Multimedia Journalist & Filmmaker
An ambitious program designed to alter the future of thousands of residents of Hayward’s most vulnerable neighborhood has had its official launch after nearly a year of implementation. If it is successful, the program’s reach could spread to other communities across the country. The Hayward Promise Neighborhood is an initiative billed as attempt to break [...]
A heated debate continues in Richmond over a controversial soda tax that voters will decide on in the November election. The measure has drawn national attention and the American Beverage Association has spent millions of dollars to defeat the measure. “We’re going to be able to do something that no one else in the country [...]
Federal health care reform might not survive after a Supreme Court decision expected this week, but the preparations for an influx of new patients may have already changed the health care system. The Affordable Care Act allows for about 32 million newly insured Americans by 2019, and three to four million eligible by 2014, and [...]
A standard established in the 1970s meant to increase fire safety has turned out to be more harmful than it is helpful, according to environmental advocates. A California-specific rule known as TB 117 establishes fire safety in home furnishings, but furniture makers must include toxic chemicals in order to comply. Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Monday [...]
Primary care doctors have an increasingly significant role in health care reform. More and more, medical systems are focusing on creating what’s known as a “medical home” — a doctor or clinic who oversees and coordinates all of a patient’s health needs — a move intended to reduce costs and improve health by providing preventative [...]
Black students in Oakland public schools face harsher discipline, miss more school, and are likelier to dropout than white males, according to new research. The Urban Strategies Council conducted three studies analyzing data from the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The reports examined three areas – rates of suspension, chronic absenteeism, and dropout risk – that [...]
While the heated national debate about healthcare reform continues, many health communities in California are quietly making changes to prepare for the Affordable Care Act’s implementation. Federal funding is available to help community clinics transition towards what they will resemble in 2014. One important change that’s taking place: community clinic are moving towards becoming ‘medical [...]
Researchers and public health officials have known that the basis for adult health lies largely in childhood. The environment in which one is raised affects how healthy that person will be as they age. New research suggests that children who are repeatedly exposed to violence appear to be aging at a faster rate. Researchers at [...]
If you’re poor, you are also more likely to be sick with chronic diseases. Studies have demonstrated this truth time and again. For years, people have been trying to determine what exactly it is about poverty that causes poor health. Stress had always been a likely culprit, but scientists didn’t know how stress makes the body vulnerable. [...]
Laws intended to help our understanding of how drugs affect kids have increased our knowledge, but room for improvement remains, according to a recent Institute of Medicine report. How drugs work in newborns and the long-term effects of drugs used on children are two of the areas that need more examination, the authors said. The [...]