The Merced FOCUS

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Check out this week's news recap! To read the full story on any of these highlights, visit our website.🔗

A proposed one-cent sales tax that could be used to protect public safety services – while addressing a range of community needs from potholes to parks – will be decided by Merced voters on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Called the Vital Services Protection Measure, city officials say the sales tax will be used to make up for projected revenue losses in the coming years.
Read the full story linked in our comments below.🔗

A new report by the policy research group Urban Institute says recent federal policy changes to healthcare under the Trump administration could cause irreversible impacts to rural hospitals and the overall healthcare system.
Analysts forecast the number of uninsured people could rise in the coming years as policies take effect. The report looked at five different recent policy changes which researchers say will affect hospitals and health systems across the country in the months and years to come.
Some of the policy changes come from the major reconciliation bill passed last year, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. Read the full article, link in the comments.🔗

What happens when cities delay tenant protections?
In this op-ed, a longtime South Merced resident argues that no renter should have to choose between living in unsafe housing and losing their home.
Read the full opinion piece at the link in our comments. 🔗

Transgender people experiencing homelessness in multiple San Joaquin Valley cities are traveling to Modesto for emergency housing because, according to one advocate, providers there are better prepared to accommodate them than shelters in places such as Merced.

In the last five years, Katalina Zambrano, the executive director at CalPride Valle Central, an LGBTQ+ resource center in downtown Merced, has referred five unhoused clients to the Berberian Shelter in Stanislaus County.

Read the full story to learn more about:

•Why trans adults are being referred to the Berberian Shelter in Modesto
•Shelter operations in Merced
•How a HUD proposal could exacerbate the issue

Link in the comments. 🔗

This week's public meetings! Stay informed!

Have a look at last week's news recap! You can read the full stories on our website. Never want to miss a story? Visit our website today to get updates like these delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for our newsletter.