Cynthia Dizikes

1 month ago | sacbee.com | Cynthia Dizikes

May 11-As summer approaches and more Bay Area residents head out to trails and campsites along the Sonoma coast, state wildlife experts are urging people to be particularly vigilant for bears. Just last week, a black bear was seen walking south on the Kortum Trail in Sonoma Coast State Park, where such sightings are incredibly rare.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Cynthia Dizikes

A black bear was spotted Thursday on the Kortum Trail in Sonoma Coast State Park. Clark Hale/California State ParksA black bear was spotted Thursday on the Kortum Trail in Sonoma Coast State Park. Clark Hale/California State ParksThe same black bear was seen Friday on Penny Island in Sonoma County.

1 month ago | sfchronicle.com | Cynthia Dizikes

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking at a press conference earlier this month in Ceres, Calif. His administration is moving to quickly impose nurse staffing rules on psychiatric hospitals. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Noah Berger/Associated PressMárta Bárány organizes a memorial for her daughter Jázmin last year. Jázmin was repeatedly hospitalized while in emotional crisis over the last two years of her life, often in understaffed for-profit facilities where she received chaotic care.

2 months ago | sfchronicle.com | Cynthia Dizikes |Joaquin Palomino

Calling the dangerous conditions in for-profit psychiatric hospitals an "emergency," California's top lawmaker on the state Senate Health Committee proposed legislation Thursday to quickly impose stricter staffing requirements in the facilities that treat tens of thousands of residents experiencing mental health crises every year. Sen.

Mar 19, 2025 | sfchronicle.com | Joaquin Palomino |Cynthia Dizikes

Five police officers barged into Santa Rosa Behavioral Healthcare Hospital with their guns at the ready. Inside the psychiatric hospital's adolescent unit on that Wednesday night in May 2023, patients were kicking, scratching and spitting on employees as staff members struggled to pin them down and quell the riot. A girl ripped a block of Sheetrock from the wall and hurled it at workers. The on-call hospital administrator was nowhere to be found.