By Clare Noonan
A slick Hollywood production it’s not. But a video by four Merced-area teens is a fresh, unvarnished look at the reality of life where they live.
Associated Press
By Helen Afrasiabi
A day reporting center keeps kids out of juvenile hall in Orange County.
By Callie Shanafelt
A program that turns troubled youths into paramedics is helping to change the lives of young men in Oakland.
By Melissa Flores
The Salinas Valley is in the heart of California’s central coast farmland, and once a year, local third-grade students get a chance to learn about the industry that drives the region.
By Julissa McKinnon
About 90 percent of Americans are overloading on sodium, but don’t blame your saltshaker.
Groundbreaking legislation passed in 2008 could be a major step toward changing the way neighborhoods are designed throughout the state, curbing sprawl and creating safer, more walkable communities. The law, known as SB 375, is a huge and unprecedented opportunity for public health, potentially making it safer and easier for all Californians — including elderly, disabled, and low-income residents — to be more active, breathe cleaner air, and even buy healthier foods.
But to make sure the law promotes public health on all of these fronts – and serves as a strong model for other states around the country – Californians need to keep policy leaders accountable for its potential.
By Melissa Flores
The sight of students running around Frank Paul Elementary School in Salinas has become a regular thing before school, during breaks and after classes end. The kindergarten through sixth-grade campus has 28 classes who signed up to participate in a fitness program that is meant to make exercise fun. The Just Run program was created seven years ago by people involved in the Big Sur International Marathon. The members, including Susan Love and Mike Dove, wanted to come up with a way to encourage fitness for children as obesity rates for both adults and children continued to rise.
By Minerva Perez
One California county needed to make some quick adjustments to accommodate the low-level offenders newly under their supervision since last year, when prison realignment started.
In the shadow of USC and close to a new light rail line, property in the northern portion of South L.A. couldn’t be hotter. Older homes and apartment buildings have been refurbished and rented to students at much higher rates than typical long-time working-class South L.A. families can afford. And new development is expected with the introduction of the Expo Line, making buildings like Rolland Curtis Gardens all that more attractive.
By Jessica Chang
For Terri Soares, Merced City School District Nutrition Services Director, it’s all about making the food familiar to students – from its taste to its shape. “Merced city kids have 4 flavor profiles that they know – fat, sugar, salt and fast food,” she said. “And unfortunately, introducing anything outside of those flavor profiles, [they need to become] accustomed to it.”