News Briefs

Child Safety Seat Enforcement

Sacramento – The California Highway Patrol has received a $2.3 million federal grant from the Office of Traffic Safety which it will use to beef up enforcement of safety seat enforcement.

CHP Commissioner Mike Brown said the money will be used for a combination of “how-to” presentations and “hands-on” events throughout the state focusing on providing parents and guardians with an opportunity to learn how to property restrain their children in safety seats.

Also, Brown said, the Statewide Highway Restraint Enforcement grant will be used to provide seats to parents who have seats for their children that don’t meet current safety standards. Money will also be used to increase the number of technicians certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to perform safety seat inspections.

County Supports Human Trafficking Penalty Bill

San Jose – The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has voted to support Assembly Bill 1278 to combat human trafficking. 

“Santa Clara County is committed to protecting all those within our borders, and taking steps to prevent human trafficking is one way of doing that,” said Don Gage, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

AB 1278 would increase the penalty of imprisonment to three, four or six years. It would also expand the scope of the offense of human trafficking to include causing, inducing, persuading, or attempting to cause, induce or persuade a minor under 18 years of age to engage in human trafficking activities. 

At the same time, AB 1278 prohibits contracts that allow deductions from a person’s wages for the cost of transporting that person to the United States. It would provide district attorneys with more power to prosecute those who traffic a minor. The bill would also allow for a single jurisdiction for prosecution when a trafficker operates in more than one county. 

“I support any effort aimed at reducing human trafficking,” said Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, Chair of the County of Santa Clara Public Safety and Justice Committee. “I am deeply saddened knowing that even one person is subjected to such inhumane treatment.”

Ag Professionals Eligible for Grants

Morgan Hill – Farmers, ranchers and agricultural professionals are eligible for funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program.

Grant recipients receive up to $15,000 as individuals and up to $30,000 for groups of three or more working together on a project. Funding can be requested for projects related to production practices and marketing alternatives, according to Western SARE representatives at UC-Davis.

“Projects to consider might be small research trials, demonstrations, farmer or rancher workshops or market surveys,” said David Chaney, education coordinator for the University of California’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program and the Western Region SARE representative. “We want to alert growers and ranchers in the Western United States that Dec. 7 is the deadline for these very useful grants.”

Dec. 7 is also the deadline for “Professional Producer” grant proposals. Under those grants, agricultural professionals such as Cooperative Extension educators or Natural Resources Conservation Service employees, coordinate the projects with farmers or ranchers serving an advisory role. The same funding levels apply depending on the number of producers involved.

Calls for proposals are available on the Web at http://wsare.usu.edu or by calling the Western SARE office at Utah State University, (435) 797-2257.