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Life, death and dignity on the streets
Via ShutterstockAccording to a mid-year report in 2022 by the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness (SRCEH), one homeless person dies every two days in Sacramento.
Posts Tagged: streets
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Mental health courts cut costs, inmates, but lack oversight, data
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown. (Photo: Steinberg Institute)San Francisco attorney Jennifer Johnson views her life and legal trajectory as “life before and life after” a devastating 2016 homicide case that forever changed her view of how the courts treat defendants who are mentally ill. The case in San Francisco Superior Court involved an 85-year-old defendant, Don Rebello, who suffered from severe dementia. Suddenly and for no apparent reason, he stabbed and killed his beloved friend and longtime roommate, Erik Kleins, 83 – two of three elderly men who had long shared a San Francisco home.
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Santa Clara judge creates ‘gold standard’ for mental health courts
Judge Stephen V. Manley on the bench in Santa Clara County. (Photo: Veteransvoices.net) Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Manley refers to defendants in his courtroom as “clients” – an indication of the unusually informal and conversational tenor of the Behavioral Health Court he created more than two decades ago. “It tends to break through a barrier,” Manley said.
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Dangerous mix: Law enforcement and mentally ill suspects
A suspect in custody, handcuffed by police. (Photo: Boyfare, via Shutterstock)Police response to mental-health calls often ends – again and again – in chaotic, noisy hospital emergency rooms, where staff is stretched thin, and a heart attack is likely to take precedence over someone in the throes of a mental-health crisis. “Traditionally, people would be dropped off at the ER, and the only option was to transfer them to a psychiatric facility,” says Dr. Scott Zeller, a nationally known emergency psychiatrist and former president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry.
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San Diego a haven for the homeless — and deadly hepatitis A
View of downtown San Diego and central rail yards. (Photo: welcomia, via Shutterstock)The rampant hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego is highlighting the city’s significant homeless problem. More than half of the 444 people with confirmed cases as of Sept. 14 are homeless, county health officials reported earlier this month. The officials say the highly contagious liver infection was spread through person-to-person contact. San Diego has more than 9,100 homeless people, which amounts to the fourth largest homeless population in the country.
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Local roads, streets in sorry shape
California motorists in a traffic jam. (Photo: Shutterstock)California’s 143,000 miles of local streets and roads are deteriorating rapidly, and the average local thoroughfare across the state is rated “at risk” because of its poor physical condition, according to a study commissioned by a coalition of local governments and their allies. A mix of state, local and federal funds – about $1.98 billion annually – is provided for California’s streets and roads, but the minimal amount needed to maintain the existing quality is $3.5 billion.
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Governor, wife, dogs to live in official mansion
The governor's mansion, now a state historical park, in downtown Sacramento at 16th and H Streets. (Photo: Kensly, Google Earth)Gov. Jerry Brown, his wife Anne and their two dogs intend to move into California’s official governor’s mansion — a dramatic departure from the midtown loft he currently occupies and the mattress-on-the-floor apartment he had during his first term 40 years ago.