Semantha Norris

2 weeks ago | sanfernandosun.com | Semantha Norris

This is part 4 of a series on silicosis. For 22 years, Daniel Aguilar Morales cut stone countertops five to six days a week at B Y Marble Inc. in the City of San Fernando. He would have happily continued another 22 years had his health not taken a drastic turn. Seemingly overnight, Aguilar Morales began having difficulty breathing and felt himself getting weaker. The large stone slabs he once carried with ease onto the cutting table were impossible to move.

2 weeks ago | sanfernandosun.com | Semantha Norris

Senate Bill (SB) 20, the Silicosis Training, Outreach and Prevention (STOP) Act, introduced by State Sen. Caroline Menjivar last year, was placed on the “suspense file” in the Senate Appropriations Committee, possibly threatening its passage. The act is an attempt to protect stone fabrication workers from exposure to silicosis, a terminal, yet preventable, occupational lung disease.

3 weeks ago | sanfernandosun.com | Semantha Norris

Dos semanas después de rechazar (3-2) una designación de “ciudad santuario” y una moción para redactar leyes que aclaren la política de la ciudad con respecto a la aplicación de la ley federal de inmigración, el Concejo Municipal de San Fernando aprobó por unanimidad una amplia resolución destinada a proteger a los inmigrantes. La decisión se tomó tras una gran presión pública, con horas de testimonios públicos durante semanas instando al consejo a adoptar el estatus de ciudad santuario.

3 weeks ago | sanfernandosun.com | Semantha Norris

Two weeks after rejecting (3-2) a “sanctuary city” designation and a motion to draft laws to clarify the city’s policy dealing with federal immigration enforcement, the San Fernando City Council unanimously passed a broad resolution aimed at protecting immigrants. The decision came after much public pressure, with hours of public testimony over weeks urging the council to adopt sanctuary city status. When the council failed to act, a group of community members even discussed starting a recall.

1 month ago | sanfernandosun.com | Semantha Norris

Esta es la parte 3 de una serie sobre la silicosis. A primera hora de la tarde, dos mujeres se detuvieron en una camioneta entre las hileras de tiendas de fabricación de piedra y abrieron el maletero para revelar hieleras llenas de tamales. Sin mascarillas ni equipos de protección personal, vendían el almuerzo a los hambrientos fabricantes de piedra cubiertos de polvo tóxico de sílice.