It’s our 500th episode! One of the great joys of working on the show has been using our space to help people in the Bay Area get excited about or involved in issues they care about. Often that starts with local government. So we want to share one of our favorite episodes with you from earlier this year with tips about how to publicly address your elected leaders. Then, after that, we all hop on the mic to talk a little bit about why we love this episode, and share some stories from The Bay's ear...
Jun 25, 2021•26 min
Forty years after the AIDS epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens those most at risk in the LGBTQ community across the world. Community organizers in the Bay Area have been building on the work of people like Bobbi Campbell, a San Francisco nurse who became the first person to go public with a cancer associated with AIDS. His work to educate the other gay men in the city was the beginning of an activist-led campaign that helped protect the queer community from AIDS even before the federal gov...
Jun 23, 2021•19 min
On June 2, so many people spoke during a Bay Area Air Quality Management District board meeting that the agency had to postpone a vote to regulate air pollution from two Bay Area refineries — one run by Chevron in Richmond, and one run by PBF Energy in Martinez. The proposal would force Chevron and PBF Energy to install potentially hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment to clean the particulate matter released every day by their refineries. Now, the Air District board is has been re...
Jun 21, 2021•18 min
On Tuesday, San Jose’s City Council will vote on a plan to rezone parts of the Flea Market on Berryessa Road, where hundreds of immigrant vendors have set up shop for more than 60 years. The new development would include commercial and residential space near transit, including some affordable housing units. But it would also shrink the space for vendors dramatically, so much so that many fear they will lose their businesses altogether. Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporter and ...
Jun 18, 2021•19 min
Many live concerts and events are returning to the Bay Area, as COVID-19 cases remain low and the state ends capacity limits, social distancing and mask requirements in most places. But not everyone working in live events is comfortable with the idea of working indoors with unmasked guests, and independent venues are still waiting for federal relief money that was promised months ago. Guest: Nastia Voynovskaya, KQED arts and culture associate editor Episode transcript here. Subscribe to our news...
Jun 16, 2021•17 min
California will fully reopen for “business as usual”on June 15. That means, among other things, that fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to masks in most places around the state. But there are plenty of reasons you’ll still see people in the Bay Area continuing to wear masks. We’ll tell you about some of them. Guest: Carly Severn, KQED senior engagement editor Episode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 14, 2021•21 min
The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians doesn’t have its own reservation. Like many Native communities, many members also struggle with poverty and homelessness. But recently, using funds from California’s ‘Project Homekey,’ the tribe bought an apartment building in Lake County to house members most in need. And leaders are also hoping it’ll be the start of a new community hub for the tribe. Guest: Molly Solomon, KQED housing affordability reporter Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our newsl...
Jun 11, 2021•20 min
After the mass shooting at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard in San Jose two weeks ago, some politicians started talking about California’s “Red Flag” gun control law, which uses the power of restraining orders to take guns away from people a judge deems at risk of harming themselves or others. Many people aren’t even aware of the red flag law. And using it as a way to prevent gun violence of all kinds — including mass shootings, suicides and domestic violence — is much mor...
Jun 09, 2021•18 min
Undocumented Californians have been mostly shut out of three rounds of federal stimulus checks. So when the ‘Golden State Stimulus’ was approved in February by the State Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, undocumented immigrants were hopeful that they’d finally receive some direct relief. But bureaucratic hoops have prevented many people from accessing this money in a timely fashion. Guest: Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, reporter for KQED en Español Episode transcript here. Subscribe ...
Jun 07, 2021•17 min
The effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom picked up steam in late 2020, during the height of the pandemic. Now, COVID-19 has slowed down in California, and Gov. Newsom is currently in a strong position; one recent poll showed that just 40% of likely voters support recalling him from office. This has left some Democrats debating a thorny question: whether they should use the current recall laws to hold the election earlier, or wait until the fall, when most voters expect elections to take place. Gue...
