u/AdreanaInLB

The California Wild Grape (Vitis californica) or Desert Wild Grape (Vitis girdiana)

And Ghostbusters. Walking right behind actual ghostbusters in the parade was definitely fun.

These were outside the dumpster that sits between First Congregational Church of Long Beach and The Potholder Restaurant. On Cedar in between 3rd and Broadway

A guy from my church, Don, who lives over in Lakewood just had his house repainted with this specialized heat-reflective ceramic paint. The goal was to bounce the sun off his walls so his house doesn't turn into an oven this summer.

I actually ended up having a really long conversation with the dude Don hired to paint the house (Michael). The science behind how the paint actually works (it uses microscopic hollow ceramic spheres) and the insane ways DIYers accidentally rot their wood siding trying to use it was fascinating. I thought it was so interesting that I actually wrote up an article for the Long Beach Patch about the "dos and don'ts" of the project.

But it got me thinking, and I wanted to ask the homeowners on this sub: Does this stuff actually work well for us here on the coast? Don is more inland over in Lakewood where it just bakes. But I'm wondering how these heavy "elastomeric" and ceramic paints hold up in the long haul with our morning fog, sea salt, and the heavy marine layer.

Does the coastal moisture mess with the paint over the years? Does the moisture get trapped? Or is it still worth the investment to keep the house cool during those brutal late-summer heatwaves?

Would love to hear from anyone in LB who actually has this on their house!

(PS: If anyone is curious about the contractor interview, the science behind the ceramic spheres, or the mistakes to avoid if you're painting your house this summer, you can read the piece I wrote for Patch here: https://patch.com/california/longbeach-ca/beating-socal-summer-heat-science-heat-reflective-paints-how-avoid-costly-nodx)

Eighty-three hospitals in California are among 446 across 44 states and Washington, D.C., facing a heightened risk of closing, cutting services or laying off workers due to federal medicaid funding cuts, according to a new report.

These 446 at-risk hospitals collectively have 68,986 beds and served approximately 6.6 million patients in 2024. They employ approximately 275,458 direct patient care workers (this does not include non-medical workers, such as administrative staff).

Using census data to identify community demographics for each hospital,[5] We found that the communities served by these at-risk hospitals have a larger share of Black and Hispanic residents, as well as people living below the poverty line, than other hospitals. At-risk hospitals served communities that were 20% Hispanic and 13% Black, on average. For all other hospitals, the communities served were 13% Hispanic and 9% Black.

At-risk hospitals’ service areas also have a larger share of people living below the poverty line (16%) compared to other hospitals (13%). Nearly 20% of the at-risk hospitals (85) serve high-poverty areas.[6]

California has the highest number of at-risk hospitals, according to a report by Public Citizen. Public Citizen identified these 83 hospitals at a higher risk of closing, cutting services, or laying off workers:

• PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles
• Coalinga Regional Medical Center, Coalinga
• Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, Los Angeles
• Pioneers Memorial Hospital, Brawley
• Mad River Community Hospital, Arcata
• Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Los Angeles
• Sierra View Medical Center, Porterville
• El Centro Regional Medical Center, El Centro
• Adventist Health Bakersfield, Bakersfield
• East Los Angeles Doctors Hospital, Los Angeles
• Saint Agnes Medical Center, Fresno
• St. Joseph Hospital - Eureka, Eureka
• Delano Regional Medical Center, Delano
• Adventist Health Tulare, Tulare
• St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino
• Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Van Nuys
• Greater El Monte Community Hospital, South El Monte
• Dameron Hospital, Stockton
• Mark Twain Medical Center, San Andreas
• St. Mary Medical Center, Long Beach
• Kaweah Delta Medical Center, Visalia
• Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, San Francisco
• Adventist Health and Rideout, Marysville
• Glendale Memorial Hospital & Health Center, Glendale
• Southern Inyo Hospital, Lone Pine
• Palmdale Regional Medical Center, Palmdale
• L.A. Downtown Medical Center, Los Angeles
• Redwood Memorial Hospital, Fortuna
• San Gorgonio Memorial, Banning
• Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, Sun Valley
• Garfield Medical Center, Monterey Park
• Glenn Medical Center, Willows
• Menifee Valley Medical Center, Sun City
• Shasta Regional Medical Center, Redding
• Anaheim Global Medical Center, Anaheim
• Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale
• UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento
• Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro, San Pedro
• Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, Sacramento
• Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center, Garden Grove
• San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, San Gabriel
• Zuckerberg San Francisco General, San Francisco
• Ridgecrest Regional Hospital, Ridgecrest
• Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, Burbank
• Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills
• Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Anaheim
• Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego
• Watsonville Community Hospital, Watsonville
• Banner Lassen Medical Center, Susanville
• Coast Plaza Hospital, Norwalk
• Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, Lodi
• Adventist Health Mendocino Coast, Fort Bragg
• Sutter Solano Medical Center, Vallejo
• Laguna Honda Hospital, San Francisco
• CPMC - Mission Bernal Campus, San Francisco
• Alta Bates Medical Center, Berkeley
• Huntington Beach Hospital, Huntington Beach
• Biggs-Gridley Memorial Hospital, Gridley
• Loma Linda University Health - Murrieta, Murrieta
• Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Chula Vista
• Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, Tarzana
• Ventura County Medical Center, Ventura
• Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance, Torrance
• Emanate Health Medical Center, Covina
• Northern Inyo Hospital, Bishop
• South Coast Global Medical Center, Santa Ana
• Orange County Global Medical Center, Santa Ana
• UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
• Chapman Global Medical Center, Orange
• Sutter Delta Medical Center, Antioch
• Encino Hospital, Encino
• St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, Orange
• St. Johns Regional Medical Center, Oxnard
• San Dimas Community Hospital, San Dimas
• Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Santa Rosa
• St. Rose Hospital, Hayward
• Queen of the Valley Medical Center, Napa
• Regional Medical Center of San Jose, San Jose
• La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, La Palma
• Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside
• Healdsburg Hospital, Healdsburg
• Petaluma Valley Hospital, Petaluma
• Stanislaus Surgical, Modesto

Communities served by the at-risk hospitals have larger shares of Black and Hispanic residents and people living below the poverty line than communities served by other hospitals, according to the report.

The report found that those hospital service areas were 20.2% Hispanic and 13.3% Black on average, compared with 13.0% Hispanic and 8.9% Black for other hospitals. Nearly 20% of the at-risk hospitals, or 85 facilities, serve high-poverty areas, according to the report.

READ THE FULL REPORT

https://www.citizen.org/article/big-ugly-threat/

INITIAL SHORT READ IN PATCH

https://patch.com/california/longbeach-ca/s/k89ir/83-ca-hospitals-could-face-closure-after-federal-medicaid-cuts-new-report-shows?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=langstonpost

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN CALMATTERS

https://calmatters.org/health/2025/07/federal-budget-health-care-medicaid-medi-cal/