Kqeds The California Report

As coronavirus cases continue to soar across Los Angeles County, and the rest of the state, more employers are poised to require workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Pasadena is about to become the first city in Southern California to demand that all of its municipal employees do so. Guest: Steven Mermell, Pasadena City Manager Last month, California unveiled an online portal that would allow residents to gain access to a digital vaccine verification record. But millions who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 have had issues getting all their information included in their digital record. Guest: Darion Afshar-Gomez, business intelligence analyst with the San Jose Sharks

Crews continue to face challenging conditions in battling large wildfires across Northern California. Thunderstorms and wind are being replaced by dry, hot weather this week as crews continue to battle the Dixie and Tamarack fires. Critics of Governor Gavin Newsom say his COVID-19 restrictions were unfair and damaging to small businesses -- thousands of which permanently closed during the pandemic. Now they're using that argument to drum up support for the recall of Newsom. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED  Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore says he will review body cam footage after an officer shot a protester at close range with a non-lethal round Saturday. This occurred at a protest over transgender rights outside a spa in Koreatown. Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC California has approved a $500 million first of its kind fund to prevent real estate profiteering and to help families, land trusts and nonprofits purchase foreclosed properties. This comes following a KQED investigation into real e

A significant rise in coronavirus cases over the past few weeks has led to health officials in Los Angeles County to reinstate a mask mandate in indoor settings. The requirement went into effect over the weekend. Guest: Dr. Bob Wachter, Chair of U.C. San Francisco’s Department of Medicine  As the Tokyo Olympics get underway this week, at least three athletes have already tested positive for the coronavirus at the Olympic Village. Athletes are facing strict health guidelines as they prepare for the Summmer Games. Guest: Brian Burrows, Member of the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team PG&E says its infrastructure may have contributed to the start of the Dixie Fire, which has burned more than 30,000 acres near the site of the deadly 2018 Camp Fire. Guest: Dan Brekke, KQED California’s top election official has released the list of candidates who filed to run for governor in the September recall election. They're looking to replace Governor Gavin Newsom, should voters decide to recall him. Guest: Scott Shafer, KQED

David Smith grew up in Southern California and will be competing in his third Olympics for the U.S. Men's Indoor Volleyball team. He won a bronze medal with the team in 2016. Guest: David Smith, Member of the U.S. Men's Indoor Volleyball Team When it comes to average temperature increases due to climate change, the Bay Area and Los Angeles will not experience warming equal to the amount of greenhouse gases they produce. That’s according to a new study out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED

As thousands of firefighters confront a growing number of wildland blazes around the state, crews in Butte County rushed to a new incident near the site of the deadliest fire in California history. The Dixie Fire has burned at least 1,200 acres. Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED Crews are facing challenging conditions as they continue to work to extinguish the massive Beckwourth Complex Fire burning north of Lake Tahoe. Major wind gusts caused the fire to grow, and forced more people to evacuate their homes. The Biden Administration has approved what could become the first two offshore wind farms along the West Coast -- one in Humboldt County and the other in Morro Bay. The wind farms would help California reach its goal of 100% clean electric power by the year 2045, but local fishermen worry they could jeopardize their livelihoods. Reporter: Kathryn Barnes, KCRW  Governor Newsom has nominated Natalie Palugyai to be California's next Secretary of Labor. If confirmed, she would replace Julie Su, who is joining the

Los Angeles County has seen five straight days with more than a thousand new daily COVID-19 cases. And Sacramento County has the highest number of cases per capita in the state, in counties with at least 100,000 residents. California is in the grip of a drought, but officials have yet to require statewide water restrictions similar to those mandated during the last multi-year drought. Some experts say regional restrictions allow for a more targeted approach to reduce water waste. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED The 2018 Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in state history. But a new report from the California Air Resources Board shows it may have been more dangerous to people downwind than previously known.  Reporter: Ed Fletcher, CapRadio It's been described as one of the biggest botched deals in business history. Author and journalist Lauren Etter investigates the downfall of Juul's e-cigarette business. Guest: Lauren Etter, Author of the book "The Devil's Playbook: Big Tobacco, Juul, and the Addictio

