AltWeeklies Wire
The Case of Otty Sanchez Exposes Holes in Texas' Mental Health Care Systemnew
Andrea Sanchez was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe form of postpartum depression. Sanchez had been enduring a mental-health crisis for at least a week, but when she reached out for help—like so many Texans with severe mental illness—she was left to fend for herself.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Mann |
01-21-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Will Mexican Immigrant's Case End Texas' Exectutions of the Mentally Disabled?new
A lack of oxygen had damaged his brain during birth, so an hour into his life, and 20 years before he would be sentenced to die in Texas, Daniel Plata was already being tested for mental retardation.
The Texas Observer |
Renée Feltz |
01-21-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Medical Marijuana Activists Unhappy With Proposed New Regulationsnew
Local medical marijuana activists are expressing displeasure with proposed new legislation that would change the state’s medical marijuana law. The activists gathered Tuesday at Gone Wired Café on Michigan Avenue in Lansing after the proposed legislation was discussed in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
City Pulse |
Neal McNamara |
01-21-2010 |
Science
An Hour at Gamblers Anonymous Lets You In on Years Sufferingnew
To be admitted to this stark room, with its vinyl floor, harsh lighting and a chill that says this place isn't supposed to be a comfort zone, one must be ready to admit failure. You show up at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting because you need help.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
01-21-2010 |
Economy
Coloradans Have Long Supported the Lottery. Maybe It's Time For a Role Reversalnew
People who can't stop playing incur an inestimable social cost in broken relationships, lost jobs, prison, even suicide. The Lottery pays a pittance to help. It pays nothing for the impact of gaming addictions on cities and counties. And if and when problem gamblers finally reach out, they find appropriately trained counselors in woefully short supply.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Pam Zubeck |
01-21-2010 |
Economy
Rich Kid, Poor Kid: Diversity Takes a Backseat in Wake Schoolsnew
If adopted, Wake County Board of Education member John Tedesco's plan would replace the current fluid system of school assignment zones and magnet schools with fixed community boundaries that would be, in all but name, separate districts in a fractured county.
The Dirt on Dry Cleaning: Durham Residents Concerned About Chemicalsnew
At One Hour Martinizing, workers labored over laundry using the chemical tetracholoroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or perc, to expertly clean fine garments. But the solvent soaked into the grounds around the business and contaminated the soil and groundwater.
INDY Week |
Samiha Khanna |
01-21-2010 |
Environment
While Mayor Vows to Reduce Homeless Population, City Eyes Cutting Shelter Bedsnew
Gavin Newsom has earned a reputation as someone willing to make passionate statements about plans to fix up public housing, reform the civil service system, upgrade parks, or reduce homelessness, and then quickly turn away as if he'd never said anything at all.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
01-20-2010 |
Policy Issues
Unleashed: A Brutal Attack has Revived a Battle Over Canine Controlnew
In November, two police officers found 74-year-old Marion Cope sitting on the ground in Huntington Park, clutching her bleeding right leg. The officers had responded to a call about a dog attack at the small patch of public land, which sits in the shadows of three luxury hotels atop exclusive Nob Hill.
SF Weekly |
Peter Jamison |
01-20-2010 |
Animal Issues
A Portland Family With Haiti Ties Suspends Moving Plans to Aid Relief Effortnew
Bagel Land’s owners are most often the ones who take your order and toast your Cheddar Garlic for you. After five visits, they’ll know your name, your job, and how you take your bagel. It is a family business at 4118 NE Fremont St. That family has been reeling since the earthquake in Haiti.
Willamette Week |
India Nicholas |
01-20-2010 |
Disasters
Who Should Control Rochester's Schools?new
Mayor Bob Duffy cites many reasons for wanting control over the city's schools, including decades of low graduation rates and a law that requires the city to dole out $119 million annually with no say in how that money is spent. School Board members tend to bristle at any attempted involvement by the city.
City Newspaper |
Christine Carrie Fien and Tim Louis Macaluso |
01-19-2010 |
Education
Afterburn: Coatesville Struggles to Emerge From the Ashesnew
For most people, seeing the house in which they'd lived for the past 28 years burned to the ground would be an unimaginable nightmare. For Karen Engle, it was a blessing in disguise. By the time arson reduced her home to rubble, her neighborhood had become a hotbed of violence.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Rebecca VanderMeulen |
01-19-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Former Prostitutes Visit the Local Women's Prison With Message of Hopenew
Katrina Robertson and several others from Nashville's Magdalene program, a nonprofit residential treatment program to help prostitutes turn their lives around, visited the women's prison this week as part of the "Find Your Way Home" national prison tour.
The Memphis Flyer |
Bianca Phillips |
01-15-2010 |
Crime & Justice
Earthquake in Haiti: Made in USA
As grim accounts of the earthquake in Haiti came in, the accounts in U.S.-controlled state media all carried the same descriptive sentence: "Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere..."
Gee, I wonder how that happened?
Oregon's Jails Are its Biggest Providers of Mental Health Servicesnew
The jail spends half of its annual $600,000 drug budget on psychiatric medications for the inmates who will consent to taking them. But jails can't force the inmates. Far from solving our state's mental health problems, the current situation is probably making them worse.
The Portland Mercury |
Matt Davis |
01-14-2010 |
Crime & Justice
