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Obama’s Plan for Immigration Reform — What You Need to Know

By New America Media Staff
Editor’s Note: On Nov. 20, 2014, President Barack Obama announced that he would take executive action to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Following his announcement, New America Media hosted a national telephonic press briefing for ethnic media reporters, with speakers Marielena Hincapié of National Immigration Law Center, Marshall Fitz of Center for American Progress and Sally Kinoshita of Immigrant Legal Resource Center. More than 75 reporters from around the country called in to ask questions about the impact it will have on their communities. Here are the answers to some of their most frequently asked questions. Read the complete story at New America Media. 

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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear S.F. Case on Police Handling of Disabled

By Associated Press/KQED News Fix
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will consider whether police must comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act when confronting armed or violent suspects who are mentally ill. The justices said Tuesday they will hear an appeal from the city and county of San Francisco, arguing that disability laws do not apply to officers facing violent circumstances. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

S.F. Alternative Court Provides Lifeline

Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
See accompanying story: Sentencing Reform Side Benefit: Behavioral Health Court Expansion
Five years ago, Kim Knoble said, she was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder while living in a substance-abuse recovery center. » Read more

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Sentencing Reform Side Benefit: Behavioral Health Court Expansion

Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
See accompanying story: S.F. Alternative Court Provides Lifeline
An new reform to California’s prisons that reduces tough sentences for some felonies could also provide a financial windfall to a long-running community court experiment that diverts people with mental illness out of the criminal justice system. » Read more

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Coastal Crabs in Survival Mode Under Climate Change

By Alison Hawkes, Bay Nature 
Porcelain crabs are adaptive critters. As they scuttle around the intertidal zone, they have to withstand wide swings in daily temperature and ocean water acidity. But even a hearty porcelain crab may be susceptible to the extremes brought on by climate change. Researchers at San Francisco State University’s Romberg Tiburon Center have just published a paper showing that these ubiquitous crabs, which inhabit nearly all the world’s oceans including Northern California coastal waters, can run out of energy for much beyond survival when their environment becomes too warm and too acidic, even for a brief period of time. Read the complete story at Bay Nature. 

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Q-and-A: Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi on San Francisco Jail System

Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
While the overall inmate population in San Francisco is declining, the percentage of inmates with serious mental health problems — schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder and others — has climbed. » Read more

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Where Are Asian Voices in Immigration Debate?

By Scott Shafer, KQED News Fix/The California Report
President Barack Obama announces his executive action tonight, likely granting temporary protection from deportation for some undocumented immigrants. Latinos have been at the forefront of calls for immigration reform. But undocumented Asian immigrants also have a lot riding on the president’s announcement. That much was clear recently in San Francisco, where about 20 Asian immigrants and their family members streamed into a legal clinic. Asian Law Caucus immigration attorney Anoop Prasad describes who’s here.

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California Revenues Up, Schools Get the Cash

By John Myers, KQED News Fix/The California Report
It’s exactly what voters said they wanted when they amended the California Constitution in 1988: When the state’s coffers fill up with tax dollars, public schools should be guaranteed the single-largest portion of the cash. And so consider it good news from the Legislature’s independent fiscal watchdogs that tax revenues in the current fiscal year are beating expectations to the tune of $2 billion, and that K-12 schools and community colleges get all of the money. Plus a tad more. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix/The Californa Report