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New Air Quality Monitoring App Aims to Protect Students in Polluted Bay Area Communities

A new app aims to provide school administrators and teachers in these communities with real-time data that can help them protect students from harmful air pollution. When air quality is especially poor, teachers might keep kids inside during recess or a coach might cancel or move a sports team practice, said Kristina Hill, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Hill developed the tool in collaboration with Charisma Acey, also an associate professor at UC Berkeley, and a focus group of advocates from five Bay Area communities with high levels of air pollution.

The app offers an interactive map where Bay Area residents can see hourly readings of the air quality in their area. It draws on the existing PurpleAir monitor network but adds key improvements like correcting for errors caused by fog and combining data from multiple monitors to paint a clearer picture of air quality in a neighborhood.

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Researchers Seek Hepatitis B Cure as Trump Slashes Health Agency Funding

The Trump administration’s efforts to slash medical research funding threaten progress toward a cure for hepatitis B. Its proposed budget calls for $1.8 billion in cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the elimination of all federal funding for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, along with additional cuts to the Food and Drug Administration, which has final say on approving new drugs and treatments. The cuts are just the latest in a series of hurdles that researchers and clinicians face in managing hepatitis B infections in the United States.
SF Has a Chance to Reinvent Its Mental Health Care System

Over the next year, San Francisco must examine and potentially redesign its system of behavioral health care, with input from the public. Some experts see this as an opportunity to improve services.
Protests Against ICE Continue for 2nd Day in San Francisco

In response to weekend demonstrations in Los Angeles following raids throughout L.A. County by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and President Trump ordering the deployment of 2,000 California National Guard troops against protesters there, Bay Area residents came together for a second day of protests largely focused on marching around San Francisco’s Mission District.
Patelco Credit Union Settles Class Action Cyberhack Suit for $7.25M

Nearly a year after a ransomware attack paralyzed Patelco Credit Union, a class action against the nonprofit financial cooperative has been settled for $7.25 million. More than 1 million accounts were affected by the breach. Settlement terms include creating a $7.25 million fund to be shared by victims affected by the ransomware attack and system shutdown of Patelco that lasted for more than two weeks last summer.
Stigma, Insufficient Screening Keep Hepatitis B in the Shadows

Commonly known as a “silent killer” because it can have few symptoms, chronic hepatitis B can lead to liver damage or cancer, is not well studied and as a research area remains underfunded. Many living with it face significant social stigma, which discourages getting tested and leaves patients isolated and unwilling to open up about their experiences. The silence hits immigrant communities the hardest, a phenomenon advocates have spent decades trying to fix. Asian Americans are disproportionately affected by hepatitis B, especially by chronic infections. Years of community work have led to better outreach, and new efforts like universal screening are starting to build momentum.
‘Forever Chemicals’ Threaten Community of Bay Fishers

It’s long been risky to eat fish from San Francisco Bay because pollutants like mercury build up in their bodies, and new research shows they are also contaminated with harmful “forever chemicals,” including one never before detected in marine fish. High levels of these chemicals are found in 10 species of fish frequently caught in San Francisco Bay, according to a study that the San Francisco Estuary Institute published in May. The newly detected contamination threatens anglers’ health and what many of them consider a way of life. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are colloquially called “forever chemicals” because they are notoriously difficult to eliminate or break down. PFAS can cause cancers, thyroid and hormone disruption, and developmental delays, and can weaken the immune system, said study author Rebecca Sutton.
Poorly Tracked Virus Is a ‘Silent Killer’ Affecting Asian Americans Most

Hepatitis B is widely misunderstood, a problem worsened by insufficient screening and detection. Chronic hepatitis B isn’t as consistently detected as are acute cases, allowing the disease to frequently progress unchecked and do more damage. According to the World Health Organization, only 13% of those living with the virus know they have it, leaving many, especially in immigrant and marginalized communities, undiagnosed and without access to timely treatment.
Suspicion of Tech, Big Money Grows Among Some Asian American Organizers

Some local groups broke with Supervisor Joel Engardio after he supported Proposition K, which set in motion the closure of a portion of the Great Highway to cars. Other Asian American leaders who share these views suspect they are not being taken seriously by the city's moderate coalition — political groups and influential individuals who, like them, generally support tough-on-crime policies and who backed the recall of three school board members in 2022. These Asian American community leaders feel they cannot expect political or financial backing from local heavyweights on the issues that they care most passionately about. Their constituents' views and priorities have diverged sharply from other moderates on the Great Highway closure, and this has cost them power.

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