5+ mon, 3+ week ago (272+ words) In 1990s San Francisco, my mothers joined a small but mighty group of queer women making history by embarking on the journey of motherhood. Nearly three decades later, I recognize that my upbringing was a gift, maybe even my superpower. When my brother and I were very young, my moms explained that our nontraditional family was not at all a source of shame, but rather of absolute pride. We learned that diversity is inherent to our humanity, and that our differences give us strength. At the same time, we also became aware of the hatred and intolerance directed toward our community. Through it all, I had a wonderful and privileged childhood. On the surface, I was just another White, heterosexual, cisgender male from an affluent Bay Area community. I mostly avoided direct discrimination and was never forced to question my identity…...

2+ day, 11+ hour ago (646+ words) Novato police officers and firefighters want parents to be mindful if electric bicycles are on their holiday shopping lists for their children. The city produced an online video this month to inform viewers about the state and county regulations on e-bikes. "Consider your child's age, maturity and level of experience before purchasing an age appropriate e-bike for them," Novato police Sgt. Trevor Hall said in the video. The video also warns viewers that electric motorcycles can be mistaken for e-bikes. Such vehicles generally travel faster than e-bikes and are covered by different state regulations. Police said 15 incidents in Novato involved e-bikes or e-scooters over the past year, many involving serious injuries. Last month, a 14-year-old boy suffered critical injuries from crashing his e-motorcycle into a van on Cambridge Street. "There is a measurable amount of confusion over what an e-bike…...

11+ mon, 3+ week ago (626+ words) When the Great Recession struck California 17 years ago and hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs, the state's unemployment insurance system crashed. The employer-financed program quickly exhausted its thin reserves,due to a short-sighted political decisionsix years earlier. In 2001, the Unemployment Insurance Fund had a $6.5 billion positive balance. But the governor at the time, Democrat Gray Davis, owed big political debts to unions that financed his 1998 campaign. He repaid them by doubling unemployment insurance benefits, contending that the seemingly hefty reserve could cover them without raising payroll taxes on employers. When recession struck, the insurance fund soon leaked red ink and the state borrowed about $10 billion from the federal government to maintain cash payments. When the state didn't repay the loan, the feds raised payroll taxes for nearly a decade to retire the loan. It should have been a…...

3+ hour, 55+ min ago (727+ words) Imagine a high school student in rural California, struggling with a mental issue for weeks with no one to talk to. The nearest therapist is hours away, the youth's family can't spare the time or gas and even if they could get there, the next available appointment isn't for months. It's likely the student will keep showing up to school, pretending everything's fine. Now imagine a trained classmate they could talk to after class " someone who could listen, really understand and help them find support. In rural America, young people face some of the most alarming mental health challenges in the nation, with rates of depression, anxiety and suicide far outpacing those of their urban peers. Suicide rates among rural adolescents and young adults are nearly 50% higher than those in suburban or urban areas. California is not an exception to…...

3+ mon, 1+ day ago (864+ words) For The Washington Post When Kathleen Brigham and her then-husband, Jim, decided to divorce, she proposed an unconventional living arrangement: Instead of shuttling their three children back and forth between homes every few days, they would let the kids stay put. The parents would take turns living with them. "It was really about the three kids and not about us," Brigham said. "I was just trying to find any way I could soften the blow." Of course, no two divorces are alike. From the "conscious uncoupling" popularized by actress Gwyneth Paltrow and musician Chris Martin, to the mutually assured destruction of marriages that end in emotional and financial wars, divorce experiences are all over the map. Leo Tolstoy had it right: Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. But for ex-couples who find themselves more on Paltrow's gentler…...

1+ mon, 23+ hour ago (557+ words) A week before I gave birth last February, the research team I work with published a study in a prominent scientific journal on how paid family leave affects maternal and child health. The study found that having access to paid family leave led to a decrease in postpartum depression and an increase in the number of weeks babies are breastfed. Yet the United States remains the only high-income country without a national paid family leave policy. Our sole federal policy, the Family and Medical Leave Act, only requires unpaid leave. Some states have enacted their own policies: California, where I live, mandates eight weeks of partially paid leave. There has been a lot of movement in this area, both good and bad. Vermont recently announced a voluntary family leave plan. Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering whether to extend leave to more…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago (682+ words) Editor's note: The IJ is reprinting some of the late Beth Ashley's columns. This is from 2012. How nice. My great-niece spent the weekend with us recently and brought her 14-month-old baby with her. I was transported back to Mommy Land. Baby Eamon was sturdy, handsome and well-behaved. He reminded me, ahem, of my own kids when they were young. I recall thinking then what prizes they were. When I wheeled them through the market, I expected heads to turn. Now that they are grown, I have to strain to remember them as little boys. Was Gil, now 6 feet, 11 inches, ever the angelic blond who read at 3 and danced at 4? Could Guy, with his manly chin and curly black hair, be the tiny person whose hand I held to cross each street? They're no longer little, but much of the joy…...

9+ mon, 4+ week ago (703+ words) By Bernard Wolfson | KFF Health News We've all read the stories and seen the images: The life-threatening heat waves. The wildfires of unprecedented ferocity. The record-breaking storms washing away entire neighborhoods. The melting glaciers, the rising sea levels, the coastal flooding. As California wildfires stretch into the colder months and hurricane survivors sort through the ruins left by floodwaters, let's talk about an underreported victim of climate change: the emotional well-being of young people. A nascent but growing body of research shows that a large proportion of adolescents and young adults, in the United States and abroad, feel anxious and worried about the impact of an unstable climate in their lives today and in the future. Abby Rafeek, 14, is disquieted by the ravages of climate change, both near her home and far away. "It's definitely affecting my life, because it's…...

6+ day, 23+ hour ago (482+ words) As the leaves begin to change and the temperature starts to cool, families are reminded of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season, which typically falls between October and March. While the virus causes mild, cold-like symptoms for adults, it can be particularly dangerous for infants. Two to three out of every 100 infants under 6 months old are hospitalized with RSV every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the last few years, Cho and physicians across the United States have been urging their patients to consider getting a relatively new vaccine to protect against RSV infection. In 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, for use during pregnancy. Cho advises that the single-dose vaccine should be given between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, from September to January, to provide protection during the RSV season. "It's…...

2+ mon, 4+ day ago (587+ words) Becoming a grandparent begins a bond unlike any other " one that promises depth, delight and unexpected wisdom. Today's grandparents aren't just storybook figures or weekend babysitters. Many have also taken on the role of fierce protector. They may tread lightly when offering advice, but when it comes to health, especially vaccinations, their life experience instructs them to take a firmer tack. Many of today's grandparents lived through a time when vaccines were unavailable. They remember the itchy fevers of chickenpox, the swelling from mumps or being quarantined with measles " no school, no playdates and sometimes no happy ending. These weren't just childhood rites of passage. They were serious, sometimes deadly, illnesses that changed lives and stole futures. Filmmaker and grandfather Francis Ford Coppola was 9 years old when he contracted polio, a traumatic experience that shaped his life and advocacy. Today,…...