News Articles

The word “debt” loomed large in a literal way Thursday at Sonoma State University.

During the outset of a congressional town hall at the university’s student center, East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Pleasanton, told audience members they could text message a specific number with words describing the issues most important to them. Their answers would form a “word cloud” — in which the size of a word varies on how much it is used — projected on screens at either side of the stage.

City officials have endorsed an effort by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, to create a commemorative stamp honoring the Depression-era mural at the St. Helena Post Office.

The proposed stamp would commemorate Lew Keller’s “Grape Pickers,” a mural on the south side of the post office’s interior, on the left as you enter the building. It would not involve the mural on the north side, which was painted by local artist John Maxon in 2002.

More than 40 underprivileged students will benefit from more than $2 million in scholarships to Vallejo’s Touro University over then next four years, Rep. Mike Thompson announced Tuesday. Thompson (D-St. Helena) announced a $630,000 Health Resource and Service Administration grant to fund scholarships for Touro University students at the Mare Island campus each year for four years — a total of $2.52 million.

The funding will be used to provide scholarships for 42 students through Touro’s Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students program, he said.

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) will be visiting the John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo to encourage children to read as many books as they can as part of California’s 5th District’s Summer Reading Challenge. This is the first year that Thompson– who represents Benicia as part of California’s 5th District– has hosted the Summer Reading Challenge, which encourages students to read books from the Library of Congress’ Summer Reading List.

At the behest of the local wine industry, a new proposal would toughen federal labeling standards on a bottle of wine, controlling more tightly wineries’ claims of vintage dates, varietals and geographic region where the grapes are grown.

Local vintners have complained that exemptions currently allowed by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau are misleading consumers and hurting the reputation of their local wine regions.

U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-5) and Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) visited the Martinez Early Childhood Center on Monday to present a check totaling $4.5 million of federal grant money to support Head Start services throughout Contra Costa County.

Specifically, the funding will be used to increase the number of children in high quality early learning programs with local partnerships, increase the rate of pay for Family Child Care Providers, and increase teacher qualifications, educational standards, and family and community engagement.

Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) announced today that $3.9 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants have been awarded to help finance five Napa County housing projects.

After what happened in the aftermath of the 2014 South Napa Earthquake, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) introduced a bill to help people make their homes earthquake resistant, his office announced Thursday.

Thompson and Rep. Paul Cook (R-San Bernardino) introduced the Earthquake Mitigation Tax Incentive Act (H.R. 5610) to exclude earthquake mitigation incentives from being taxed at the federal level. California has already made these incentives tax free at the state level.