Funding and improvements are on the way for joint use projects in San Diego.

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday weighed in on California’s pricey battle with obesity, calling for the elimination of sugary “sports drinks” in schools and more vigorous physical activity during and after school.

PLACENTIA — The city of Placentia has officially agreed to buy the now defunct Boys & Girls Clubs facility on Crowther Avenue. Officials from the cash-strapped Boys & Girls Clubs of Brea, Placentia and Yorba Linda plan to use the money to pay off a construction firm it owes for finished work on the new Brea facility.

California Project LEAN, in partnership with the California Center for Physical Activity, has taken the lead for the physical activity component of the funding.  The physical activity initiative will focus on joint use of school facilities, and CDPH will lay the ground work to advance state and local policies that increase equitable access to safe and attractive school facilities outside of the school day for physical activity and recreation.

Believing that a field is a terrible thing to waste, members of the Ross Valley Lacrosse Club are hoping to work with the College of Marin to turn the Kentfield school’s abandoned football field into a facility they and other youth sports leagues could use.

City leaders are set to explore ways to partner with the school district to upgrade its high school athletic fields. A plan on how to move forward could come in May.

The way the Maple Alumni Committee sees it, the addition of a regulation basketball court in the $1.2 million Lemon Park renovation plan means more than just another concrete slab and a few hoops. It means a youth basketball league, obesity prevention, a deterrent to gang involvement and a chance for immigrant children and their parents to learn a popular American sport.

Palm Desert High School’s gymnasium may be saved from the wrecking ball if a shared-use agreement continues to move forward.

The Los Angeles school board is considering authorizing $3 million for the construction of a new swimming pool at San Pedro High School. The new pool would be operated through a joint-use agreement with the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

The Society for New Communications Research has honored Berkeley Media Studies Group and Prevention Institute with a 2009 Excellence in New Communications Award for together creating jointuse.org on behalf of the Joint Use Statewide Task Force. The organizations were recognized in the collaboration and co-creation category for nonprofits.