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Persistent Poison: A Solution Within Reach

03.29.2018
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By Angela Johnston & Marissa Ortega-Welch, KALW/Crosscurrents
In Alameda County, which has some of the highest lead levels in the country, an energetic public health nurse helps families after their child has been lead poisoned. But her work is a stopgap solution. What’s the answer to preventing leading poisoning before it starts? In her job as a public health nurse, Diep Tran deals with the worst cases of lead poisoning in Alameda county. She has a lot of hard days, but today is a good day.

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Persistent Poison: The Lead Data Gap

03.28.2018
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By Angela Johnston & Marissa Ortega-Welch, KALW/Crosscurrents
The numbers show the lead poisoning problem in the Bay Area is bad but is what we know just the tip of the iceberg? Lead-poisoned kids make their way into the public health system if their doctors order blood tests. These blood tests typically happen when kids are pretty scared of needles, around their first and second birthdays. Those are the most likely ages for exposure, when kids are crawling around on the floor, putting their hands in their mouths. If kids get lead poisoning at this young age, it’s dangerous for their future.

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Mountain View or Googleville?

03.28.2018
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Tech giant’s growth may be turning Silicon Valley city into a company town
The tech industry has brought jobs and unprecedented prosperity to the Mountain View area. This once-small, sleepy agricultural town is now synonymous with progress, wealth and the future. » Read more

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Persistent Poison: Lead and the Bay Area Housing Crisis

03.27.2018
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By Angela Johnston & Marissa Ortega-Welch, KALW/Crosscurrents
We meet Souleika Dirieh and Tarek Cherif at the hummus factory they own in San Leandro. Their 3-year-old daughter Kawkeb loves playing outdoors. When we visit, she runs between empty food crates, deep in a game of hide-and-go-seek with her mom. Inside the factory, the Cherifs and their employees make dozens of different types of hummus. Piles of ripped pita bread sizzle in the deep fryer before being sprinkled with spices, then packaged and shipped off to farmers markets around the Bay Area.

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Persistent Poison: Living With Lead Poisoning

03.26.2018
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By Marissa Ortega-Welch and Angela Johnston, KALW/Crosscurrents
Public health nurse Diep Tran thought she would be out of her job by now. “Our plan was for lead poisoning to be gone, eradicated by 2010, and yet we are still getting too many cases,” she says. This is the woman who manages all the severe lead poisoning cases for Alameda County. Diep is in her 60s, has a short bobbed haircut and a lot of energy. She works all the time.

From the Newsroom

A New Generation of Journalists

03.26.2018
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It’s not enough to produce high-impact journalism. A core component of our mission is to train tomorrow’s muckrakers, who will go on to elevate the craft throughout their careers.
What have some of our best and brightest gotten out of their time with us? » Read more

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Here’s the Data Facebook Has on Users and How the Company Gathers It

03.22.2018
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By Sam Harnett, KQED News/The California Report
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in apology mode over how Facebook profile data was used in the 2016 election. Wednesday night on CNN, Zuckerberg said the company was not on top of data security like it should have been. Here’s what happened. Facebook has tons and tons of apps on it made by third-party developers — games, quizzes, etc. One of these third-party developers made a little personality quiz app.

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California Tops in Suspension Reform, but Still not Properly Targeting Disparities: Report

03.21.2018
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By David Washburn, EdSource
California in recent years has arguably become the best state in the nation at holding school districts accountable for their suspension rates — but a number of districts are still lagging considerably when it comes to addressing suspension disparities among specific groups of students and supporting alternatives to traditional discipline, according to a new statewide report. Thanks to the debut last year of the school accountability system known as the California School Dashboard, the state is one of just three nationwide to include suspension rates as a top indicator of overall school performance, and it sets the most stringent goals, asserts the report released Thursday by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a nationwide crime prevention and youth advocacy organization. Read the complete story at EdSource.

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Climate’s Day in Court: Maybe Not the Great Debate, But Still a ‘Big Deal’

03.20.2018
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By Craig Miller, KQED News Fix
The spotlight will be on a San Francisco courtroom Wednesday, when climate science finally gets its day in court. The cities of Oakland and San Francisco are suing several oil companies for the costs of adapting to climate change impacts, such as rising sea levels that threaten to flood critical infrastructure. Judge William Alsup has taken the unusual step of asking both sides to present their views on the state of climate science. For more information on climate change, read Public Press special reports on sea level rise and cap and trade. 
Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.