In its 2021 Budget request to Congress, submitted on Feb. 10, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is asking for $152.9 million in additional funding in order to construct the clinic and administrative office building at Alameda Point. Up until now, the VA had funding only for site grading, utilities and road work, the first phase of the cemetery and on-site wetland mitigation.
In January, Encinal High School (EHS) installed eight surveillance cameras in response to the overwhelming number of fire alarms being pulled throughout the course of 2019. The cameras were an attempt to deter students from pulling alarms and setting fires on campus.
Before the installation of the cameras, EHS was using private security guards, different from school police or campus security, to monitor the campus. They were hired due to the intentional fires caused by students.
Six of the eight Alameda firefighters that were under a quarantine mandate by Alameda County Public Health Department officials have been cleared to return to duty today, Wednesday, March 18. City officials believe the remaining two firefighters will be cleared to return to duty within one week.
The decision to quarantine, test and clear the eight firefighters were done by county health officials, not Alameda city officials.
The City of Alameda announced that eight additional Alameda firefighters were placed under quarantine on March 13 while they await their COVID-19 test results.
The quarantine directive for the eight firefighters came after it was announced on March 10 that a separate, unidentified firefighter tested positive for the COVID-19 virus (“Alameda Firefighter Tests Positive for COVID-19” March 12 online exclusive).
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), coronavirus belongs to a family that includes the common cold. However, the strain, identified as COVID-19, is not the same as the coronaviruses that commonly circulate among humans and cause mild illnesses. COVID-19 is related to strains that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was confirmed Jan. 21. There are, as yet, no vaccine against COVID-19 and no antiviral treatment.
