Insights

<p>They are neighborhoods where a wilting head of lettuce costs two or three times as much as a dollar meal. Where fast-food spots litter the landscape but the nearest supermarket is miles away. "Shopping local" in these communities means buying food at a convenience store or a gas station where limited shelf life restricts choices to calorie-dense, highly processed foods with little nutritional value. Fried food abounds; fresh food is near impossible to find.</p>

<p>As the national conversation about gay teen suicide continues in the wake of <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/gay-teen-suicide-sparks-debate/story?id=117881… Clementi’s death</a>, it’s worth taking a moment to examine how the media covers suicide among people of any age and orientation – and how we can do better.</p>

<p>Beginning in 2014, businesses with more than 50 workers will have to provide health insurance or face a penalty per each full-time employee. At the same time, many of these small businesses are struggling to stay afloat.</p>

<p>If you live in California, you see it all of the time.&nbsp;Big rig trucks driving alongside you on freeways and roads. Freight trains carrying goods up and down the coast. Ships docked at container shipping ports both in southern and northern California.</p>

<p>Sadly, in the city of Long Beach and the surrounding South Bay region, the topic of air pollution is nothing new.</p><p>Asthma and lung disease rates are among the highest in the nation. It is simply an unavoidable consequence of living nearby the massive twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.</p>

<p>Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.</p>

<p>My mom used to take me to&nbsp;<a href="http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-10-18/business/17137174_1_mervyns-natio… "husky" jeans. My mom tried to sugar coat this embarrassing ritual&nbsp;by telling me I&nbsp;was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20boned">big boned</a>.</p>

<p><strong>My Journey With Heart Failure</strong></p>

<p>Here’s what we’re checking out today:</p> <p><strong>Octomom: </strong>This one’s a jaw-dropper. "Octomom” Nadya Suleman's fertility doctor, Michael Kamrava, endangered the mother of 14 by <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/health/7252316.html">implanting her with a dozen embryos</a> in the pregnancy that gave her octuplets, a state attorney charged at the doctor’s license hearing, the AP’s Shaya Tayefe Mohajer reports.</p>

<p><span style="white-space:pre"> </span>Sometimes it seems like all I ever hear about is the bad in Del Norte County.</p>