Over the past decade, the fentanyl epidemic has emerged as a critical public health crisis in the United States. According to USAFacts.org, overdoses from the drug have claimed over 330,000 lives since 2012, devastating communities large and small in the process. In Northern California, the powerful synthetic opioid’s impact has been acutely felt in Placer and Nevada counties. Despite their similarities, the county neighbors have adopted markedly different approaches to combat the life-or-death crisis.
As I opened the glovebox of my mom’s car looking for a tissue, out spilled a handful of individually packaged nasal sprays. Confused, I picked them up and analyzed the product. “Those are Narcan,” said my mom, a nurse at a local correctional facility, “Take a few, put them in your purse. They can save a life.”
Growing up, I forced myself to awkwardly laugh along with the “ching-chong” jokes kids made about my eyes. I shyly answered the rude questions kids would ask about the “weird looking” chicken adobo my mother packed me in my Hello Kitty thermos for lunch. Continue Reading
“What kind of bread? What kind of sandwich? Would you like it toasted? What kind of sauces? Veggies? Salt, pepper, oil, or vinegar?” These are questions you’d typically hear in Subway. However, this isn’t the case when you walk into the5070 B, Rocklin Rd. Subway. Here it’s easy to become a regular where they know your order and be greeted warmly by the Chauhan family. Continue Reading
In fall 2022, I traveled to three A-1 Comics locations to find out how the pandemic impacted workers and customers. I first met, Nick, a Sierra College student in his second year working at A-1 Comics, North Highlands location. In the photo above, he organizes and sorts comics.
At the edge of the lower American River, Lake Natomas is a staple in the community. The Sacramento State Aquatic Center is a great example of this. Community members come out to enjoy the lake with their families and athletes to train and compete there as well. In this 4-minute video, Sacramento State Aquatic Center employees and community members speak to student fellows, Aviana Loveall and Katelyn Vengersammy about the importance of having access to a clean and safe lake to recreate.
Produced and Anchored by Aviana Loveall | Reported by Aviana Loveall and Katelyn Vengersammy
Aviana Loveall is a Communication Studies major at Sierra College from Roseville. Her interest areas include fashion and pop culture news. She was a California Humanities Emerging Journalist Fellow in Spring ’22. She plans to transfer to Chico State University in fall 2022 and continue in the major with her interests.
Katelyn Vengersammy is a Photography and Video major at Sierra College. She was a California Humanities Emerging Journalist Fellow in Spring ’22. She is currently working from Rocklin and plans to transfer to Sacramento State University in Fall 2022 to pursue Photojournalism.
Born and raised in Sacramento, Steven Bruegeman grew up with National Geographic on all the coffee tables and the kitchen counter. Almost everything in his life has been tied back to California ecology. After going back to school in retirement and getting a degree in Environmental Conservation, Bruegeman found Dolphin Scuba- the Sacramento scuba diving hub. Now a pro, Bruegeman takes on river clean-up dives and teaches kids scuba and Ecology Awareness. I interviewed him on May 11th at Dolphin Scuba. Continue Reading
The transition to a digital campus didn’t just impact classes- college clubs had to find their new footing in a remote world. Now, two years later the clubs of Sierra have experienced functioning remotely, on-ground, and in hybrid forms, and have a sense of what the future of clubs at Sierra holds.Continue Reading
Bends and Banks: Communities, Water, and the American River, is a set of five stories produced by a team of journalist fellows in Spring, 2022. The team includes four student journalists: Madalyn Wright, Vontress Ortega, Katelyn Vengersammy, and Aviana Loveall. They were all awarded through the California Humanities “Emerging Journalist” Fellowship with the Journalism program at Sierra College.
After seeing the increase in hate crimes towards Asian Americans during the COVID-19 outbreak, I wondered if one day I would be one of the victims I saw on the news. Working in a grocery store for almost 40 hours a week I was outside in the world for the majority of the time, putting myself at even more risk. Continue Reading
As summer ends, kids start to dread going back to school while parents go back to their usual schedule of waking up, dropping their kids off and then going to work. For many, there’s not much to look forward to during the months of August and September. That is, until the beginning of October comes around each year.Continue Reading
