KQED's The California Report

Meadows can be a key to forest health. In the Sierra Nevada, however, most have been degraded or lost. But there are efforts underway to restore these habitats. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR A unique holiday tradition here in the Bay Area. The Misfit Cabaret is a variety show that features eccentric performers, often performing burlesque and drag. Reporter: Rachel Martin, NPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The town of Pescadero on the San Mateo County Coast was once known for fish. But a few decades ago salmon in Pescadero Creek went extinct. Now conservationists, with the help of farmers, scientists and federal money for combating climate change, are helping them come back. Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED California could lose multiple seats in the US House of Representatives, if new population estimates from the Census Bureau bear out Reporter: Sameea Kamal, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In eastern Solano County, a group of Silicon Valley billionaires have a vision: an urban, walkable city filled with jobs, restaurants, sidewalks and bike paths. Their ambition is to put a dent in California’s gaping housing shortage. But for the farmers who currently own that land, that idea is upending their businesses and their future. Reporter: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis is joining calls to remove former President Donald Trump from California's primary ballot. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California will soon allow water agencies to heavily treat wastewater, converting it into drinking water. The State Water Resources Control Board approved regulations to extensively treat sewage water for human consumption. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Congressman Kevin McCarthy officially submitted his letter of resignation on Tuesday, announcing he will step down December 31. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Right now, people all over the world are sending friends and family Christmas cards and holiday gifts. But often overlooked is the one delivering this mail, the mail carrier. Reporter: Billy Cruz, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not-for-profit credit unions have long billed themselves as community-based alternatives to big commercial banks. Yet, many California credit unions charged customers millions in overdraft fees last year. Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBS A new law protecting California workers who use marijuana goes into effect next year. Starting January 1, it will be illegal for employers in California to discriminate against an employee for their marijuana use off the job. Reporter: Billy Cruz, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New numbers show that fentanyl continues to have a devastating effect on the general public in California. Law enforcement also says the drug poses a threat to officers. For example, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office says one of its deputies recently needed the overdose-reversing drug known as Narcan, after handling fentanyl. But experts say opioids were probably not the cause of his symptoms. Reporter: Brian Krans, The California Newsroom The conservative Christian majority that brought national attention to Temecula in Riverside County no longer runs that city’s school board, at least for now. A board member who was elected last year with the help of a Christian political action committee has resigned. Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Diamond Bakery, an institution for generations of Los Angeles Jews, closed this month after 77 years. But, in what could be considered a Hanukkah miracle, the bakery’s original recipes will live on. Reporter: Robin Estrin, KCRW California workplace regulators have approved new emergency temporary protections to stall a surge in silicosis, an irreversible lung disease disabling and killing countertop fabrication workers. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next month, a major PG&E rate hike goes into effect. It’s the latest cost increase driven by wildfire-related expenses, inflation, and the growing energy demands that come with extreme weather. But these soring utility bills are pushing low income Californians to the edge of homelessness. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED Sacramento County has launched a first-of-its-kind mobile veterinary clinic, focused on caring for pets owned by homeless residents. It's a free, mobile clinic with medicine and equipment. Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Migrant farmworkers used to make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce. In recent years, those numbers have decreased. The rules for living in migrant housing are still largely the same, and it's creating a difficult situation for those living in these centers across the state. Guest: Lindsey Holden, Reporter, Sacramento Bee A California law meant to ensure overtime pay for farmworkers may be leading growers to cut workers’ hours, and thus actually reduce their paychecks. That’s according to new research out of UC Berkeley. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s solar industry is facing tough times after state utility regulators changed the rules for rooftop solar last spring. Sales are down and layoffs are up. Reporter: Erik Anderson, KPBS The Department of Water Resources has released a final environmental impact report for the Delta tunnel project. The project would pump more water from northern to southern California, but is not without its share of critics. Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California regulators are set to vote this week on new emergency rules to protect workers power cutting “engineered stone” to make kitchen countertops. The factory-made material is linked to an aggressive lung disease killing workers. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero Last week, the city of Fresno became one of the first in the nation to raise the Palestinian flag, in solidarity with those killed in the Gaza Strip. The flag raising comes two months after Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer publicly showed support for Israel and made insensitive comments about the ongoing conflict. Reporter: Esther Quintanilla, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 70, 000 Californians are still waiting on support from the state’s COVID-19 rent relief program. And now, that program could run out of money before it pays out the remaining eligible applicants. Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMatters Heavier than expected snow is falling this week in the Lake Tahoe area, with some places getting over a foot of "powder". That, of course, is a good thing for ski resorts, who were worried this year's ski season was getting off to a slow start. Reporter: Billy Cruz, The California Report It's the story of two California cities and two prisons. One city is Blythe on the border of California and Arizona. It’s home to the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison. Since the lock up first opened in 1988, Chuckwalla has become synonymous with Blythe, with the prison creating hundreds of local jobs and helping to pump lots of dollars into Blythe’s economy. But last year, the state decided to close Chuckawalla. Now, the city of Norco, hundreds of miles away, wants to make a switch, and instead close its prison. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently ousted Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced he’s stepping down from Congress by the end of the year. The news was met with disappointment from many of his constituents in his Central California district. Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR Temecula’s Christian conservative school board president is one step closer to being recalled. A local PAC has turned in the signatures it hopes will force a recall election. Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR State regulators announced the largest wage theft case in the home health care industry, a case that’s led to workers recovering $2 million so far. Nearly 150 caregivers who worked at Adat Shalom Board & Care are set to receive $5.5 million dollars total. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number of L.A. residents dying from fentanyl overdoses shot up 1600% over the past six years. A record 3,220 people died of drug overdoses in Los Angeles County in 2022. Fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine to become the most common drug in fatal overdoses. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, LAist The state’s poorest children are having to wait for weeks, sometimes months, to receive urgent mental health care. When someone calls to make an urgent psychiatric appointment for a child, the state standard is for that appointment to be within four days. A new audit found that’s not happening for 40% of kids - some have to wait months to get an appointment. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadio The often glaring health disparities between Black and white Americans are known, like African Americans having an average lifespan that’s six years shorter compared to white people. But now research points to another disparity, involving grief and bereavement. Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The border wall that separates the U.S. and Mexico has long been controversial, but the barrier also causes real physical injuries when people fall from it. And with the border wall nearly twice as tall as it used to be in many places, the injuries keep getting worse. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS The state agency that lost billions to pandemic unemployment fraud has a new plan to pay out benefits. Employment Development Department officials hope the updates will help stop scammers from stealing peoples’ money. Reporter: Lauren Hepler, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four decades ago, California went to war against an enemy that wasn't human. The adversary was the Mediterranean fruit fly, an invasive pest that threatened to destroy California's agricultural economy. To fight the fly, the state launched controversial aerial pesticide spraying campaigns and set up roadblocks and quarantine zones. Fast forward to today and the fruit fly threat to California is back. Guest: Bodil Cass, Professor on Entomology, UC Riverside Faculty members at four California State University campuses are staging a series of single day strikes starting Monday. It comes after months of bargaining. Reporter: Juan Carlos Lara, KQED For the first time, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is returning land to an indigenous tribe. The Fort Independence Indian Community will get back 40 acres of sacred land in Inyo County. Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merced County has the highest rate of homicide in the state. It’s also severely lacking deputies. Sheriff Vernon Warnke says the shortage is so bad, he's disassembling units, like for gang enforcement, just to cover everyday patrol. Reporter: Elizabeth Arakelian, KVPR The housing crisis in California can be felt in all parts of the state. That includes at colleges and universities, where more and more students are struggling to find on campus housing. At Cal Poly Humboldt, some students have turned to sleeping in their cars. And now they're being fined for doing so. Guest: Jillian Wells, Reporter, The Lumberjack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom is not running for president, but for some reason, Thursday night in Georgia, he will face off in a debate with a man who is in the 2024 race: Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. What do both have to gain from the debate? Guest: Marisa Lagos, KQED The California Public Utilities Commission will vote Thursday on whether to settle their enforcement against PG&E for the utility’s involvement in the 2021 Dixie Fire. Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED More than 3,000 California pharmacies have stopped flavoring medication as of this month. That leaves just 50 statewide that will add flavors like bubble gum or strawberry to make it easier for some children to take medicine. Reporter: Shreya Agrawal, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is still hope that Madera Community Hospital will reopen. It shut down and filed for bankruptcy a year ago, leaving patients with virtually no other options. Earlier this month, a deal to save the facility fell through. But two more suitors are eyeing the hospital. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR In the Bay Area, a unique childbirth education program for and by Black people is improving birth outcomes and patient experiences. That’s why the agency that oversees Medi-Cal is looking into how it can bring this program to other public hospitals in California. Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imperial Valley residents are hoping to get their cut of the profit from the future lithium industry. For them that means well paid and sustainable jobs. Reporter: Philip Salata, inewsource Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In one of the many low income rural communities struck by flooding earlier this year, residents and local officials are still wrangling over how to spend recovery money. At issue is $20 million in state funds for the Central Valley town of Planada. Reporter: Nicole Foy, CalMatters A few hundred hospice nurses, chaplains and grief counselors met in Los Angeles this month at the End Well gathering. Think of it as the TEDx conference for end of life issues. But this year, the organizers invited actors writers and producers from Hollywood to attend, too. Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the start of holiday season, and for some that means getting together with family or loved ones and sharing a nice meal together. But for many, the holidays can amplify feelings of loneliness. The COVID 19 pandemic has changed how we interact with each other and experience events, making this time even more challenging and feelings of loneliness more common. Guest: Kory Floyd, Professor of Interpersonal Communication, University of Arizona and the author of The Loneliness Cure Growing numbers of asylum seekers are arriving in San Diego County. And government resources are not keeping up. Reporter: Katie Hyson, KPBS California K-12 students will soon be taught how to recognize fake news. That’s because of a new law that requires schools to teach media literacy skills starting in 2024. Reporter: Carolyn Jones, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The history of Native Americans fighting for their land is as old as attempts to take it. But efforts to reclaim ancestral lands have become more visible in recent years. In California more than a dozen efforts have already succeeded. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While many Americans feel like the COVID pandemic is in the past, countless others are still feeling symptoms months or years after they were infected. They're suffering from Long COVID. One such person is Bay Area writer and author Mary Ladd, who recruited more than 40 people from across the country to share essays and poetry in The Long COVID Reader, released earlier this month. Guests: Mary Ladd and Lisa Carpentier, The Long COVID Reader Construction on the Pajaro River levee that breached and flooded hundreds of homes in March will begin next summer. The upgrades will cost more than $500 million. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A highly anticipated — and controversial — new program, championed by Governor Gavin Newsom, will begin in LA County on December 1. CARE Court will allow family members to ask a judge to step in with a treatment plan for loved ones living with severe and untreated mental illness. Reporter: Robert Garrova, LAist A surprise inspection by a federal watchdog agency has found more than half of immigrants in border facilities in the San Diego area were detained for longer than the standard three-day limit. When the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general made unannounced visits to five San Diego locations in May, investigators found hundreds of migrants had been locked up for far longer, including a few held over a month. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the first morning since a stretch of the I-10 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles reopened. The freeway was damaged by a fire and had been completely shut down in both directions for just over a week. It was originally thought that repairs might take months. Guest: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report The state Democratic Party convention this weekend in Sacramento was derailed by protesters demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza. The demonstrations reveal a rift in the party heading into 2024 races. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Thousands of pediatric RSV shots are being shipped nationwide, including here in California. But some health experts say it's too little, too late. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, Los Angeles County ended its money bail system for many crimes. Now, most people who are arrested in the county for what’s classified as non-violent, non-serious misdemeanors and felonies -- which includes most thefts and vehicle violations -- can be released quickly and without paying a single cent of bail. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report State energy regulators have approved a plan that allows Pacific Gas and Electric to raise rates on its customers. That revenue is supposed to help the utility pay for burying power lines to prevent wildfires and for investments in clean energy. Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s largest utility wants to bury thousands of miles of power lines to prevent them from causing wildfires. That’s after Pacific Gas and Electric’s equipment caused the Camp Fire that killed 85 people in the community of Paradise. But state regulators – who will vote on PG&E’s proposal on Thursday – say that will send rates through the roof for the company’s customers. Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED This week, leaders from around the world are meeting in San Francisco for the APEC conference. The gathering has also been a magnet for protesters. Nearly a thousand climate activists attempted to prevent attendees from entering the APEC conference on Wednesday. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Nearly 50 maternity wards in California have shut down in the last decade. That means some Californians have to drive hours to give birth at a hospital. Reporter: Ana Ibarra, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom will make it easier for low-income teens to access mental health treatment. But some parents are protesting, saying it infringes on their rights as parents. Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED California’s local governments are thinking about staffing up for climate change related challenges. A new report from the nonpartisan group Next 10 tried to gauge how ready the state’s local governments are when it comes to dealing with a warming planet. Reporter: Erik Anderson, KPBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Officials say it was arson that caused an enormous fire that damaged a stretch of the I-10 Freeway near downtown L.A., shutting it down to traffic. The closure has made L.A.’s already terrible congestion even worse for commuters across much of the city. State transportation officials say they're working around the clock to speed the reopening of the 10 Freeway. But they acknowledge they face a difficult challenge and have no idea when the repairs will be finished. Reporter: Frank Stoltze, LAist The closure of the 10 Freeway is not only affecting people who drive to work each day. It’s also affecting some parents who drop off their kids at school, and teachers and staff at these schools. Reporter: Mariana Dale, LAist CalFire is downsizing its seasonal staff in the northern part of the Bay Area, following the end of fire season. The North Bay has been the site of some of the region's most devastating wildfires. Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did the state’s unemployment insurance program get conned out of billions of dollars by scammers, all while millions of Californians who had lost their jobs were stuck waiting for money they badly needed? A year-long CalMatters investigation finds that the state was primed for disaster by years of missed red flags and failed reforms. Guest: Lauren Helper, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration promises a “worker-centered” trade policy that delivers shared prosperity for all Americans. But as San Francisco gets ready to host this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, labor advocates say worker interests are not sufficiently represented at the talks. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Scammers have been stealing millions of dollars a month from low-income Californians’ EBT cards. Yet the state still hasn’t put in needed protections to keep those cards secure. Reporter: Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of picketing, SAG-AFTRA has reached a tentative deal to end the strike with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In a letter to its members, the union said the new contract is valued at a billion dollars, and that the approval vote was unanimous. Guest: Robert Garrova, Reporter LAist Autonomous taxi operator Cruise says it's identified a software glitch that led one of its cars to drag a pedestrian in a downtown San Francisco crash. The company has now issued a safety recall. Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED The owner of a Bay Area farm and its parent company are facing felony charges in the death of a farmworker. Reporter: Nina Thorsen, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wednesday marks exactly five years since the Camp Fire killed 85 people and leveled Paradise. Three years ago, PG&E created the Fire Victim Trust to pay out settlements to fire survivors. But some say they’ve lost hope they’ll ever get their full payments. Reporter: Jamie Jiang, North State Public Radio A federal criminal trial is beginning Thursday for David DePape, the Bay Area man facing life in prison for attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, and attempting to kidnap former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco last year. Reporter: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, KQED Jewish members of the California Legislature are calling for public universities in California to take immediate action to protect Jewish students. The letter is signed by the 18 members of the Jewish Legislative Caucus and cites recent anti-semitic incidents, including physical abuse and threats against Jewish students. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The city of Sacramento is among the many communities in California struggling to find answers for its growing homeless population. A shelter in the city serves hundreds of men and women, but is struggling to connect them with permanent housing. Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio Governor Gavin Newsom's prominent role in national politics could be costing him support in California. According to a new poll, Newsom's overall approval rating -- just 44%, is the lowest mark of his governorship. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earth’s hottest summer ever recorded is behind us. Now, California is headed into another potentially drenching winter… while some communities are still recovering from last year’s winter storms. As climate change makes extreme weather more common, one group of Californians is living on the frontlines: those experiencing homelessness. Vanessa Rancaño/KQED News Thousands of protestors rallied in San Francisco on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The rally was the biggest so far in the Bay Area since the war began on October 7th, and was held in conjunction with similar demonstrations across the US. Juan Carlos/KQED News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent years, indigenous Land Back movements have been gaining momentum across the country. However, the effort to make reparations for the past can come with a lot of strings attached. To understand the complicated reality of landback actions today, we head to an island near the town of Eureka in Humboldt County, where a landback movement succeeded far ahead of its time. Izzy Bloom/TCR A recent survey from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies shows who's one step closer to representing the Golden State in the U-S Senate, and whose chances are slim. Guy Marzorati/KQED News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California's Sierra Nevada had record-breaking snow levels earlier this year. The extreme weather created big problems for one endangered animal. Jill Replogle/LAist State Utility regulators will vote on a proposal that advocates say discriminates against schools, farms and apartment buildings. If approved, these multi-meter properties will be forced to sell the energy they produce to utilities... and then buy it back at a higher rate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The end of this year will mark the end of California’s historic program to pay reparations to survivors of state sponsored sterilization. There are an estimated 600 living survivors. But 70% of the applications for reparations that have been received, have been rejected. Guest: Cayla Mihalovich, Reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism In Fresno, the union representing teachers and the public school district have reached a deal for a new contract. That averts a strike that was scheduled to begin on Wednesday. Reporter: Rachel Livinal, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A growing number of California students are choosing to commute to college in Tijuana. They’re drawn by cheaper tuition and other advantages. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS As California moves away from fossil fuel energy sources, officials are looking for ways to ease stress on the state’s electrical grid. Attention is now turning to systems powering swimming pools. Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel is proving an especially tough time for Jewish progressives in California. While thousands of Californians take to the streets to support Palestine, many in the Jewish community say they feel abandoned. Reporter: Leslie Berestein Rojas, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Halloween is coming up. For many people it’s just one evening of trick or treating and frightening fun. But in one LA County neighborhood ,there’s a two-block stretch known as “horror row.” It draws people looking to keep things spine-tingling year round. Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW As Fresno Unified teachers prepare to strike next week, they have support from an unlikely source - substitute teachers who are supposed to take their place. The union representing Fresno area substitute teachers voted not to cross the picket line. Reporter: Rachel Livinal, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Council of American-Islamic Relations is warning its Bay Area members to be alert, after hearing reports that the FBI is targeting Palestinians elsewhere in the country for questioning Reporter: Christopher Alam, KQED A small rural town in Riverside County faces an unexpected danger -packs of aggressive stray dogs. In recent months, the dogs have killed dozens of livestock and terrorized many residents. Authorities say illegal marijuana farms are to blame. Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR In Los Angeles, attorneys have finished opening statements in the trial for the captain of the Conception. That's the diving boat that caught fire four years ago while anchored off the coast south of Santa Barbara, killing 34 people on board. Reporter: Julia Paskin, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended permits that allowed robo-taxi company Cruise to operate in San Francisco. That comes after an incident earlier this month, in which one of the company's fully driverless vehicles hit and dragged a pedestrian. Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED Teachers from the Fresno Unified School District, California’s third largest public school system, have voted to strike. It’s the first strike authorization by Fresno Unified teachers in more than 40 years. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR When Los Angeles-area landlords want to evict their tenants, they often hire attorney Dennis Block. Block’s law firm and has boasted about evicting more tenants than anyone else on earth. But a new investigation has found that a judge ruled that Block’s firm recently submitted fake cases in court and artificial intelligence might play a role. Reporter: David Wagner, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom authorized $30 million in new spending to increase security and police protection at mosques, synagogues, and other houses of worship. It's an example of how war in the Middle East has increased fears about safety within California's Jewish and Muslim communities. Guest: Dr. Alex Lechtman, President of the Board at Congregation B'nai David in Visalia More than two dozen Stanford students are on the fourth day of a sit-in to demand university support for Palestinians. Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED Have you ever wondered just how many mountain lions live in California? Well researchers have an estimate. Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Water is the lifeblood of agriculture But as climate change brings more extreme weather, farming towns in the Central Valley face increasing risks from both drought and flooding. But an innovative solution is scaling up with new state investments. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED About 30% of Head Start programs in California aren’t within easy walking distance to a transit stop for families with young children. That’s a problem, according to a new report, because access to transit is one of the biggest barriers for families who qualify for the federal early education program. Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been nearly two weeks since Hamas militants abducted nearly 200 people from Israel. Many foreign nationals, including at least 13 Americans, are among the hostages. Here in California, families of the hostages and supporters will be at the state Capitol early next week to demand the release of their loved ones. Guest: Ryan Pessah, Sacramento Resident, Family Abducted by Hamas California's U.S. Senate race took another surprise turn Thursday, as Senator Laphonza Butler says she will not run for a full-term next year. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED California invested billions to help children bounce back from learning loss that happened during the pandemic. But students are still struggling to catch up. That’s according to new test scores out from the state’s Department of Education. Reporter: Carolyn Jones, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A fast growing humanitarian crisis has erupted in Gaza because of the war between Hamas and Israel. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the war began last week. Conflict in this region has been going on for decades, causing many Palestinians to relocate or seek political asylum in other parts of the world, including here in California. Reporter: Madi Bolaños, The California Report Rampant disinformation about the Israeli/Hamas conflict has the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation calling on social media companies to do better. Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In more than a dozen California counties, a little-known rule in the Clean Air Act has forgiven air pollution – not from the sky, but from the record. After wildfires flourished across North America this year, more U.S. states east of the Mississippi may use this exceptional events rule to subtract smoke from the record, if not from the air we breathe. But these exceptional events are no longer exceptional, and the requests to obscure them from air-quality records are more common. Reporter: Molly Peterson, The California Newsroom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of migrant families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration, will now get some benefits and a shot at asylum under a proposed settlement with the federal government. The agreement lets reunified families stay in the U.S. for three years and apply for permanent protection. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED It's clear that artificial intelligence is here to stay. For colleges, this means figuring out how to regulate the use of it, while still encouraging students to engage with the software that will only grow in popularity. Guest: Carolyn Jones, Education Reporter, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices