In Los Angeles County, as COVID-19 surged, EMTs faced the unimaginable, forcing them to take unimaginable measures.
Public health
Posted inArticles
New federal funding for police alternatives
The latest COVID-19 relief bill provides a ‘down payment’ for crisis response programs.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Did James Plymell need to die?
How homelessness is criminalized in small cities and towns across the West.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Foreign-born doctors fill physician shortages in the West
Some find a permanent home; others languish in a visa holding pattern.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
A rural remedy to health care access
A virtual telementoring program helps the West respond to the pandemic.
Posted inArticles
Rural communities grapple with COVID-19 immunization rollout
Far-flung populations and limited cold-storage resources present challenges to clinics.
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Indigenous fishers on the Columbia River confront new challenges
Beyond depleted salmon runs, the pandemic has created occupational hazards and a depressed salmon market.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
In cash-strapped Wyoming, a community votes for a new hospital
As the state cuts funding for public services, cities and counties are figuring out how to go it alone.
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A crude virus: How ‘man camps’ can cause a COVID surge
The Keystone XL Pipeline threatens to spread more than just oil through Indigenous communities.
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California farmworkers aren’t staying in free quarantine hotel rooms
Fear, testing barriers and miscalculations have hobbled the statewide program.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
How the Zoom boom is changing the West
Remote workers are flocking to Western towns.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
When COVID hit, a Colorado county kicked out second-home owners. They hit back.
How a group of nonresident homeowners tried to influence a rural Colorado election.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Rebel eviction-enforcers are helping tenants stay in their homes
In Tucson, a group of constables went rogue and stopped enforcing evictions.
Posted inArticles
Wyoming’s last contact tracers
After an astronomical rise in COVID-19 cases, the state is no longer contact tracing — but some counties and tribes continue their own programs.
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Ski communities are ‘getting crunched on all sides’
The pandemic has heightened cost-of-living issues in resort towns.
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A wetter and warmer Alaska means dangerously slippery slopes
Climate change is making landslides more likely and preparation vital.
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Untested chemicals star in the COVID-theater
And raise concerns about the efficacy of hastily approved disinfectants.
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Why the U.S. is terrible at collecting Indigenous data
Abigail Echo-Hawk discusses the state of Indigenous public health.
Posted inArticles
Deadline to spend COVID-19 relief funds has tribal nations on edge
In Oregon, tribal governments are left wondering how they’ll provide services next year without an extension.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Tracking the seasons of pandemic response in Seattle
Disaster researchers take a Prius-eye view of how COVID-19 is changing the city.