Sylvie Sturm, MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPw-iUyylcs

San Francisco Public Press

11/03/2023

The Fight for Safe Consumption Sites: San Francisco and the Overdose Crisis

San Francisco is on track to have the highest number of drug overdose deaths in its history. A year ago, I started looking into what led us here, what was helping and what may be making things worse. I've been reporting my findings in a series for the San Francisco Public Press website and Civic podcast and KFSP radio show. In Part 5 of my series, I visit an overdose prevention center in New York City called OnPoint NYC. Executive Director Sam Rivera talked about the transformative effect...

San Francisco Public Press

05/04/2023

Military-Style Drug War in Tenderloin Sparks Fears That More Drug Users Could Overdose

Last week's deployment of the National Guard and California Highway Patrol onto San Francisco's streets to crack down on drugs comes amid intense public pressure to address open air drug use and sales. But the emphasis on law enforcement for addressing the city's drug crisis has distressed public defense attorneys and harm reduction advocates who fear the move may worsen the rate of fatal overdoses.

San Francisco Public Press

04/21/2023

With Overdose Deaths Surging, Critics Chide City, State for Curbing Safe Consumption Centers

San Francisco's chief medical examiner delivered grim statistics last week about a recent increase in deaths related to drug use. In the first three months of the year, 200 people died of accidental overdose. That's up significantly from the first quarter last year, with 142 deaths. These tragedies were disproportionately suffered by marginalized groups.

San Francisco Public Press

06/03/2023

Children Violently Removed by Court Order Resurface and Report Traumatic Experience

It has been seven months since Maya Laing and her brother Sebastian, who were 15 and 11 at the time, were violently taken from their grandmother's Santa Cruz home by court order. Judge Rebecca Connelly, who oversaw their custody case, rejected the siblings' claims that their mother abused them, and last October she ordered them into reunification training to repair their fractured relationship with their mother.

San Francisco Public Press

02/24/2023

Children's Violent Removal From Santa Cruz Home Raises Calls to End Reunification Camps

A video showing the violent removal of two children from a Santa Cruz home has spurred calls to ban a controversial practice that pressures children to recant claims of abuse and embrace their alleged abuser.

San Francisco Public Press

02/17/2023

Family Courts Rely on Dubious Theory to Dismiss Child Abuse Claims

Disbelieving a child's allegation of abuse based on the notion that the other parent brainwashed them into lying is a hotly debated legal tactic called parental alienation. A growing chorus of international media coverage, medical groups and judicial bodies are expressing doubts over the validity of this legal defense tactic and of its practitioners.

San Francisco Public Press

02/10/2023

Reporter's Notebook: When Family Court Fails

I've been a print reporter for decades, but my venture into audio journalism this past year as a contributor to the San Francisco Public Press' "Civic" podcast and radio show has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career.

San Francisco Public Press

10/10/2022

When Judges Dismiss Claims of Domestic Abuse, Children Can Die

Lawmakers, experts and advocates across California are pushing for legislation that would make judges take regular training in recognizing domestic violence and child abuse. The crusade is an attempt to lessen the chances that a judge will place a child in the custody of a dangerous parent.

San Francisco Public Press

09/12/2022

Coercive Control Victims Face Skeptical Judges, Court Transcripts Show

On average in the U.S., more than 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 4 men, will experience physical violence, rape or stalking by an intimate partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Nevertheless, when victims turn to family court for protection from their abusers, they often face skeptical judges.

San Francisco Public Press

07/11/2022

Laguna Honda Doctors Warned SF of Looming Crisis

Nearly 700 live-in patients at Laguna Honda Hospital were thrown into chaos this spring after a series of damning inspections led the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pull funding and mandate a closure plan for the facility. It's a dire situation for residents of the skilled nursing facility who have specialized needs that make them hard to place elsewhere.

San Francisco Public Press

05/18/2021

Laguna Honda Hospital Has to Self-Destruct to Survive

Administrators are overhauling policies and procedures to regain federal funding that is set to expire following the issuance of multiple damning inspection reports at Laguna Honda Hospital. They have until Sept.

San Francisco Public Press

04/08/2022

Ukrainians in SF Are Anxious and Angry, and Refugees Need Homes

Members of the Ukrainian diaspora in San Francisco are angry, anxious and desperate to connect with loved ones in their ancestral homeland. Meanwhile, a local aid agency is asking for help as refugees begin arriving in the Bay Area.

https://youtu.be/nytQGq2SiDQ

My YouTube Channel

05/17/2020

Imagining Home

Detailing Oakland's POOR Magazine Homefulness Project, a sweat equity, permanent co-housing, education, arts, micro-business and social change project for landless/houseless and formerly houseless families and individuals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6MPfsib7MI

San Francisco State University

05/08/2019

Framed: Bay Area Homelessness & Media Coverage

An exhaustive research project reveals some interesting things about the way local media reports on the Bay Area's most pressing problem: homelessness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJCJPLOMwIw

Newsworx

07/06/2018

Surviving HIV Together

The horrendous early years of HIV/AIDS are becoming a distant memory for many. But the men and women who lived through those traumatic times are still healing from the loss of so many loved-ones and from living for years with a death sentence hanging over their heads.

Newsworx

07/20/2018

Multimedia Presentation: Surviving HIV Together

A website depicting four San Franciscans who lived through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and '90s — as representative of the trauma of long-term HIV survivors — using a 5-minute documentary and statistics tabulated into visual data journalism.

https://youtu.be/ZuNPM2OU-BQ

My YouTube Channel

03/22/019

A Need for Speed

Ever since he was tall enough to reach his first go kart gas pedal, Colorado native Johnathan Foley was hooked. Today, the 28-year-old manages K1 Speed Indoor Go Kart Racing in South San Francisco, and still loves the adrenaline surge he gets from besting other drivers in a test of skill, wits and daring.

Local News Matters

10/30/2018

'A labor of love': Postcard campaign writers seek to increase voter turnout in midterm elections

On a second-floor loft above a raucous bar full of enthusiastic NFL fans in San Francisco's Richmond District, several dozen people sit quietly on barstools around high top tables. Every one of them is hunched over small squares of paper, scribbling furiously, never once glancing at the four screens above them blaring the matchup between the Eagles and the Giants.

Local News Matters

10/21/2018

Digital platform uses peer pressure to motivate young adults to vote

The election campaigner's Holy Grail - the most elusive of all demographics - has long been the young adult crowd. Despite every conceivable attempt to get out that particular vote, the under-35 crowd remains largely unmoved. But the die-hard politicos among this set aren't giving up on their peers, even though they're fully aware of the challenge before them.

Kamloops Daily News

09/09/2013