Kqeds The California Report

State utility regulators have approved a controversial proposal that will change how future owners of rooftop solar systems will be compensated for the excess power they produce that’s fed into the grid.  Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED After years of promising to do so, CalFire has released new, updated hazard maps to help Californians determine if they live in places that face increased wildfire risk. The interactive map was more than a decade in the making and comes after groups voiced criticism of CalFire, calling the department’s maps antiquated and “inexcusable.”   Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio Sea level rise poses a threat to California’s coastline. But we don’t often think about how rising water could push contaminants into neighborhoods, especially places near former military or industrial sites. Around half of those sites in California are located in the Bay Area.  Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED

Bakersfield is now home to the Central Valley’s first Holocaust Memorial. The tranquil garden is a monument against hate and rising anti-Semitism.  Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR  Study after study shows an alarming increase in hate crimes and racist incidents in California targeting a variety of groups, including Jews. Worries about rising anti-Semitism have gotten more attention recently after the bigoted comments of artist Kanye West who now goes by the name Ye. How is California's Jewish community reacting? Guest: Heidi Gantwork, President and CEO of the Jewish Foundation of San Diego The State Task Force studying reparations for Black residents with enslaved ancestors is meeting this week in Oakland. One item on the agenda? Discussing how reparations might help overcome negative stereotypes about Black families.  Reporter: Annelise Finney, KQED  

California’s desert lands have long been used for everything from mining to military training to rest and relaxation. Think Palm Springs. Now, the state’s deserts have a growing role in helping to create a green energy revolution. And that's sparked a backlash among some who argue that desert wilderness is being sacrificed for renewable power goals. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report The oil industry says it has enough signatures to get a measure on the state ballot to overturn California's recently enacted buffer zone law. It restricts new oil wells, keeping them away from homes and schools. Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED 

The recent sale of five leases off the coast of California for offshore wind turbine projects is seen as a victory for renewable energy advocates. But it’s also raising safety concerns about one of California’s treasures -- the whales that migrate off the coast every year. Reporter: Amanda Wernik, KCBX Most of the estimated 270, 000 janitors in California work in the private sector. A new study finds their median wages are well below what state law requires. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED With COVID-19 rates rising, California’s Director of Public Health is urging anyone over 50 years old to have a treatment plan in place in case they get infected. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadio California’s COVID sick pay law offers up to 2 weeks of paid leave for reasons related to COVID – but it’s expiring at the end of this month. Reporter: Carly Severn, KQED

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management just sold five leases for wind turbine projects off the coast of California. Three are located in Morro Bay off the Central Coast. Now, local indigenous tribes are speaking up about the projects.  Reporter: Gabriela Fernandez, KCBX Every year in the three weeks around Thanksgiving, the official count of monarch butterflies takes place. Over the last few decades, the monarch butterfly population has been in decline. But this year, volunteers counted 129,000 butterflies in San Luis Obispo County alone. Reporter: Madi Bolaños, The California Report 

A Bay Area member of Congress says federal immigration authorities plan to end their contract with a Northern California county jail, the last public facility in the state to hold immigrants fighting deportation. It comes after years of outcry over substandard conditions. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED A tiny local election in the Central Valley could have big ripple effects for farming, and water. The Westlands Water District produces crops like tomatoes, garlic, and almonds – and it’s historically fought with environmentalists, who accuse the wealthy farmers there of hogging water. Westlands has just elected a slate of board members promising a new strategy - a recognition that large-scale farming will have to shrink. Reporter: Dan Charles in collaboration with the Food and Environment Reporting Network

A new bill introduced this week would make it illegal for unhoused residents in California to sit or sleep in certain public spaces. The proposal is already drawing ire from advocates, who say it does little to solve homelessness.  Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED   California is home to the largest population of Cambodians in the U.S.. Most Cambodians who first arrived in the country came as refugees in the 1980s. They were fleeing the communist Khmer Rouge regime where an estimated two million Cambodians were killed through starvation, torture, executions and much more. 40 years later, Cambodians in California are still grappling with mental health issues caused by this genocide.  Guest: Soreath Hok, Reporter, KVPR   The Interior Department finalized the sale of offshore wind leases along California’s coast on Wednesday. Combined bids totaled more than $750 million.  Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED 

If you've ever thought twice about jaywalking because of fear getting a ticket that will soon change. Starting on January 1, California's "Freedom to Walk Act" becomes law. It will prohibit police from writing jaywalking tickets, unless people are caught trying to cross the street in clearly dangerous traffic conditions. Guest: John Yi, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks State Senator Scott Wiener is yet again introducing a bill to make it easier to build affordable housing on land owned by religious groups and nonprofit colleges. This is his third attempt in getting similar legislation passed. Reporter: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED

Sky-high gas prices this year prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to propose a new law limiting how much oil companies can charge at the pump. Newsom’s proposal would put a cap on how much companies can charge for a gallon of gas and penalize those that charge more. But it doesn’t include specific profit ceilings yet.  Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadio  Popular countertops made from synthetic stone are making the people who cut and process them sick. Some of these workers – most of whom are immigrants – are dying. The problem is particularly bad in Los Angeles. Reporter: Leslie Berestein Rojas, KPCC in collaboration with Public Health Watch

Oil companies spent big in California’s election this year and for good reason: Governor Gavin Newsom is calling on lawmakers to take action to drive down gas prices in a state where drivers pay far more than anywhere else.  Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED  California is seeing a surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. But there is some good news. California’s top health official says more people are picking up the pace when it comes to getting the updated COVID booster.  Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadio  Moderate weather and well-timed rainstorms helped ensure a mild 2022 fire season in California. But officials remain cautious, even into December. Reporter: Julie Cart, CalMatters

