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Lake County’s member of Congress on Thursday criticized a bill passed by Congressional Republicans to take back federal funding from public media stations and foreign aid programs that was already approved by Congress and signed into law.
“Make no mistake: These clawbacks are an attack on public safety,” said Congressman Mike Thompson. “Our public radio and TV stations, especially those in rural communities, are often the only trusted local news source. Publicly funded media stations are the ones covering our kids’ high school sports games, providing high-quality educational programming to our kids, and distributing essential public safety information during natural disasters. To slash this funding is to attack these important services.
“At the same time, Congressional Republicans are pulling funding from Ukraine and other allies. When our allies are unsafe, we are all unsafe. Cuts to foreign aid undermine our national security,” Thompson said.
“Congressional Republicans’ claims that this is about saving money are laughable considering they just passed a bill that will add nearly $5 trillion to our national debt in order to give tax breaks to their billionaire donors who don’t need the help. They are pulling the rug out from under our allies and our local news stations. The American people will pay the price,” Thompson added.
Congressman Mike Thompson represents California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo Counties. He is a senior member of the House Committee on Ways and Means. Rep. Thompson is Chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. He is also Co-Chair of the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus and a member of the fiscally-responsible Blue Dog Coalition.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
A new report shows that foreclosure activity is up nationwide in the first half of this year, continuing an upward trend.
The Mid-Year 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, created by the real estate analytics firm ATTOM, shows there were a total of 187,659 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in the first six months of 2025.
That figure is up 5.8 percent from the same time period a year ago and up 1.1 percent from the same time period two years ago.
“Foreclosure activity continued its upward trend in the first half of 2025, with increases in both starts and completed foreclosures compared to last year,” said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM. “While the overall numbers remain below pre-pandemic levels, the persistent rise suggests that some homeowners are still facing financial challenges amid today’s housing and economic landscape.”
States that saw the greatest increases in foreclosure activity compared to a year ago in the first half of 2025 included Alaska (up 55 percent); Rhode Island (up 51 percent); Wyoming (up 46 percent); Utah (up 46 percent); and Colorado (up 41 percent).
Nationwide, 0.13 percent of all housing units (one in every 758) had a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2025.
States with the worst foreclosure rates in the first half of 2025 were Illinois (0.23 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (0.23 percent); Nevada (0.21 percent); Florida (0.21 percent); and South Carolina (0.20 percent).
Other states with first-half foreclosure rates among the 10 worst nationwide were Indiana (0.18 percent); New Jersey (0.18 percent); Connecticut (0.17 percent); Ohio (0.16 percent); and Texas (0.15 percent).
Foreclosure starts up 7 percent from last year
A total of 140,006 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first six months of 2025, up 7 percent from the first half of last year and up 41 percent from the first half of 2020.
States that saw the greatest number of foreclosure starts in the first half of 2025 included Texas (17,680 foreclosure starts); Florida (15,198 foreclosure starts); California (14,751 foreclosure starts); Illinois (7,922 foreclosure starts); and New York (6,585 foreclosure starts).
Lenders foreclosed (REO) on a total of 21,007 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2025, up 12 percent from the first half of 2024 but down 7 percent from the first half of 2023.
States that posted the greatest number of REOs in the first half of 2025 included Texas (2,207 REOs); California (1,799 REOs); Pennsylvania (1,461 REOs); Illinois (1,439 REOs); and Michigan (1,260 REOs).
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
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