KQED's The California Report

Latest Episodes:

How Brain Fog Lingers Even After Mild COVID-19 Cases Feb 05, 2021

Show notes

Bay Area Congressional Representatives Condemn Enduring Trauma from Family Separation Policy

Congressional representatives from the Bay Area condemned the enduring trauma caused by the Trump administration’s family separation policy. That policy has drawn shock and anger since coming to light in 2018.

Reporter: Michelle Wiley, KQED

Scientists Still Unsure How to Treat COVID-19 Related Brain Fog

A new study out this week suggests long-term cognitive issues may be more common than we thought, especially in people who had mild COVID-19 cases.

Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED

Berkeley Considers Upending Rules Around Single Family Zoning

Berkeley was the first city in the country to adopt single-family zoning. Or rules that restrict housing development to one home on one lot. That was back in 1916. Now Berkeley is one of a handful of California cities considering upending those rules.

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

New Labor Laws Reveal Glaring Inequities in State's Art Sector

Small arts groups are struggling to comply with the new rules while coping with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporter: Chloe Veltman, KQED

Incentives Allowed by California Regulators May Have Made Rural Grids More Vulnerable

PG&E is suspected of causing last year’s deadly Zogg Fire in Shasta County last year. At the time, the utility had turned off power in parts of several counties, but not in the area where the Zogg Fire started.

Guest: Steve Weissman, Policy Advisor, Center for Sustainable Energy & Lecturer, UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Battle over 'Hero Pay' Reaches Boiling Point Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

California Grocery Association Sues Over 'Hero Pay' for Essential Workers

The California Grocers Association sued Oakland on Wednesday, a day after the city council mandated an additional $5 an hour in pay for workers at supermarkets there. Disputes have escalated as more California cities consider ordinances aimed at compensating grocery workers during the pandemic. Workers protested in Long Beach, where Krogers has announced two store closures in response to a similar mandate.

Guest: Howard Simmons, Ralphs Employee

KQED's Digital Team Takes on Listener Questions about Vaccinations

California’s COVID vaccine rollout has been among the slowest in the nation. Those eligible have found it hard to know where to get the vaccine. So people are looking for information where they can, including from KQED.

Guest: Carly Severn, KQED

San Francisco Files Lawsuit Against District to Force Classrooms Open

San Francisco’s school board president is calling a lawsuit filed .. against the district by the city petty and embarrassing. The city maintains the district lacks a plan to safely reopen public schools during the pandemic.

Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED

Biden Administration Works with State to Open Two New Vaccination Sites in California

The sites will be at the Oakland Coliseum and California State University - Los Angeles. Governor Newsom said the locations were chosen intentionally.

Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED

PG&E Faces New Conditions on Federal Probation

The conditions were prompted by the company's suspected role in starting a deadly Shasta County fire last fall.

REporter: Dan Brekke, KQED

Two Bay Area Lawmakers Propose Building 'Social Housing' to Address High Housing Costs

Assemblymembers Alex Lee of San Jose and Buffy Wicks of Oakland introduced the Social Housing Act earlier this week. It would create a statewide housing authority to build and manage housing that’s available to not just the poorest residents, but to middle-income people as well.

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden Works to Undo Trump's Immigration Policies Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

President Joe Biden signed several executive orders on immigration Tuesday, including one that creates a task force to reunify migrant families separated by the Trump administration.

Reporter: Michelle Wiley, KQED

President Biden recently signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to stop contracting with private prisons. What impact could this have on detention facilities here in California?

Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KVCR

As the COVID-19 surge slowly subsides in our hospitals, the state public health department says nurse staffing ratios will begin to return to normal. Hospitals desperate to find enough staff during the surge applied for waivers allowing nurses to care for more patients than they normally would.

Reporter: Jackie Fortiér, KPCC

Dealing with COVID skeptics in your family isn't easy. Take it from one L.A. journalist who’s been working at it with his dad this past year. He consistently provided his father with accurate information about COVID-related health risks, and even convinced him to get the vaccine.

Guest: Gustavo Arellano, L.A. Times

California's outgoing Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed a brief with a federal appeals court, arguing the federal government should be allowed to enforce its robocall ban for the years 2015-2020.

Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poll Shows Governor Newsom's Approval Plummeting Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

As a campaign to recall Governor Gavin Newsom inches closer to the ballot, a new poll shows voters are unhappy with his handling of the pandemic, just 46% approve of the job he’s doing.

Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED

As Newsom’s ratings fall, former San Diego Mayor and Republican Kevin Faulconer, announced last night he’s running for governor, whether in 2022 or a recall election, if there is one. Opinions on his time as mayor are mixed.

Guest: Katie Orr, KQED

Immigrant advocates are calling on federal authorities to release most people held at immigration detention centers in California. This comes after the Biden administration issued new priorities for who should be arrested and locked up.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are proposing an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Five years ago, California debated its own $15 minimum wage.

Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED

In Southern California, two grocery chains are planning to close stores in Long Beach. it’s a move that comes after the city passed a temporary pay raise for local grocery workers because of the pandemic.

Reporter: David Wagner, KPCC

TV, movie, and commercial shoots in the L.A. area have gotten the go-ahead to resume production this week. This comes a month after three industry groups recommended that local production be put on hold, due to a surge in COVID cases.

Reporter: Chery Glaser, KCRW

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

L.A. Hospitals: Full of Patients, Low on Oxygen Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Oxygen Suppliers Struggle to Keep Up with Demand from COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 patients who recover enough to go home from the hospital often need supplemental oxygen. But with so many COVID patients, oxygen companies are struggling to keep up with the demand.

Reporter: Jackie Fortiér, KPCC

At least four employees linked to the company’s plant in south Fresno have now died. A December outbreak there infected at least 193 workers and prompted an investigation by the county health department.

Reporter: Alex Hall, The California Report

New preliminary data show the University of California got a record number of applications this year, with a remarkable surge in members of underrepresented groups looking for a spot.

Guest: Teresa Watanabe, Reporter, L.A. Times

It’s back to business for many parts of the Los Angeles economy this month. Restaurants are open for outdoor dining, mini golf and batting cages are hosting guests, and nail salons are opening too.

Reporter: Benjamin Gottlieb, KCRW

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shirley Weber Confirmed as California's Top Election Official Jan 29, 2021

Show notes

Shirley Weber Confirmed as California's Top Election Official

San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber will become California's first Black Secretary of State roughly half a century after her family fled Arkansas when her father was threatened by a lynch mob. No legislator in either house opposed the nomination, but all Senate Republicans abstained.

Guy Marzorati, KQED

There have been a lot of major announcements in the last few weeks related to the pandemic, from Governor Gavin Newsom's lifting of the stay at home order to new rules for who gets priority for getting a COVID-19 vaccination.

Guest: Molly Peterson, KQED health reporter

The state has vaccinated more than 8,000 people incarcerated in state prisons, but it’s unclear if any ICE detainees have been vaccinated yet.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

People with underlying health conditions were originally set to get vaccinated after most essential workers. Now that the governor is shifting to an age-based system, people with disabilities feel they’ve been pushed out of line.

Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED

The audit says EDD had a heads up from the Department of Labor as far back as May that it needed to prepare for more than a billion dollars’ worth of potentially fraudulent claims.

Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, KQED

Adhiti Bandlamudi shares this story about living with two people who have a different idea about what it is to be safe during COVID.

Reporter: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans Sense Opportunity as Criticism Brews Over Newsom's Pandemic Response Jan 28, 2021

Show notes

Democratic State Lawmakers Renew Push for Bail Reform

In November, state voters sided the bail industry, and killed legislation that would have ended cash bail in the state and replaced it with a system that gave judges more power to decide who should be released from jail before trial.Now Democratic state lawmakers are taking another swing at bail reform.

Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED

Governor Gavin Newsom is going through a political rough patch, with people criticizing his sometimes confusing pandemic announcements and tendency to act first and explain himself later to other elected officials.

Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED

California’s slow vaccine rollout has been blamed on a limited vaccine supply, but having enough trained people to actually give the shots on an industrial scale is also a factor.

