiff voted against the continuing resolution earlier this year, which cut the Army Corps’ construction account by 44 percent.
Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS

Too much sitting increases risk of future health problems in chest pain patients – new research

 

Chest pain could be a symptom of angina or a heart attack. Moyo Studio/E+ via Getty Images

For patients hospitalized with chest pain, the amount of time they spend sedentary afterward is linked to a greater risk for more heart problems and death within a year. That’s the key finding of a new peer-reviewed study my colleagues and I published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

We asked 609 emergency room patients experiencing chest pain — average age of 62 — to wear a physical activity monitor for 30 days after leaving the hospital. The monitor measured movements, sitting time and sleep throughout the day. We then followed patients for one year to track whether they had additional heart problems or died.

We found that patients who averaged more than 15 hours of sedentary behavior daily — which does not include sleep — were more than twice as likely to experience more heart problems or die in the year after discharge than patients who accrued a daily average of 12 hours of sedentary time.

But our goal wasn’t just to document that sitting is harmful. It was also to figure out what patients should do instead to lower their risk.

We found that replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with moderate or vigorous movement, like brisk walking or running, was most beneficial. It was associated with a 62% lower risk of experiencing more heart problems or dying in the year after discharge. But we also found that replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with just light movement, such as slow walking or housework, lowered the risk of heart problems and death by 50%.

Sleep was also a healthier option. Replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with sleep lowered the risk of heart problems and death by 14%.

A diagram that shows the human heart and an artery blocked by cholesterol.
Clogged arteries could lead to a heart attack. Veronica Zakharova/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Why it matters

Over 8 million people in the U.S. are admitted to the hospital with chest pain suggestive of acute coronary syndrome. annually. This covers a range of conditions involving reduced blood flow to the heart, including angina and heart attack.

Patients with acute coronary syndrome remain at high risk of having another heart problem even with optimal medical treatment.

The risk also remains high for patients with chest pain who are discharged without a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, as their unexplained chest pain may be a precursor to more serious heart problems. Given this risk, there is a need to identify risk factors that can be modified to improve a patient’s prognosis after hospitalization for chest pain.

In previous research, we found that patients with acute coronary syndrome had a fear of exercise and were sedentary, spending over 13 hours a day sitting.

Given that sedentary behavior has been linked to poor heart health in the general population, we were concerned that patients were unknowingly increasing their risk of having another heart problem.

Our latest findings confirm that sedentary time is a harmful behavior for these patients. But beyond telling patients to stop sitting so much, our work provides important guidance: Any movement, regardless of how intense, can be beneficial after hospitalization. This is especially relevant for people recovering from heart problems who may find exercise difficult or scary.

While exercise provides the best “bang for your buck” in terms of health benefits, our findings are good news for patients who may not have the time, ability or desire to exercise. And for those unable to fit in more movement, just getting an extra half hour of sleep is a small, doable step that can make a meaningful difference for your health after hospitalization.

What still isn’t known

Researchers don’t fully understand why sedentary time is harmful. Muscles help regulate blood sugar and lipid levels. It is thought that when muscles aren’t used, such as when patients sit for hours, this can lead to harmful elevations in blood sugar and lipids.

In turn, this can cause inflammation, plaque buildup in the arteries and organ damage. More research is needed to understand the biological mechanisms so that we can determine just how much movement is needed in a day.

What’s next

While our study highlights the potential risks of sedentary behavior after being hospitalized for chest pain, it was an observational study. Clinical trials are needed to confirm that replacing sedentary time with activity or sleep can improve prognosis.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.The Conversation

Keith Diaz, Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Written by: Keith Diaz, Columbia University

Annual data shows slowing decline in state school enrollment; Lake County numbers on the rise



LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — New data from the state shows that a statewide public school enrollment decline has begun to slow while enrollment in Lake County’s schools continues to rise.

On Wednesday, the California Department of Education, or CDE, released 2024-25 school enrollment data on DataQuest.

In the 2024-25 school year, overall student enrollment declined by 0.54% compared to the year prior, representing a slowing of declining school enrollment, the data showed.

Though the change from the prior school year is minimal, the difference between current year enrollment and pre-pandemic enrollment remains significant, the state reported.

“The overall slowing enrollment decline is encouraging and reflects the hard work of our local educational agencies across the state,” said State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond. “While we have more work to do, the dramatic growth in transitional kindergarten is inspiring and shows that providing rigorous and quality programs can be a key ingredient to bringing more families back to our schools. One of our initiatives in this area is expansion of dual language immersion programs as a strategy to drive future enrollment growth by providing school programs that are in high demand from California’s families.”

Regarding the overall enrollment picture, the news was different in Lake County, where enrollment was up 0.17%, the second year in a row that it showed an increase.

In fact, over the past 10 years, Lake County has shown enrollment rising annually with the exception of two years — 2020-21 and 2022-23.

Since the 2015-16 school year, Lake County’s overall enrollment has grown by 11%, while the total state enrollment has dropped by 6.88%.

While the overall decrease in school enrollment compared to prepandemic levels continues to be a source of strain on public schools, CDE said new initiatives such as transitional kindergarten, or TK, show significant growth and signs of promise as local educational agencies work to reengage families, especially as California’s families experience increased economic hardship.

