December 2017

When the scent of smoke from wildfires in the nearby hills began wafting through the San Diego air once again last week, residents in Scripps Ranch immediately thought back to 2003, when hundreds of homes burned to the ground. Now, every time a fire gets within 100 miles — as it did again this week — residents ready a box with important documents, bottles of medication and copies of treasured photographs. They once again found themselves glued to the news, watching with the knowing sorrow...

San Diego County has the fourth largest population of homeless people in the United States, according to a government report released Wednesday. The San Diego region's total of 9,160 homeless people was behind only New York City, Los Angeles County and King County in Washington, which includes Seattle, according to the 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development . According to the report, San Diego County ranked: — 10th...

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke, and San Diegans awoke Monday to a lingering layer of smoke still visible in most parts of the county. Here’s what people should know about the status of the fire and the smoke in the air: The air quality in most parts of San Diego County is considered good to moderate, the county’s Air Pollution Control District reported Monday . Conditions may change, however. The Air Pollution Control District put out the following advisories : In areas of heavy smoke,...

Methamphetamine abuse contributed to a record number of deaths in the San Diego area last year, according to a government study released Monday. The San Diego County Methamphetamine Strike Force report reveals there was a total of 377 meth-related fatalities that occurred locally in 2016, with an average of one death every 23 hours. The tally was the highest in a single year and 66 more than in 2015. "The trend line is very alarming and continues to head in the wrong direction," said Dianne...

Earlier this year, a representative of a California advocacy and civil-rights organization asked me if the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence , the new state agency that I head, has a “genuine sense of urgency” about its work in getting the right kind of help and assistance to districts, charters and county offices of education. I told him that the very first meeting that we had in the very first district that we agreed to take on was at Ironwood State Prison, which is...

Environmental Justice is the right of all people and communities to live, work, and play in a clean and safe environment. Environmental Health Coalition fights against environmental racism which is defined as: policies and activities of governments, corporations, educational institutions or other large organizations with the power to influence many people that, either intentionally or unintentionally, result in people of color and/or low income people being exposed to greater environmental...