Benicia works on its allure

Benicia works on its allure
By Tony Burchyns/ <%20benicia%20works%20on%20its%20allure>

Posted: 01/31/2010 12:00:51 AM PST

BENICIA -- The city should redesign its tourism Web site to make it more user-friendly and inviting, city officials and the city's tourism consultant say.
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The changes are needed to make it run smoother, look more alluring and to maximize "search engine optimization" -- which means making it easier to "Google," said Jack Wolf.
"If you Google it, it appears on the eighth page of results," said Wolf, who was hired to develop the city's 20-month, $280,000 marketing plan. "That's way too low."
Wolf and Benicia Economic Development Manager Amalia Lorentz recommended revising the city's www.visitbenicia.org Web site at last week's Economic Development Board meeting.
The redesign would likely cost less than $10,000 and be completed in four to six weeks, Wolf said after the meeting.
"The Web site has to be ready before the advertising campaign," Wolf said. "Once we launch this campaign in earnest, what's everybody going to do? They're going to go to online."
Wolf said he's also developing a social media strategy involving a Facebook page tied to a Twitter account.
Currently the page (www.facebook.com/visitbenicia) has 442 "fans" -- or people who have signed up for instant updates, photos, event listings and other posts added about twice a week.
These days, social media is an important part of any marketing plan, Wolf said. But it's not the only part, he added.
"The advertising will be extremely important, and so is the media outreach. But Facebook is important for the younger demographic, although it's becoming increasingly important among older people," he said.
An advertising plan is being formulated and should be ready by the end of February. Radio, print and online options are being considered.
"We want to get our biggest bang for the buck," Wolf said.
The city hopes to appeal to women and couples ages 35 to 54, living in the Bay Area, according to a strategic marketing plan done by another firm.
Contact staff writer Tony Burchyns at tburchyns@timesheraldonline.com or (707) 553-6831.

Solano lawmakers make trip to D.C.

Solano lawmakers make trip to D.C.
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_14284917

County leaders are in the midst of a federal lobbying trip to Washington, D.C., which will continue today as the group meets with staff members in hopes of landing appropriation money for the next fiscal year. Solano County supervisors Mike Reagan, Linda Seifert and Barbara Kondylis along with County Administrator Michael Johnson…. spent Wednesday meeting with Congressmen John Garamendi and George Miller, both D-Solano, along with Dan Lungren, R-Solano, and staff. Included were talks with Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., which centered on the role of the federal government when dealing with Delta water issues. "They are a major player in what goes forward," Reagan said by phone. "We're finding out from her, 'this is what we hear is going on.' She's asking us for some input for some legislation." Reagan said the group is working toward securing: * $1.8 million for a joint radio operability cooperative that would help unify the cities and county emergency response. * $10 million to assist levees north of Rio Vista. * $422,000 to help fund a building to house city and county services to assist domestic violence victims. * $500,000 to help fund the Multijurisdictional Methamphetamine Enforcement Team.

Solano awarded $1.4 million for Dixon housing

Solano awarded $1.4 million for Dixon housing
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_14300791

Of the 34 California counties receiving stimulus money to build affordable housing and create jobs, Solano County was among 11 with only one such project. State Treasurer Bill Lockyer this week announced the final distribution of more than $800 million of federal stimulus money for low-income family housing projects statewide. Solano County's $1.4 million portion went toward the construction of Dixon's Moonlight Apartments. This complex will contain 56 units, 55 of them low income…. All told, 25 Bay Area projects got nearly $190 million in funding. Besides Solano's portion, $47.6 million went to Alameda, $7.2 million to Contra Costa and $47 million to Sonoma. Marin got $450,000, San Francisco got $64.4 million and $21.8 million went to Santa Clara. In the Bay Area, Marin was the only other county with just one project. Others with only one project were Stanislaus, Siskiyou, Kings, Imperial, Glenn, El Dorado, Calaveras, Butte and Yuba counties…. more than $800 million was distributed under the federal stimulus program, helping build more than 9,600 housing units…. The cash awards were approved in exchange for previously awarded and unused tax-credits, the announcement notes. Tax-credits can be used for construction or rehabilitation of low-income housing, and developers sell the credits to attract investment capital to help finance their projects….

