HARTFORD, Conn. — The nation's two largest teachers unions want schools to revise or eliminate active shooter drills, asserting Tuesday that they can harm students' mental health and that there are better ways to prepare for the possibility of a school shooting. The American Federation of Teachers and National Education...
Kaiser Donates $80K for Counseling in Hmong Shooting Tragedy
An $80,000 Kaiser Permanente grant will provide mental health counseling and other support to those in Fresno's Hmong community affected by November’s mass shooting that killed four people. Listen to this article: The grant to The Fresno Center’s Mass Shooting Victims Support Program will provide additional hours for mental...
Regulators to Set up 3-Digit Suicide Hotline Number Like 911
NEW YORK — Federal regulators are setting up a new three-digit number to reach a suicide prevention hotline in order to make it easier to seek help and reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Once it's implemented, people will just need to dial 988 to seek help, similar to...
Walters: California's Half-a-Loaf Syndrome
Joe Mathews, another guy who makes his living by scribbling about California, penned a very perceptive article recently about the state’s proclivity for not following through on policy pronouncements. “California is stuck in the gray zone,” Mathews wrote, referring to “a military term for the space between peace and war… “In California...
Californians Aren’t Getting the Mental Health Care They’re Legally Guaranteed. Why Not?
State Sen. Jim Beall is angry. Four times now, he has introduced legislation to better enforce state and federal “parity” laws, which require equal treatment of mental and physical health problems. Four times, that legislation has failed. As he enters his final year in the Legislature, the San Jose Democrat...
Woman Charged in Boyfriend's Suicide Pleads Not Guilty
BOSTON — A former Boston College student made her first court appearance Friday to face charges that she encouraged her boyfriend to take his own life in what prosecutors describe as a toxic and abusive relationship. Inyoung You, 21, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston...
Bredefeld Says Fresno Is 'Under Siege' by Homeless People
Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld says the community is overwhelmed with chronically homeless people suffering from drug addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness. And he blames laws approved by California voters via propositions 47 and 57, for increasing homelessness and victimizing law-abiding residents throughout the state. Listen to this article: ...
Children's Hospital Goes All in With 128-Bed Mental Health Unit
A new hospital is coming to the Central Valley dedicated to behavioral health services. Valley Children's Healthcare announced Wednesday morning a partnership with Universal Health Services creating more beds for behavioral health services for both children and adults. VCH officials say the new facility will increase pediatrician behavioral health access by...
Lawyer: John Hinckley Interested in Music Industry Job
WASHINGTON — The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan is interested in getting a job in the music industry, possibly in California, his lawyer said at a court hearing in Washington on Tuesday. John Hinckley Jr., 64, lives in Virginia and was not present at the hearing. A...
A Clovis Unified Trustee Will Retire in 2020. Who Wants the Seat?
Brian Heryford, a fixture on the Clovis Unified School District Board of Trustees since 1996, won't run for reelection in 2020. Instead, the insurance brokerage owner and community leader says he will pull up stakes and retire in Washington state. "My journey is ending," said Heryford, who is board president....