BY VIKAAS SHANKER | vshanker@mercedsunstar.com A group of San Joaquin Valley residents went to the U.S.-Mexican border last week to examine a detention center for undocumented immigrants and shared their experiences listening to the “cries of immigrant parents” for their separated children. At a news conference on Friday in front of the Merced County Administration Building,…
Is your drinking water clean in Merced County? Advocates say rural residents at risk
BY THADDEUS MILLER | tmiller@mercedsun-star.com May 11, 2018 04:30 PM Dos Palos student Ace Mejia Sanchez doesn’t know where the drinking fountains are located at her school. Why would she? Nobody uses them. The 17-year-old said she’s been taught all her life not to drink from the tap, and instead sip bottled water. “I thought it…
We can’t wait for Congress, Merced County must help its own uninsured
BY TSIA XIONG | NOVEMBER 02, 2017 6:09 PM It is often said that death and taxes are life’s only certainties, but this isn’t true. A corollary is that we will all get sick in our lifetime. And while we’ll never be able to predict when we’ll be sick or how sick we’ll be, it can…
After County Votes Down Healthcare Program Community Is Still Hopeful
A proposed health care program in Merced County would allow all residents to access healthcare services, regardless of immigration status Merced, CA – On a three to two vote, Merced County Supervisors voted down the development of a county healthcare program for everyone in Merced County, regardless of immigration status (including the undocumented population). This…
Merced County Participatory Budgeting Process Hits Snag, Plows Ahead
The first-ever participatory budgeting process at the county level has not gone off without a hitch, but it is still going on. BY: JESSICA MCKENZIE OCT 17, 2017 At the end of the month, an elected official in Merced County, California, will lead her district in the first implementation of participatory budgeting at the county level—but unless…