KQED's The California Report

Reaction was not surprisingly mixed to Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, marking the end of the former president’s historic hush money trial. Republicans are still standing strong behind Trump, while many Bay Area residents said they were surprised and pleased by the verdict. Analysts say that Trump’s guilty verdicts may not sway his GOP base, but they could change how swing voters vi...

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 bl...

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 protectiv...

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. UA...

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

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...

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 t...

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 Ce...

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: Ezr...

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...

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 abo...

Proposition 47, California's landmark critical justice reform measure, has received plenty of recent criticism. Many blame Prop 47 for shoplifting, drug use and homelessness in the state -- and are trying to roll it back with a new initiative this fall. But Prop 47 has also resulted in $800 million in state savings, because fewer people are being sent to prison and jail for drug and low-level prop...

Hospitals across the state were hit hard during the pandemic, which disrupted their operations and chipped away at their finances. Maybe the most glaring example is Madera Community Hospital, which shuttered its doors over financial challenges and filed for bankruptcy in 2022. But one nearby hospital saw record profits, financial investments and executive compensation. Reporter: Omar Sheikh Rashad...

California has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, but a Democratic state lawmaker says there’s a big loophole for some people deemed mentally ill by a state court - and he wants to fix it. The loophole - while California law prohibits someone from possessing a gun if a court finds them mentally incompetent to face a felony charge, it doesn’t apply to people being prosecuted for a...

A multi-billion dollar budget deficit in California is putting organizations across the state at risk. One program facing an uncertain future is Market Match. It works with EBT, or food stamps, to give recipients vouchers they can use at local farmers markets. Reporter: Ava Norgrove, North State Public Radio Governor Gavin Newsom says he has a plan to deal with a staggering $27 billion state defic...

State regulators have approved a controversial proposal that will add a monthly charge of $24 to many Californian's electricity bills. But in exchange, utility customers should see reductions in charges per kilowatt hour of electricity used.  As college campus protests continue over Israel's War in Gaza, students at UC Merced are asking the university to refrain from what they say is over-policing...

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages on, American protesters are accusing Silicon Valley companies like Intel and Google of complicity in the violence, and urging them to divest. But US tech has been deeply involved with Israeli tech for half a century. Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED The California Public Utilities Commission votes Thursday on a controversial flat electricity rate. Regula...

Two years ago, the northern Imperial County town of Niland lost its only post office in a fire. It was supposed to be a temporary closure. But residents are still fighting to get it back. Reporter: Kori Suzuki, KPBS California prison officials say it will cost billions of dollars to enforce new indoor heat regulations that the state’s proposed for workers. But they have declined to share exact cos...

It’s been over a month since California started requiring most fast food employers in the state to pay a minimum wage of $20 dollars an hour -- a big jump from the state’s general minimum wage of $16 dollars. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED News San Francisco State University’s top administrator is promising to provide more transparency about financial ties to Israel … and to explore school...

Can solutions to California's housing crisis be found in how we used to design and build homes in the past, namely smaller multifamily dwellings in neighborhoods and cities with fewer zoning restrictions. That topic is explored by Los Angeles urban planner Max Podemski. In his new book, A Paradise of Small Houses. I met up with Podemski in the L.A. neighborhood of Eagle Rock. In California, tens o...

As pro-Palestinian student movements persist on college campuses up and down the state, the movement at UC Berkeley has drawn cross-generational support. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald  The Cal Poly Humboldt campus remains closed, even after the arrests of 30 Pro-Palestinian protesters, who took over two university buildings last week. But the student-run radio station is still up and running, thanks...

Hundreds of law enforcement officers descended on the UCLA campus on Wednesday night, eventually breaking up a large Pro-Palestinian encampment. Dozens of people were taken into custody. Guests: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report and Sergio Olmos, Investigative Reporter, CalMatters While we've been reporting this week about some of the chaotic scenes at UCLA, USC and Cal Poly Humboldt, for the m...

A large group of counter-protesters tried to tear down barricades that had been surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on Tuesday night. That led to several fights breaking out. The FAIR plan is known as California's home insurance of last resort. But the plan is now the only option for many homeowners, especially in rural communities. Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBS Learn more about your ad...

Protests over the war in Gaza have increased at college campuses across the state. Encampments have now been set up at Sacramento State, San Francisco State, UC Irvine and UC Riverside, along with Occidental College, a liberal arts school in Los Angeles. Student journalists have been covering the events as they unfold on campus. Guests: Dezmond Remington, Reporter, The Lumberjack, Catherine Hamilt...

As the climate crisis changes California’s landscape, the ecosystems in state parks are threatened. At one point, the people in charge of those parks were just preserving the land. But now they’re trying to save the land from climate-driven collapse. Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW  Worker advocates are applauding a new federal rule that will make millions more people eligible for overtime pay. But...