Reporter: Tarryn Mento, KPBS

According to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, nearly 4,000 inmates and staff members have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. Sheriff’s office spokesperson Tony Botti says the high caseload in the jail reflects what’s happening in the county.

Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR

Most changes in the virus don’t raise alarm bells. But genomic sequencing can help identify variants that are more deadly or contagious.

Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio

The newly formed Open Schools California unifies parent groups from San Diego to Marin. These are parents who accuse the governor of not having the political will to re open school campuses, after nearly a year of distance learning.

Reporter: Julia McEvoy, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Labor Unions Among Those Lobbying for Vaccine Eligibility Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

Labor Unions Lobby for Vaccine Eligibility

For weeks, labor unions like the powerful Service Employees International Union have been pressing state and local officials to provide vaccinations to their members as quickly as possible. As vaccine eligibility shifts, other groups are making pleas too.

Reporter: Darrell Satzman, KCRW

Supervisors got a report on Tuesday from the L.A. County counsel’s office about how Villanueva could be removed from office. County counsel said there are four possibilities to remove the elected sheriff: one would be to amend the county charter, another would be a voter recall.

Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC

A street medicine team in Bakersfield is working to educate people experiencing homelessness about the pandemic, including misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.

Reporter: Madi Bolanos, KQED

Many Californians were surprised when this week Governor Gavin Newsom announced he was lifting the state’s stay at home order. But a lot of state legislators were also surprised. They say it’s part of a pattern that’s emerged with this governor.

Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED

It’s called MyTurn. You can go online now to register… the system will notify you when

you’re eligible for a shot. Beginning in February those who qualify can begin booking appointments.

Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQED

State Auditor Finds Agency Charged with Sending Out Unemployment Checks Still Falling Short

According to the audit, the Employment Development Department’s call centers still aren’t functioning efficiently, despite the agency hiring more 55,000 new staffers.

Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California to Adopt Age-Based Vaccine Distribution Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

As the state works to speed up delivery of the coronavirus vaccine, Governor Gavin Newsom says California will shift its priorities for who’s at the top of the list, and put people over 65 in line to get shots first.

Reporter: Molly Peterson, KQED

California renters who faced the prospect of mass evictions at the end of this month might not have to worry in the short term. That after the state's top lawmakers and Governor Newsom reached a tentative agreement to extend an eviction moratorium through June.

Reporter: Molly Solomon, KQED

Governor Newsom lifted regional stay-at-home orders yesterday in favor of county-by-county restrictions. The changes mean hair and nail salons can reopen, and allows outdoor dining in many places. Local officials could choose to impose stricter rules.

Guest: Anne Rimoin, Professor of Epidemiology, UCLA

Fresno County officials say they want to prioritize farmworkers for vaccination, but the county is facing a challenge, they are ready to vaccinate 30,000 people every week, but don't have the supply to do so.

Reporter: Alex Hall, KQED

A new economic forecast says things are improving for the Los Angeles area, fed by optimism around the coronavirus vaccines. From construction, to healthcare, to retail, companies are hiring. But some sectors of the local economy are months away from recovery

Reporter: Benjamin Gottlieb, KCRW

Nine school districts in California are starting rapid COVID-19 testing of their students and staff. It’s a pilot program that could allow more schools in the state to reopen safely.

Reporter: Julia McEvoy, KQED

A lot of people are struggling to pay their rent, mortgage and other bills because of the pandemic. 1.6 million California households are behind on their water bills according to a recent survey from the State Water Resources Control Board.

Reporter: Nina Sparling, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Volunteer Tech Workers Turn to Crowdsourcing to Speed Up Vaccine Rollout Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

California's Justice Department Launches Civil Rights Investigation Into L.A. County Sheriff Department

Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the inquiry comes after credible reports of excessive force, retaliation and other misconduct at the Sheriff’s Department.

Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC

Throughout the pandemic private citizens have crowdsourced everything from COVID case tallies to behavior risk calculators

Lesley McClurg, KQED

COVID-19 has spread like wildfire inside a jail north of Sacramento that also holds immigrant detainees. Now, about half of all the people locked up there have tested positive for the virus.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

KQED’s The California Report

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected