In the News

Alana Hedley is old school. She still writes thank-you notes and likes to send birthday cards to her grandchildren. The Rancho Mirage resident is a mail-in voter and a self-described "strong and true" Republican.

"Where would we be without the Post Office?" she said after mailing some books Tuesday morning in Rancho Mirage.

Congressman Raul Ruiz held a news conference outside the U.S. Post Office in La Quinta to denounce the changes to the service implemented by Postmaster Louis DeJoy.

DeJoy reversed course on the actions that have caused concern, saying in a statement he will suspend the changes until after the election.

Ruiz says the damage is done and being felt by his constituents.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, discussed a bill pending aimed at modified funding for the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.

For farmworkers in California's Coachella Valley, it's brutally simple: no work means no food. But fear of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it amongst their families has created uncertainty and anxiety.

In an effort to ease their fears, Dr. Raul Ruiz, a congressman representing California's 36th District, partnered with Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine to bring pop-up testing sites to the fields.

While House Democrats have passed novel coronavirus pandemic legislation that finally provides assistance to immigrant workers left out of previous legislation (and currently stalled by Senate Republicans), one member is going even further to ensure this community doesn't fall through the cracks. California Rep. Raul Ruiz, an emergency room physician, has tested farm workers and their families in Coachella Valley, NBC News reports.

In the nation's patchwork response to the pandemic,Democratic congressman and physician Raul Ruizis helping fill a gap by taking coronavirus testing directly to farmworkers in the Coachella Valley of California.

For years, American soldiers serving their country abroad were exposed to toxins from so-called burn pits.

Now, even as they celebrate a win following an approval by Congress for new health data transparency and accountability, some are concerned their illnesses make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.

"I at first kind of panicked because I was like, ‘OK, I already have lung disease,'" Army National Guard veteran Cindy Aman said.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will consider legislation this week that would provide testing and health services to veterans sickened by exposure to hazardous chemicals in combat or garrison.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced the bill last week. It also would expand research on toxic substances found on military installations and used in combat, and broaden training among Department of Veterans Affairs medical providers to screen for possible exposures.