KQED's The California Report

Latest Episodes:

Governor Newsom's Tiny Home Plan Falls Short Of What Was Promised May 30, 2024

Show notes

175 tiny homes for the unhoused are expected to be unveiled in South Sacramento this fall. That’s a year past Governor Gavin Newsom’s projected launch. But it turns out, it’s the only project delivering on the original promise.

Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadio

Classes will once again be held online at UC Santa Cruz on Thursday as a group of pro-Palestinian protesters say they plan to continue to block the main entrance to the campus. On Tuesday, both roads leading into campus were blocked, leaving many stranded for hours.

Reporter: Erin Malsbury, KAZU

At UC Davis, a dozen students held a peaceful demonstration on campus on Wednesday, in support of the 125 Israeli hostages that remain in Gaza.

Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio

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

Central Valley Farmworkers Learning New Skills For Changing Agriculture Environment May 29, 2024

Show notes

In March, the country’s largest stone fruit producer laid off thousands of workers in the San Joaquin Valley. The announcement came months after the Fresno-based company, Prima Wawona, declared bankruptcy. The collapse has left many in the Central Valley wondering how prepared the workforce is for industry disruptions.

Reporter: Esther Quintanilla, KVPR

California firefighters often wear protective gear that also has some amount of toxic chemicals in it. Now efforts are underway to change that.

Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED

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

UAW Strike Expands To UCLA, UC Davis Campus May 28, 2024

Show notes

On Tuesday at UCLA and at UC Davis, unionized student academic workers will strike. They’re protesting the UC system’s crackdowns on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, filing unfair labor practice charges. The university system has argued that the strikes are illegal.

This is the second wave of strikes on UC campuses. At UC Santa Cruz, academic workers have now been on strike for more than a week. UAW 4811 members there say morale remains high, and they appreciate other campuses joining in on the strike.

Guests: Rebecca Gross & Katherine Rogers, Grad Students and UAW 4811 members at UC Santa Cruz

As California faces a deficit in the tens of billions of dollars, Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a number of painful spending cuts and program reductions. But advocates are calling on California lawmakers to save some programs, like one that provided In-Home Supportive Services for undocumented immigrants.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

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

Rattlesnake Season Begins In California May 27, 2024

Show notes

As our weather warms over the summer, we’re approaching peak rattlesnake season in California and that means more encounters between rattlers and humans. So what should we know about snakes?

Guest: Emily Taylor, Professor of Biology, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Author of the book “California Snakes and How to Find Them”

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

Landslide Threatens Future Of Historic Chapel May 24, 2024

Show notes

Since 1951, an extraordinary looking chapel made of wood, glass and stone has been perched close to the edge of the Pacific on Southern California's Palos Verdes Peninsula. Over the decades, countless weddings and other life events have played out at Wayfarers Chapel. But now the building is in danger from shifting geology, and an architectural rescue operation is underway to save it.

Guest: Katie Hauck, Architectural Historian

A second pro-Palestinian encampment was quickly taken down on Thursday at UCLA. And eight pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after blocking traffic at one of the school's main entrances. This all came on the same day as when UCLA's chancellor testified on Capitol Hill about antisemitism on college campuses.

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

About A Third Of LAPD Shootings Since 2017 Involve Person With Mental Illness May 23, 2024

Show notes

Over the last seven years, about 31% of police shootings in Los Angeles involved people who officers believed showed signs of mental illness. Some experts are calling for more de-escalation training for officers, while activists would like to see police removed from such interactions.

Reporter: Robert Garrova, LAist

Should California doctors be required to report domestic abuse to police? That’s the question at the center of a bill advancing in the state Legislature.

Reporter: Ryan Sabalow, CalMatters

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

Mexican Citizens In California Could Play Key Role In Country's Upcoming Election May 22, 2024

Show notes

Next month, voters will go to the polls in Mexico to select the country's next president. The election is already historic because the two leading candidates, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, are women. The election will also be notable because of the likely record number of Mexican citizens living in California and the rest of the U.S. who will cast ballots.

Guest: Tony Payan, director of Center for the U.S. and Mexico, Rice University

Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s one-time staffer will replace him in Congress, at least for now. In a decisive victory for Assemblymember Vince Fong in a special congressional election, the Associated Press called the race for the Bakersfield Republican just minutes after polls closed in California.

Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR

The California Supreme Court appears hesitant to strike the state’s Proposition 22, a voter-backed initiative that has allowed gig companies to classify their workers as independent contractors. Justices heard oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.

Reporter: Levi Sumagaysay, CalMatters

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

Ethical Dilemma For Climate Voters In California's 13th District May 21, 2024

Show notes

Close races in California this year could decide who controls the U.S. House of Representatives. One of those competitive races is District 13, a sprawling area between Stockton and Fresno. Climate change is among voters' top priorities. But some liberal voters say they face an ethical dilemma as they are disillusioned by U.S. support of Israel and may choose not to vote in November.

Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED

The official start date for incrementally increasing the minimum wage to $25 an hour for about 500,000 healthcare workers in California will likely be delayed for at least a month. Los Angeles State Senator Maria Elena Durazo is introducing a bill to start implementing the wage increases on July 1 instead of June 1. This gives Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers more time to negotiate the projected costs to the state, which faces a nearly $28 billion dollar budget deficit.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

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

San Diego Program Helps Wage Theft Victims Recover Money They're Owed May 20, 2024

Show notes

Workers who are cheated on their paychecks often don’t recover the wages they are owed -- even after state regulators rule in their favor. In San Diego County, a first-of-its-kind government program aims to change that.

Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

Academic workers at UC Santa Cruz go on strike on Monday, becoming the first UC campus to do so following a union vote last week. The walkout is in response to what the union calls unfair labor practices at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine, where campus leaders called for police to intervene during on-campus protests over the war in Gaza.

Reporter: Elena Neale-Sacks, KAZU

The California Supreme Court will hear a new challenge to Proposition 22 on Tuesday. That’s the 2020 ballot initiative that classified gig workers as independent contractors.

Reporter: Katherine Monahan, KQED

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

Volunteers In Monterey County Try To Help Sickened Brown Pelicans May 17, 2024

Show notes

Brown pelicans are starving up and down the California coast. The Monterey Bay is a particular hot spot. A wildlife rescue center there has taken in more than a hundred sickened birds over the past month.

Reporter: Alix Soliman, KQED

Advocates for a large, self-governed homeless encampment in Sacramento are trying to stop the city from closing it.

Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio

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