Rep. Miller, Solano officials trumpet federal funding for new County dental clinic

Rep. Miller, Solano officials trumpet federal funding for new County dental clinic
Clinic will address critical employment, dental needs in Solano County


Supervisor Jim Spering, Dr. Franklin Woo, Supervisor John Vasquez, Marge Carroll,
Vacaville Mayor Len Augustine and Congressman George Miller showcase the $2.2 million
in federal stimulus dollars coming to Solano County.

A ceremonial check presentation on Friday (Jan. 29) officially acknowledged a $2.2 million stimulus grant to build a County dental clinic in Vacaville for Solano County residents.

U. S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) presented the check to Supervisor John Vasquez among a small crowd of local officials and dentists. The event also kicks off local National Children's Dental Health Month activities.

"This funding from the federal Recovery Act will create good-paying jobs in Vacaville and represents a solid commitment to ensure our children have healthy smiles and access to the health services they need," said Congressman Miller, who fought hard to pass the Recovery Act into law last year.

“This funding will expand the County’s ability to serve children in our community and insert much needed construction dollars into the local economy to help create jobs. The Recovery Act has always been about accomplishing two goals at once – create jobs to help end the recession and make critical investments in our community. The County’s dental clinic in Vacaville will do just that,” Congressman Miller said.

The County received word in December that the federal Health Resources and Services Administration was awarding the County federal stimulus dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to build the six-chair, 3,000-sqaure-foot clinic as part of the two-story 25,000-sqaure-foot William J. Carroll Government Center being built on Monte Vista Avenue.

The funding for the dental clinic comes out of $1.5 billion made available by the Recovery Act to support health centers nationwide, to expand their capacity and to provide primary and preventive health services to medically underserved populations.

The County anticipates breaking ground on the project in December 2010 and opening the clinic in 2012.

“Our partnership with the federal government to serve the people of Solano County has come through once again. This funding will expand the services at this clinic to meet the growing demand in northern Solano County,” said Supervisor John Vasquez.

An estimated 18 percent of the patient visits at the County’s Dental Clinic in Fairfield are from residents in Vacaville, Dixon, Rio Vista and the unincorporated area. County officials said these numbers under represent the actual need based on statewide estimates that only 26 percent of the people eligible for Medi-Cal dental benefits access treatment.

“A new dental clinic in Vacaville will provide residents of northern Solano County easier access to dental care,” said Dr. Frank Woo, Solano County Dental Clinic manager. “Transportation can be problematic for our clients. These clients will no longer have to come to Fairfield for dental care.”

The dental clinic will provide general dental services and oral surgery, including the use of general anesthesia. The clinic will also screen patients for high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. Dental staff will refer these patients to the County’s primary care clinics for follow-up care.

“Children’s oral health is a significant issue in California and Solano County alike,” Dr. Woo said. “The new clinic will allow a quicker response to dental issues resulting in fewer dental emergencies and less costly procedures.”

Statewide dental statistics reveal that more than 50 percent of children have dental decay by kindergarten and 28 percent them have untreated decay and 19 percent have extensive decay.

According to research by the Pew Center on the States, an estimated 80 percent of dental disease in children nationwide is concentrated in 25 percent of kids, and children from poor families face disproportionately high barriers to getting care.

“Helping our kids maintain healthy teeth will make it possible for them to thrive in school and become healthy, productive adults,” Supervisor Vasquez said.

