Jondi Gumz

Editor

I am editor of the Times Publishing Group, Inc., which publishes the Aptos Times, Capitola-Soquel Times, Scotts Valley Times and Coastal Health & Wellness. I retired from the Santa Cruz Sentinel in January 2019 after working there since 1992. I was a Center for Health Journalism California Fellow in 2010. I'm a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. I've covered a variety of beats and gotten training from the Poynter Institute and the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism. I've won the Casey Medal and awards from the Education Writers Association, Society of Environmental Journalists and the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.

Articles

No one seems to have solutions

<p>After my story about the $2,391 per month health insurance premium, I got an email from a teacher in the Mountain School District. She writes, "Teachers in Santa Cruz County are facing similar increases.&nbsp; At many districts in Santa Cruz County, including Mountain School, San Lorenzo Valley and Soquel, teachers have seen unimaginable and unsustainable increases to our premiums.&nbsp; I am one of these teachers and no one seems to have solutions for us.

The $2,391 Health Insurance Premium: How I Got the Story

<p>My editor forwarded me an e-mail from a reader, 55, frustrated that PacifiCare raised the cost of his policy to nearly $2,400 a month.</p><p>When the California governor's office sent out an announcement the morning of Monday, Oct. 25, about the state's new insurance plan, my first thought was this new plan should help this reader, so I gave him a call.&nbsp;</p><p>He was very forthcoming about the costs he was facing and his efforts to find less costly insurance. It took more time to reach the right state official and a spokesman for the insurance company.</p>

Tipping the scales against obesity

<p>About 31 percent of Watsonville's children are obese by age 8, and another 23 percent are overweight. Though they are growing up in a region known worldwide for its strawberries, lettuce and artichokes, fresh fruits and vegetables are too often a tiny part of their daily diet. This story looks at how dietary choices play a large part in the growing problem of overweight children.</p>