Interactive report

Get a close look at the Valley's air-quality problem with audio, video, animations, and an interactive quiz and game. You also can check the smog-test results of any California vehicle or light truck.

Listen to Bee staff

In a podcast, the reporters on the "Fighting for Air" special section discuss the pollution challenge facing the Valley.

Stories

Escaping smog

These families and people have left the Valley, blaming health problems caused by air pollution.

Graphics

ESCAPING SMOG: The Wiseman family

Background: Ken Wiseman, 56, is director of the governor's Marine Life Protection Act initiative and works in Sacramento. He was the first undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. His wife, Rebecca, 54, is a justice of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno.

Why they left: Son Case, 17, began coughing and wheezing at about age 8. As Case grew, he had more severe asthma attacks. Ken said he and Rebecca decided the family had to leave the Valley after a night four years ago when Case struggled to breathe.

Now: Ken and Rebecca bought a home in the east Bay Area three years ago. The couple maintains a home in Fresno for Rebecca. Ken commutes from their Bay Area home to his Sacramento office. Since the move, Case has had no major asthma attacks, his father said.