Fighting for air

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

• Introduction: Fighting for air
• State smog test leaves polluters on the road
• Stiffer rules could speed cleanup
• Fleeing Valley's unhealthy air
• Trapped by the Valley's air
• Fresno is state's asthma capital
• Researchers looking for answers
• Farmers join clear-air fight
• Innovations for diesel vehicles stalled
• Stringent state rules still lack bite
• What has changed in five years?
• Valley air district defends improvement plan
• District's ozone strategy could backfire
• Air officials to explore drift of LA basin pollution
• Clean air can happen
• Who is on the Valley air board?
• Contacts, links to air-quality information

Escaping smog

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

• Bob Claypool
• Patricia Jennings
• The Julin family
• The Morphy family
• Catherine M. Rehart
• The Schwister family
• The Shaw family
• The Storm family
• The Terry family
• The Whipple family
• The Wiseman family

Graphics

• Play the Smogbusters board game
• Geography makes things worse
• Clearing the air: Progress and prognosis
• The worst places to breathe

ESCAPING SMOG: The Julin family

Background: Dale Julin, 51, a television anchor and radio talk-show host in Fresno, hosted five half-hour news specials about clean air on KSEE Channel 24 and discussed the topic frequently on his radio programs. His wife, Patti, 48, was a college music teacher.

Why they left: Dale said it took the couple less than two hours to decide to leave the Valley after a doctor told them their 11-year-old daughter, Mara, had exercise-induced asthma and her condition would likely worsen if she continued breathing bad air.

Now: They moved to Santa Cruz in 2006. Dale hosts a radio show; Patti teaches music. Mara's asthma hasn't disappeared, but she said she feels better. "I can jog a mile without using my inhaler."

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