KQED's The California Report

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California's Rising Insurance Premiums Threaten Affordable Housing Aug 10, 2023

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The Murrieta Valley School Board will discuss a policy this evening to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender. This comes after the Chino Valley school board passed a similar policy last month.

Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR

More than 100 unionized healthcare workers disrupted a Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday. The union is demanding higher wages and healthcare benefits.

Reporter: Esthern Quintanilla, KVPR

Homeowners in California have been reeling from the news that large insurance carriers will no longer offer new policies in the state. Nonprofits that provide affordable housing are also feeling the squeeze, and that's threatening to make the state's housing shortage even worse.

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

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California's Child Care Crisis Could Benefit From Employer-Sponsored Care Aug 09, 2023

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Standing water in Kings and Tulare Counties in the San Joaquin Valley has led to a proliferation of mosquitoes. As a result, big bucks are being spent on abatement.

Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR

For a lot of parents, having no one to care for their children means they often just don’t go to work, which can be bad for their employers. One study found that businesses lose $23 billion every year due to child care challenges faced by their workers. So some companies are taking matters into their own hands through employer-sponsored care.

Reporter: Amanda Stupi, KQED

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Tijuana Baseball Team Headed to Little League World Series Aug 08, 2023

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Los Angeles city workers including sanitation workers, LAX employees, lifeguards at city pools and traffic officers are participating in a 24-hour strike today over unfair labor practices and bad-faith bargaining.

California is one of the few states with heat standards aimed at protecting outdoor workers. But heat protections for indoor workers are limited, despite documented risks.

Reporter: Nicole Foy, CalMatters

In Tijuana, a team of very young baseball players is getting ready to represent Mexico in the Little League World Series held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS

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Months After Slaughterhouse Shuts Down, Former Farmer John Workers Struggle To Start Over Aug 07, 2023

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In Sacramento, a budget deficit limited what California state lawmakers could fund in this year’s budget. Now, lawmakers are looking to bonds as a different strategy to pay for things like climate infrastructure, mental health beds and affordable housing. Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadio

A controversial Farmer John slaughterhouse in the L.A. County community of Vernon closed earlier this year after nearly a century of operations. More than 2,000 people, mostly immigrants, worked there. Months later, laid-off workers are still struggling to adjust. Reporter: Leslie Berestein Rojas, LAist

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California Faces Increased Risk of Valley Fever This Summer Aug 04, 2023

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A Biden Administration program to monitor asylum-seeking families and subject them to a curfew is set to expand to several California cities next week. It’s part of an effort by the Biden Administration to signal a tough but humane approach to border enforcement.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

Following the state’s record-breaking rainfall in the winter, and now its dry heat, public health officials are worried about an uptick in Valley fever infections.

Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report

In the early 1900s, many young Americans of Japanese descent left the United States to escape discrimination and seek opportunity back in Japan. When war broke out, they experienced the violence of the U.S. offensive while trying to navigate complex, often contradictory feelings about identity and belonging. Reporter Kori Suzuki explores this period through a very personal story — that of his grandmother.

Reporter: Kori Suzuki, KQED

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Tulare Lake Leaves Many Farmers Struggling To Get Back To Normal Operations Aug 03, 2023

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After days of triple-digit heat, areas of the San Joaquin Valley, flooded from winter storms, are drying up, little by little. That includes Tulare Lake, which is receding after peaking at more than 170 square miles in size. But for many, the return to dry land doesn’t mean a return to normalcy.

Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR

A coalition of environmentalists and social justice groups have launched a statewide campaign to try to ban new oil and gas wells near schools, parks and other residential places. The group is gathering signatures to get the initiative on the 2024 ballot.

Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED

Survivors of the 2021 Caldor Fire in the Sierra Foothills are pursuing legal action against the U.S. Forest Service. Many residents are still living in trailers, and few, if any have received direct federal assistance.

Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBS

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Massive York Fire A Rarity In Mojave Desert Aug 02, 2023

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The York Fire, California’s largest wildfire this year, is currently burning in the Mojave National Preserve along the border of California and Nevada. The fire is also the largest on record for the Mojave Desert, where wildfires are rare.

Guest: Jacob Margolis, Reporter, LAist

Former President Donald Trump will campaign in California next month, speaking at the state Republican Party’s fall convention in Anaheim. The announcement comes even as Trump faces new indictments, this time over his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, and his role in the January 6th insurrection.

Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadio

This summer marks the 59th year that Northern California’s Yurok Tribe is holding its Klamath Salmon Festival. But this year, there won’t actually be any salmon served, because of historically low salmon stocks.

Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report

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Labor Movement Stretching Across California In Multiple Industries Aug 01, 2023

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In recent months we've seen an explosion of strikes and worker protests in California -- by hotel employees, Hollywood writers and actors, port workers, UC grad students in teaching positions, and health care professionals. But when you take them all together, what do these actions say about the state of organized labor in California?

Guest: Lorena Gonzalez, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, California Labor Federation

Tens of thousands of family child care workers overwhelmingly approved a new contract with the state of California on Monday. The deal includes significant changes for a workforce made of mostly women of color.

Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED

A grassroots group of writers and filmmakers have created a mutual aid fund. The goal is to help their production crew colleagues keep their health insurance during the Hollywood strikes.

Reporter: Jackie Fortier, LAist

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Economic Toll Of Hollywood Strikes Is Growing Jul 31, 2023

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In Los Angeles, the strikes by film and television writers and actors continues, with no end in sight. That's brought production to a standstill. And with each passing day, the wider economic toll of the strikes continues to mount.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

In San Diego, police will begin enforcing a controversial new municipal ordinance banning outdoor camping. Under the ordinance, encampments are prohibited within two blocks of schools, homeless shelters and mass transit stations, as well as in parks, along waterways, freeways, and in canyons.

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Thousands Of Californians Still Waiting For Pandemic Rental Assistance Jul 28, 2023

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More than 250,000 Californians are still waiting on pandemic rental assistance they applied for through the state. As they wait, eviction protections are continuing to expire.

Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMatters

With inflation cooling, renters in Los Angeles and Orange counties are about to get a slight reprieve from large rent hikes. The statewide Tenant Protection Act uses inflation to determine how much landlords can raise rent each year.

Reporter: David Wagner, LAist

San Diego is home to a world-class public art scene. Throughout the city you’ll find colorful murals stretching across entire buildings and soaring sculptures celebrating the city's heritage. You’ll also find public art sprinkled along the bowels of “America’s Finest City” — from public bathrooms to pump stations to sewage treatment plants.

Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBS

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