SACRAMENTO
CAL FIRE announces funding for projects addressing fire prevention and forest health
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announced the availability of over $80 million for Forest Health and Fire Prevention projects. CAL FIRE is soliciting applications for projects that work to proactively prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore forests to healthy, functioning ecosystems while also sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
CAL FIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant Program seeks to fund local projects that address the risk of wildfire and reduce wildfire potential to communities in, and adjacent to, forested areas. Qualified activities include hazardous fuel reduction, fire prevention planning and fire prevention education with an emphasis on improving public health and safety. Find more information and sign up for announcements at www.fire.ca.gov/grants.
Official Call for Applications:
Fire Prevention Program: The call for applications opened on Sept. 25, 2019 and will be due by 3 P.M. on Dec. 4, 2019.
Forest Health Program: The call for applications will open on Sept. 27 and will be due by 3 P.M. on Dec. 6, 2019.
Public workshops will be held throughout California starting September 30; additional recorded webinars will be made available online.
These programs serve to complement the 35 priority fuels reduction and fire prevention projects that CAL FIRE has undertaken at the direction of Governor Gavin Newson. They also complement the State Forest Carbon Plan, which seeks to increase the ability of our forests to capture carbon and improve forest health.
—Submitted
MIDDLETOWN
Four next generation bands in concert, tonight, at Middletown Art Center
This Friday September 27, you can catch a four band concert featuring a new generation of local and regional Alternative, Grunge & Indie Rock bands at the Middletown Art Center (MAC). The performances start promptly at 7, doors open at 6:30.
LuvBug productions in partnership with the Middletown Art Center, is proud to present the event. “I am super excited to help cultivate a local live music scene which we started last month with the Higher Logic Project”, said LuvBug producer Matthew Barash. “The season change evokes some heavier riffs, which is why we chose this lineup of Alternative / Indie / Grunge bands for this Friday’s September concert.”
The evening begins with Middletown’s JFK with their feel good groove rock, followed by Death n’ Taxes from Napa and their psychedelic acid rock. The headliner Milk for the Angry, who have been making a splash in the Bay Area with their high-energy alternative grunge will perform after that.
Closing out the evening will be Clearlake’s Wormhead entrancing us with their psychedelic grunge sound. Wormhead recently returned from a tour with Death n’ Taxes throughout Oregon and Washington.
“I’m really excited to be a part of bringing alternative rock to our community”, said Jeremy Cremer, front man for Wormhead. “Growing up here I always wanted to see more cool and different sounding local bands perform, not just strictly hardcore metal and country music.
Indie and alternative rock always felt sort of left out here, and now we’re bringing in some new local talent to fill that void.”
Admission is $10 and there will be a no host bar on site (must be 21 or older to purchase alcohol). All ages welcome. Kids movies will be screened in back but parents must supervise their children.
For links to music videos of the featured bands visit middletownartcenter.org/events
The MAC is located at 21456 State Hwy 175 at the junction of Hwy 29 in the heart of Middletown. The MAC Gallery’s regular hours are Thursday 11-5, Friday 11-6, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 11-5. Trailside Park is open dawn to dusk daily and the 14th annual Sculpture Walk will be on view through October 30.
To stay up to date on classes, exhibits and events, and support this valuable Lake County arts and culture resource visit www.middletownartcenter.org.
—Submitted
CALIFORNIA
Why Boise matters to California
On one night in 2014, 46 people slept on the streets of Boise, Idaho. On any given night in L.A., 27,000 people are without shelter.
Last September, in a case out of Boise that began in 2014, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal sided with homeless advocates, ruling that municipalities cannot prosecute people for sleeping on public property when there is no shelter for them.
That decision, based on the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, is shaping homeless policy across the West.
This week: L.A., 24 other cities including Sacramento, nine counties including Los Angeles, Fresno and San Diego, plus the California State Association of Counties, joined Boise in urging that the U.S. Supreme Court take up the case.
They agree: Everyone should have shelter, but the ruling hampers government’s ability to deal with California’s homeless problem.
For the broader coalition, San Francisco attorney Teresa L Stricker writes the ruling exposes municipalities to endless litigation, and fails to answer basic questions:
- Many homeless people won’t accept shelter if they can’t bring their dogs. Must cities shelter pets?
- Must shelters provide space for individuals’ belongings?
- What if people refuse shelter in dorms that have no partitions?
L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer writes:
“Humans need to eat. Must the City allow open-flame cooking in public? All humans must relieve themselves. Must the City suspend enforcement of its ban on public defecation … ?”
The Supreme Court won’t decide whether to take the case until 2020.
Absence noted: San Francisco and California filed nothing.
—CALMatters
