The Bay

This March, the politics of crime in San Francisco can be found up and down the ballot, from judicial races to local ballot measures. KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez joins us to unpack Proposition E, a measure put forward by Mayor London Breed that would expand the power of the San Francisco Police Department. Links: KQED Voter Guide: Proposition E Subscribe to KQED's Political Breakdown newsletter 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

Queer Palestinian artists in the Bay are calling for a ceasefire as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza. Some say that the conflict has forced them to “come out as Palestinian” to the Bay Area LGBTQ+ community. KQED’s Nisa Khan talks to us about how Palestinian artists are pushing San Francisco’s queer community to stand up for Palestine. Links: Episode Transcript ‘This Is Resistance’: Queer Palestinian Artists and Activists in the Bay Area Are Speaking Out 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

As we head into the 2024 election, voters will have to navigate a slew of disinformation created by AI, like deep fakes and robocalls. In this episode of KQED’s Political Breakdown, Scott Shafer speaks to Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause, to discuss the threats AI could pose to our election process and efforts to regulate it in California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The people who regulate air quality in the Bay Area say they’ve scored a “decisive victory” in a legal fight with Big Oil. On Tuesday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced that Chevron, which runs a 120-year-old refinery in Richmond, and the Martinez Refining Company have dropped lawsuits against a rule that will require them to drastically cut air pollution from their facilities. Links: Bay Air District Hails 'Decisive Victory' in Battle to Cut Refinery Pollution 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

This Valentine’s Day, KQED community engagement reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli joins us to talk about growing up in San Francisco’s Mission District — and one particular mural that he loves and remembers dearly. Episode Transcript This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Alan Montecillo and Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California primary is coming up, and ballots have been sent out! Today, our friends at Bay Curious break down Proposition 1. Prop. 1 asks two big questions: Should mental health funding be used for housing? And should California borrow money to build more housing and treatment facilities? Links: Episode transcript KQED Voter Guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco 49ers are back in the Super Bowl, and fans are chomping at the bit for the team to bring home its first championship since 1994. They’ll be facing the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated them in the Super Bowl 4 years ago. David Lombardi with The Athletic breaks down why the Niners have a great chance of winning it all this time. Episode transcript This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Dana Cronin, and guest hosted by Alan Montecillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A huge storm system hit the Bay Area this past weekend, leaving many across the nine counties without power. At its peak, an estimated 1.5 million customers were without electricity statewide, marking the third-largest single-day outage in PG&E’s history. KQED’s Dan Brekke tells us why this storm was so bad, what about our infrastructure is lacking, and how we can be better prepared for more storms like this one going forward. Episode transcript This episode was produced by Dana Cronin and Alan Montecillo, with production help from Ellie Prickett-Morgan. It was guest hosted by Alan Montecillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're making an episode about the fallout from this weekend's storms. Have you been affected? If so, consider leaving us a voicemail at 415-710-9223, and we may play it on Wednesday's show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biannual “point in time” count of unhoused residents is imperfect but an important part of tracking the homelessness crisis in cities across the country. KQED’s Sydney Johnson joined city workers as they drove around one San Francisco neighborhood to count the number of people living on the streets. 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

From 2012-2019, Oakland’s Operation Ceasefire has been credited with helping the city reduce homicides by nearly half. At its height, it targeted the handful of individuals responsible for the bulk of gun violence and offered services. But a recent audit requested by Mayor Sheng Thao revealed several factors that led to the breakdown of the program. Now, she wants to revive it. 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

In this edition of The Bay’s monthly news roundup, Ericka, Maria and Alan discuss how mass layoffs at the LA Times have brought renewed attention to a California bill that would force tech companies to pay news outlets, San Mateo County’s vote to make it a crime to camp in certain areas when shelter beds are available, and a former prosecutor under Chesa Boudin who’s decided to enter the race for San Francisco District Attorney. Plus, we introduce our new intern! Links: Episode Transcript As layoffs batter L.A. Times, California lawmaker renews push to force Google, Facebook to pay for news S.F. D.A. Brooke Jenkins fired him. Now he’s running against her San Mateo County Supes Vote to Criminalize Camping in Unincorporated Areas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This March, Californians will be voting in a competitive Senate race. The top two finishers will advance to a run-off in November, regardless of party affiliation. KQED’s Marisa Lagos tells us about the stakes of this race, and we discuss four of the candidates: Democrats Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee, and Republican Steve Garvey. 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

