Posts Tagged: emergency

Better telecom rules help older adults, too

Using a cell phone at a California beach to capture an image of a pier. (Photo: DCornelius, via Shutterstock)

by GARY PASSMORE posted 04.13.2016

OPINION: The conventional wisdom, promoted by some advocacy groups when it suits their purposes, is that seniors are sad, helpless creatures who prefer to sit on the couch clutching their turntables and rotary phones, in front of black and white television sets, searching for reruns of Lawrence Welk. These demeaning attitudes are far from true.

Time has come to fix Denti-Cal

A youngster on his visit to the dentist. (Photo: Wavebreakmedia, via Shutterstock)

by SERENA CLAYTON posted 05.28.2015

What if I told you there was a straightforward way to raise kids’ grades, increase funding for schools and cut costly emergency room visits? You’d probably tell me to get my head checked by a doctor. And I’d tell you to see a dentist.

Drought, oil price decline pummel Kern

Pumpjacks in a Kern County oil field, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 02.02.2015

Oil and water don’t mix, but in Kern County they’ve joined to create a double-whammy. Already confronting a drought of historic proportions, Kern County — the nation’s No. 2 agricultural county — also faces a severe financial hit because of falling oil prices. The county is home to more than two-thirds of California’s oil production.

OPINION: For 40 years there has been an unspoken — and unbroken — rule that Southern California splits leadership of the Legislature with the Bay Area and greater Northern California. This year, Southern California leaders could seize complete control of the Legislature, winning leadership of both the Senate and the Assembly.

Desert Hot Springs is considering bankruptcy for the second time in 12 years. On Tuesday, the city council unanimously approved a fiscal emergency. An emergency declaration is a preliminary step in filing for bankruptcy protection, although there was no indication from council members that a bankruptcy action was coming.

A day in the life of a typical paramedic is nothing like that of a primary care provider. Though both are central to the healthcare system, a paramedic performs in a high-stress environment that focuses exclusively on providing emergency medical services, while a primary care physician is more focused on a patient’s long term needs.

Counselors, not guns, and emergency training for the staff offer the best chance for curbing school violence, according to a survey of California voters.

In the survey of 1,200 people conducted in English and Spanish, better than a 2-to-1 margin, or 67 percent to 26 percent, said hiring a counselor rather than a police