The State of California

The Bay Area last weekend played host to the NBA All Star game. Next year it will be home to the Super Bowl and matches for the FIFA World Cup. The big games have gotten big – but the money in sports has gotten even bigger! Recently as part of Audacy Conversations "Big Games, Big Money", KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with Andrew Brandt, a sports business analyst and executive director...

The Bay Area last weekend played host to the NBA All Star game. Next year it will be home to the Super Bowl and matches for the FIFA World Cup. The big games have gotten big – but the money in sports has gotten even bigger! The past two baseball offseasons have brought the two largest professional sports contracts in history. Record deals have also been seen in the NFL and NBA. As part of Audacy C...

People across the globe are celebrating World Radio Day. In 1909, Doc Herald and others launched the first broadcasting station in the country in San Jose that would later become KCBS. Radio has long been a powerful tool for communication and one non-profit organization in the Bay Area has been working to promote and preserve the history of the audio-only medium for the past 50 years. To talk more...

NBA's All Star Weekend is almost here in the Bay Area. The showcase is the first of three major sporting events coming to the region between now and next year with the Super Bowl and the World Cup. The difference is the All-Star Game will be the only event happening in the city of San Francisco. To discuss further, KCBS reporter Mike DeWald spoke with Kirk Lacob, executive vice president of basket...

The field in the race for governor of California is starting to take shape, 16 months before the 2026 primary. There have been some big moves on both sides of the aisle, and while the field is already pretty crowded, there are probably at least three more significant candidates who will throw their hats in the ring. For more, KCBS Radio news anchor Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS political reporter...

President Trump is expanding his tariffs, slapping a 25 percent surcharge on all imports of steel and aluminum. Meanwhile, while polls show many of the president’s moves are supported by a majority of Americans, there is growing outrage about the illegality of some of them. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart and KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with U.S. Sen...

Doug Sovern is away today. A ambitious redesign is coming to San Quentin State Prison, inspired by rehabilitation centers in Scandinavian countries. The model prioritizes "rehabilitation through education" and architects envision a campus-like environment complete with a library and media center. BRET live: For more on these plans, KCBS Radio news anchors Bret Burkhart and Patti Reising spoke with...

Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating in Washington DC and cross the country the last two days, up in arms over many of President Trump’s actions. Their focus has been the extra-governmental role of Elon Musk, the president shutting down the US Agency for International Development, and more. Among the members of Congress helping to lead those protests is one newly elected Democrat from C...

Governor Newsom is on his way to Washington D.C. to seek more federal disaster assistance for California. The governor wants the federal government to do more to help survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires rebuild their homes and their lives. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern.

President Trump agreed today to postpone new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, but is going ahead with his trade surcharges on China. Many American businesses fear their costs will spike, which they may have to pass on to consumers. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart and KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with Zach Davis, co-owner of the Penny Ice Cre...

Doug Sovern is away today. January has been a particularly dry month in Northern California, but that's about to change. With storms sweeping through the region this weekend, the Bay Area braces for a soaking while further east in the Sierra, a downpour of the powdery kind is expected. For a deeper look, KCBS Radio news anchor Bret Burkhart spoke with Andrew Schwartz, Director of UC Berkeley's Cen...

It’s been a whirlwind of executive action, with orders coming fast and furious and some already rescinded or blocked by the courts, since President Trump took office just 10 days ago. Like many presidents before him, he is pushing the boundaries of executive authority, testing limits, ignoring precedent and trying to shift the balance of power from the legislative branch to the executive. For more...

President Trump rescinded his freeze on federal grants and a wide range of government spending after it was blocked by a federal judge. But the president is offering millions of federal workers an early retirement buyout, which he says is in the name of efficiency. A House Oversight panel has been formed to keep an eye on the newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency, and there is only one...

President Trump’s battle with California over water policy continues. The president claims he sent troops into the state to turn the water supply back on for Southern California, which the state says simply isn’t true. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern.

President Trump’s visit to the Southern California fire zone and some of his moves since then are sparking anger among California’s Congressional Democrats. The president is wading into California water policy, and he’s also illegally fired more than a dozen federal watchdogs. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart and KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with U.S....

Doug Sovern is away today. President Trump is in Los Angeles right now, touring the devastation in Pacific Palisades. Just minutes after he got off Air Force One., Trump was greeted by Governor Gavin Newsom and the press at LAX. He was in North Carolina earlier today to survey the damage from Hurricane Helene, where he said he would sign an executive order to eliminate the Federal Emergency Manage...

President Donald Trump has taken swift action to crack down on immigration, including ending the CBP One app and issuing an executive order to end birthright citizenship. For more, KCBS political reporter Doug Sovern spoke to Melissa Crow, director of litigation at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies in San Francisco.

A fierce new wildfire has exploded in Southern California, already burning thousands of acres near Castaic. Meanwhile, the Southland could get some much-needed rain and snow this weekend, but that also raises the risk of mudslides in the fire zone The worst of the Palisades and Eaton fires may be over, but the recovery will take years, and the state legislature got down to business today to begin...

Donald Trump has only been in office for a little more than one day and the state of California and the city of San Francisco are already suing him. This first lawsuit is to challenge his executive order ending birthright citizenship for babies born to undocumented immigrants, even some whose mothers are here legally. For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCB...

Donald J. Trump is president again, sworn in today for a second term, capping perhaps the greatest political comeback in American history. President Trump gave a subdued 30-minute inaugural address and then immediately signed a flurry of executive orders to make good on many of his campaign pledges, including to crack down on illegal immigration, increase domestic energy production and reverse man...

Doug Sovern is away today. Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao pleaded not guilty today, Jan. 17, to the several federal charges she's facing. Now, it's not just the former mayor facing an indictment, three others are also headed to court. This comes just two months after Thao was recalled by voters. To talk more about it, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart spoke with KCBS Insider...

A truncated campaign for Mayor of Oakland is underway in earnest, with just three months until voters will choose someone to complete the term of recalled Mayor Sheng Thao. For now, City Council President Kevin Jenkins is serving as interim Mayor. But now retired Congresswoman Barbara Lee is running for the full-time job, and so is former Councilmember Loren Taylor, who narrowly lost to Sheng Thao...

President Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation this evening, with just five days left in his presidency. The speech comes on a day when Biden announced that he successfully brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza after 15 months of war. President Biden got that truce done just in time, in the closing days of his administration, which will become...

The campaign for a new Mayor of Oakland is underway now, after the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao. Former Representative Barbara Lee shook up the race by throwing her hat in the ring, making her the prohibitive favorite. Last week, Lee made her candidacy official, just days after retiring from Congress, and now she is the frontrunner in the April 15 special election for a new Mayor to finish the last...