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Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Children's Hospital Association, or CCHA, this week announced an agreement to expand health care for children in the state.

The agreement will provide additional funding for the Department of Health Care Services to support California children’s hospitals now and in the future.

This funding will help support medical care for critically ill children and those fighting the most serious and life-threatening diseases.

“In California, our children are not just our future — they are everything to the families that love them and the friends who play next to them,” said Newsom. “For the children suffering from the worst and most serious illnesses, we must support the hospitals that give them a fighting chance to live and thrive. I’m pleased we were able to provide this additional financial assistance and avoid a costly ballot initiative.”

“State government leaders asked children’s hospitals to think outside the box to maximize the use of federal money to achieve our goal of extending life-saving care to more critically ill children,” said Ann-Louise Kuhns, president and CEO of CCHA. “We have found the best path to do so with less stress on the state’s budget for public health, public safety, public education and public infrastructure.”

This agreement is reflected in AB/SB 164.

Once this legislation is passed by the Legislature, proponents of the “Affordable, Life-Saving Healthcare for Critically Ill Children” initiative eligible for the November 2024 ballot have agreed to withdraw their measure.

The Department of the Interior on Wednesday announced that 57 local governments in California will receive a total of $64.3 million in payments in lieu of taxes, or PILT, funding for 2024.

Because local governments cannot tax federal lands, annual PILT payments help to defray the costs associated with maintaining important community services.

PILT payments are made for tax-exempt federal lands administered by the Department’s bureaus including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition, PILT payments cover federal lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission.

Payments are calculated based on the number of acres of federal land within each county or jurisdiction and the population of that county or jurisdiction.

Lake County will receive $1,063,125 for 386,108 acres, the agency said.

“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to boosting local communities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Joan Mooney. “PILT payments help local governments carry out vital services, such as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations. We are grateful for our ongoing partnerships with local jurisdictions across the country who help the Interior Department fulfill our mission on behalf of the American public.”

Since PILT payments began in 1977, the Department has distributed nearly $12 billion to states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The department collects more than $22.2 billion in revenue annually from commercial activities on public lands.

A portion of those revenues is shared with states and counties. The balance is deposited into the U.S. Treasury, which in turn pays for a broad array of federal activities, including PILT funding.

Individual payments may vary from year to year as a result of changes in acreage data, which are updated annually by the federal agency administering the land; prior-year federal revenue-sharing payments reported annually by the governor of each state; and inflationary adjustments using the Consumer Price Index and population data, which are updated using information from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A full list of funding by state and county is below.

