News - Building Healthy Communities

242018Mar

Merced students make nationwide protest their own fight for safe education

BY VIKAAS SHANKER | vshanker@mercedsunstar.com The voice of fifth grader Nate Dimple Alvarez offered testimony Saturday about the fears that have gripped students in the wake of deadly school shootings nationwide. Alvarez, a student at Joe Stefani Elementary School, told a crowd of supporters at Merced’s Court House Square Park about his wish to feel safe…

72018Mar

Proposed ordinance before Merced City Council could mean a misdemeanor for disrupting council meetings

In ABC30, News

By Vanessa Vasconcelos | ABC30 Action News Wednesday, March 07, 2018 MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) — A proposed ordinance in the City of Merced could mean changes to the way citizens can voice their concerns. If approved, breaking conduct rules could be punishable as a misdemeanor. “Merced is changing were getting more people to come to City…

62018Mar

Merced wants new public speech rules. You break them, it’s a misdemeanor

In Merced Sun Star, News

BY THADDEUS MILLER | tmiller@mercedsun-star.com March 06, 2018 05:49 PM Merced City Council recommended new decorum rules for council meetings this week that leaders say will protect speech, but detractors say are a roadblock to public input. The new ordinance, if approved, would make it a misdemeanor to break the rules, which outlaw interrupting a speaker…

212018Jan

Here’s what will be built this year at McNamara Park in Merced

In Merced Sun Star, News, Youth

BY MONICA VELEZ | January 21, 2018 A new skate park is going to be built in Merced, and officials working on the project hope it can serve as an outlet for local youth. The skate park will be built at McNamara Park and is designed for skateboards, inline skates, scooters, and bikes, according to a…

22017Nov

We can’t wait for Congress, Merced County must help its own uninsured

In BHC Alert, BHC Partner, Blog, Letter to the editor, Merced Sun Star, News, Undocumented

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…

12017Nov

Health advocates in Merced remain hopeful of getting green light in the future for proposed healthcare program

In Fresno Bee, News, Undocumented

BY MARÍA G. ORTIZ-BRIONES | mortizbriones@vidaenelvalle.com After Merced County board of supervisors voted against a proposed healthcare program in the county that would have provided access to healthcare services to all residents, regardless of immigration status, health advocates and community members remain very hopeful. “Local health advocates, residents and, Merced Building Healthy Communities remain committed to…

232017Oct

After County Votes Down Healthcare Program Community Is Still Hopeful

In BHC Alert, Blog, News, Undocumented

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…

172017Oct

Merced County Participatory Budgeting Process Hits Snag, Plows Ahead

In BHC Alert, News

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…

122017Oct

Elected officials must learn that trust is a two-way street

In Blog, Letter to the editor, News

BY LEE LOR OCTOBER 12, 2017 11:40 AM Democracy thrives on trust. Constituents, residents, and families across this great country must be able to trust their elected officials to do what a supervisor, city council person, school board member or any elected officials thinks is best. Trust paves the way for accountability and transparency because…

212017Sep

Norma C. Cardona: Don’t take residents out of the budgeting process

In Letter to the editor, Merced Sun Star, News

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Though funding for Merced County’s District 1 will no longer be available after a 3-2 vote to dissolve discretionary funding, funding for District 2 will continue for the 2017-18 budget year. The Steering Committee will…

182017Sep

Nancy Reding: Three Merced supervisors took that money away from all of us

In Letter to the editor, Merced Sun Star, News

Re “Debate gets heated as Merced County leaders vote to end controversial funds” (Front page, Sept. 13): Merced County was on the verge of making history. Now, thanks to Supervisor Daron McDaniel, Supervisor Lloyd Pareira and Supervisor Jerry O’Bannon, the” District Project Funds” of $200,000 has been eliminated. These funds were voted by these three supervisors to…

152017Sep

Jerome Rasberry Jr.: It wasn’t a slush fund, it was help for our neighborhoods

In Letter to the editor, Merced Sun Star, News

Re “Debate gets heated as Merced County leaders vote to end controversial funds” (Front page, Sept. 13): So, why now? Why did some members of the Merced County Board of Supervisors do away with the program that would have given real people real power in how money is spent? Maybe the politicians didn’t want to share power….