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Two of the city's priority projects are getting support in Congress.

Upland City Manager Robb Quincey, Assistant City Manager Rod Foster, Mayor John Pomierski and Mayor Pro Tem Brendan Brandt traveled to Washington D.C. On March 30 to request funds for a list of projects going on within the city.

The city requested $4.5 million to add two lanes to Arrow Rte.

$13 million was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 to be used toward the Upland storm water collection and groundwater basin recharge project. The city is requesting appropriations of $5 million for year 2010, $5 million for 2011 and $3 million for 2012.

"We know what we're doing and for us to see the security of $13 million was not a light lift. It was a lot of work and now we're trying to get appropriations to spend that money," Quincey said. "It's a process. It's not something that gets done in one year or overnight. It takes a lot of years, a lot of relationship building and a lot of details in being able to present to them exactly what it is we're trying to accomplish."

Other projects on the list are water facility protection, intelligent transportation systems, San Antonio Park, regional recreation complex, Downtown Upland revitalization, Route 66 revitalization, and a children's library.

Funding was also requested for public safety projects such as a fire training tower, a public safety mobile command vehicle and a ballistic armored response vehicle.

The officials met with Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California and Senator Barbara Boxer, D-California and their staff.

"Congressman Dreier and Senator Feinstein, they recognize local priorities they understand, they came from local jurisdictions," Quincey said. "They are also quick to point out competing interests, everyone is looking for help from the Federal government, we're no different. They try to evaluate our projects versus other projects and they're very candid with us about the process and what we need to do."

Dreier said he has introduced requests for the funding, but the outcome is unknown.

"I know there is a lot of controversy around what critics call earmarks. I call them congressional initiatives and I have introduced a request for funding for those and the main reason is if you look at the fact that the people whom I represent have a tax liability," Dreier said. "They are paying Federal taxes and I think that we should be able to address those priorities."

The transportation of goods from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to other parts of the country is an important local and National issue for Dreier, he said.

"Because this is still, even with the economic downturn, a very important growth area for not only California but for the country and they know we are working on and supporting the requests that they've made."

Members of the Upland Rotary Club will join fellow Rotarians around the world on Saturday April 25 as they work on community service projects in their respective communities as part of Rotarians at Work Day.

This year Upland Rotarians will meet to work on a landscaping project at the Upland's YMCA.

Rotarians at Work Day happens the last Saturday in April each year. Started in 2006 as a joint effort between two Rotary Districts - one in the United States and one in Mexico - Rotarians at Work Day continues to grow. Each year Rotary Clubs around the world identify hands-on projects that all members participate in to help their local communities.

Exemplifying the Rotary motto "Service Above Self," the Upland Rotary Club will join 2,500 Rotarians from 62 clubs in Rotary District 5300 to perform a wide variety of hands-on community service activities in their respective neighborhoods.

"We are proud to work together to aid and improve our communities and the lives of our neighbors," said Deborah Stone, President of the Rotary Club of Upland in a news release.

For more information about the work project or general information about the Upland Rotary Club contact Debra Stone at (909) 982-1369.

The three winners of an Arbor Day Contest were recognized during last night's city council meeting.

Mayor John Pomierski and the Upland City Council awarded Christina Dang of Baldy View, Skyler DeLosReyes of Foothill Knolls and Alyson Sifling of Sycamore Elementary schools.

The three students had their winning artwork on display at the front of the City Council Chambers. 

The California Redwood is the California State tree.

Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care.

National Arbor Day is April 24.

The Upland High School Percussion Ensemble is going to participate in the Winter Guard International championship finals April 17 and 18 for the first time.

The Ensemble, made up of marching percussion (battery) and front ensemble (pit).

There are three categories in the competition. From highest technicality to lowest is World Class, Open Class and A Class. Upland High School will be competing under World Class.

Here's a list of the students leaving for the competition April 15:

Pit Section (front ensemble)
 
Heather Bland
Christen Jennings
Janine Johnson
Debi Lam
Tim Sandoval 
Alex Sotomayer
Lauren Taylor
Rebecca Vieau
Caleb Walden
Dominic York-Mitchell

Tenor Drums

Kyle Bland
Adam Gatica
Aaron Roth

Snare Drums

Marisa Gardner
Ian Harvey
Isaac Loera
Ryan Pena

Bass Drums

Jeremy Chen
Marty Connor
Alex Cruz
Laura Pedersen
Lexie Petschow

Cymbal Line

Michael Beisel
Joey Klein
Robert MacCallum
Kassle Molinar

Here's the list of schools participating in the championship for World Class

Arcadia High School of Arcadia, CA
Avon High School of Avon, IN
Ayala High School of Chino Hills, CA
Center Grove High School of Greenwood, IN
Centerville High School of Centerville, OH
Chino Hills High School of Chino Hills, CA
Choctawhatchee High School of Ft. Walton Beach, FL
Dartmouth High School of Dartmouth, MA
Forsyth Central High School of Cumming, GA
Fred J. Page High School of Frankline, TN
James Logan High School of Union City, CA
Mission Viejo High School of Mission Viejo, CA
Northglenn High School of Northglenn, CO
Petal High School of Petal, MS
Plymouth-Canton High School of Canton, MI
Upland High School of Upland, CA
Walled Lake High School of Walled Lake, MI
   

Census workers beginning this week will participate in the 2010 census address canvasing operation.

