When They’re Gone (TRAILER)
Each spring, nearly every commercial beekeeper in the country travels to California for the almond bloom. With them are thousands of beehives strapped to semi-trucks. It is the largest migration of honey bees—and beekeepers— in the world. Many have been making this journey for generations, but each year keeping the bees alive becomes more challenging. This film is currently on the festival circuit.
After the Fire
Five months after the Camp Fire decimated the town of Paradise, killing 85 people and burning 18,000 structures, survivors fear that their prolonged exposure to the thick, black smoke has left them with chronic respiratory and heart disease. (Reported and produced by Kristen Hwang and Shuang Li)
In a bid to combat poor air quality, Richmond installs local monitors
AB 617, which passed in 2017, provided a $495 million mandate for the state to improve air quality in disadvantaged communities like Richmond. This mandate included grant money for community-based organizations to begin their own air quality projects and a framework for the state to develop local monitoring and emissions reduction plans.
Read the full story at www.richmondconfidential.org
Freed But Forgotten: A Proposition 47 Investigation
In 2014 California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 47, which reduced low-level felony drug possession and theft crimes to misdemeanors. The law was intended to reduce prison populations and provide “hundreds of millions of dollars” for mental health and substance abuse programs for the formerly incarcerated, but three years later many live on the streets with no help in sight.
*winner of the 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for news documentary/small online news organization
Farm to School
Old Grove Orange is one of a growing number of small to mid-sized farms in Southern California selling produce directly to schools. Advocates of the farm-to-school movement say it’s healthier for kids, cheaper for school districts and more sustainable for small growers.
Speaking out, saving lives: Coachella Valley families fight teen suicide
Although experts say the majority of suicide deaths are preventable, suicide has been increasing across all demographics in the past two decades. In the Coachella Valley, stigma and lack of access to mental health care result in teenagers – particularly Latina girls – attempting suicide at far greater rates than the rest of Riverside County.
Thicker Than Water
The town of Williams, Ariz. has long struggled with water shortages. Residents repurpose bath water and collect rain from the gutters. But an extended drought and climate change has the town searching for long term solutions.
*winner of the 2015 Rocky Mountain Student Emmy for public service
Kristen Hwang 