COUNTY                                        PAYMENT        TOTAL ACRES

ALAMEDA COUNTY                       $2,772              828
ALPINE COUNTY                           $206,377          430,224
AMADOR COUNTY                        $130,357          90,043
BUTTE COUNTY                            $324,076          155,478
CALAVERAS COUNTY                   $371,829          138,421
COLUSA COUNTY                          $292,192          107,513
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY            $7,801               2,330
DEL NORTE COUNTY                    $910,205          447,575
EL DORADO COUNTY                    $928,457          545,224
FRESNO COUNTY                          $3,862,295       1,528,892
GLENN COUNTY                             $572,162          228,518
HUMBOLDT COUNTY                     $1,175,005       496,288
IMPERIAL COUNTY                        $3,808,098       1,137,466
INYO COUNTY                                $2,411,949       5,523,634
KERN COUNTY                               $3,525,809      1,085,139
KINGS COUNTY                              $29,389            9,047
LAKE COUNTY                                $1,063,125       386,108
LASSEN COUNTY                           $2,474,703       1,670,374
LOS ANGELES COUNTY                $1,653,049        693,047
MADERA COUNTY                          $1,430,611        504,326
MARIN COUNTY                              $264,068           78,876
MARIPOSA COUNTY                       $1,546,043        514,779
MENDOCINO COUNTY                    $883,960           311,048
MERCED COUNTY                           $118,925           35,536
MODOC COUNTY                             $837,067          1,744,996
MONO COUNTY                                $1,501,009       1,749,662
MONTEREY COUNTY                       $1,143,504       344,113
NAPA COUNTY                                  $202,369          60,471
NEVADA COUNTY                             $536,373           222,020
ORANGE COUNTY                            $157,550           55,813
PLACER COUNTY                             $1,006,946        406,277
PLUMAS COUNTY                             $733,808          1,179,249
RIVERSIDE COUNTY                        $4,289,443        2,348,603
SACRAMENTO COUNTY                  $32,217             9,623
SAN BENITO COUNTY                      $342,451           103,336
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY            $4,140,532        8,470,157
SAN DIEGO COUNTY                        $1,449,345         479,172
SAN FRANCISCO                               $7,891                2,357
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY                    $7,489                2,237
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY              $1,458,930        440,946
SAN MATEO COUNTY                        $20,780             6,207
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY               $2,351,593        716,652
SANTA CLARA COUNTY                     $6,009              1,795
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY                       $19,562            5,843
SHASTA COUNTY                                $2,381,961       988,681
SIERRA COUNTY                                 $297,216          435,461
SISKIYOU COUNTY                             $2,089,464        2,502,827
SOLANO COUNTY                               $19,277             5,758
SONOMA COUNTY                               $81,380            24,308
STANISLAUS COUNTY                        $10,996            3,287
SUTTER COUNTY                                $0                     2
TEHAMA COUNTY                               $940,924           446,637
TRINITY COUNTY                                $750,951          1,565,472
TULARE COUNTY                                $4,251,368       1,530,762
TUOLUMNE COUNTY                          $3,129,191       1,093,922
VENTURA COUNTY                              $1,907,537       582,758
YOLO COUNTY                                     $104,373          31,180
YUBA COUNTY                                      $98,645           48,627

TOTAL:                                                    $64,301,408    43,729,925

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An important statewide program that supports local journalism is bringing new resources — and a talented new reporter — to Lake County.

On Tuesday, the California Local News Fellowship program announced its second cohort, consisting of 36 fellows, who will join newsrooms statewide as part of a publicly-funded initiative to invigorate local journalism, with a focus on underserved communities.

Lake County News is among the latest group of newsrooms selected to receive a fellow through a highly competitive selection process that began at the end of 2023.

The fellow selected to join Lake County News is Lingzi Chen.

A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Chen will be a general assignment reporter at Lake County News, where she plans to report daily news and longer, more complex stories as well as connect with underrepresented communities.

“Besides contributing to the daily coverage at Lake County News, I am passionate about delving deep into more complex issues that are important to the local people such as government accountability and environmental stories,” Chen said. “I'm also committed to reaching out to underreported ethnic minorities. I hope to contribute both in quick daily turnarounds as well as deeply-reported longform stories that provide rich context.”

With the announcement of the second cohort, the California Local News Fellowship will now support 75 early-career journalists working at small and large newspapers, public radio stations and community and ethnic media outlets across 35 California counties.

The newsroom partners — including the Sacramento Bee, SJV Water, Radio Bilingue, Người Việt News, the Mendocino Voice, Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Lake County News — span the state and will join the inaugural 2023 cohort of newsrooms.

“With a national crisis in local journalism upon us, every single one of these fellows and newsrooms is a sign of hope,” said Christa Scharfenberg, director of the California Local News Fellowship program. “We’re honored to support the next generation of journalists and help invigorate a national movement for robust local news.”

Fellowship meant to address a national crisis

Based at Berkeley Journalism, the fellowship program was spearheaded by California State Senator Steve Glazer in 2022 with $25 million in state support to bolster beleaguered newsrooms.

The funding is supporting three cohorts of fellows to work full-time for two years each.

Glazer and Berkeley Journalism Dean Geeta Anand conceived of the innovative program as an antidote to newsroom layoffs and the shuttering of local newspapers nationwide.

