US - West

Firefighters prepare to battle the Wolverine wildfire near Chelan, Washington, in this U.S. Forest Service picture taken August 16, 2015.  REUTERS/US FOREST SERVICE/HANDOUT

npr.org - by Lucy Perkins - August 17, 2015

The Army is deploying 200 soldiers to help fight wildfires that are burning through about 1.1 million acres across the Western United States. That's according to a press release from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

"It's been nine years since wildfire was so widespread all at once that active military troops joined firefighters battling blazes," NPR's Howard Berkes reports. "Four military C-130 cargo planes are also in use as air tankers."

A group at the fire center in Boise submitted the request to the Department of Defense, according to the press release, which cites about 95 large wildfires in seven states.

The DOD approved deployment of soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. They'll be organized into 10 crews, all sent to the same fire, which has yet to be announced.

New network expands US ability to respond to outbreaks of severe, highly infectious diseases

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES            June 12, 2015

WASHINGTON -- To further strengthen the nation’s infectious disease response capability, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has selected nine health departments and associated partner hospitals to become special regional treatment centers for patients with Ebola or other severe, highly infectious diseases.

HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has awarded approximately $20 million through its Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) to enhance the regional treatment centers’ capabilities to care for patients with Ebola or other highly infectious diseases. ASPR will provide an additional $9 million to these recipients in the subsequent four years to sustain their readiness...

The nine awardees and their partner hospitals are:

Throngs of visitors travel down Disneyland's Main Street USA in this file photo.
(Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

latimes.com - January 10, 2015

Measles has become a growing concern among California health officials. Before the December cases, 2014 was already the worst year for measles cases in California in nearly two decades.

The rise of these diseases come as a smaller percentage of California's kindergartners are getting a full set of immunizations by the time they enter school.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

By Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow | Next City | August 19, 2014

At one time, questionnaires about well-being were the province of mental health professionals. But in recent years, a growing number of city governments have been getting into the game. Last year, Santa Monica, California won a Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors’ Challenge grant to create a “Local Well-Being Index,” based in part on a survey it plans to administer next month. Other cities, including Seattle and Nevada City, Calif., are at various stages of implementing the idea as well (with different levels of direct municipal involvement). All share a goal that some see as unsuitable for government and others consider its fundamental task: to make citizens happier.

http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/happiest-cities-well-being-survey-policy