Governor Gavin Newsom will not be allowed to identify himself as a Democrat on the recall election ballot. Newsom's attorneys did not include the governor's Democratic Party affiliation when the recall response papers were filed with the secretary of state in early 2020 Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Anyone in California who's been paying attention to unemployment issues has probably heard about the huge backlog of unpaid unemployment claims at the state’s Employment Development Department. Now, there are some anomalies in the numbers being released by the state. Guest: Mary Franklin Harvin, The California Report California health officials have backtracked on how to enforce masking rules at schools in the fall. On Monday, the state issued a mandate, saying that K-12 students who aren’t wearing a mask would be barred from the classroom. Now the state is leaving it up to local school districts to enforce the new rule. Reporter: Julia McEvoy, KQED Long before the existence of Twitter, Facebook, and Google, and

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has been nominated by President Biden to serve as U.S. Ambassador to India. If he's confirmed by the U.S. Senate, it will set off a chain of political activity in the city. Reporter: Libby Denkmann, KPCC Sanitation crews and polie have been clearing a large homeless encampment at Venice Beach. The move comes as the city of Los Angeles appears ready to move forward with an ordinance that would ban tents in many public spaces, including on sidewalks. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Governor Gavin Newsom has approved an extra $500 million for wildfire prevention. The change comes after CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom revealed Newsom’s administration had nixed a similar amount.  Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio A massive rock barrier through part of the Delta in Contra Costa County has recently been completed. The barrier is expected to help preserve water supplies for millions of Californians as drought conditions worsen in the state. Guest: Jacob McQuirk, a

Governor Gavin Newsom is asking all Californians to voluntarily cut back their water usage by 15%, as drought conditions get worse across the state. The governor has also extended a drought emergency to 50 of California's 58 counties. After California's grid operator CAISO called for rolling blackouts last August, regulators extended the expiration date of four aging power plants. But they didn't hold up during last month's extended heat wave. Guest: Colby Bermel, Reporter with Politico The state Employment Development Department is renewing a contract for Bank of America debit cards, which are used to get people their unemployment benefits. Bank of America told legislators earlier this year it had lost "hundreds of millions" of dollars because of card hacks and other dysfunction related to the cards. Some Californians are now suing the bank. Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, The California Report

Throngs of passengers are once again spilling out of Los Angeles International Airport as more COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in California. But these passengers are finding there aren’t a whole lot of Uber or Lyft drivers to take them where they want to go.  Reporter: Benjamin Gottlieb, KCRW  Many Californians have moved since the start of the pandemic, but not as many are moving out of state as some might assume. They're instead moving to places in California where it's far less expensive to live. Guest: Sarah Parvini, LA Times Reporter

A group of current and former fire experts is pushing back against proposed reforms to California’s fire safety regulations. They say the changes will put both first responders and residents at risk.  Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED California school districts will most likely be required to offer an at-home study option for students who don't want to return to the classroom this fall. But there will likely be changes to what has been offered during the pandemic. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED President Joe Biden has pledged to end for-profit detention. But his administration is fighting a California law that would do just that.  Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

Climate change has had a significant impact on California and now, researchers are concerned about the state's desert environments. That includes Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave Desert, which are seeing a drastic change to their ecosystems. Guest: James Cornett, Desert Ecologist

Last year, as the pandemic was bearing down on Southern California, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city needed to do more to help unhoused people with their hygiene needs, promissing that sanitation stations would be checked daily. But an investigation from the website L.A. Taco found that despite Mayor Garcetti’s commitment, not much changed, as many of these stations have not been filled with running water, paper towels or soap during the pandemic. Guest: Lexis-Olivier Ray, Reporter, L.A. Taco

The recall election has been set for Tuesday, September 14. Candidates looking to challenge Governor Gavin Newsom for his seat have about two weeks to officially file for the race. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED There are growing concerns about the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County. New COVID-19 cases have more than doubled since most of the state's coronavirus restrictions were lifted on June 15. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC   In the wake of California's record-breaking wildfire season last fall, NPR and California affiliate stations have found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency only approved 5% of the applications it received from people for assistance. Thats the lowest approval rate for FEMA aid for any California wildfire disaster on record. Guest: Sean McMinn, Data Editor, NPR The Los Angeles City Council has approved a measure that would restrict homeless encampments near homeless shelters, daycare centers and a number of other public facilities. It wo