A year ago this Tuesday, a gunman entered two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay and killed 7 farmworkers — all of them Chinese and Latino immigrants. The shooting brought attention to the living and working conditions of farmworkers in Half Moon Bay and across the state. State and local officials promised to do something about it. So, what’s changed? 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

Despite California’s reputation as a sanctuary state for abortion rights, it is also home to hundreds of “crisis pregnancy centers” located directly next to abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood. These centers are designed to look like community health clinics, but most of them don’t have a medical license. And they have an explicit goal: to persuade people not to have an abortion. This episode originally aired on Feb. 17, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robotaxis had their Icarus moment in 2023, writes Joshua Bote, tech reporter for The San Francisco Standard. After Cruise’s rise and fall in San Francisco, what's ahead for the robotaxi industry? 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

California Forever, the billionaire-funded company behind the controversial plan to build a new city from scratch in Solano County, has released language for a ballot measure they hope to bring before voters. KQED’s Erin Baldassari tells us what’s in the plan, and how residents are feeling about it. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and Alan Montecillo, and was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: Transcript 'Not Just a Crazy Idea': California Forever Releases Ballot Details for New Bay Area City Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode discusses suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. After decades of advocacy, a stainless steel safety net underneath the Golden Gate Bridge is nearly finished. Officials and loved ones affected by suicide hope it will save lives by deterring people from jumping. Episode Transcript 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

Today, we’re sharing an episode from our colleagues at KQED's Rightnowish. Host Pendarvis Harshaw talks to Oakland filmmaker, organizer and MC, Boots Riley. They talk about his latest T.V show, I’m a Virgo, participating in the Writers Guild of America Strike, and the ways he believes the media has failed in its coverage of violence in Oakland. This episode originally aired on Jan.4, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza in an 8-3 vote, making it the largest city in the country to do so. San Francisco trails other cities in the Bay Area like Richmond and Oakland who’ve passed similar resolutions meant to put pressure on Israel and the Biden administration. Episode Transcript This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Maria Esquinca, and Alan Montecillo and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its founding in 1969, People’s Park has been a symbol of Berkeley’s radical history of protest, resistance and mutual aid. But after years of efforts by UC Berkeley to build on the land, the university is getting closer and closer to taking back control. KQED's Vanessa Rancaño breaks it down. Transcript Links: A Brief History of the Never-Ending Battle for People’s Park Berkeley Locals Lament the Closure of People’s Park as Shipping Container Barricades Go Up This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Additional reporting by Adhiti Bandlamudi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recall effort to remove Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price from office is well underway, but when voters will actually be asked this question is still up in the air. A lot needs to happen before we get to that point, including one consequential decision voters will have to make in March that will have a big impact on how recalls work in Alameda County. This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, who is also the host. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Foggy days are a fact of life in the Bay Area, but climate change could lead to fewer of them in the coming years. While that might be welcome news to some, the truth is fog is an important weather phenomenon for all kinds of reasons. In this episode of Bay Curious, KQED reporter Dana Cronin demystifies the mist and finds out what we might expect for the future of fog. Episode Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time flies, time is money, time waits for no one. We are so conditioned to obsess over time, how we use it, and getting the most out of it – or else, we feel guilty. In this episode of KQED’s Forum, co-hosts Becca Rashid and Ian Bogost of the Atlantic’s ‘How to Keep Time’ talk with Grace Won about optimizing “free” time, and why we struggle to comfortably do nothing. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay team is sharing each of their favorite episodes of 2023. This episode, picked by editor Alan Montecillo, first published on June 28. In it, we hear from Gwenn Craig, a queer elder who reflects on the transformation — and corporatization — of San Francisco Pride, and why it still matters now more than ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay team is sharing each of their favorite episodes of 2023. This episode, picked by producer Maria Esquinca, was first published on Nov. 15. In it, KQED reporter and producer Blanca Torres talks about a nonprofit that organized accordion classes to help farm workers affected by the Half Moon Bay shooting heal from their trauma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay team is sharing each of their favorite episodes of 2023. This episode, picked by host Ericka Cruz Guevarra, was first published on June 12. In it, The Bay team visits a pickleball court in Oakland’s Bushrod Park, where the sport has grown in part because of its intergenerational draw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sandy Stier and Kris Perry were plaintiffs in a landmark case challenging California’s Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in 2008. Their trial went all the way to the Supreme Court, and would eventually restore marriage equality to California. This year, KQED invited Stier and Perry to watch unsealed tapes from the trial of their younger selves taking the stand for marriage equality, and to reflect on what it meant to be part of that fight all these years later. Episode Transcript Links: Inside the Trial That Overturned California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Adhiti Bandlamudi, and Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nestled in the Berkeley Hills, Indian and Mortar rocks are popular hangout spots known in part for epic views of the Bay. For climbers like Berkeleyside reporter Ally Markovich, they’re known for their outsized role in the development of bouldering. But for the native Ohlone, the boulders are a symbol of a destroyed cultural landscape, and an urgent call to protect native history. Links: Transcript Part I: The stories Indian and Mortar rocks can tell us Part II: How Berkeley’s famous boulders took rock climbing to new heights This episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Maria Esquinca, and Adhiti Bandlamudi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two very Bay Area crises – sea level rise and the housing crisis – are colliding in the East Bay city of Newark, where the city will consider plans to build housing on one of the few remnants of the Bay’s vast marshland. It’s a fight for the marshes’ future, which environmentalists say should be maintained as natural flood protection. Links: Bay Area Housing Project Raises Concerns About Sea-Level Rise 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

