KQED's The California Report

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Wildfire Smoke Exposing Millions To Extreme Air Pollution Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

Orange skies choked with soot from wildfires have become more common in the Western U.S. In a new paper, a team based at Stanford University estimates that millions of people now live where this smoke has made breathing unhealthy.

Guest: Molly Peterson, The California Newsroom

Changes are coming to California's masking policies. Effective on Friday, the state will be further easing its recommendations and leaving more to personal choice.

Reporter: Tara Atrian, KCRW

Attorney General Rob Bonta is creating an Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The attorney general said the new initiative will use data and public health measures to implement measures aimed at reducing gun violence.

Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED

A new bill sitting on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk could help street vendors get permits and comply with the state's food code system, essentially making it easier for them to conduct business.

Reporter: Madi Bolaños, The California Report

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Governor Newsom Signs Bills That Gives Redistricting Power To Community Commission Sep 21, 2022

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County supervisors in Fresno, Kern and Riverside counties will no longer have a hand in drawing district maps. That’s after Governor Newsom signed three bills transferring the power to citizen-led commissions.

Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR

California is one of 10 states that doesn’t require schools to screen students for dyslexia. Educators say leaving learning disabilities unaddressed can overwhelm and often frustrate students, sometimes leading to behavioral problems down the road.

Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC

In California, we’re used to home prices going one direction -- up. But in recent months, the residential real estate market has cooled, with home prices falling and properties staying on the market longer.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

This week, the Newsom administration identified five state-owned properties that it hopes can be used for affordable housing. The administration is looking for developers to build what it believes will be hundreds of new units of affordable housing on the properties.

Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio

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Water Restrictions Lifted For Millions Of Southern Californians Sep 20, 2022

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Millions of L.A. County residents and businesses can resume outdoor watering, after news that urgent repairs to a pipeline that brings water from the Colorado River to Southern California have wrapped up early.

Reporter: Darrell Satzman, KCRW

Open agricultural burning is a useful tool for farmers, but its high particulate emissions are harmful to San Joaquin Valley residents. Air regulators plan to phase out the practice by 2025, but air quality advocates have doubts after years of inaction.

Reporters: Kerry Klein and Monica Vaughan, KVPR

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills aimed at reforming the state’s cannabis regulations. This comes as the governor is directing state officials to study the health impacts of high-potency cannabis.

Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED

Experts at UC San Diego studying extortion in Tijuana are saying that crime is much more rampant than previously believed. Researcher Romain Le Cour spent a year walking the streets of Tijuana, talking to business owners about what he calls, an ‘invisible crime.'

Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS

In an interview with "60 Minutes," President Joe Biden declared that the pandemic was over. Many health experts say that's just not the case, but do agree that we may be moving to a new phase of the pandemic.

Guest: Dr. Bob Wachter, Chair of Medicine, UC San Francisco

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State Workers No Longer Required To Test For COVID Sep 19, 2022

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With the start of the work week, many state workers who are unvaccinated will not have to undergo regular testing for COVID-19. Since July of 2021, unvaccinated state employees have had to submit to weekly testing.

Reporter: Matt Guilhem, KCRW

Open agricultural burning is due to be phased out in California by 2025, in an effort to reduce harmful emissions. But many farmers are apprehensive of a future without burning.

Reporters: Monica Vaughan and Kerry Klein, KVPR

The San Francisco Police Department may have collaborated with a federal surveillance center that uses facial recognition and social media monitoring – without a contract or oversight. That’s according to public documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

The mother of a man who died in a jail in Los Angeles last year is suing LA County and its Sheriff, Alex Villanueva. An official report says Jalani Lovett died from a drug overdose, but his family claims that he was beaten to death.

Reporter: Darrell Satzman, KCRW

As California grapples with its homelessness crisis, some local governments are fighting with each other over the details of housing and shelter programs and who gets most of the burden. One of the most recent examples is the ongoing battle between El Cajon and San Diego County officials over using hotels as shelters for the homeless.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

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Kaiser Strike Continues As Talks Break Down Sep 16, 2022

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Some 2,000 Kaiser Permanente mental health care professionals are a month into a strike. This week, negotiations between labor and management have broken down.

Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED

Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have significantly lowered what California families pay for state subsidized childcare. The legislation would have capped the amount low income families pay at 1% of their monthly income.

Reporter: Amanda Stupi, KQED

An energetic new rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park represents another step in the effort to save a related rhino species that’s nearly extinct.

Reporter: Erik Anderson, KPBS

Because of a new state law, San Francisco’s Superior Court has eliminated about $50 million in debt due to late fees for things like traffic tickets.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

With a nationwide rail strike averted, the Port of Los Angeles is shifting its attention to the movement of cargo ahead of the fall and winter holiday shopping season.

Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW

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California Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon Sep 15, 2022

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing Amazon, alleging the online retail giant engages in anticompetitive contracting, in violation of state laws.

Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED

Across the country, many families and dyslexia advocates are pushing for something called “structured literacy,” a type of early reading instruction that’s attuned to how the brain learns to read, with an emphasis on phonics. Experts say this type of reading instruction can benefit all students, especially those with dyslexia. But it’s not the norm in most California classrooms, or in teacher prep programs.

Reporter: Julia Barajas, KPCC/LAist

Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated a major legislative accomplishment on Wednesday. He signed his CARE Court bill into law, which seeks to improve mental health care in California, especially for people who are homeless with severe mental illnesses.

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

In November, California voters will vote on Proposition 30. It’s a “clean air initiative” that would tax California’s wealthiest residents to pay for electric car rebates and infrastructure. Governor Gavin Newsom does not support the measure, but most fellow Democrats do.

Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED

A majority of likely California voters say they plan to reject a ballot measure this fall that would legalize online sports betting. That's according to the latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED

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Change In Weather Sparks Activity On Front Lines Of Mosquito Fire Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

A shift in wind led to increased activity on Tuesday, as firefighters continue to battle the Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties. The fire jumped the Middle Fork of the American River, threatening the community of Foresthill.

State health officials are advising Californians to get a flu shot, in addition to the COVID-19 vaccination or booster.

Reporter: Nimah Gobir, KQED

If you lost your job during the pandemic and you still aren't making as much as you used to, there's a new state grant that could help boost your professional skills. And -- hopefully -- your earning potential.

Reporter: Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters

Like other big California ports, L.A., Oakland, San Diego, the Port of Long Beach is filled with fleets of big, loud diesel trucks. They’re vehicles that carry cargo containers from the docks to warehouses and logistical centers inland. But there's a new type of vehicle that's supposed to become much more common at California ports in the coming years: battery-powered big rig trucks.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

More than a dozen California Democratic Congressmembers are calling on the federal government to investigate complaints by immigrant detainees, who say they've been held in solitary confinement for supporting a labor strike.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

Strawberries are one of California’s biggest and most delicious agricultural moneymakers, but they are also vulnerable to diseases that can be devastating for growers. But now, California researchers have made a key discovery to help fight one of strawberries’ biggest threats.

Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KCBX

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Drilling Deeper For Water In The Central Valley Sep 14, 2022

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Most Californians are feeling the effects of the drought.. But in big areas of the state, where people rely on groundwater, the pain of this drought is especially severe. Wells are going dry and there’s intense competition to find more water that’s underground.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

Federal and Los Angeles County health officials have confirmed the first death of a person with monkeypox in California. The L.A. County resident was severely immunocompromised and had been hospitalized with the virus.

Unlike the rest of the country, gas prices in California have been on the rise. That's after they dropped from record highs earlier this summer.

Reporter: Ted Goldberg, KQED

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Crews Get Better Handle On Mosquito Fire Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

In Placer and El Dorado counties, fire crews are making progress fighting the Mosquito Fire, which has burned more than 46,000 acres. Meanwhile, in Southern California, firefighters took advantage of wet conditions to help in the fight against the Fairview Fire.

One of the bills that’s passed through the legislature on Governor Newsom’s desk would offer cash benefits to unemployed undocumented workers, currently excluded from the state’s unemployment insurance program. It’s an idea that not so many years ago would have been considered out of the question. Today? It’s a different story.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

San Francisco's representatives in the State Assembly say they’ll be keeping an eye on Pacific Gas & Electric’s possible role in the Mosquito Fire, burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills in El Dorado and Placer counties. PG&E filed notice with state regulators last week, saying that electrical activity occurred on one of its lines close to the time the Mosquito Fire was reported.

Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED

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Wildfires Threatening Communities Across California Sep 09, 2022

Show notes

Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency for Riverside County due to the Fairview Fire and for El Dorado and Placer counties due to the Mosquito Fire. Firefighters have been struggling to control both fires, which have grown explosively and forced extensive evacuations.

Reporter: Jonathan Linden, KVCR

LA County health officials are investigating the death of a person with monkeypox. Few details are being released about the case. What we do know is that this person died in LA and had monkeypox but it’s unclear if the virus caused the death.

Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC

The Biden Administration has rolled back a Trump-era rule that penalized immigrants who used a wide range of government benefits – and led to fear in many California immigrant communities.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

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