“The survival of local journalism is in the balance, and its survival is not optional,” said Berkeley Journalism Dean Geeta Anand. “Robust local reporting makes a difference for all that we hold dear: the education of our children, safety and dignity for vulnerable community members, the protection of our environment, and more.”

The program, now in its second year, again drew hundreds of applications from newsrooms and early-career journalists who were selected through a competitive process involving the fellowship staff and advisory board, along with leaders from some California State University journalism departments.

“I hope to be a local reporter who knows everything about a place and its people,” Chen said. “I want to truly understand the local community I serve, to know people, to explore what matters, what is at stake, what has gone wrong and to report on what has not been adequately reported.”

The first cohort of California Local News Fellows is doing just that, said Scharfenberg.

“From Chico to Chula Vista, these inaugural fellows have truly exceeded all expectations — both in terms of the quality and impact of their reporting and the way they’ve become part of the communities they serve,” Scharfenberg said.

Scharfenberg said they collectively have written or produced hundreds of stories — and won awards along the way.

Chen to arrive in the fall

Beginning in September, the new fellows will live and work full-time for two years in the communities where they are assigned, reporting on everything from breaking news to local government, the environment, education, economic disparities, the unhoused and more. The first cohort, which started in September 2023, will enter its second and final year.

In addition to invaluable, hands-on newsroom experience, fellows receive robust training and mentorship from industry professionals throughout the two year program.

In 2006, Elizabeth Larson and John Jensen, a husband and wife team, founded Lake County News.

Larson said Chen’s arrival to join their team is the most significant boost in resources and staffing Lake County News has had in its nearly 18 years of publication.

“The California Local News Fellowship is doing amazing work across California, and their support in bringing Lingzi to Lake County is a watershed moment for us,” said Larson. “Lingzi is talented, curious, ethical and fearless. She has all the right stuff a great reporter needs, and we can’t wait to see how her unique perspective and abilities expand our coverage.”

Chen isn’t just a great storyteller, she herself has a fascinating story.

Born in China, she lived in Singapore for 13 years before coming to the U.S. Her work has appeared in Chinese and English-language media based out of Beijing, Singapore and San Francisco. She also has worked as a translator.

“I am a journalist because I am passionate about discovering and telling true stories of people and places,” she said. “Most of my work has been about underreported local labor communities such as delivery workers, seafood wholesalers, cobblers, jewelers and postpartum nannies.”

Fellows and their newsroom editors expressed a deep commitment to local reporting that ensures all community voices are listened to and reported on. They also highlighted the essential role local coverage plays in accountability and the rule of law.

“I always feel that fair and professional local news is the ultimate gatekeeper of democracy,” said Chen. “As local news reporters, we play a frontline role in combating disinformation and misinformation, which can substantially harm our local communities, especially during an election year. This harm often disproportionately impacts underrepresented communities.”

Chen added that local journalism has a legacy: “For me, writing local stories is like writing the first draft of history. With a background in cultural history research, I understand that it’s not just for today, but also for people in the future who will seek to find out what exactly happened.”

When she’s not chasing down stories, Chen is a singer and a watercolor amateur.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Mike Marcucci announced Tuesday that he will be retiring from the department, effective June 28.

Assistant Chief Kirk van Wormer has been named as acting unit chief and will assume unit chief responsibilities until a permanent hire is made.

A 34-year veteran of the fire service, the last 27 with Cal Fire, Marcucci was appointed as unit chief on Feb. 14, 2022, coming up to the North Bay from the Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit where he previously was its deputy chief of operations.

In his two and a half years as unit chief for the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, or LNU, he helped to bolster forces and resources available to staff.

Marcucci also served as Fire Chief for the Napa County Fire Department and the South
Lake County Fire Protection District.

“Serving as the unit and fire chief in Sonoma-Lake-Napa has been an honor and a privilege,” Marcucci said. “The work that has been done and will continue to be done has made the communities safer and that is something that I have been very proud to be a part of. It is a true partnership in the North Bay as we have learned over the past years that no agency can do it all themselves, it was my goal to maintain and strengthen those relationships.”

