News Articles
Vineyard owners along the Napa River showed off the environmental benefits Monday of working cooperatively with government agencies to improve the lives of fish and other wildlife.
For the last decade, landowners in Napa County have enrolled in a fish-friendly farming program that allows them to produce a plan of environmentally friendly farming practices specific to their property, and have regulatory agencies sign off.
The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 attack on the U.S.
The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, said Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, the second-ranking Democrat on the committee.
The panel voted Thursday to declassify the report, the result of two years of investigation by the committee. U.S. intelligence agencies will have to approve making the report public.
The Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport has received a $1 million federal grant for environmental work associated with its runway expansion project, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, announced Monday.
The project's environmental mitigation costs, to deal with endangered plant and animal species, have run to $21 million, mostly borne by the county. The $53 million runway project is 90 percent federally funded.
Thanks to the efforts of Congressman Mike Thompson, management of a four-mile stretch of a 22-mile flood control project along I-680 will be transferred from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Contra Costa Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Removing the bureaucratic hurdles set forth by the Corps' control will let local experts directly perform habitat restoration and flood control. Next up, a community-based planning process will begin to bring a broad local vision into the mix.
Congressman Mike Thompson on Wednesday hosted a meeting with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey and Julianna Boor, the new director of the VA's Oakland Regional Office.
Thompson and his Northern California colleagues discussed the claims backlog at the Oakland Regional Office and the recent controversies at other VA offices around the country. Since 2012, Thompson has hosted four separate oversight meetings with Hickey on Capitol Hill and has toured the Oakland Regional Office with her, according to Austin Vevurka of Thompson's office.
Wilfred Alexander, a Vallejo resident and Vietnam War veteran, said the Agent Orange herbicide he handled at war led to prostate cancer later in life, but he had to wait months for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to process his treatment claim. Another veteran said he has to drive an hour and a half for a dentist, doctor or hospital appointment.
As lawmakers cobble together a temporary fix for the nation's crumbling infrastructure, the North Coast's two congressional representatives have reiterated their call for a long-term plan to fund federal highway projects.
Reps. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the highway funding bill that the House passed last week does little to address the long-term health of the Federal Highway Trust Fund, which accounts for half of California's transportation spending.