Clovis North High School sophomore John Estrada has qualified for the state science fair four times since middle school. But his project this year, a drought-detecting robot, earned the 16-year-old top honors at the world’s largest science competition, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair . One of more than …

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness about the connection between race and health equity, raising the question – how might this experience change public health policy moving forward? Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock explored the topic, and the calls to declare that racism is a public health crisis, with Dr. …

Naindeep Singh, the executive director of the Jakara movement, a volunteer training organization and a hub for Sikh Californian youth, has joined us as part of our series looking at how people are processing the magnitude of this pandemic. He spoke with FM89’s Alice Daniel for this audio postcard. https://www.kvpr.org/sites/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/202105/deep_singh.png

As of earlier this month, 127 kids aged 12 to 17 years old had died of COVID-19 in the United States . The number may pale in comparison to the more than half a million adults who’ve died so far, but because deaths among kids are so rare, the total …

Medical care at California State Prison, Corcoran received a poor rating in a recently published state watchdog review. Now, prison advocates worry that doesn’t bode well for the quality of care during the pandemic. Corcoran’s medical care received a rating of “Inadequate,” the lowest rating possible, in a report published …

Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom extended the drought emergency declaration to much of California, including the San Joaquin Valley. To better understand the significance of that decision, Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke to journalist Steven Greenhut. He is a columnist for the Orange County Register and the author …

On Thursday, the CDC announced something that many have been waiting for, permission for fully vaccinated people to take off their masks in most settings. It was presented as a significant step toward normalcy. But just before that announcement was made, Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock had this conversation with …

On this week’s Valley Edition , we continue our series looking at how people are processing the magnitude of this pandemic. Today we hear from 79-year-old Dezie Woods-Jones. She’s the state president of Black Women Organized for Political Action and a former vice mayor of Oakland. Woods-Jones lives in Madera …

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, many basic questions about the virus have been answered, including how it spreads, how it responds to treatment, and how it affects the body. But even those lessons learned apply mostly to generally healthy people and those with the most common pre-existing …

While teaching a history course at Fresno State, professor Ethan Kytle stumbled upon the forgotten history of a farm labor crisis in 1942 that inspired Fresno residents to leave their jobs, and classrooms, in order to work in the fields. Kytle, along with co-author Blain Roberts, wrote about the crisis …

For a decade, the Central California Asthma Collaborative (CCAC) has aimed to reduce the burden of asthma in the San Joaquin Valley, which sits in one of the country’s most polluted air basins and reports some of the highest rates of asthma and asthma-related medical encounters in the state. This …

For many of us, hospitals are pillars of communities, representing safety nets that we hope will always be there. But there’s no guarantee they will be. A new report estimates that California’s hospitals have suffered billions of dollars in losses in the last year, and that they could lose billions …

The Cal Ag Roots podcast series “We Are Not Strangers Here” explores the contributions of Black Californians to agriculture and rural communities. Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with its producer and host Caroline Collins about the importance of preserving that history and the origins of the podcast. https://www.kvpr.org/sites/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/202104/caroline_collins.jpg