LA Is Going Ahead With Desperately Needed Housing Complex Despite Knowing Health Risks
Experts have long cautioned about negative health effects -- such as asthma and cancer -- associated with living so near a freeway.
Los Angeles Times:
California Officials Say Housing Next To Freeways Is A Health Risk — But They Fund It Anyway
It’s the type of project Los Angeles desperately needs in a housing crisis: low-cost apartments for seniors, all of them veterans, many of them homeless. There’s just one downside. Wedged next to an offramp, the four-story building will stand 200 feet from the 5 Freeway. State officials have for years warned against building homes within 500 feet of freeways, where people suffer higher rates of asthma, heart disease, cancer and other health problems linked to car and truck pollution. Yet they’re helping build the 96-unit complex, providing $11.1 million in climate change funds from California’s cap-and-trade program. (Barboza and Zahniser, 12/17)
In other news from across the state —
East Bay Times:
Share The Spirit: Man Gets Legal Help Securing Healthcare
All his son did was fill out a change-of-address form. But it could have killed Michael Titus. The 69-year-old Oakland resident has end-stage renal disease and needs kidney dialysis three times a week to stay alive. For years, the East Bay native had gotten that through his Kaiser Medicare Advantage plan at the Satellite Healthcare clinic in Oakland. ...After receiving a change-of-address notice and thinking that its patient had moved out of the area, Kaiser discontinued his coverage, Titus said. ...That could have been a disastrous bit of news. But Bob Gibney, a volunteer with Legal Assistance for Seniors’ Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, stepped in to help Titus sort through the mess. (Deruy, 12/18)
Modesto Bee:
Weed Dispensary To Sprout In Riverbank
Eighteen residents pleaded Tuesday with the Riverbank City Council to find a location other than 2213 Patterson Road, on a stretch between Galaxy Theatres and McDonalds, or to ban cannabis sales altogether. ...Former city officials also showed up to argue against the application of Pacafi Cooperative, short for Patient Care First with a Modesto business address, according to weedmaps.com. (Stapley, 12/13)