Hate crimes in California surged 31% in 2020, fueled mainly by a big jump in crimes targeting Black people. According to the state attorney general's office, crimes targeting members of the Asian community also surged during the pandemic. Los Angeles has had a 50% spike in shootings in the first six months of 2021 compared to last year. Several other cities have also seen a spike in shootings. One group that’s trying to stop the violence from getting worse is the Urban Peace Institute, which trains people in the community to de-escalate tensions. Guest: Fernando Rejon, Director of the Urban Peace Institute in Los Angeles The Lava Fire burning in far northern California has grown to nearly 20,000 acres. Fire crews are facing challenging conditions with extremely hot weather continuing for at least a few more days. Guest: Scott Rodd, CapRadio California’s COVID-19 test positivity rate has inched up in recent weeks. The number is still very low compared to what the state saw during the height of the pandemic,

California legislators have passed a new state budget and it includes billions of dollars in new ongoing spending. Now there are questions about the budget’s details and what will happen when state revenues take a dip.  Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED For over a century, California has locked up juvenile offenders in prisons run by the state. But starting next month, California will begin closing its remaining juvenile detention centers and turn over that authority to individual counties.  Guest: Dan Macallair, Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice Earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom pledged to increase the budget for wildfires and fire prevention to $2 billion. But an investigation by CapRadio and NPR's California Newsroom has found that the governor delivered only a fraction of the money promised for wildfire resilience in the state budget. Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio Ever since voters passed a $10 billion bond measure to build a high speed rail line between Los Angeles and

Lawmakers approved a nearly $263 billion budget Monday night, sending it to Governor Newsom. It includes a record amount of funding for education. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED The budget deal would expand public health insurance for low-income undocumented older adults.  Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED The drought is already having a huge effect on some communities in California’s Central Valley. The rural community of Teviston, which is 40 miles north of Bakersfield in Tulare County, has been without running water since early this month after the city’s only functioning well broke down. Large fires have already started to burn across the state and there are growing concerns about the dry weather and illegal fireworks, with July 4 being celebrated this weekend. Guest: Brian Fennessy, Fire Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority  California has added five states to its “do not travel” list because they have laws that target LGBTQ people.  Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED

He's the former mayor of San Diego and most political observers view him as the most formidable opponent in the recall election of Governor Gavin Newsom. Kevin Faulconer explains why he believes he's the right man for the job. Guest: Kevin Faulconer, California Gubernatorial Candidate A nearly $263 billion spending plan will go before state legislators in Sacramento on Monday. The proposal includes expanding Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants age 50 and older and direct cash payments for income-eligible Californians as part of a COVID-19 relief package. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED The state legislature is expected to vote Monday to extend California's eviction moratorium until the end of September. The vote comes just days before California’s eviction protections are set to expire. Reporter: Molly Solomon, KQED California cities are getting about $8 billion in federal funds as part of the Biden Administration's American Rescue Plan. But how cities use that money is still to be determined. Guest: Carolyn Co

Citing improving vaccination rates and lower COVID-19 numbers, leaders in San Diego are asking the federal government to reopen the US-Mexico border to non-essential travel. Britney Spears drew the world’s attention this week when she finally spoke out in a Southern California court against the conservatorship she’s been living under for more than a decade. A bill making its way through Sacramento seeks to give people like Spears more control over their cases.  Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED CalFire has just paused logging on a section of Jackson Demonstration State Forest, right along the Mendocino County coast. Members of the local community spoke out about the project Guest: Alicia Bales, KZYX  Advocates expect a historic move for California in the coming days - public health coverage for undocumented older adults. The state already offers full-scope Medi-Cal to undocumented children and young adults through age 25.  Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED  Venice Beach is normally a popular tourist attracti

Some lawmakers are calling for more accountability from Governor Gavin Newsom. This after an investigation from CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom found that Newsom has overstated the wildfire prevention work completed during his time in office.  Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has placed his longtime chief of staff on leave over disparaging remarks she made online. This comes as a former advisor to Garcetti is facing a sexual harrassment lawsuit brought by a former member of the mayor's security detail. Guest: Libby Denkmann, KPCC California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has confirmed that there are officially enough signatures to place a recall of Governor Gavin Newsom on the ballot. Only 43 signatures were withdrawn from the recall petition, over the six week period when voters were allowed to change their mind. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED The effort to reunite migrant families torn apart by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues. But even as fa