Under his watch LNU saw the opening of the Hood Mountain Fire Center in Sonoma County, which brought the return of a firefighter hand crew to the County.

Marcucci helped the unit secure two exclusive use helicopters to complement the already existing aviation fleet, strengthened LNU’s firefighting capabilities on the ground and coordinated the integration of AI technology into the St. Helena Emergency Command Center.

Staffing levels for the Napa County Fire Department also increased in his time as Fire Chief, thanks to the renewal of a two-year contract between Cal Fire and Napa County on comprehensive fire protection services. The Cal Fire-Napa County contract dates back to 1932.

There has been a Marcucci family member in the fire service since 1923, as his grandfather, Nello, father, Marty, and uncles, Robert Marcucci and Jim Coffey, all had decorated careers in Marin County.

Marcucci began his career in the fire service in 1990, working as a volunteer for both Columbia College and Sonora City Fire Departments as well as working as a seasonal firefighter for the Marin County Fire Department.

In 1994, he was hired as a Firefighter by the Marysville Fire Department, which signed a cooperative fire protection agreement with Cal Fire in 1997, bringing him across to state service as a fire apparatus engineer in the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit.

In 2001 he was promoted to the rank of Fire Captain at the Grass Valley Emergency Command Center.

He transferred to the Santa Clara Unit in 2007 and promoted up the chief ranks while overseeing different areas of operation for the next 15 years before being assigned as unit chief for LNU.

Marcucci also served as deputy incident commander for Cal Fire Incident Management Team 6 and has served as a Cal Fire liaison to the East Bay Incident Management Team.

Three bills aimed at confronting the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, or MMIP, epidemic will move forward after the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday approved measures granting state peace officer status for the first time in California history to tribal law enforcement, streamlining the alert system when Native Americans are missing and improving state tracking of violence on tribal lands.

Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) authored the proposals which have already been approved in the Assembly.

“California is fifth in the nation in the number of unsolved MMIP cases. Surely we can do more to prevent, investigate and prosecute these cases, and make tribal communities — and the state — safer,” said Ramos, the first and only California Native American serving in the Legislature.

AB 2138 would establish a three-year pilot project under the Department of Justice granting California state peace officer status to qualified tribes and the officers they employ.

The Department of Justice would monitor, evaluate and support the program and have the authorization to suspend or terminate participation in the program for gross misconduct or failure to comply with program requirements.

Requirements for granting peace officer status would include completing and adhering to the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training standards and procedures.

The tribal community would also need to enact a law or resolution to make records available in accordance with the public records act as it relates to policing.

Thirteen states and the federal government already grant peace officer status to tribal police. The Yurok Tribe and California Indian Legal Services are co-sponsors of the measure.

A second Ramos bill, AB 1863, would require the California Highway Patrol to develop policies and procedures related to the Feather Alert, a notification system similar to the AMBER alert used when Native Americans are missing and in danger.

The Feather Alert took effect in January 2024 after passage of AB 1314 (Ramos, 2022).

Feather Alert updates would include developing policies for the system, requiring CHP to provide a reason for the denial, directing CHP to make all reasonable efforts to locate the individual and updating the definition of danger to a person’s safety.

Ramos said the changes would help ensure an effective and responsive alert system. He added the changes evolved after an informational hearing and discussions with tribes, law enforcement and CHP. AB 1863 is co-sponsored by Bear River of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the Yurok Tribe.

“I thank Assemblymember Ramos for creating this mechanism to quickly get the word out when Indigenous people go missing or are at risk,” said Yurok Tribal Chairman Joe James.

“We supported previous legislation that created this alert because it will help reduce the disproportionate rate of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases in California,” James said. “The next generation of Indigenous California should not have to live in a world where they have to worry about family members going missing or worse. With the updates in this legislation, we will take action to address the remaining root causes of this complex crisis.”

