HOUSTON — The Trump administration is detaining immigrant children as young as 1 in hotels, sometimes for weeks, before deporting them to their home countries under policies that have effectively shut down the nation’s asylum system during the coronavirus pandemic, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. A private...
Want a Real Education, California Students? Go on Strike!
Dear California Kids, Don’t let us adults destroy your futures! This moment gives you unprecedented power to fix what’s wrong with how California treats kids. I am begging you to use it. Before COVID-19, California was shortchanging its 9.1 million children in education and health. Now in crisis, the state’s...
Ikea to Pay $46m in Boy's Dresser Tipover Death, Lawyers Say
PHILADELPHIA — IKEA has agreed to pay $46 million to the parents of a 2-year-old boy who died of injuries suffered when a 70-pound recalled dresser tipped over onto him, the family’s lawyers said Monday. Jozef Dudek, of Buena Park, California, died in 2017 of his injuries, and his parents...
California Fire Kills 2 Girls and Dad Who Attempted Rescue
HEMET — A fire tore through a Southern California apartment early Friday, killing two girls and their father, who got out of the apartment but went back inside to try to rescue his children, police said. A boy rescued from the inferno was badly injured. Seven people were in the...
Study: California Law Lifts Vaccination in 'High-Risk' Areas
SACRAMENTO — A study released this week has found that a law aimed at boosting vaccination rates across California had the greatest effect in high-risk areas where the vaccination rates were the lowest. The peer-reviewed study published in the journal PLOS Medicine on Monday shows that the 2016 legislation contributed to a...
Santa, Soldiers Bring Joy to Alaska Town Facing Crisis
NAPAKIAK, Alaska — A school employee wearing a traditional pink Alaska Native smock called a kuspuk breezed through the hubbub in the cafeteria adorned with murals of purely Alaska scenes, zigzagging through children clutching presents and past uniformed soldiers wearing Santa caps. “Napakiak is happy today,” she proclaimed to principal...
Opinion: No, Israel Does Not Target Palestinian Children
Does Israel intentionally target Palestinian children, including during its most recent operation in Gaza? Several prominent figures would certainly like the public to think so. For example, the recent flareup in the region compelled best-selling author Shailja Patel to tweet: “I'm talking about Israel incarcerating over a million Palestinian children in...
At Least 9 US Citizens Die in Mexico Cartel Attack
MEXICO CITY — Drug cartel gunmen ambushed three SUVs along a dirt road, slaughtering at least six children and three women — all of them U.S. citizens living in northern Mexico — in a grisly attack that left one of their SUVs a burned-out, bullet-riddled hulk, authorities said Tuesday. Another...
Walters: Will Spending More Fix Our Schools?
Former state legislator Ted Lempert is personally and professionally committed to improving the wellbeing of California’s children. Lempert, the president of Children Now, has tirelessly advocated to improve children’s futures and last week released a lengthy report comparing California to other states and concluding that we are woefully underspending on education. “Since...
Special-Needs Advocates Pack 1-2 Punch With BREN Clinic
Parents of special-needs children in the Valley have two bright, organized, and hardworking advocates in their corner. Meet Jodie Howard. After battling school officials to obtain needed services for her autistic son, she enrolled at San Joaquin College of Law to gain the knowledge to help him and others like...