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AZ has over 150 electric school buses, could more be on the way? Three ex-Memphis officers charged in the killing of Tyre Nichols to stand trial; FL advocates highlight philanthropy's role in supporting Black maternal health; Indigenous water protectors protest the aging pipeline.

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New polling shows Harris struggles with male voters, while Trump faces challenges with female voters. Tomorrow's debate is important, with the race tight, and a New Hampshire candidate is under fire for ties to a big corporate landlord.

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Rural counties have higher traffic death rates compared to urban, factions have formed around Colorado's proposed Dolores National Monument, and a much-needed Kentucky grocery store is using a federal grant to slash future utility bills.

Cleveland expands local air monitoring program

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Wednesday, December 27, 2023   

The City of Cleveland wants new community air advisers to help expand air monitoring in historically redlined neighborhoods.

Christina Yoka, chief of air pollution outreach for the Cleveland Department of Public Health, said children in the city's predominantly Black communities -- a "C"-shaped area known as the Cleveland Crescent -- have higher rates of asthma and other respiratory conditions.

She emphasized the project's goal is to improve the accuracy of air pollution monitoring at the local level.

"So that we can really take a good look at, how does air quality in those neighborhoods compare to other areas within the City of Cleveland?" Yoka explained.

Community advisers in the area will decide where to place 30 new air sensors and collect feedback from residents, and they will receive a quarterly stipend for their efforts.

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued ambient air quality standards for six types of harmful air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone and lead. Funding for the project comes from an American Rescue Plan Act grant through the EPA.

Yoka added prospective air advisers must be 18 years or older and live within the City of Cleveland.

"They just need to be comfortable talking to their neighbors," Yoka pointed out. "Getting out there and finding out from their community, from their neighbors, what are the problems and the concerns that they're seeing?"

The American Lung Association's 2022 "State of the Air" report found Cleveland harbors high levels of particle and ozone pollution, and is ranked 27th among the most polluted cities in the nation.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America ranks Cleveland 4th in the nation for being one of the most challenging places to live with asthma.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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