How has life in the Bay Area changed over the last 20 years? These stories straight from our Bay City News archives capture news of the day from 5, 10, and 20 years ago – as originally published at the time. Explore these history snapshots and ponder how today’s news compares to that of years past.
JULY 29, 2021
Racial disparities in maternal and infant health remain a public health crisis that income and education alone do not erase. Five Bay Area counties joined a campaign connecting Black birth outcomes to structural racism, clinical bias and the need for policy change.
Bay City News Reported:
“Bay Area Counties Launch Black Birth Justice Campaign”
Five Bay Area counties have launched a campaign to raise awareness around how racism is affecting, even killing, Black moms and their babies.
The campaign called #DeliverBirthJustice is part of a statewide effort called the Perinatal Equity Initiative, led by state public health officials, to wipe out disparities related to infant deaths.
#DeliverBirthJustice was announced last week.
“Racism is stressful, and the research shows that racialized stress is taking an undue toll on Black births,” Dr. Zea Malawa, perinatal equity medical director at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and physician director of Expecting Justice, said in a statement.
“Every single time we dismantle structural racism, we’re saving a Black mother’s life and we are saving a Black baby’s life. Our lives matter,” Malawa said.
Participating counties include Alameda Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Solano.
Research published in 2019 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that for every 100,000 U.S. births, 41 Black women died from pregnancy-related causes compared to 13 white women. The research looked at deaths between 2007 and 2016.
In California, Black infants die at two to four times the rate of other groups, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.
“We deserve to have healthy births, for our babies to be taken care of,” said soul and R&B musician and activist Goapele, who served as a campaign spokesperson, in a statement. “See us, hear us, know our stories and help uplift us.”
Public health officials also said poor birth outcomes among Black women persist even when they get pregnant at an optimal age, are well-educated or have a high income.
In addition to research, the testimonies of Black women are helping to inform the campaign.
“The serious challenges that Black moms are facing in regards to health and their community is because of racism,” Sharayah Alexander, a Black mother in Alameda County, said in a statement.
“When we start listening to Black mothers, that’s when we’re going to start seeing health issues decline,” Alexander said.
Health professionals may be able to help by taking implicit bias training, partnering with doulas and midwives, and creating systems to report and address racism in health facilities.
“We must take action now to root out racism and bias and repair the harm it inflicts on the health and lives of Black mothers, families and babies,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, said in a statement.
Funding for Skinner’s Senate Bill 65 was included in the latest state budget. Called the California “Momnibus” Act, it aims to improve the health of Black moms and their babies.
More work is expected from county and campaign leaders. County leaders are expected to provide Black moms and their families the opportunity to share their stories around birth justice.
Campaign leaders are expected to work with policymakers to shed light on policies that disrupt racism and help Black parents have healthy children.
JULY 29, 2016
Wildfire disasters reshape housing, public lands and emergency budgets long after evacuation orders are lifted. One week into the Soberanes Fire, thousands of firefighters faced a deadly blaze that had destroyed dozens of homes and threatened thousands more.
Bay City News reported:
“Soberanes Fire Destroys 57 Homes”
A fatal wildland fire that began one week ago today has grown to nearly 33,000 acres and destroyed more than 65 structures in Monterey County south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Cal Fire officials said.
The Soberanes Fire began on July 22 in Garrapata State Park north of Big Sur and has extended to 32,930 acres as of thisevening, Cal Fire officials said.
There are 4,277 firefighters working to extinguish the blaze that has destroyed 57 homes and 11 outbuildings, according to Cal Fire.
Roughly 350 residents have been evacuated, but evacuation orders were lifted at 4 p.m. today for Riley Ranch Road, Red Wolf Drive, Corona Road, and all of Carmel Highland.
Roughly 2,000 structures remain threatened by the blaze, which has damaged three homes and two outbuildings, agency officials said.
The agency is utilizing resources on the air and ground to battle the fire, which was 15 percent contained as of this morning, Cal Fire officials said.
A private contractor who died when a bulldozer he was operating overturned on him sometime between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning has been identified as Robert Oliver Reagan III, 35, of Friant, a community in Fresno County, agency officials said.
Cal Fire’s Serious Accident Investigation Team has been tasked with looking at the circumstances surrounding Reagan’s death, according to agency officials.
Investigators are figuring out what started the fire and estimate full containment will be reached on Aug. 31, Cal Fire officials said.
The county is under a state of emergency declared Tuesday by acting Gov. Tom Torlakson, the state’s superintendent of public instruction who is filling in while Gov. Jerry Brown is away in Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention.
The state’s Office of Emergency Services has issued a Fire Management Assistance Grant that will help make sure necessary resources are bought in to help douse the fire, state officials said.
The grant also allows local, state and tribal agencies to be reimbursed for any eligible expenses, according to state emergency officials said.
Any trails or roads leading into the Los Padres National Forest are closed in addition to state parks in the fire area, parks officials said.
An evacuation center at Carmel Middle School closed at 8 a.m. today because of low demand by people affected by the fire, agency officials said.
As of this morning, the shelter was caring for 49 pets evacuated from the blaze, SPCA officials said.
The nonprofit is also holding an adoption event for 94 pets starting today through Sunday to help make room for animals displaced by the fire at its shelter located at 1002 Monterey-Salinas Highway in Salinas, according to the SPCA.
JULY 29, 2006
Major bridge work requires regional coordination so construction does not paralyze travel across the Bay Area. Caltrans planned a full lower-deck closure while working with BART on overnight service and rescheduling other highway projects.
Bay City News reported:
“Bay Bridge Closure Planned For Major Construction”
Construction work will completely shut down the lower deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to traffic over the Labor Day weekend, the California Department of Transportation reports.
A Caltrans official says that the holiday weekend is an optimal time to work on the eastbound span.
“Believe it or not, the traffic counts on Labor Day are lower than we have on other weekends,” spokesman Bart Ney said.
The construction project slated for the long weekend is coming at a critical stage in Bay Bridge construction and will take more than two days, making the three-day weekend an ideal time to complete the work, Ney said.
“If we get the message out to our audience in the Bay Area, we see the traffic count go way down when we do this sort of work,” Ney said.
Caltrans is also working with Bay Area Rapid Transit to provide around-the-clock BART service while the construction is underway and will coordinate the Labor Day project with construction on highways elsewhere in the Bay Area so as to ensure traffic around the region is minimally impacted, Ney said.
BART spokesman Linton Johnson said that if there is 24-hour BART service during the construction period, riders will pay normal fares, but that BART is considering scaling down the number of stations open.
Caltrans will make the final determination about whether extended BART hours are necessary, he said.
A project on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge originally scheduled for Labor Day weekend will be suspended, he said.
All eastbound lanes of the bridge are scheduled to close Friday Sept. 1 at 11:59 p.m. – after the 7 p.m. San Francisco 49ers versus San Diego Chargers game at Monster Park – and won’t re-open until Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 5 a.m., Ney said.
While there won’t be any windows scheduled for automobiles to drive east, buses will be allowed to cross the bridge at hourly intervals, he said.
Editor’s Note: All the reporting, writing, and editing of this content was done by human journalists at the time of initial publication. AI tools were used to surface these stories from our internal Bay City News archives and provide the introductory context.