A new report out this week says a data breach at the California Department of Justice last summer was the result of poor training and a lack of professional rigor at the agency. The leak included the personal information of hundreds of thousands of concealed carry firearm license applicants. Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMatters Award-winning poet Deborah Miranda, an enrolled member of the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, is the author of "Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir." The book explores the history of Central Coast tribes through the records of her ancestors, including wax-cylinder recordings dating back more than a century. Reporter: Sasha Khokha, KQED

The University of California has reached a tentative agreement with postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers to increase their pay and other benefits. Those UC workers are staying on the picket lines in solidarity with their United Auto Worker union members who still have not reached a deal. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, KQED Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, held her annual year-end media briefing yesterday. Cantil-Sakauye used her final media conversation before she leaves the court at the end of December to urge California to address the so-called “justice gap,” the lack of financial resources to help lower-income people address their legal needs. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Nearly two-thirds of California voters upheld a ban on flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, in November. Tobacco companies are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stop California from enforcing the ban. Reporter: Tara Siler, KQED

Postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers in the University of California system have reached a tentative five-year deal. But the strike continues, as two groups — graduate student researchers and academic student employees — still have not come to an agreement. New reporting from CalMatters finds that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo enrolls the smallest percentage of Black undergraduates at any CSU or UC school. Just 146 Black students enrolled this fall out of 21,000 undergraduates. Students describe experiencing overt racism. Reporter: Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters

In late September, passenger rail service from San Diego to places north of San Clemente halted. An unstable slope above the track in San Clemente posed the threat of a landslide. Bluff stabilization is ongoing, but rail service is expected to resume next month. Reporter: Thomas Fudge, KPBS After wildfire season ends in the Western U.S., those who lost their homes begin sifting through what’s left to recover as much as they can. After the McKinney Fire this past summer, a team of trained dogs and archeologists helped recover cremated remains left in urns that were lost in the fire. Reporter: Roman Battaglia, Jefferson Public Radio

During labor disputes, employers sometimes freeze health insurance benefits for workers. But a law to take effect next summer will provide striking private-sector workers with fully subsidized coverage. Reporter: Stephanie O’Neill, Kaiser Health News New reporting shows that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation moves prisoners with serious mental illnesses three times more often than other prisoners. Reporter: Byrhonda Lyons, CalMatters The California Fish and Game Commission has struggled to decide whether to list the western Joshua tree as an endangered species. If it is listed, it would be the first species to earn protection in the state because of climate change. Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW

Just like animals, the world’s trees, flowers, grasses and succulents are under threat, especially as our world heats up because of climate change. About a third of California’s native plant species and populations are now endangered or threatened by development, drought, competition from invasive species and of course wildfires. In California, botanists are trying to protect the state’s native flora for future generations. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, KQED

For more than 20 years, the African American Theater Arts Troupe at UC Santa Cruz has provides a sense of community for Black students on campus while also celebrating Black playwrights. Often, it’s the first time Black students see plays that explore life experiences they can relate to. Reporter: Doug McKnight, KAZU If you look out west from San Francisco, when the fog clears and the light is just right, you might be able to see a cluster of islands jutting out of the ocean, like sharp, misshapen teeth. The Farallon Islands, 27 miles west of San Francisco, are a national wildlife refuge, and home to the largest seabird breeding colony in the contiguous United States. The islands — and the waters around them — are also brimming with a variety of wildlife, including thousands of seals and sea lions, gray and humpback whales, sharks and even orcas. Reporter: Izzy Bloom, KQED

As Thanksgiving approaches, food pantries across the state are seeing an increase in need. Some students face a difficult choice: eating or education. A recent state law requires college campuses to direct students to CalFresh and other benefits. Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR For the second time this year, state officials are delaying the start of commercial Dungeness crab fishing, after several humpback whales were spotted off California's coast. The delay will allow time for the whales to migrate south. Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED Millions of Californians will sit down to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. And all of that food preparation will create a lot of potential food waste, from turkey bones to vegetable peelings. But the gases that are released from food waste that's trucked to landfills are a big contributor to climate change. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, KQED

Scientists at Stanford are starting a new medical trial to test if the drug Paxlovid can ease the symptoms of long COVID, like brain fog, shortness of breath and body aches. It's the first medical trial in the U.S. involving an antiviral to treat long COVID. Reporter: Madi Bolaños, KQED Governor Gavin Newsom is releasing a billion dollars in funding to fight homelessness. That comes just two weeks after he put a halt on the funds and scolded cities and counties for not having ambitious plans to solve homelessness. Cities must submit their next proposal to the state by next Tuesday to access more funding. Reporter: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED California's last remaining nuclear power plant just received more than a billion dollars in conditional funding to keep it up and running for five extra years. Local supporters of the plant’s continued operation celebrated the news for helping keep the plant’s carbon-free energy on the grid, as the state faces an ongoing energy crisis. Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KCBX

Last night, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club hosted a vigil to honor the victims of the shooting in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. The vigil took place at Harvey Milk Plaza, one week before the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. A recent investigation from CapRadio and the California Newsroom revealed the U.S. Forest Service predicted that a wildfire could wipe out the town of Grizzly Flats. But the agency failed to deliver on plans to protect the rural Northern California town.  Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio California is one of the nation’s most linguistically diverse states. An estimated 3.4 million workers don’t speak English well, or at all. Many of them work low-wage, high-risk jobs. But the state agency tasked with protecting workers’ health and safety, is woefully understaffed in terms of bilingual inspectors. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED