Year: 2015

  • Advocates Push to Expand California Welfare Program

    By Kenny Goldberg First step children. Next step adults. That’s what advocates of the poor say after state lawmakers recently agreed to extend Medi-Cal benefits to the children of immigrants who are living here illegally. Lawmakers have appropriated $40 million in the new state budget to give Medi-Cal coverage to some 170,000 immigrant children. Advocates…

  • City Heights Residents Celebrate Centerline Groundbreaking

    Video Credit: Katie Schoolov, KPBS By Megan Burks Architect Stephen Russell, San Diego Councilwoman Marti Emerald, local Caltrans Director Laurie Berman and resident Maria Cortez unveil renderings of the Centerline project on July 8, 2015. | Photo Credit: Megan Burks Caltrans broke ground Wednesday on a project more than three decades in the making. Residents,…

  • School Is Out But Hunger Lingers for Some San Diego Kids

    By Matthew Bowler, Maureen Cavanaugh, Patty Lane and Peggy Pico Listen to the full KPBS Midday Edition conversation with Gary Petill of San Diego Unified’s Food and Nutrition Services and Anahid Brakke of the San Diego Hunger Coalition. For students who rely on school lunch meals, having enough to eat during summer break can be challenging.…

  • Dental Program for Low-Income Californians Gains Patients While Losing Dentists

    By Kenny Goldberg California’s dental program for the poor is falling short. A new state review of the Denti-Cal program, shows between 2009 and 2014, the number of children enrolled in the Denti-Cal program increased by nearly 40 percent. But the number of dentists who treated Denti-Cal patients decreased by almost 14 percent. Denti-Cal pays…

  • City Council OKs Plan to Turn Chollas Parkway Into Park

    By Megan Burks Every day, some 6,400 motorists rattle down Chollas Parkway in the City Heights area. To the north are a few small industrial lots, and to the south is a creek. This week the San Diego City Council approved zoning changes that would allow parkland there instead. Residents say it’s sorely needed. “Our…