California enters 2010 in extraordinary fiscal circumstances, with a significant structural budget deficit that continues to require spending reductions in all areas of state government. At the same time, caseloads in our state’s biggest health and human services programs have grown dramatically in recent years, a reflection of both policy decisions to support the state’s safety net as well as the more recent dramatic economic downturn.
Fresno youth are capturing their neighborhoods in photos and writing short essays describing what they see. We’ll be featuring several of these photo essays in this space.
Gunfire is so common in Richmond, Calif., that residents of neighborhoods like the Iron Triangle no longer call 911 at the sound of shots fired, according to the city’s police department. In response, earlier this year, the city installed the ShotSpotter system. The sensors detect and pinpoint gunfire fired to a specific address, and call police to the scene less than a minute after shots are fired.
Ryan Nicole Peters is an Oakland spoken-word artist, youth counselor and aspiring politician. An idealistic young woman who wants to be a politician in these cynical times?
Five years after the Sacramento Hunger Commission targeted the South Sacramento neighborhoods of Avondale and Glen Elder in an effort to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables, the community’s food resources remain scarce. There is no major grocery store in the neighborhood, farmers markets are too few and far between, and community gardens have failed to catch on as a viable alternative for residents. HealthyCal contributor Nik Bonovich has the report.