San Diego County recently received nearly $100 million from the state for behavioral health treatment.

The award was announced last Wednesday, with funding from Proposition 1, which voters approved in March 2024.

“It’s a milestone for behavioral health in San Diego County,” Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said at news conference Tuesday, celebrating the award.

The San Diego region is receiving $171 million, including $99.5 million for the county — that was the largest single award from the grant. Lawson-Remer said the money will go toward building a state-of-the-art Behavioral Health Wellness Campus in the Midway District.

It’s replacing the vacant complex adjacent to the existing San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital. It is expected to add 210 new treatment beds for mental health and substance abuse treatments and a hub for crisis stabilization and outpatient care.

“For too long we had a fragmented system,” Lawson-Remer said. “And still every single day, patients across San Diego County have to go sometimes one to five, 12 different places to get the treatment that they need.”

The county was one of three grantees in the region. The Pala Band of Mission Indians received $21.5 million for a substance abuse and mental health treatment center.

“We’re the first Native American tribe in Southern California to be awarded this grant.” Pala tribal Chairman Robert H. Smith said.

The center will be built near Chokla Mountain, also known as Gregory Mountain. Smith said it was vital to have mental health services on tribal land so the treatment stays connected to the culture.

“We want to keep them in their current surroundings, work with them with people they know, use traditional practices and help them get cured if we can with all the services we provide,” he said.

Chokla Mountain is considered sacred to the Luiseño people because it is believed to be the resting place of Tawkish, a deity who keeps the balance between life and death. Smith said that’s also why it’s a good place for healing.”

“Just the nature of the oak trees, the mountain — everything is there is extreme nature,” he said. “It just helps overall with the healing process.”

The facility is expected to open by September 2028 and will be open to all members of local Native American tribes.

Palomar Health was the third grantee in the region, receiving $50 million in restored funding for a 120-bed behavioral health campus in Escondido. The state rescinded the Round 1 award for the same amount in 2025 after Palomar failed to meet the matching-fund requirement.

It is time we recognize that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is actually a mental health condition most closely aligned with bipolar disorder. Those on the left experience sadness, depression and hopelessness. Those on the right experience excited euphoria, manic energy and a distorted sense of well-being.

These symptoms used to alternate between left-leaning Democrats on the one side and right-leaning Republicans on the other. Over the past six to 12 months, Trump Derangement Syndrome has become increasingly bipolar. A MAGA Republican’s distorted sense of well-being gives way to hopelessness about Democrats unified in opposition to anything Trump. Conversely, a hard-core Democrat may vacillate between depression that quickly switches to racing thoughts and agitation about Trump policies.

My point: When Trump supporters — or aides like Attorney General Pam Bondi in her testimony about the Epstein files — talk derisively about Trump Derangement Syndrome, they had best be looking in the mirror.

— Roger U. Bisson, El Cajon

We knew Snapdragon Stadium would host soccer matches during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. What we didn’t know is how many.

We got the answer Monday, and it was far more than expected: 11.

LA28 organizers reshuffled the Olympic soccer schedule, which initially planned to start east and progressively move west to reduce travel, leaving Snapdragon with maybe a quarterfinal or semifinal before the men’s and women’s tournaments conclude at the 89,702-seat Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Instead, they decided 35,000 capacity Snapdragon is such a suitable venue, both in amenities and vicinity to Los Angeles, that it will host more matches than any of the other six stadiums selected — starting with three women’s group stage doubleheaders on July 11, 14 and 17. (The soccer tournaments begin a few days before the July 14 Opening Ceremony.)

Snapdragon will also host a women’s quarterfinal (July 21), a men’s and women’s semi (July 24-25) and both bronze medal matches (July 27-28).

The 16-team women’s tournament is generally the more coveted ticket because it is a full national team event that comes just a year after the World Cup. The 12-team men’s tournament is for under-23 players with up to three overaged “wild cards” per team.

The draw won’t take place for another two years, so we don’t know who is playing where. And how you fare in the group stage determines what side of the bracket you land in for the knockout phase.

Based on the current schedule, a reasonable guess is that the U.S. women would be in San Diego for group matches, then move to the larger Rose Bowl for the quarters, semis and final while the opposite side of the bracket comes to San Diego.

Registration for the first ticket lottery ends Wednesday at tickets.la28.org, but it remains unclear whether San Diego County residents will be allowed to apply. Information on the LA28 website indicates the first ticket drop is available only to residents of Los Angeles and Oklahoma City (where the Olympic softball and canoe slalom will be held).

The other soccer venues are in San Jose, St. Louis, Nashville, New York and Columbus, Ohio. Of the seven total stadiums, only the Rose Bowl is not a Major League Soccer facility. To comply with Olympic sponsorship rules, Snapdragon will be referred to as “San Diego Stadium” during the Games.

“This is a huge moment for our city and everyone who believes in the unifying power of sports,” Mayor Todd Gloria said at the Feb. 3 news conference announcing that Snapdragon would host a then-unknown quantity of games. “San Diego is ready for the world stage. We are a sports city, we are a soccer city and we are without question a global city.”