KQED's The California Report

California National Guard personnel have arrived in the San Bernardino Mountains. They’re there to help rescue residents who have been trapped in their homes for days by the recent heavy snowfall.  A hunger strike at two California immigration detention centers in Kern County is entering its third week. Advocacy groups say Immigration and Customs Enforcement is failing to properly consider the det...

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a state of emergency for 13 California counties in response to the winter storms. San Bernardino County is covered by the Governor’s declaration. There, residents in mountain communities are still trapped in their homes after more than seven feet of snow has fallen over the last few days. In the Central Valley, Madera Community Hospital closed at the end of last ye...

The federal government says people living in California counties hit hard by severe weather now have an extra six months to file their federal taxes. But a new deadline creates challenges for state budget writers. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED President Joe Biden has nominated California's former Labor Secretary to head the U.S. Department of Labor. The White House lauded Julie Su as a “champion fo...

Another monster frigid storm front is moving through California, creating dangerous conditions in the Sierra Nevada. A blizzard warning remains in effect through early Wednesday for the Greater Lake Tahoe area and Mono County. And San Bernardino County has declared a local state of emergency, due to the amount of snow that's collected on it's mountains.   California spends more than $15 billion a...

Because of the pandemic and the large number of people who now work from home, California has an abundance of vacant office space, but the state also has a shortage of housing. Now, a state lawmaker wants to tackle both problems by making it far easier to turn empty offices into homes. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED  The Central Coast city of Paso Robles is becoming increasingly prominent in the wor...

Although no officials numbers are in , there has been widespread snowfall across the state. That includes parts of California that normally see snow on only the rarest occasions. Cold temperatures and rain remain in the forecast as we head into the weekend. There’s widespread agreement that having books in jails and prisons benefits people behind bars. But in LA County jails, there’s no official l...

In a legislative hearing in Sacramento on Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration made its case for a controversial proposal aimed at reigning in high gas prices, by imposing a penalty on oil companies when gas prices, and profits, spike. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED  Huntington Beach in Orange County is the latest city vowing to fight Sacramento over state housing laws meant to encourag...

A hearing on gasoline prices in the state is scheduled to take place Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento, more than two months after Governor Gavin Newsom called for oil companies to be penalized for price gouging. The hearing before the State Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee is the first during a special session on gas prices.    Last month, a lot of snow fell on California, w...

A man suspected of murdering Catholic Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell in Los Angeles over the weekend has been arrested. Meanwhile, friends of the Bishop are remembering him for his kindness to others. Did you know the last secondary lead smelter west of the Mississippi is here in California? It’s called Quemetco, and it recycles the lead in old car batteries about 25 miles east of downtown Los A...

Lake Tahoe, nestled high in the mountains between California and Nevada, is one of America’s great natural wonders. But the lake faces a variety of threats -- some old, some new -- that scientists have spent years studying. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report A Bay Area Assemblymember wants to increase access to California's public parks and beaches, by overhauling the state's reservati...

A new state-backed report gives the first-ever birds-eye view of California’s spending on homelessness programs. The state has shelled out more than $10 billion in the last few years to get people housed. But despite that spending, California still has a long way to go to get people into permanent housing. Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMatters Despite protests from many community members, construc...

Who's had this problem? Your laptop or smartphone isn’t working, but the idea of repairing it yourself seems impossible because you can't get replacement parts and repair instructions from manufacturers, like, say, Apple. Well, after past attempts to pass it have failed, a Right to Repair bill has been re-introduced in Sacramento. If passed, it’s supposed to make it easier, and cheaper to get elec...

Dianne Feinstein has been a U.S. Senator from California for three decades. And before that she was already a powerful figure in San Francisco politics, including serving as mayor. So the announcement that Feinstein is retiring from office at the end of her current Senate term really does mark the end of an era in California politics and governance.  Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED A new study out of...

Anti-semitism and hate crimes are on the rise in the United States. In California, some far-right groups are becoming even more extreme. A far-right extremist group connected to San Diego, called the Goyim Defense League, is fueling acts of vandalism, harassment and assault.  Reporter: Jill Castellano, inewsource A group of California lawmakers wants to prohibit police from pulling motorists over...

In response to stories about worker abuse in the fast food industry, last year the state legislature passed, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act. The FAST Act created a first of its kind 10 person independent council to improve labor conditions in the fast food industry. But it's already facing pushback from the industry, which has spe...

California’s Attorney General has petitioned federal regulators to issue an emergency rule to protect workers from extreme heat. Heat is the leading cause of death among all weather-related workplace hazards, and the dangers for workers in jobs like agriculture are rising with climate change. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED  Frontline environmental advocates are gearing up for a new fight,...

Half of California hospitals are losing money everyday. Madera Community Hospital is just the latest to close due to financial issues. And experts predict many more will follow across the state. Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQED In Fresno County, an emergency hospital declaration has just been lifted, despite area hospitals still dealing with an overcrowding crisis. That's in large part due to the re...

Here in California, we've grown pretty accustomed to power outages. Sometimes it gets knocked out by storms. Other times, it gets turned off on purpose by the utility companies to avoid wildfires. But what if you could live in a community where your lights always stayed on, no matter what happened to the grid? Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report  California utility regulators are diggin...

Half Moon Bay farmworkers – and other vulnerable immigrants who speak up about workplace abuses – could get some protection under a new Biden administration policy. It would shield undocumented immigrants from deportation if they cooperate with labor investigations. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED California’s governor is calling for a federal probe into the record high natural gas prices that hav...

When storms battered California last month, the streets of Planada became rivers. Hundreds of homes were flooded and the whole town was evacuated. Now people in this rural Central Valley community are trying to put their lives back together. But many undocumented residents are struggling to access assistance. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

Governor Gavin Newsom says he expects to collaborate with lawmakers this year on reforms to the state’s environmental review law, which has been used repeatedly by opponents of development to block construction. The California Environmental Quality Act, which was signed into law in 1970, aimed to ensure that the environmental impact of a project is taken into account.  Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED...

In the wake of two mass shootings that left 18 people dead, California leaders say they’ll pass new legislation to regulate concealed weapon permits. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED  The funeral for 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was held Wednesday in Memphis, three weeks after he died following a beating by police. There are increased calls for police accountability across the nation, an issue that’s bein...

As Californians continue to process the series of mass shootings up and down the state, the small community of Goshen in the Central Valley remains shaken by the brutal murders of six family members two weeks ago. Reporter: Alex Hall, KQED California’s snowpack is at 208% of normal for this time of year. That's the highest level in decades. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Thieves have stolen mor...

Friends and family of Tyre Nichols, the former Sacramento resident who was beaten and killed by Memphis police officers, held a candlelight vigil in his honor Monday night.   Reporter: Sarah Mizes-Tan, CapRadio  A new study out of Stanford University finds climate warming will likely reach a critical threshold in the early 2030s. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Cold temperatures are forecast thr...

Big Sur is cut off again thanks to landslides on Highway 1 caused by the rain storms earlier this month. Now supplies are being flown in, and residents along portions of the scenic highway may be stuck for at least another three weeks. Reporter: Jonathan Linden, KAZU   The COVID-19 pandemic continues to heavily affect the lives of California’s 9 million children. Those impacts are particularly dev...