“I am grateful to Assemblymember Ramos for introducing the Feather Alert and putting forth AB 1863 this session to directly address concerns from those at the forefront of this crisis,” said Pechanga Band of Indians Vice-Chair Catalina Chacon.

Vice Chair Chacon added, “Allowing our tribal governments to communicate directly with the State respects our sovereignty, saves critical time, and will further help us to bring our missing home safely.”

“We carry the strength of our ancestors to ensure our tribal citizens are safe and protected. The work that has been done on AB 1863 has provided tribal nations their voices back to ensure we end MMIP,” said Bear River of the Rohnerville Rancheria Chairwoman Josefina Frank. “We are the voice and movement for those we have lost.”

AB 1863 is sponsored by the Bear River of the Rohnerville Rancheria, the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the Yurok Tribe.

The third measure, AB 2695, requires the Department of Justice to align its records and data with the federal National Incident-Based reporting system to assist law enforcement and others understand where criminal incidents related to MMIP are occurring and also include a notation indicating whether domestic violence incidents took place in Indian Country.

AB 2695 is sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an agreement to enhance the state’s ability to prepare for and potentially prevent the next pandemic by integrating the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine into the California Health and Human Services Agency, or CalHHS, and broadening its scope to include technologies relevant to pandemic prevention.

Precision medicine, particularly when used with advanced diagnostic tools for infectious diseases, has the potential to alleviate the burdens of future pandemics by enabling early detection, faster response and more effective countermeasures.

“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity for robust public-private partnerships to respond rapidly to emerging public health threats. By harnessing the power of precision medicine, California is moving to the forefront of pandemic preparedness and prevention,” said Newsom.

Newsom’s office said pandemic preparedness and prevention are critical to safeguarding public health and ensuring societal and economic resilience against infectious disease outbreaks.

This effort involves a multi-faceted approach that includes early detection through advanced diagnostics, rapid response mechanisms, and the integration of data and technology to monitor and predict disease trends.

Strengthening healthcare infrastructure, enhancing the public health workforce, and fostering community engagement are also essential components.

By strategically investing in precision medicine research to develop next-generation tools and approaches, the state can achieve a more targeted and effective response to infectious diseases.

“California aims to set a new standard for pandemic preparedness and prevention, ensuring a safer and healthier future for all residents,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, CalHHS Secretary. “This move underscores California's commitment to advancing public health through innovation.”

The California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine was launched in 2015 to support collaborative research and foster partnerships between the state, researchers, patients, communities, and industry to further the aims of this approach to health and medicine.

Precision medicine aims to use advanced computing tools to aggregate, integrate, and analyze vast amounts of data from research, clinical, environmental, and population health settings, to better understand health and disease, and to develop and deliver more targeted diagnostics, therapeutics and prevention measures.

“The time to prepare is now. California already has many promising technologies to mitigate future pandemics, but we need consistent focus to drive down costs and deploy them in the field,” said Max Henderson, co-founder, CEO and chief data scientist at CovidActNow, a US-based non-profit formed in April 2020 to provide modeling and infrastructure to track the spread of the pandemic. “This new focus on pandemic prevention will help California lead the way in preventing the loss of life, economic devastation, and large scale shutdowns from future outbreaks. I commend the Newsom administration for pledging to carry on this important work.”

“There are very few actions we can take in this world that could result in alleviating more suffering and saving more lives than preventing another global pandemic — I am glad to see Governor Newsom and the State of California pick up that torch to help Californians and all of humanity,” said Dr. Steve Luby, director of research at the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health and globally renowned expert in pandemic prevention.

This reorganization and expansion is reflected in AB/SB 164.

Once this legislation is passed by the Legislature, Californians Against Pandemics, proponents of a ballot initiative eligible for the November 2024 ballot that would create the California Institute for Pandemic Prevention, has agreed to withdraw their measure.