Oakland police routinely overspend on overtime. Does the city’s new budget fix this?
A record $72M was set aside for the next two years of police overtime. But the city hasn’t successfully implemented new spending controls. by Beck Klein (’25). This story was originally published on June 25, 2025 for The Oaklandside. Oakland leaders closed a $265 million city budget deficit by cutting spending across many departments and…
Read MoreRevealed: Trump administration retreats on combating human trafficking and child exploitation
Experts say decades of progress are under threat; Trump officials say administration remains committed to fighting trafficking and sex abuse by Bernice Yeung, Aaron Glantz and Noy Thrupkaew. This story was originally published on September 17, 2025 for The Guardian. The Trump administration has aggressively rolled back efforts across the federal government to combat human trafficking, a Guardian investigation…
Read MoreFearing ICE, California’s Immigrant Seniors Retreat From Social and Health Services
by Hussain Khan (’25). This story was originally published on December 21, 2025 for KQED. When patients started cancelling appointments out of fear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might arrest them on the street, St. John’s Community Health in Los Angeles adapted. The clinic began sending nurse practitioners, like Gabriella Oloye, to patients’ homes. “It felt like…
Read MoreCaregivers take poetic control of their own narratives
by Holly McDede (’25). This story was originally published on November 9, 2025 for KALW. Brenda Sue Piñata was feeling stressed and alone as she cared for her husband, Frank, a fellow math teacher and former Merchant Marine who loved to dance and was struggling with dementia. She found an outlet in journaling and writing poems such as…
Read MorePoetry offers space for tribal elders with dementia to express themselves
by Holly McDede (’25). This story was originally published on November 7, 2025 for CNN. Victoria Smith places a comforting hand on the back of her 88-year-old father as they create poetry in a small room on the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation near Duluth, Minnesota. Smith savors these sessions with Les Northrup…
Read MoreWhy are food insecure Iowa seniors not applying for SNAP benefits?
by Matthew Busch (’25). This story was originally published on Oct. 27, 2025 for Des Moines Register. CRESTON — The line outside the Creston Area Food Bank was already about six people deep an hour before the pantry was scheduled to open. As it inched along, a few seniors made their way into the crowded waiting…
Read MoreToo Old to Keep Working, Not Enough Money to Stop
As the senior workforce grows, more older Americans are staying in physically demanding jobs, often risking their health. by Lili Euzet (’26). This story was originally published on September 24, 2025 in Capital and Main. At 70, Walter Carpenter juggles two physically taxing jobs. In the winter, he works at a ski resort restaurant in Vermont, lugging…
Read MoreNurse practitioners step in as geriatrician ranks shrink
Nurse practitioners are not trying to replace doctors — they’re trying to meet patients’ needs, wherever those patients are, an expert said. by Jariel Arvin. This story was originally published on June 15, 2025 in the Washington Post. On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to…
Read MoreHow Poetry Helps Dementia Caregivers Find Shelter from the Storm
by Holly McDede. This story was originally published on May 16 by KQED, where you can listen to the audio story. Frances Kakugawa is a firm believer that the act of caring for another human being can inspire poetry. She knows this from experience, having cared for her mother, Matsue, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the…
Read MoreTo help older veterans, a Virginia group gives each a ‘battle buddy’
by Wayne Gray. This story was originally published by The Washington Post on November 11, 2024. The organization, which was started by the daughter of a career marine, launched a Battle Buddy Call Center last year to serve veterans nationwide. Pinned to the wall of an office in Warrenton, Virginia, is a banner with the…
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