Daily Business Report: Tuesday, December 30
Color barrier-breaking firefighter Alwin Holman honored with proclamation
By City News Service | Times of San Diego
For decades of service to the city of San Diego and breaking a major color barrier, city leaders proclaimed Friday Alwin Benjamin Holman Day in honor of the ex-firefighter on his 100th birthday.
Holman was the first Black San Diego firefighter to serve in a station other than Fire Station 19 in the historically Black Southcrest neighborhood. As a rookie in November 1951, he was assigned to Fire Station 14 in North Park. Holman served with the SDFD for 32 years, ultimately becoming the city’s first Black Deputy fire chief.
Holman was born in Alton, Illinois, “where segregation sought to define opportunity, yet through the strength and wisdom of his mother, he was raised to rise above discrimination and live with dignity, confidence and purpose,” the city’s proclamation reads.
A new California law requires tortillas to include an extra ingredient. Here’s why
By Ana B. Ibara | CalMatters
Tortillas sold in California are going to have a new ingredient, one that’s intended to help nurture healthy infants.
Starting Jan. 1, a new law will take effect requiring most tortillas and corn masa products sold in the state to contain folic acid, a vitamin that’s important to infant health.
Latinas in California are far less likely than other women to get enough folic acid early in pregnancy — a gap that can lead to life-altering birth defects.
20 Years of Impact: The Vaccine Exemption Doctor
By Will Huntsberry| Voice of San Diego
In 2019, Dr. Tara Zandvliet had carved out an exceptional niche practicing medicine. She was the vaccine doctor of choice for a majority of parents in San Diego Unified School District, which has more than 100,000 students.
Zandvliet had written nearly a third of all vaccine exemptions for the entire district, according to a list I obtained. Not only that, she wrote many for dubious reasons, according to mainstream medical science.
Even before the Covid pandemic, vaccines were a lightning rod. The story travelled fast. Local, national and even international news outlets followed up on our story.