Jun 04, 2021•17 min
Deaths from fentanyl overdoses have been on the rise during the pandemic. In Santa Clara County, the ages of the victims are trending younger, according to an analysis by KQED and the Documenting COVID-19 project at Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Fentanyl can be laced into pills that look like common painkillers — and thanks in part to COVID-19, buying these drugs online has become even more convenient. Now, parents and officials alike are trying to educate kids and ...
Jun 02, 2021•18 min
The deadliest mass shooting in Bay Area history happened Wednesday at a rail yard for the Valley Transportation Authority, the Santa Clara County transit agency made up of around 2,000 employees. The 9 victims who died were maintenance workers, light rail operators, mechanics and supervisors. Public transit workers haven't had the privilege of sheltering at home during the pandemic, and for the past year they’ve kept transit going. Now, VTA workers are mourning the loss of friends and colleagues...
May 28, 2021•18 min
For years, Black and brown parents of Oakland Unified students have been pushing the district to do more to support kids in low-income communities of color. Then the pandemic hit, prompting fears of even more disparities in learning. So a group called The Oakland REACH decided to take matters into their own hands, and use the pandemic as an opportunity to continue reimagining their kids’ education. Guest: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED education reporter Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/3oSiQu0 Su...
May 26, 2021•18 min
South Hayward has one of the highest rates of per capita deaths in Alameda County. It also has one of the lowest vaccination rates. Some aren’t sure whether they want the vaccine, but there are also many other barriers related to language, work, and access. For volunteers, county officials and community clinics, addressing these barriers is central to a monthslong, on the ground effort to get more people vaccinated in a neighborhood with many immigrants and low-wage workers. Guest: Farida Jhabva...
May 24, 2021•17 min
Starting Friday, May 21, 130 artists in San Francisco will receive $1,000 a month for the next 6 months through the city’s Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, which was announced in March to help artists from marginalized communities who have struggled during the pandemic. Most artists agree a guaranteed income would help. But as the program officially rolls out, some arts groups are concerned that the process of launching the experiment was inequitable from the beginning. Guest: Chloe Veltman, KQE...
May 21, 2021•22 min
It’s almost been a year since Vallejo police officer Jarrett Tonn shot and killed Sean Monterrosa on June 2, as protests against police violence were happening nationwide. Last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced his office would review the investigation. Monterrosa’s family — and those who have been fighting for more police reform in Vallejo — hope this is a turning point in police accountability in the city, and even across the state. Guest: Brian Krans, freelance reporter Ep...
May 19, 2021•16 min
On International Boulevard in East Oakland, just 5% of businesses received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from April to August of 2020. Meanwhile, in the nearby, mostly white neighborhood of Montclair, 49% of businesses received a PPP loan. Advocates and small business owners point to factors like language barriers, a complicated application process, and a legacy of banks not serving communities of color. This kind of disparity exists all over the Bay Area, and as the region reopens, th...
May 17, 2021•18 min
Just four months ago, a pro-Trump mob violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in support of the former president's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. And even after that, most of California’s Republican elected officials stuck with Trump by voting to overturn the certification of the results. Trump may be out of office now, but many of those same Republicans — including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy from Bakersfield — are still enabling his lies, most recently when House Republicans ...
May 14, 2021•15 min
The vast majority of the nearly 70,000 fire survivors are waiting for the compensation they're owed as a result of PG&E's bankruptcy settlement — while the trust responsible for managing the money racked up over $51 million in operating costs in 2020. Many families who have been displaced by fires caused by PG&E’s equipment are living in precarious situations. Some live unhoused or with relatives, and many have been forced to dip into savings while also experiencing the trauma of living ...
May 12, 2021•21 min
When people see attacks on Asians — including a recent near-fatal stabbing on San Francisco’s Market Street — many refer to them as hate crimes, in order to call out anti-Asian racism and violence. But the legal use of a hate crime charge is much trickier. And it raises some hard questions about whether the state should add harsher penalties for racially motivated attacks, or focus on rehabilitation and restorative justice. Guest: Marisa Lagos, KQED politics correspondent and co-host of KQED's P...
