On Thursday night, Sen. Dianne Feinstein passed away at age 90. Before becoming a U.S. Senator in 1992, she was best known for her time as San Francisco mayor. Today, we revisit an episode with KQED’s Scott Shafer about how she got her start in local politics. Links: Senator Dianne Feinstein Dies at 90: Live Updates What Feinstein’s Death Means For Control of the Senate and the Looming Government Shutdown How San Francisco Punk Reacted to Dianne Feinstein in the 1970s Gov. Newsom Names Laphonza ...
Oct 02, 2023•25 min
In this edition of The Bay’s monthly news roundup, Ericka, Maria and Alan talk about continued tensions between Martinez and the local refinery, a bill that would decriminalize certain psychedelics, and an effort to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area. Links: Residents skeptical after toxicology report finds no ill effects from Martinez refinery incident California Decriminalizing Mushrooms and Other Psychedelics Warriors finalizing agreement to bring WNBA team to Bay Area: Sources This episode wa...
Sep 29, 2023•21 min
Sonoma County will now allow wine grape harvests in fire evacuation zones for some farmworkers, in a reversal of a contentious 2022 decision. The Press Democrat’s Phil Barber explains how it happened. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 27, 2023•26 min
Boats are being stolen and stripped of precious metals in the Oakland Estuary, in a crime spree that has divided the community of traditional boat owners and people living in derelict boats out on the water. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 25, 2023•17 min
Sea level rise threatens communities along the Bay and some iconic cultural heritage sites along the San Francisco shoreline. So when the water comes for iconic sites like San Francisco's Ferry Building, how do we save it? Links: NPR: Protecting Cultural Heritage in a Warming World This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 22, 2023•17 min
San Jose city leaders are looking for a new site for the nearly 500 vendors at the Berryessa Flea Market, which will be moved to make way for the new Berryessa BART Urban Village. The Singleton Road landfill has risen to the top. Is an abandoned landfill the right place for a new flea market? Links: Why the Future of San José's Flea Market Could Be an Abandoned Landfill This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, who also hosted. Episode Transcript Learn more about your...
Sep 20, 2023•22 min
California might become the first state in the nation to ban discrimination based on caste, a hierarchical system based on birth that affects South Asians all over the world. Senate Bill 403, which was introduced by State Sen. Aisha Wahab, passed the state legislature and is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature or veto. In this episode that originally aired in June, reporter Sonia Paul breaks down the complexity of this issue and why it has divided South Asians in the Bay Area. This...
Sep 18, 2023•28 min
On Monday, BART rolled out a new schedule and changes to its system. They’re calling it a ’reimagined’ service plan. Combine that with increased police and non-uniformed personnel, and it’s clear that BART is trying to make changes that woo riders back onto its trains. Will it work? This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Episode Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 15, 2023•21 min
On Friday's episode, we’re going to talk BART and discuss some of the big changes the agency has made, including the new scheduled that began this week. And we want to hear from you: How’s riding BART for you these days? Or have you stopped riding? If so, what would it take for you to come back? Leave us a voicemail at (415) 710-9223, and we just might play it on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2023•3 min
On Friday, Nancy Pelosi — former Speaker, minority leader, and representative in Congress since 1987 — announced plans to run again. KQED’s Marisa Lagos breaks down what this means for San Francisco amid debate over when a politician's time is up. This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2023•22 min
California faces a big problem in labor law enforcement: when businesses are found to have committed wage theft, many still don’t pay workers what they’re owed. KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero tells us how Santa Clara County is implementing a local solution to this statewide issue. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2023•17 min
A full transcript will be available 1–2 workdays after the episode’s publication. COVID-19 cases are on the rise (again). But this isn’t the surge of years’ past..it’s more like a “swell”. We also have more immunity, there are effective treatments, and a new booster is on the way. KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg explains what you need to know about this increase in COVID cases. Links: The New COVID 'Eris' Variant and Rising Cases: What You Need to Know Fueled by 'Eris,' COVID Escapes Pr...
Sep 08, 2023•16 min
This episode contains explicit language. Banko Brown was a Black trans man who was shot and killed by a Walgreens security guard in late April. Today, KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez interviews three members of Banko Brown’s community from the Young Women’s Freedom Center — Xavier Davenport, Kazani Kalani Finao, and Juju Pikes-Prince — about Brown’s life, and what they believe is necessary for trans people to be truly safe in San Francisco. Links: What Banko Brown's Queer, Trans Community Says T...
Sep 06, 2023•25 min
On this Labor Day weekend, we're sharing an episode from KQED's Bay Curious podcast about what's happening to our state's iconic redwood trees, and how we can support them. This episode originally published on June 22, 2023. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 04, 2023•20 min
Some of the richest, most outspoken investors in the tech world are behind a company that has bought nearly 60,000 acres of mostly farmland in Solano County. They say they want to build a new city from scratch. But who are they? And why do they want to do this? Erin Griffith with The New York Times explains. Links: The Silicon Valley Elite Who Want to Build a City From Scratch Elected Officials to Meet with Silicon Valley Investors Behind $800 Million Solano County Land Grab This episode was pro...