Despite the many languages spoken in the Bay Area, Alameda and Solano Counties only send out emergency alerts in English, leaving at least one in ten Bay Area residents at risk of missing life-saving information in the face of disaster. El Timpano senior reporter Jasmine Aguilera explains why that is, and which counties are succeeding in disseminating critical information to everyone. Links: ALERT: This is an emergency — but for English speakers only The Tiny Radio Station Relaying Critical Kincade Fire Information in Indigenous Languages Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our beautiful state is in danger. Human-caused climate change has dramatically increased the risk of destructive wildfires — and now we anticipate them every year. So how do we process the grief of what we’re losing? And how can we use that pain as fuel to make change? Links: Grieving California Good Grief Network This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. The interview was conducted by Erin Baldassari. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patti Poppe started a new job as CEO of PG&E in 2021, after the company emerged from bankruptcy for the second time in two decades. She sat down with KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer of the Political Breakdown podcast to discuss the future of the utility. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California State University system is the largest public university system in the nation. This week, faculty at four campuses — Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State, Cal State Los Angeles, and Sacramento State — launched a series of 1-day strikes. KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara takes us to Tuesday’s strike at SF State, where faculty and staff say they’re fed up with working conditions, low pay, and looming job cuts. Episode transcript This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooklyn Basin is poised to become Oakland’s largest housing project, promising 3,700 new homes on the site of a former shipping dock. In a state where building just about anything can be a challenge, how did this one finally get off the ground? Links: Episode transcript Oakland's Largest Housing Project Aims to Build 3,700 Homes On-Site 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

California Forever, the group of Silicon Valley investors and billionaires who want to build a new city from scratch in Solano County, are on something of a public relations campaign. The group held its first town hall meeting in Vallejo on Wednesday night. And it will be the first of many — because if they really want to build a new city on the county’s outskirts, they’ll need to win over the hearts and minds of voters first. Links: Episode transcript LISTEN: The Silicon Valley Giants Who Want to Build a New City in Solano County 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

San Francisco has banned street vending on Mission Street for 90 days, citing concerns about crime and sales of stolen goods. It’s the latest in a long saga around public safety in the neighborhood. KQED’s Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman explains how we got here and what this means for vendors. Links: Episode transcript KQED: SF’s Mission Street Ban Begins KQED: On First Day of Mission Street Vending Ban, Vendors Implore City to Reconsider 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