May 10, 2021•19 min
In the 1920s and 1930s, Stockton’s Little Manila grew into the largest Filipino community outside of Manila itself. Thousands of Filipinos worked as farm laborers in the San Joaquin Valley, and over the years they opened businesses, restaurants, hotels and organized labor unions. Over time Stockton’s urban renewal policies led to the destruction of Little Manila. But today, Filipinx organizers in Stockton are working to preserve that centurylong history, organize the community and educate the ne...
May 07, 2021•25 min
Indians and Indian Americans in the Bay Area are facing a dual reality when it comes to COVID-19: while businesses start to reopen here, COVID-19 cases and deaths are exploding in India — and many are worried for the safety of friends and family thousands of miles away. The Indian diaspora is also turning that worry into action, raising money for oxygen tanks and setting up virtual doctor's visits. Guest: Lakshmi Sarah, KQED reporter Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/2QWM7Ht Read more of L...
May 05, 2021•17 min
When it comes to sea level rise, East Palo Alto will be one of the first and hardest-hit areas of the Bay Area. It’s already prone to flooding now, and the city is leading the way when it comes to community-led solutions. But no matter how hard East Palo Alto works to build its resiliency against sea level rise, it won’t be enough; the Bay Area’s interconnected ecosystem suggests what its neighbors do to combat the issue matters to the entire region’s survival. Follow the group Bay Adapt to stay...
May 03, 2021•24 min
Bay Area transit agencies lost huge numbers of riders during the pandemic — and with it, enormous amounts of revenue. Federal money has saved them from big layoffs and service cuts. But as the region reopens and more people get vaccinated, public transit leaders still need to convince riders it’s safe and worth the trip. Guest: Dan Brekke, KQED editor and reporter Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/3e9dMhj Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 30, 2021•18 min
Last summer, confirmed COVID-19 cases ballooned inside San Quentin State Prison. Now, with many incarcerated people and staff now vaccinated, infections are very low and the worst of the outbreak seems to be over. But the programs that many relied on before the pandemic still haven't returned — and incarcerated people are still coping with the scars of a traumatizing year. Guest: Kate Wolffe, KQED reporter Read the episode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ...
Apr 28, 2021•20 min
The state legislature last week confirmed East Bay assembly member Rob Bonta California’s new Attorney General. His confirmation happened the same week Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd. Bonta, the first Filipino American to take the position, has been a longtime supporter of more police accountability and takes over the AG role at a time when there’s momentum around police accountability in California and across the country. While there’s a lot of power in the AG position, t...
Apr 26, 2021•17 min
Oakland has been the epicenter of on-the-ground anti-policing efforts since Oscar Grant was killed by BART police in 2009. That same movement saw its latest iteration after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and months of protests and organizing culminated into a rare conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. So what does the verdict mean now for Bay Area efforts against policing? Guest: Cat Brooks, executive director of the Justice Teams Network and co-founder of the...
Apr 23, 2021•16 min
A jury has convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of all three charges for murdering George Floyd. There’s a lot to process, so today we don’t have a new episode — just a short message. Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/3n6nLGR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2021•3 min
San Francisco Unified School District has been mired in several controversies over this past year, and the politics around its school board have been especially tense. Whether it's the attempt to rename 44 schools, the debate over Lowell High School's admissions process, or tweets by Commissioner Alison Collins, adults have been taking up the most space in these public debates. And some student leaders say that the way these adults have been handling these conversations needs to change. Guest: H...
Apr 19, 2021•18 min
About 9,000 nursing home residents in California have died of COVID-19. At the height of the winter surge, more than 80 residents were dying every day. But now, thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, there are now fewer than 20 confirmed cases daily. And now, many families are reuniting with loved ones after more than a year apart. Guest: Barbara Feder Ostrov, contributing writer for CalMatters Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/3wY0LhK Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...
Apr 16, 2021•18 min
