KQED's The California Report

Authorities confirm they’re investigating possible wage theft and health and safety violations at the two farms in Half Moon Bay where seven farm workers were killed this week in a mass shooting.  Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Even as the community mourns in Half Moon Bay, people are looking for ways to heal and grasp for normalcy.  Reporter: Madi Bolaños This week, we've covered Monterey...

The man accused of gunning down eight people in Half Moon Bay, killing seven, was charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on Wednesday.   Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED  Authorities investigating the mass shooting in Half Moon say the evidence points to it as an incident of “workplace violence.” Acts of violence are a leading cause of occupational death in the U.S. But...

The man accused of fatally shooting seven farmworkers Monday in the city of Half Moon Bay is being arraigned on Wednesday. Chunli Zhao is being held on seven first degree murder charges and one charge of attempted murder for the shootings at two farms in Half Moon Bay. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Monterey Park on Wednesday to honor the 11 people killed...

There has been another deadly mass shooting in the state, this time in the coastal Bay Area community of Half Moon Bay. Seven people were killed and one injured Monday in a pair of shootings at agricultural centers in the city. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED On Monday night, over 200 people gathered in Monterey Park for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the mass shooting at the Star Dance...

10 people, five men and five women, are dead and seven people remain in the hospital after a 72-year-old man opened fire in a Monterey Park dance studio late Saturday night. The suspected gunman took his own life on Sunday. The Monterey Park shooting reminds us about just how seemingly random incidents of mass violence can be. That leaves many feeling scared and vulnerable.  Reporter: Robert Garro...

President Biden toured Capitola Village and Seacliff State Park in Santa Cruz County on Thursday. Both of the areas were two of the hardest hit by the recent winter storms. A new bill would give California college athletes more protections and require Division I schools to share revenue with athletes whose market value exceeds the amount of their scholarships. That money would be paid after an ath...

For Madera County near Yosemite, the new year has brought more than just stormy weather. The county’s only hospital closed. That leaves 150,000 residents without specialty care, without an emergency room and many of the hospital’s 700 employees without a job. Guests: Omar Rashad and Dympna Ugwu-Oju, Reporters, Fresnoland Los Angeles City Council members are renewing calls for unarmed crisis respon...

In the aftermath of a massacre that left six people dead in the small farming town of Goshen early Monday, details remain sparse. The victims include a teen mother and her infant son. Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR  California could soon have a new repository of electric power, capable of stabilizing the state’s power grid. A German company is building a virtual power plant brimming with potential....

Six people were shot and killed in a small San Joaquin Valley community early Monday morning. Reporter: Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, KVPR When the pandemic hit in early 2020, local governments across the country passed eviction moratoriums to protect tenants from becoming homeless if they couldn’t afford to pay their rents. As the pandemic has eased, many of those protections have been eliminated....

The storms that have battered much of California will finally start to subside this week. Rain is expected to die down on Monday, although parts of Northern California and the Bay Area could see more precipitation on Wednesday. Much of Southern California will likely start a dry spell starting Tuesday. As communities clean-up following the storms, President Biden has declared a major disaster in C...

The Salinas River is still at risk of flooding, but authorities now say it may not be quite as bad as they had been predicting. Several low-lying communities near the river remain under evacuation orders and warnings. The intense rains so far this year have flooded farm fields across the state, forcing farmworkers to stay home -- which for most means no pay.  Reporter: Leslie Berestein Rojas, KPCC...

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto is warning people to be prepared for the Monterey Peninsula to become an island because of flooding from the Salinas River. Nieto warned that flooding Thursday could eliminate all travel routes on or off the peninsula, leaving people stranded on either side.  As the winter storms move through the state, power outages and flooding can make it hard for families to...

Governor Gavin Newsom toured Capitola Village near Santa Cruz Tuesday, surveying the flood damage to small businesses there hit hard by storm surges. Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED In Santa Barbara County, cleanup is underway now that evacuation orders have been lifted. Local leaders consider the evacuations a success. There are no reports of major injuries or deaths.  Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KC...

The entire town of Montecito has been evacuated. The order comes exactly five years to the day after a deadly mudslide destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes there after rain washed out a wildfire burn scar. Part of Santa Barbara and the nearby communities of Carpenteria and Summerland were also ordered to evacuate yesterday. Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED Governor Gavin Newsom is set to outline his s...

Gov. Newsom Says 12 Californians Died in Extreme Weather The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for a large swath of Northern and Central California with 6 to 12 inches of rain expected through Wednesday in the already saturated Sacramento-area foothills. CalMatters Investigates $35 million in Leftover Campaign Cash A new investigation from CalMatters found there are nearly 100 poli...

Historic Rainfall Is Especially Tough On The Unhoused California is assessing damage and cleaning up after a week of historic rains. The National Weather Service says San Francisco experienced its wettest ten day period in 150 years.  All that rainfall has been especially tough on the unhoused population. California Still In A Drought Despite Torrential Rains The past few big storms have eased dro...

California Storm Packs A Punch Overnight California continues to be lashed by what’s called a “bomb cyclone” storm this morning, with forecasters warning about rain rates of up to one inch…per hour…in some places and winds of 70 and 80 miles per hour. Infant Killed In Storm When Tree Falls On House In Occidental One of two deaths reported in Wednesdays historic storm includes an infant from Sonoma...

Get ready. Another powerful rain and wind storm is set to pummel parts of California on Wednesday and Thursday. The National Weather Service said parts of Northern California and the Bay Area should expect widespread flooding. Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED     In San Francisco, small business owners are still dealing with damages from the last big storm. Now, they have to prepare for more rain and...

Much of California is still trying to clean up from stormy weather that has hit much of the state over the past week. But forecasters said the worst could be on the way, as an atmospheric river forms off the coast. A new year is bringing a bumper crop of new state laws, which are now officially on the books. They cover everything from abortion to housing and gun rights. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, Th...

After having a baby, mothers are often barraged with pressure to return to their pre-pregnancy lives and bodies. And that can take a toll on both mental and physical health during one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC   For many people, the New Year means setting resolutions and goals for 2023. But for one immigrant, who’s now living in the Bay Area, it...

With New Year's Eve around the corner, that means millions of Californians will be out celebrating the end of 2022 and start of a new year. And that could entail a night of drinking. But is there a way to stop from having a nasty hangover the next day? Guest: Danielle Venton, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the tops of the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California lies plants that exist nowhere else in the world. The Pebble Plains ecosystem is more than a million years old. It’s an old expert at adapting to a changing climate, and yet, it’s dying out faster than ever before. Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW During the holidays, many people spend time with their loved one, but also enjoy food th...

Most Californians are feeling the effects of the drought. But in big areas of the state, where people rely on groundwater, the pain of this drought is especially severe. Wells are going dry and there’s intense competition to find more water that’s underground. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report California’s bighorn sheep population will soon be getting some help in dealing with the sta...

This has been a big year for space exploration. There was the deployment of a powerful new space space telescope. It's peering billions of years back through time and bringing us stunning images of our universe when it was in its infancy. And a rocket was launched to the moon in preparation for humankind's return to the lunar surface.  Guests: Danielle Venton, KQED and Benjamin Burress, Astronomer...

After years of construction delays, and tens of billions of dollars in cost overruns, California’s high-speed rail project has become one of the most controversial infrastructure projects in the country. We go to the Central Valley, to check in on the first phase of high speed rail’s construction and get local reactions to the project’s problems. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Lear...