The Heising-Simons Foundation is proud to regularly see its grantee partners featured in media outlets across the country, providing an expert voice on a timely issue or being highlighted for their accomplishments and hard work. Here are some news items that have featured our grantees in July 2019.

Ways to Better Serve Often-Misunderstood English-Learners With Disabilities
Education Week, July 31, 2019
This article highlights a new report by New America that offers recommendations to help educators “more accurately identify ELs with disabilities and provide appropriate instructional services.” New America and this report are supported by the Foundation’s Education program.

California Childcare Characterized by Unaffordable Prices and Low Wages
KQED News, July 26, 2019
A new report by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at University of California, Berkeley, points out that early educators in California are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty than other workers. CSCCE’s founding director Marcy Whitebook joins KQED Forum host Mina Kim to discuss this troubling assessment. The report was also covered in depth by the San Jose Mercury News. CSCCE is supported by the Foundation’s Education program.

The Human Cost of Fast-Track Deportation
The New York Times, July 25, 2019
“One hallmark of the American justice system is a fair day in court before an impartial decision maker,” writes Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council, regarding the risks associated with fast-tracking deportation procedures. “This is the ultimate distortion of that system.” The American Immigration Council is supported by the Foundation’s Human Rights program.

Extreme Black Hole Vindicates Einstein (Again)
National Geographic, July 25, 2019
UCLA professor of physics and astronomy Andrea Ghez and her team have revealed the results of the most comprehensive test of general relativity near a black hole at the center of our galaxy. “Our observations are consistent with Einstein’s general theory of relativity,” said Dr. Ghez. “However, his theory (…) cannot fully explain gravity inside a black hole, and at some point we will need to move beyond Einstein’s theory to a more comprehensive theory of gravity that explains what a black hole is.” In addition to being featured in National Geographic, the story has gathered wide media coverage, including CNN, NBC News, Reuters. Dr. Ghez’s work is supported by the Foundation’s Science program.

Astronomers Discover Two Ferociously Fast Stars Locked in a Death Spiral
CNET, July 24, 2019
The Zwicky Transient Facility project has published a study in the scientific journal Nature announcing the discovery of the second-fastest orbiting pair of white dwarf stars ever recorded. White dwarfs are usually small and dense remnants of stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel. The story has received wide media coverage, including CNN, Newsweek, and Discover Magazine. This work is supported by the Foundation’s Science program.

Ditching Fossil Fuels Can Tackle Affordable Housing and Climate Change
The Hill, July 22, 2019
Bruce Niles, managing director at the Rocky Mountain Institute, co-authored this opinion piece about the opportunities presented by building electrification. The Rocky Mountain Institute is supported by the Foundation’s Climate & Clean Energy program.

Open Forum: Stopping ICE Raids Begins With Ending Immigration Detention
San Francisco Chronicle, July 16, 2019
The link between private detention facilities and immigration detention is explored in this opinion piece by immigration attorney Hamid Yazdan Panah, who is also part of The Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco. The organization is supported by the Foundation’s Human Rights program.

Top Border Officials Condemn ‘Highly Inappropriate’ Secret Facebook Group
The New York Times, July 2, 2019
As lawmakers toured Border Patrol facilities in Texas earlier in July, ProPublica revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group of thousands of current and past Border Patrol agents that featured “highly inappropriate and offensive” content, as described by the chief of Border Patrol. ProPublica is supported by the Foundation’s Community & Opportunity program.

Armed With Knowledge
Sactown Magazine, June-July 2019 issue
“It turns out that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun research center,” journalist Kate Washington writes in this in-depth portrait of Dr. Garen Wintemute, who leads the University of California’s Firearm Violence Research Center, the first state-funded center of its kind in the United States. The Foundation’s Community and Opportunity program supports the U.C. Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, where the research center is located.