Workers will be going door to door verifying more than 151 million home addresses to ensure every  housing unit will receive a 2010 census questionnaire in March 2010, according to a U.S. Census Bureau news release.

The operation is expected to end in mid-July.

Workers will be carrying hand-held computers with GPS in order to increase geographic accuracy.

"The primary goal of the census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place," said Tom Mesenbourg, acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau in the news release. "Because the census is used for reapportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the distribution of more than $300 billion in federal dollars every year to state and local governments, it's essential to get this first step right."

According to a San Antonio Heights resident participating in the address verification operation, Census workers can be identified by identification and confidentiality notices. They will likely be carrying a black canvas bag with "U.S. Census" printed on it.

The workers will need to collect "map spots" for every place someone lives or could live. This must be done from the front entrance of the residence or as close to the front entrance as possible, the resident said.

San Antonio Community Hospital has achieved a spot in the Thomson Reuters top 100 hospitals study.

The hospital was one of four hospitals in California to be included in the top 100 and is the only in San Bernardino County.

This is the first recognition of it's kind since the hospital opened in 1907.

"It's a tremendous acknowledgment of all the work and efforts that all of the people at this organization have put in over the last four or five years," said Steven Moreau, president and CEO of San Antonio Community Hospital. "The hospital works together to continuously improve and the results are evident now.

The hospital administration did not know San Antonio Community Hospital was being evaluated in the study until the rankings were completed, Moreau said.

"It means a lot to be recognized by an external organization that look at objective data," he said. "At the end of the year they decided who were the higher performers in the county and we happen to be in the top 100. We're proud of that."

The Thomson Reuters study evaluated performance in nine areas: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, cash-to-debt ratio, patient satisfaction and adherence to clinical standards of care.

"I believe this is the most prestigious and most objective reward," Moreau said. "It's not based on perception, not based on peoples thought process. This is a fundamental statistical review of results for all the hospitals across the country. I think it's the most valid and most valued one."

Within the top 100, hospitals were broken down into five categories: major teaching hospitals, teaching hospitals, large community  hospitals, medium community hospitals and small community hospitals.

San Antonio Community is considered a large community hospital and was the only California hospital in the category.

According to the study results, if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as patients treated in the top 100 hospitals: more than 107,500 additional patients would survive each year, nearly 132,000 patient complications would be avoided annually, expenses would decline by $5.9 billion a year and the average patient stay would decrease by nearly half a day.

San Antonio Community Hospital was also named one of the top 23 hospitals nationwide to receive the first ever Everest Award for National Benchmarks - an award for hospitals that set national benchmarks for the fastest five-year rate of improvement.

"All of those were at benchmark levels," Moreau said. "That says a lot about where we were and where we are."

Teamwork among the administration, nursing staff, physicians and hospitals employees led to the hospital receiving both awards, said Dr. Victor Ching, President of the Medical Staff at San Antonio Community Hospital.

"I think it's just a continuous pursuit of excellence and I think that's where we want to be," Ching said. "It shows a real leadership at the top. It filters down through everything that's done."

Ching has been a physician with the hospital since 1982 and has seen the the hospital's growth over the years.

"I think all along it's always been about the patient care, patient safety and what is good for the patient," Ching said. "But now there is a lot of differences as far as documentation and roving that our patients do get the best care."

West Anaheim Medical Center in Anaheim, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff and Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville were the other three California hospitals in the top 100.

For the complete list of winners click here.

For the complete list of Everest Award winners click here.

Pearl Diala has wanted to be a pediatrician since she was 5 years old.

"I had a neighbor that would dress me up as a doctor, and I would go with him to work," Pearl said.

Pearl, 16, has followed her ambition to become president of the Upland chapter of Health Occupations Students of America.

On Tuesday, the Upland High School senior spoke to a group of students from Upland High as well as Upland and Pioneer junior high schools during a special presentation about careers in the medical field.

Pearl was joined by representatives from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, University of La Verne, UCLA Medical Center and Western University of Health Sciences.

"We are here to inform students and let them know what it takes to be in the medical field," Pearl said.

"We inform them about the need for careers out there and the ways they can get accepted into medical schools."

Students with an interest in career in health were excused from their class for the presentation.

Richard Hernandez, special projects director for Reach Out West End, passed out charts that included information on salaries and different medical professions.

"We teach kids the different type of things they can do in health and try to pique their interest," Hernandez said.

Upland High offers a biomedical pathway for students to get a jump start on their education in the medical field.

"I think it's exciting that they are really interested especially with the economy," said Mary Sliney, teacher with the Baldy View Regional Occupation Program. "Health careers are not going anywhere."

Read the full article here.

A story from the Associated Press posted on News 24/7 on the Daily Bulletin Web site:

Today, many poor and rural areas already face doctor shortages, and primary care positions go unfilled as doctors gravitate to higher-paying medical specialties. Graduating more doctors doesn't directly address either problem, but is a key part of the answer, medical groups say.

This year alone, the number of accredited medical schools training doctors in the U.S. is set to grow by four to 130. Five others have applied for accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, with the aim of accepting students in 2010 or 2011.

Read the full story here.