In this edition of The Bay's monthly news roundup (our last one of the year!), Ericka, Maria and Alan talk about how public transit agencies have temporarily averted a fiscal cliff, a proposal to increase the minimum wage for incarcerated workers, and the newly unveiled Tupac Shakur Way in Oakland. Links: Episode transcript In Transit: Bay Area Transportation News on Everything That Moves KQED: California Prison Officials Aim to Raise Hourly Minimum Wage for Incarcerated Workers — to at Least 16 Cents KQED: 'Tupac Shakur Way' Unveiled in Oakland as Rap Icon Gets His Own Street This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Alan Montecillo and Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting in January, PG&E ratepayers can expect their monthly bills to increase by an average of about $30. The utility says the money will go toward important infrastructure projects, including work on power lines that will reduce the risk of wildfires. But is this the best way to pay for it? Links: PG&E Gets Green Light to Raise Rates for Wildfire Prevention Efforts Episode transcript This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and guest hosted by Alan Montecillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As an anxious, homeschooled kid, Mychal Threets found a haven in his local public library. Now he’s a librarian in Fairfield, and he’s recently become famous for talking about his passion for books and libraries on TikTok. In this episode we’re re-running from Rightnowish, host Pendarvis Harshaw and producer Marisol Medina-Cadena talk to Threets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year, Oakland returned 5 acres of Joaquin Miller Park to the Sogorea Te’ land trust and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, marking the first time a Bay Area city has given land back to Native Americans. Despite no significant opposition to this plan, the process took more than 5 years. So what does it actually take to give land back? This episode originally aired on Nov. 28, 2022. Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last summer, Ericka told a story live on stage at KQED, at an event hosted by the San Francisco chapter of the Asian American Journalists’ Association called “Hella Asian.” It’s a story about a camping trip she went on with her best friend during the pandemic. It’s also a story about the mental impact of the news, and her sense of safety as attacks on Asians were in the headlines. Today, we’re sharing that story again. This episode originally aired on Aug. 8, 2022. This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With thousands of people taking to the streets on either side of the issue of Israel’s siege of Gaza, how are the Bay Area’s representatives in Congress weighing their position on the issue? Links: Apply to be our intern! This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Guy Marzorati, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In January, a gunman killed 7 farmworkers at two mushroom farms in Half Moon Bay. Months later, one community group has been trying to use accordion classes as a way to help farmworkers heal from the trauma. Links: Apply to be our intern! 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

A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings -- from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and our families fed. In this episode of KQED’s Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, we head to a neighborhood in Oakland that is taking a revolutionary approach to reducing their emissions: by electrifying together, all at once. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next week, San Francisco is hosting its largest international event since 1945. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference — or APEC — is expected to bring tens of thousands of visitors and foreign dignitaries to the city. With lots to prove to its guests, including President Joe Biden, San Francisco has ramped up preparations that have already affected local residents. Links: Apply to be our intern! APEC 2023 San Francisco City Guide KQED: From Street Closures to Security Checks, What to Know About SF APEC 2023 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

As red states pass laws targeting transgender rights and LGBTQ-inclusive education, conservatives in the South Bay have formed their own strategy: focusing on local, nonpartisan school board races. Episode transcript 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

Foster City is home to one of the largest annual gatherings of Palestinians in the Bay Area. It’s also where Councilmember Sam Hindi holds office as the only current elected official of Palestinian heritage in the region. Today, we talk with Hindi about how the war in Gaza has affected him — as an elected official, as a father, and as a Palestinian-American. 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

California has lifted a decades-old ban on lowrider cruising. The state, widely understood as the birthplace of lowrider culture, has also historically been unfriendly to it. For decades, lowriding was blamed for traffic and alleged connections to gang violence. KQED’s Paloma Yaritza Abarca explains the years-long fight by community members to let their cars ride freely. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mayor London Breed and Gov. Gavin Newsom have announced a plan for San Francisco to charge some drug dealers with murder starting next year. Will it scare suppliers from selling in San Francisco, or deter people from seeking help? Episode transcript Apply to be our intern! 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