Posted: Jan. 29, 2010

Local economy OK with Travis' help

Local economy OK with Travis' help
By Danny Bernardini
Posted: 01/29/2010 01:01:39 AM PST

As bad as the local economy has been in the past few years, it could be worse and has been kept afloat with the help of $1.6 billion of impact from Travis Air Force Base.
That was the theme Thursday during the 27th Annual Meeting of the Solano Economic Development Corporation held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield. The event featured a detailed report on factors surrounding the economic downturn, along with short speeches from three colonels from Travis.
Mike Ammann, president of the SEDC, kicked off the event by highlighting the new businesses and major plans passed in each of the county's seven cities. He said Solano County actually entered a recession in 2007, which may mean it could bounce back sooner than other areas.
"We went in earlier than Los Angeles and the Bay Area," he said after the event. "But we didn't go as far down as other people."
Highlighting a mixture of good and bad news, consultant Doug Henton presented the 2009 Index of Economic and Community Progress. As he did last year, Henton showed that although some progress was made throughout the year that strengthened the economy, there were still several areas to improve.
Some of the topics discussed included how some of those laid off end up venturing out on their own to create new businesses. Henton also mentioned that with less people moving to the region due to the lack of new construction, more value has been added rather than simply more jobs.
He said with jobs at a premium, those available are drawing interest of more qualified applicants. Henton also mentioned that Solano County is a leader among green energy, especially wind powered.
"We're trying to go beyond the headlines and see what's underneath," he said of the index. "Even in down times, there are some interesting things happening."
High school graduation rates continue to fall and students are less prepared for state universities and colleges, he said. Henton said there is also a lack of proficiency in math and science, but those trends are seen throughout the state as well.
Also speaking to the crowd was Wing Commander Col. James Vechery of the 60th Air Mobility Wing. He said with more than 1,000 troops currently deployed, it's the largest group since he took over six months ago. That included six crews in Haiti.
Including jobs created by the base and the payroll to airmen, Vechery said $1.6 billion was pumped into the local economy.
Vechery said there is a strong relationship with Solano County businesses and residents. One project Travis is working on with the business community is creating a logo to place in the window that advertises a military discount.
"It will be right there so they don't have to ask that awkward question," he said.
Col. John Lipinski, commander of the 615th Contingency Response Wing, said the coexistence of the base and the surrounding area is commendable.
"What's really special is the support from the civic leaders, the business leaders and the citizens," Lipinski said. "The support you give us makes a significant impact. You can't measure that with dollar signs."
Report shows silver lining to local economy

UC Davis $570,000, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation

GRANT TO STUDY HOW CELLS SENSE ELECTRIC FIELDS

Learning how living cells can detect and respond to electric fields is the aim of a $570,000, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to Min Zhao, professor of dermatology and ophthalmology at the UC Davis Health System and Center for Neuroscience.

Living cells are already known to respond to electric fields, as well as being able to sense light, temperature and chemical signals.
Understanding this mechanism would establish a new biological signaling mechanism, with implications for engineering tissues and wound healing as well as in basic science, Zhao said.

Zhao and colleagues will use the grant to generate hundreds of thousands of genetic mutations in the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. They will collaborate with Tingrui Pan, professor of biomedical engineering, to develop methods to quickly screen thousands of mutant amoebae for those that do not respond to electric fields. Those defective amoebae will allow the scientists to home in on the genes and molecules responsible.

Dictyostelium was selected for the study because it is the simplest cell to work with that also moves, Zhao said.

In previous work, Zhao and his collaborators found that wounds generate a weak electric field that guides cells moving in to repair the wound.

"The big question is, how do the cells detect the electric field?"
Zhao said. He believes that there is a molecule or set of molecules within cells that respond to electric fields.

Media contact(s):
* Carole Gan, UC Davis Health System Public Affairs, (916) 734-9047, carole.gan@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
* Andy Fell, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu

California should be able to advance more in line with national trends

California has a huge and diverse economy that currently accounts for just over 1/8 of total U. S. GDP. Annual state GDP data show that California has tended to grow moderately faster than the national economy. From 1998 to 2008, California’s economy grew 0.5 percent faster than the nation on average, continuing the same sort of outperformance that was typical in the prior 35 years.

In the last few years, however, the bursting of California’s outsized housing bubble has caused the state to uncharacteristically lag national trends. In 2007 and 2008, real GDP in the state trailed the nation by 0.3 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively. Judging from labor market reports and other data, California almost certainly lagged national growth again in 2009. This year, however, California should be able to advance more in line with national trends, now that its housing sector has begun to recover.

Regards,
Dana Johnson

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