Sep 01, 2023•22 min
Under what circumstances should San Francisco be able to clear homeless encampments? Last week, protesters and counter-protesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over an injunction that limits the city’s ability to do that. KQED’s Sydney Johnson unpacks this legal battle, and explains why it has sparked such strong feelings. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad...
Aug 30, 2023•19 min
In 2021, students at Carlmont High School in Belmont were shocked when 17-year-old senior Colin Walker died of a fentanyl overdose. In this episode of TBH, a podcast from KALW made by, for, and about teenagers, one of his classmates tells the story of how students honored Colin’s life after his death, and educated each other about the dangers of fentanyl. Subscribe to TBH at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Radio Public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 28, 2023•19 min
We bring you 3 stories a week, but there’s so much more that’s happening in the Bay Area than we can get to. Today, Ericka, Maria and Alan each bring a story they’ve been following in a new monthly news roundup segment. Links: Near $1 Billion Land Purchase Around California Air Base Under Investigation San Jose City Council Approves Agreements With Unions to Avoid Strike Henrietta Lacks’ Family Sues Bay Area Company Over Use of Stolen Cells Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Aug 25, 2023•20 min
Hollywood is no stranger to changes brought on by technology. But KQED’s Rachael Myrow says that for writers and actors currently on strike, this moment is existential — thanks in no small part to Silicon Valley. Many KQED staffers are also members of SAG-AFTRA, but journalists have a different contract from Hollywood actors. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....
Aug 23, 2023•19 min
Oakland is looking for a new police chief after Mayor Sheng Thao fired LeRonne Armstrong back in mid-February. Whoever takes the job next will inherit a department that has been under federal oversight for 20 years. Today, we revisit a conversation with Ali Winston about the events that led to Armstrong’s downfall, and why OPD’s challenges run far deeper than who the chief is. This episode originally published on Feb. 8, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 21, 2023•19 min
An often-overlooked moment in Bay Area activism took place in the 1980s and 90s, when a broad coalition of activists targeted San Francisco’s coffee industry to protest the civil war in El Salvador. KQED’s Sebastian Miño-Bucheli joins us to talk about how it happened. Links: The Time a Bay Area Coffee Boycott Helped Stop a Civil War A timeline of Fred Ross Jr., executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 18, 2023•20 min
This episode contains explicit language. San Franciscans can expect to see more driverless cars on the road after California regulators approved a permit to allow Waymo and Cruise to charge fares. Once again, the city is the testing ground for new technology. And people on both sides have strong feelings about it. Ida Mojadad from the San Francisco Standard breaks it all down for us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 16, 2023•22 min
I’laysia Vital is about to leave Oakland to start college in Texas, where she’s excited to attend a historically Black college. But Texas is also one of more than a dozen states that has banned abortion. KQED’s April Dembosky takes us inside a health clinic at Oakland Technical High School, where staff have been helping college-bound students prepare for the barriers to reproductive health that await them in other states. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hoste...
Aug 14, 2023•21 min
This episode contains explicit language. Hip-hop turns 50 years old today, and it’s no secret that the Bay Area gets overlooked. Today, Eric Arnold and Nastia Voynovskaya join us to talk about KQED’s yearlong series exploring the history of Bay Area hip-hop — and how our region has shaped hip-hop through the years. Links: That’s My Word The Bay Area Was Hip-Hop Before There Was Hip-Hop Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary: Where to Celebrate in the Bay Area That’s My Word, Spotify Playlists celebrating 50...
Aug 11, 2023•27 min
Next Tuesday, nearly 4,500 San Jose city workers are planning to walk off the job for 3 days. Garbage, fire, and police won’t be affected, but many critical services like the airport, libraries, and housing construction will be. If the strike goes forward, it would be San Jose's largest since 1981. KQED’s Guy Marzorati explains how we got here, and what could happen next. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad...
Aug 09, 2023•16 min
On the morning after Thanksgiving last year, Martinez residents woke up and found a strange, white powder coating their neighborhoods. It came from the nearby refinery. Will McCarthy from the Mercury News tells us what happened next, and how this incident spurred angry neighbors into action for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 07, 2023•19 min
For the first time since 2009, there is no salmon fishing season in California. This decision has hit fishers, coastal towns, and Native communities hard. But it wasn’t inevitable. KQED climate and science reporter Danielle Venton explains how the state’s choices around water management played a major role. Episode transcript This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 04, 2023•24 min
A committee called Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) has filed documents for a recall campaign against progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez explains why this is happening — and whether DA Price could face the same fate as Chesa Boudin did in San Francisco. Episode transcript This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. A previous version of this episode incorrectly stated the number of Ala...
Aug 02, 2023•25 min
We hope you’re having a lovely Summer, Bay listeners. We’re spending this month gaming out the next year of our show, and we need your help! It’s important to us to hear from you and what you want to hear more (or less) of on The Bay. Just fill out our listener survey. The deadline is Friday July 21. Just go to kqed.org/thebaysurvey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 14, 2023•3 min
Breaking news from the Bay Team: we are taking our annual break from making new episodes for the month of July. We’re using this time to reset, rest, do some team bonding, and brainstorm what we want to make for you. We will be back with new episodes starting Wednesday, August 2. You can still reach us on Twitter @TheBayKQED or via e-mail thebay@kqed.org. We always love hearing from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 03, 2023•4 min
