The Huntington acquires historic Goya painting
Rivas announces bid for Congress, endorsed by Rep. Cárdenas
Pg 24
Pg 02
VISIT ARCADIAWEEKLY.COM
Local. Relevant. Trusted.
Thursday, November 23-November 29, 2023
Sustainable Arcadia: Officials talk conservation, climate change initiatives By Joe Taglieri
C
ities throughout the Los Angeles area and increasingly nationwide are taking steps to reduce climate-changing carbon emissions, conserve water and recycle. Arcadia officials shared a rundown of the city's sustainability efforts. “From wildfires to flooding, Arcadia has experienced the devastating impacts of climate change firsthand," City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a statement to Arcadia Weekly. "We have made smart investments into green technology that has improved our bottom line and enhanced operations." Water conservation Conserving earth's most essential resource increasingly has become a higher priority for officials at all levels of government. Deputy City Manager Justine Bruno shared these water-related efforts in Arcadia: Regional stormwater reuse — Arcadia officials led the effort last year to organize a five-city Joint Powers Authority "to capture, treat and reuse stormwater regionally," Bruno said in an email to Arcadia Weekly. The JPA includes Bradbury, Duarte, Monrovia and Sierra Madre. "By working together, the Cities will save hundreds of millions of dollars and capture more stormwater," Bruno said. Tiered water rates — Arcadia established in 2015 a tiered structure for water bills that encourages conservation through seasonal pricing and penalties for overusing water.
Health insurers have been breaking state laws for years By Maya Miller & Robin Fields, ProPublica
Series: Uncovered:How the Insurance Industry Denies Coverage to Patients ealth insurers reject millions of claims for treatment every year in America. Corporate insiders, recordings and internal emails expose the system and its harm. In North Carolina, lawmakers outraged that breast cancer patients were being denied reconstructive surgeries passed a measure forcing health insurers to pay for them. In Arizona, legislators intervened to protect patients with diabetes, requiring health plans to cover their supplies. Elected officials in more than a dozen states, from Oklahoma to California, wrote laws demanding that insurance companies pay for emergency services. Over the last four decades, states have enacted hundreds of laws dictating precisely what insurers must cover so that consumers aren’t driven into debt or forced to go without medicines or procedures. But health plans have violated these mandates at least dozens of times in the last five years, ProPublica found. In the most egregious cases, patients have been denied coverage for lifesaving care. On Wednesday, a ProPublica investigation traced how a Michigan company would not pay for an FDA-approved cancer medication for a patient, Forrest VanPatten, even though a state law requires insurers to cover cancer drugs. That expensive treatment offered VanPatten his only chance for survival. The father of two died at the age 50, still battling the insurer for access to the therapy. Regulators never intervened. These laws don’t apply to every type of health plan, but they are supposed to provide protections for tens of millions of people. AHIP, a trade group that used to be known as America’s Health Insurance Plans, said new mandates are costly for consumers and states, “tie insurers’ hands and limit plan innovation” by requiring specific benefits. Nevertheless, its members take steps to make sure they are following these mandates, the trade group said. State insurance departments are responsible for enforcing these laws, but many are ill-equipped to do so, researchers, consumer advocates and even some regulators say. These agencies oversee all types of insurance, including plans covering cars, homes and people’s health. Yet they employed less people last year than they did a decade ago. Their first priority is making sure plans remain solvent; protecting consumers from unlawful
H
Arcadians participate in community composting. | Photo courtesy of the city of Arcadia
Arcadia High School, Bruno said. The general public gets "40% use of the turf fields for programming as a result," and the Arcadia Unified School District and the city have several joint-use agreements to share recreational space in order "to meet the needs of the entire community." Arcadia residents can also participate in the city's incentive program that rewards homeowners who achieve significant water savings annually because they have put drought-tolerant landscaping on their properties. Rebates — Arcadia offers rebate deals for residents that include 50% off showerheads and faucets and up to $500 in savings on pool and spa covers. Energy efficiency Clean Power Alliance — Arcadia was among the
NO. 148
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
joet@beaconmedianews.com
Drought tolerant landscaping — The city invested millions to convert all street medians "from water-intensive turf to drought-tolerant, water-wise landscaping," Bruno said. "This conversion balances aesthetics with function and helps save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water annually." Two Arcadia parks have switched from natural grass to artificial turf has also occurred at two City parks and is planned for a third. "The use of artificial turf over natural grass has saved the City water, hours of upkeep and maintenance, and results in more availability for programming and use," Bruno said. Civic Center Field and Eisenhower Memorial Park currently have artificialturf fields, and the city also provided 40% of the expense to install artificial turf at
VOL. 27,
founding cities in the Clean Power Alliance that was established in 2017. "It not only provides cost savings to customers over Southern California Edison rates, but allows them to choose up to 100% renewable energy for their homes and businesses," Bruno said. Currently the CPA has more than 30 member cities, including San Gabriel Valley neighbors Monrovia, Sierra Madre and South Pasadena. "Clean Power Alliance currently serves municipal and commercial customers in South Pasadena, Rolling Hills Estates, and unincorporated LA County," a CPA spokeswoman said. "As of February 2019, Clean Power Alliance began serving all residential customers in the following cities and counties: Agoura Hills, Alhambra,
See Sustainable Arcadia Page 23
See Health insurance Page 11