Column

COMMENTARY: McFarland doesn’t need immigration detention centers; city should prioritize residents

February 4, 2020 / By

BY DAYANARA

Lately, there has been quite a dispute in my hometown of McFarland. The argument is over whether the city of McFarland will grant GEO Group, a for-profit prison company, permits to open and operate immigration detention facilities in town. 

First uncounted, then undercounted: Census track record on Native Americans

January 28, 2020 / By
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BY JOURDAN BENNETT-BEGAYE

The first enumeration of the 2020 Census starts this week in Toksook Bay, Alaska, a remote Yup’ik village on the coast of the Bering Sea.

COMMENTARY: Medicating foster youth isn’t always the answer

January 24, 2020 / By

It’s not uncommon for foster youth to be put on medication for a long period of time.

COMMUNITY VOICE: KHSD has decreased use of suspension, but numbers are still a problem

January 22, 2020 / By

By Kevin McNeill

In 2014, various civil rights organizations and individual students sued the Kern High School District (KHSD), the Kern County Department of Education (KCDOE) and the California Department of Education (CDE) in response to the disproportionate suspension of Black and Latino students.

COMMENTARY: Christmas Can Help Us Prepare for the 2020 U.S. Census

December 12, 2019 / By

By Louis Medina

(This article was originally published in the December 2019 issue of Kern County Family Magazine)

The Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke shows us how a census can alter the course of world events.

COMMENTARY: Foster youth need more mentors in their lives; where can we find dedicated mentors?

November 25, 2019 / By

I was just two years old when I was placed in the foster care system in Kern County.