You’re listening to 91-9 KVCR. This is In Focus with Black Voice News, where we highlight stories you may have missed. I’m Nyla Glover.
Our first story this week is good news for Californians who suffer with diabetes and their families. In the article, California to Offer Low-cost Insulin at $11 per Pen Starting in 2026, Black Voice News health reporter Breanna Reeves, informs readers about Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement that low-cost insulin will be available in pharmacies across the state beginning January 1, 2026. The CalRx Insulin Glargine will be available in pen form for $11 per pen or $55 for a five-pack of 3 milliliter pens. The move is part of Newsom’s CalRx Initiative, which aims to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the state. The American Diabetes Association has welcomed the move, citing a 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation opinion poll that found about three in ten adults reported not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost.
In our next story, Black Voice News reporter Alyssah Hall discusses the work of Full Circle Players, a nonprofit theatre company in Riverside. In the article titled, Full Circle Player’s Mojada Play Highlights Current Issues with American Immigration, highlights the theater group's recent performance of the play, "Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles" by Chicano playwright Luis Alfaro, during Hispanic Heritage Month. The play is a modern-day retelling of the mythical Medea tragedy by ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It focuses on migration, survival and sacrifice in Los Angeles. The play's themes of the dark truths behind America's immigration system and the struggles faced by Latino immigrants are still relevant today, even more so under the Trump administration's anti-immigration policy. The cast and crew of the production, which included Lourdes Castillo as Medea and Black Voice News’ own Esther Gatica in the role of Tita, hoped that audiences would carry the reflection of the play with them and begin to transmute any of their own harmful behaviors.
In our next feature, Black Voice News reporter Aryana Noroozi writes to inform the community about a new and improved Ready SB County App recently released by the San Bernardino County Office of Emergency Services. It is a free mobile tool that provides real-time alerts, interactive hazard maps, and personalized preparedness tools to help residents stay informed and take action before, during, and after a disaster. The app also includes evacuation zone maps, safety check-ins with family and friends, and quick access to emergency resources. The app aims to make preparation more convenient and effective, and is part of an ongoing effort to strengthen local emergency response and public awareness. Visit the app store of your mobile service provider to download the free app.
In another timely report titled, California Teachers Association (CTA) has endorsed Proposition 50, the organization shines a light on the November 4th Special Election ballot measure aimed at protecting public education funding and preventing cuts by President Trump. The initiative, also known as the Election Rigging Response Act, seeks to counteract Republican efforts to capture additional congressional seats currently held by Democrats in the 2026 midterm election in order to maintain control of Congress. Proposition 50 will offset this action. . If passed, Proposition 50 will authorize the temporary use of new congressional district maps that are intended to offset Republican gerrymandering efforts to capture seats in states like Texas and North Carolina. If successful, Prop 50 will be effective beginning in this year and ending in 2030, subsequent to the decennial census after which CA’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will resume districting responsibilities.
And, in this week’s Keeping it Real titled, The Time for Cautious Politics is Over, Black Voice News Executive Editor Stephanie Williams discusses an important case argued before The US Supreme Court on Thursday, October 16, by Janai Nelson, current director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. An unfavorable decision in the case titled, Louisiana v. Callais, could potentially undermine Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act or VRA. The question regarding Louisiana v. Callais is whether Section 2 can be used to prevent white voters from being overrepresented in congressional maps. The 1965 Voting Rights Act has been under attack since its passage in 1965. However, the most significant and devastating blow to the law came in 2013, when the Supreme Court gutted Section 5 of the VRA which required 16 states, counties and townships identified in Section 5, to submit any redistricting plans to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for preclearance before implementation. Many now fear that if the race-based remedies of Section 2 are ended, it will destroy the last fragile bulwark against the total annihilation of the hard-fought gains of full citizenship via the franchise, waged by Black people and their supporters and paid for with the blood of martyrs. This, as argued by Nelson, “would be catastrophic for Black voters.”
To read these and other BVN stories in their entirety, please visit blackvoicenews.com. This segment and collaboration with KVCR is made possible with support from the Inland Empire Journalism Hub & Fund. Until next time, I’m Nyla Glover with Black Voice News.