Kqeds The California Report

California AG Sues Federal EPA Over Regulation Relaxation California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is once again suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency.... this time for saying they'll suspend enforcement of some environmental requirements during the coronavirus pandemic. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, KQED COVID-19 Hits State Women's Prison The state Department of Corrections has announced a new COVID-19 outbreak at a women's prison in San Bernardino County. The California Institution for Women has tested at least 400 inmates since last Friday, and positive cases are increasing there. Pharmacies Get Green Light to Test for COVID-19 Soon it might be as easy as stopping at a local pharmacy to find out if you have the coronavirus. The new state guidance allows tests that tell you if you have the virus or you had it in the past. Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQED Science State Attempts to Test Workers and Residents of All Nursing Homes California officials say it will take more time to test all workers

COVID-19 Outbreak Hits Turlock Nursing Home Fourteen residents of a nursing facility have died of COVID-19 in Stanislaus County, at the Turlock Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. It's one of the deadliest outbreaks at a skilled nursing facilities in Northern California. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, KQED LA Residents Set To Shelter-in-Place Through July Los Angeles has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the state. Yesterday, the county's 10 million residents were told they'll be sheltering in place for longer than they expected. L.A. County's public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said the stay-at-home order need to be extended because coronavirus infection rates and death rates keep rising in the county. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, Co-host, The California Report Oceanside Official Rallies Local Support to Reopen Oceanside City Councilman Christopher Rodriguez is asking local business owners to join his push to get the economy back up and running right away. Rodriguez published a letter over the

900+ Inmates Test Positive for COVID-19 at Lompoc Prison The largest cluster of coronavirus cases in the entire federal prison system is centered at the prison complex in Lompoc along California’s Central Coast. More than 900 inmates there have now tested positive for COVID-19. That’s more than three-quarters of the prison's population of inmates. Reporter: Matt Guilhem, KCRW Newsom Defends Mask Deals That Fell Through Governor Gavin’s Newsom’s administration is defending several unsuccessful deals it made to buy medical masks and face shields that help protect against COVID-19. In an Assembly oversight hearing at the state Capitol Monday afternoon, officials stressed no taxpayer money was actually lost in the deals. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED Politics Oil and Gas Industry Wants Help, and Less Regulation, Amid Crisis Several weeks ago, an oil and gas group representing hundreds of companies that drill in California asked the state for help to prevent a collapse of their industry and the loss of jobs. Cali

Tourism in Southern California Expects Big Hit The coronavirus has brought the travel and hospitality industries to a standstill. People aren’t flying, hotels are empty, and bars and restaurants are barely getting by with takeout service. A forecast commissioned by the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board expects the city to lose billions of dollars and millions of visitors. Reporter: Matt Guilhem, KCRW Small and Medium Cities Looking at Vast Budget Deficits Just six cities in the state expect to get a cut of a $150 billion in federal help from the CARES Act, which only applies to cities with at least half a million people qualify. What about the rest? Guest: Ben Christopher, CalMatters Sheriffs in Far Northern Reaches of State Want More Flexible Shutdown Rules Sheriffs in Northern California are pushing back against some aspects of Governor Gavin Newsom’s shelter in place orders. They argue the rules should be different for their counties, because cases of COVID-19 there make up a small portion of t

Newsom: Some Retailers Can Re-Open Nearly two months after many California businesses shut their doors to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some retailers and manufacturers are re-opening… just a little bit... starting today. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Mom-and-Pop Shops Prepare to Re-Open at LA's Flower Mart Small shops prepare for a partial reopening and hope they can make enough sales to stay open. Guest: Marta Hernandez, flower shop owner Why Some People Can't Get Unemployment Benefits Millions of newly jobless people have filed for unemployment benefits since March. In California, many who’ve applied aren't getting their payments, for several reasons. One of them is something known as "false claim penalty cases." These are people who either tried to defraud the state when they filed for unemployment in the past, or just made honest mistakes when filling out complicated paperwork. Guest: Kaila Hoppe, unemployed television costumer Working Actors Find Residuals Reduce Their Unemployment Turns ou

With Revenues Down, California's Budget Outlook is Bleak Less than an hour ago, the state of California released a snapshot of what the coronavirus pandemic has done to the state’s finances. And the numbers are bad. Surging unemployment and business closures mean the state is projecting a drop of more than 25 percent in both personal income tax and sales tax revenues, and a more than 20 percent decline in corporate taxes. Mix this all together we’re looking at a $41 billion dollar drop in state revenue compared to projections in January. This comes as the state spends more on health care to deal with the pandemic. Guest: H.D. Palmer, California Department of Finance First ICE Detainee Dies of COVID-19 at Otay Mesa A sixth prisoner at the Terminal Island federal detention center in San Pedro has died from COVID-19. And more than half of the facility’s thousand inmates have tested positive for coronavirus, as well as fourteen staffers. This makes Terminal Island, which is in between the Ports of L.A and Lon

