VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Congresswoman Julia Brownley announced Thursday that she will not seek reelection in 2026.

Congresswoman Brownley was first elected in 2012 and currently serves as the Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health as well as a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Natural Resources.

"Serving our community and our country has been the honor of my lifetime," explained Congresswoman Brownley in a statement Thursday. "Every step of this journey has been shaped by the people I represent, by their resilience, their determination, and their belief that government can and should work for the common good. Together, we have expanded access to affordable health care, strengthened support for veterans and their families, protected our natural resources, confronted the climate crisis, and fought for working families. We have helped thousands of constituents navigate the federal government, returned millions in earned benefits, and never lost sight of the simple truth that public service is about showing up for people when they need help the most.

She will serve the remainder of her current term after winning 56 percent of the vote in the last election cycle.

"With another year remaining in my term, I will continue working every day to deliver results for our region, advance legislation that improves the lives and livelihoods of people in my district and across our country, and stand up for the values and priorities my constituents sent me here to defend."

Brownley is mother to two children, Hannah and Fred, and a grandmother who worked in marketing before joining Congress. She currently lives in Thousand Oaks and has a B.A. in Political Science from George Washington University and a M.B.A. from American University.

California's 26th Congressional District largely contains most of Ventura County and includes the cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Calabasses, and Agoura Hills.

While her term in Congress is coming to a conclusion, she shared her belief about the future of the nation in closing Thursday's announcement.

"Despite the immense challenges we are currently facing, I remain deeply optimistic about the future of our country. The American experiment has endured not because it is perfect, but because generations of Americans continue to believe in it and work to make it more just, more equal, and more reflective of those it serves. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to have played a part in that work, and I know we will learn from this moment in time how to shore up our democracy to make it even stronger for the generations that will follow."

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The post Luxury Oceanfront Estate in Santa Barbara’s Mesa Neighborhood Hits the Market for $14.5 Million appeared first on edhat.

* WHAT…Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to
elevated surf expected.

* WHERE…Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands, Ventura County
Beaches, Malibu Coast and Los Angeles County Beaches.

* WHEN…Through Friday evening.

* IMPACTS…There is an increased risk of ocean drowning. Rip
currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can
wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats
nearshore.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Surf heights of 3 to 6 feet with local
sets to 7 feet are expected.
Remain out of the water due to hazardous swimming conditions, or
stay near occupied lifeguard towers. Rock jetties can be deadly
in such conditions, stay off the rocks.

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department has created a newly redesigned website that tracks the number of respiratory virus cases in the community.

"(The website) contains three separate dashboards on it," said Roxanne Archer, San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department Epidemiologist. "One focuses on wastewater. One looks at test positivity, and then the last one looks at vaccination rates. All of those cover COVID, our seasonal influenza, and then all except for the vaccination dashboard also covers RSV, which is respiratory syncytial virus."

The new and improved website has been in operation since late November, but the county is just now spreading the word to the public.

"We know how important it is for community members to stay informed about respiratory
illness trends during the winter months," Dr. Penny Borenstein, San Luis Obispo County Health Officer said in a statement. "These new dashboard tools make it easier than ever for our community to see what’s happening locally and take the steps they need to stay healthy during respiratory virus
season."

According to the Public Health Department, some of the updates are new interactive charts that let viewers easily toggle between COVID-19, flu, and RSV data.

The county said the comparison allows users to see how different viruses are trending locally and make informed decisions about prevention measures, such as vaccination, testing, and masking when appropriate.

"We're really hoping that all of these dashboards can be used by our community members as well as our, community based organizations and physicians so that they can have a better sense of what diseases are circulating in their community at a given time," said Archer. "Say you live in Los Osos, so you can have a look at the Los Osos wastewater and see if COVID is increasing more in your area than in others. and it can help guide your decision making and keeping yourself and your community healthy."

To view the new redesigned San Luis Obispo County respiratory virus data dashboard, click here.

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