Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Doctor Survived Cambodia’s Killing Fields, but Not Covid

Dr. Linath Lim came to the U.S. as a refugee after slaving at work camps under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Even with little English or education when she arrived, Lim put herself through college and medical school. As an internal medicine doctor in California’s Central Valley, she treated farmworkers and other Cambodian refugees.

California Counties a Hodgepodge of Highs and Lows in Vaccinating Vulnerable Seniors

Like many states, California is seeing huge regional variations in covid vaccination rates for people 65 and older. Remote rural counties are in some cases struggling to give away doses to vulnerable seniors, while metropolitan areas often have more demand than supply.

For This Hospice Nurse, the Covid Shot Came Too Late

Antonio Espinoza, a hospice nurse in Southern California, ministered to terminally ill patients, including those with covid. He tested positive for covid five days after getting his first dose of vaccine and died a few weeks later.

How One Indie Artist Used Her Pandemic Lockdown to Create an Album With Global Collaborators

The pandemic-induced lockdowns have only increased the demand for music-streaming services. This independent singer wrote, recorded and produced an album with musicians around the world during the pandemic’s rolling stay-at-home mandates.

Colleges and Universities Plan for Normal-ish Campus Life in the Fall

Universities need full dorms and dining halls to make back some of the estimated $183 billion in losses they’ve suffered over a year of remote education. The hope is widespread vaccination will keep covid chaos to a minimum.

Despite Covid, Many Wealthy Hospitals Had a Banner Year With Federal Bailout

As the crisis crushed smaller providers, some of the nation’s richest health systems thrived, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in surpluses after accepting huge grants for pandemic relief. But poorer hospitals — many serving rural and minority populations — got a smaller slice of the pie and limped through the year with deficits and a bleak fiscal future.