SACRAMENTO, CA - Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) held a press conference announcing that the Sacramento Employment & Training Agency (SETA) is receiving $300,000 in federal funding to support SETA's On-The-Job Training Program. The event was held at the Beutler Corporation, located at McClellan Park, one of the several Sacramento companies that will be able to hire workers as a result of this grant. Congresswoman Matsui was joined by California Energy Commissioner Karen Douglas, SETA Executive Director Kathy Kossick, and Beutler Corporation President Rick Wylie to make the announcement, followed by a tour of Beutler's manufacturing plant. “I am excited to announce the all

Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced that the Crocker Art Museum has been awarded a federal Museums for America grant of $148,441 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). These funds can be used for a wide variety of projects, including research, planning, and new programs and activities that support the efforts of museums to integrate new technologies. “The Crocker Art Museum is one of the jewels of Sacramento, and this grant announcement is great news for our region,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “The federal funding will further enable the Crocker to provide valuable programming for Sacramento families, and to be a catalyst for our local arts scene.”

The State Senate Health Committee unanimously passed Assembly Bill 678 (AB678) Wednesday, bringing the possibility of millions of federal dollars for California fire departments closer to reality. Currently, fire departments that provide ambulance transportation for Medi-Cal patients are not reimbursed for the cost of the service from the federal Medicare program. These costs are instead absorbed into the fire departments’ general fund. AB678 would allow fire departments to tap into a federal program that provides a 50 percent match of those unreimbursed expenses, bringing in much-needed revenue in an economy that has forced fire department brownouts and reduced services. “First respond

Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-05) announced that two local Sacramento organizations will receive a combined $2,087,419 in AmeriCorps grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service, and will be able to hire 253 AmeriCorps members as a result. Congresswoman Matsui, Co-Chair of the bipartisan National Service Caucus, has been continually supportive of both AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service, and has helped lead the fight for adequate federal funding to support programs like these in the last several Congresses. “As our region continues to work toward economic recovery, these funds will help put 253 AmeriCorps participants to work in our

Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced that the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps (SRCC) has been awarded a Department of Labor competitive grant of $542,502 to support their YouthBuild program. This is in addition to the $1 million in federal funding SRCC received in June 2009 for their YouthBuild program; a three year grant that ends in 2012. “YouthBuild helps young people in Sacramento gain both the academic and work skills they need to succeed,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “By providing valuable job training skills and a modest stipend, the Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps is literally helping our youth build a better life, brick by brick, project by proj

The Sacramento Police Department is moving forward with plans to set up security cameras in multiple locations in the city by May 2011. However, the number of cameras the department plans to use and where they will be placed is unclear. In April 2009, the department announced it would use $615,000 in federal Homeland Security grant funding to purchase a surveillance equipment package. The deadline for the department to buy and put the surveillance equipment into effect is next May, according to department spokesman Konrad von Schoech. “Equipment has to be purchased and operational by May 2011, but some equipment will be operational before that date,” von Schoech wrote in an e-mail. The

The city of Sacramento is back at the drawing board — literally — on its efforts to set up a streetcar connecting to West Sacramento. A new study to plan the streetcar route in Sacramento has received $310,000 in federal grant funds. An additional $90,000 from a local source will help pay for the study, according to a July 27 report from the city’s Transportation Department. The City Council signed off on the new funding Tuesday night. “What we’ll be doing now is looking now more broadly at the best routes for that system on the Sacramento side,” Councilman Steve Cohn said Wednesday. In the most recent plan, the streetcar would run from West Sacramento City Hall, across Tower Bridge an

Do you know much about the local Homeland Security program? We reported recently that $3 million in federal funds will help fund the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security. But we wanted to learn more about the local program and its dozens of training classes for local agencies. The Sacramento Press sat down with Sacramento Police Deputy Chief Sam Somers and department spokesman Norm Leong to delve into the details of the regional office’s work. Sacramento Press: Can you provide details on how the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security will spend the $3 million in federal funds? Deputy Chief Sam Somers: The way that we spend that is in a couple different areas. [One a