CDE said the most significant trend in California’s 2024-25 school enrollment data reflects an increased demand for specific education initiatives, such as TK.

Both on the county and state levels, TK enrollment has grown steadily, although it rolled back in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even as overall enrollment has fallen, CDE said TK enrollment continues to boom, with a year-over-year increase of 17.2%. In 2024-25, Lake County’s TK enrollment rose by 6.5%.

The state and Lake County both reported having their highest TK enrollments by far in 2024-25.

The number of local educational agencies offering TK at all school sites has increased to 85%, and as TK expansion creates more spaces in state preschool, enrollment of 3-year-olds in state preschool continues to rise. Overall, more and more families are taking advantage of public opportunities for early learning, CDE reported.

In addition, CDE said dual language immersion programs have shown significant growth statewide: as of 2023–24, there were 1,036 dual language immersion programs in California, a 39% increase from 747 such programs in 2018–19.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.
Written by: Elizabeth Larson

California Transportation Commission approves highway projects in Lake County and across the North Coast

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Several million dollars in highway repairs have been approved for Lake County in the latest round of highway funding allocated by the state.

Last week the California Transportation Commission, or CTC, allocated nearly $1.7 billion to help improve safety, increase mobility for all users and strengthen the state highway system.

Guided by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Build More, Faster – For All infrastructure agenda, Caltrans said these improvements will make California communities safer and more climate resilient.

In Lake County, approximately $4 million in Senate Bill 1 funding was approved for emergency allocations toward roadway, retaining wall and guardrail repairs and erosion control on Route 20 east of Walker Ridge Road near Clearlake Oaks following winter storms in December 2024.

The CTC also allocated $86.5 million to repair vital roadways and other transportation infrastructure damaged during recent wildfires and storms in Southern California.

“Investments made today support Caltrans’ mission to build and maintain a transportation system that helps Californians now and decades into the future,” said Mike Keever, acting director for Caltrans. “This funding translates into safer travel, more accessible mobility options and strengthening our roadways to protect all travelers during extreme weather events.”

In addition to the Lake County highway work, projects approved in District 1 include the following:

• $5.7 million including more than $5 million in federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and $660,000 in SB1 funding toward bridge replacement of the Dr. Ernest Fine Memorial Bridge No. 01-0020 on U.S. 101 near Crescent City in Del Norte County.

• $2.4 million in support allocations toward fish passage improvements along Route 1 at Tregoning Drive near Fort Bragg and at Sunset Drive near Anchor Bay in Mendocino County.

• $560,000 toward roadway, guardrail, drainage and other improvements on U.S. 101 from the Mendocino County Line to south of the Sprowl Creek Road Overcrossing near Garberville in Humboldt County.

• $10 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward roadway repairs and the construction of a retaining wall on Route 36 east of Church Lane near Bridgeville in Humboldt County following winter storms and heavy rainfall in December 2024.

• $10 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward the construction of a retaining wall, guardrail installation and roadway repairs on Route 169 at the Mawah Creek Bridge near Weitchpec in Humboldt County following winter storms and heavy rainfall in January 2025.

• $3.2 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward roadway, guardrail, retaining wall and rock catchment fence repairs on U.S. 199 north of South Fork Road near Hiouchi in Del Norte County following heavy rainfall in December 2024.

• $2.6 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward slide removal and roadway repairs on Route 36 from east of the Grizzly Creek Bridge to east of Alderpoint Road near Bridgeville in Humboldt County following winter storms and heavy rainfall in February 2025.

• $2.6 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward guardrail repairs, rock slope protection and erosion control on Route 1 at Schooner Gulch Road near Gallaway in Mendocino County following winter storms in December 2024.

• $2 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward the construction of a retaining wall, road and guardrail repairs and rock slope protection and erosion control on Route 253 west of Butler Ranch Road near Ukiah in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall in December 2024.

• $1.9 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward the construction of a retaining wall, road and guardrail repairs and rock slope protection on Route 271 north of the U.S. 101 Cummings Road Separation near Cummings in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall in February 2025.

• $1.3 million in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward erosion control and embankment and roadway repairs on Route 254 from north of Phillipsville Road to south of Maple Hills Road near Phillipsville in Humboldt County following winter storms and heavy rainfall in December 2024.

• $800,000 in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward slide removal, roadway and drainage repairs and erosion control on Route 1 south of the South Fork Eel River Bridge near Leggett in Mendocino County following heavy rainfall in December 2024.

• $675,000 in SB1 funding for emergency allocations toward abutment repairs next to the Broaddus Creek Bridge No. 10-0054, drainage improvements and vegetation removal on Route 20 in Willits, Mendocino County following winter storms in December 2024.

Of the total allocation this month, nearly $651 million came via Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 and approximately $536 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 or IIJA.

IIJA, also known as the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill, is a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure to improve the sustainability and resiliency of our country’s energy, water, broadband and transportation systems.

California has received nearly $62 billion in federal infrastructure funding since its passage. This includes investments to upgrade the state’s roads, bridges, rail, public transit, airports, ports and waterways. The funding alone has already created more than 170,000 jobs in California.

Meanwhile, SB 1 invests approximately $5 billion annually toward transportation projects. It provides funding split between the state and local agencies.

Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1.

For more information visit https://build.ca.gov/.
Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS

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