California, City Attorneys Sue Uber and Lyft Over Worker Misclassification The state of California and some cities are suing Uber and Lyft for misclassifying their drivers as contractors and denying them access to employee benefits like unemployment insurance, which is especially needed during the pandemic. Reporter: Sam Harnett, KQED Advocates Call For Prisoner Release As Inmate Cases Grow More than 200 prisoners at California Institution for Men in San Bernardino County have tested positive for COVID-19 along with 44 staff members. One inmate has died, while four have been released. Prison officials say another 287 inmates have tests pending. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Children With Undocumented Parents Are Being Denied Federal Aid A federal law providing coronavirus emergency aid discriminates against millions of U.S. citizen kids by denying them payments because their parents are undocumented. That’s according to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of these children -- including roughly 1 million in C

Newsom Says Business Can Reopen, A Little Bit Governor Gavin Newsom announcing that the Golden State can start to reopen, at least a little bit, beginning as soon as Friday. State Finances Take Hit from Coronavirus This crisis has taken a huge bite out of state tax revenue... just as the demand for California’s social safety programs is skyrocketing. All those people in need put extra pressure on state finances. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED Politics Immigrant Activists Want Stimulus Checks for Undocumented An L.A.-based immigrant advocacy group is pushing for all immigrants to be included in economic and health recovery efforts from the pandemic. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Working Hollywood Copes with Coronavirus Shutdown Like with other industries, the coronavirus pandemic has shut down Hollywood. And that's been disastrous for all the companies that supply goods and services to film and television productions. Guest: Mikel Elliot, CEO of Quixote Studios Mariposa County's Successful Contract

State Assembly Heads Back to Work After Emergency Recess State legislators are returning to Sacramento today after leaving for an emergency recess in March because of the coronavirus crisis. Guest: Anthony Rendon, California Assembly Speaker State's First Election During Pandemic Heats Up North of LA The first election during California's COVID-19 crisis is next Tuesday. Voters north of Los Angeles in the Simi, Santa Clarita, and Antelope Valleys are casting ballots in a special election. They’ll decide who fills a Congressional seat left vacant by the resignation of freshmen Democrat Katie Hill last October. The pandemic has re-framed the candidates' messages—and reshaped how the election will take place. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Politics Drive-By Protests and Outreach to Help Day Laborers Even under stay at home orders, most counties have allowed construction projects to continue, including home remodeling and landscaping. So day laborers have kept looking for the little work that remains. In Los

As Economy Stalls, California Renters Organize for Relief It’s the first of the month. Which means rent is due. But with the COVID-19 pandemic gutting parts of the economy, a lot of California renters can’t pay it. KQED’s Molly Solomon reports advocates have organized a “rent strike” in hopes of winning support for rent relief on a massive scale. Reporter: Molly Solomon, KQED Surf's Up, But Some SoCal Beaches are Closed With clear skies and some pretty good surf forecasted this weekend, health officials are once again warning people *not* to gather at local beaches. The coast along Orange County will be CLOSED altogether—per Governor Gavin Newsom’s orders—and the beaches in LA County remain shut down as well. Neighboring regions are taking a softer approach. Reporter: Kathryn Barnes, KCRW Sacramento Adjusts to New Reality of Pandemic Before this pandemic, the politicians we send to Sacramento were expected to tackle issues like homelessness, housing and PG&E’s bankruptcy. But the coronavirus has forced

PG&E 'Cheated on Maintenance,' Judge Writes — Then Orders New Probation Conditions We’ll start a San Francisco federal judge’s order to require Pacific Gas and Electric to take a series of steps to improve its safety practices and head off future disasters. Reporter: Raquel Maria Dillon, KQED Fire Victims Vote on PG&E Settlement, But What’s The Plan? As tens of thousands of PG&E fire victims vote on their settlement with the utility, recent court filings make it clear that key details of that plan are still being negotiated, including the timing and amount of compensation. Meanwhile, some fire survivors who are navigating this complex process without legal help say they have yet to receive ballots. Voting ends May 15. One-on-One with Erin Brockovich Activist Erin Brockovich gained fame fighting PG&E. These days, she’s a consultant for attorneys who helped negotiate PG&E’s compensation settlement with fire survivors. She fielded questions that survivors shared with The California Report about her current

California's Finances Will Take A major Hit From Coronavirus It’s too early to tell just how hard the COVID-19 pandemic will hit California’s finances. The state official in charge of signing the checks issued by California is keeping a close eye on the revenues coming into the state’s coffers. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Governor Newsom May Open Schools This Summer Concerned about California students’ falling behind academically, Governor Gavin Newsom says some schools could open in late July or early August. But they will need to adopt social distancing protocol. Reporter: Julia McEvoy Fresno City Officials Call For And End To Shelter-In-Place Even as the San Francisco Bay Area hunkers down for another month of sheltering in place, some Central Valley elected officials are saying it’s time non essential businesses there are allowed to reopen. Reporter: Alex Hall, KQED New Study Finds Harmful Indoor Pollution From Gas Appliances UCLA is out with a new study about the emissions gas appliances rele

Emergency Room Doctors Have Coronavirus Homework Turns out it’s not just the risk of infection and the long hours that makes being an hospital Emergency Room staffer draining right now. Treating COVID-19 comes with homework. Once doctors finish their shifts, they still have to try and catch up on the latest coronavirus research. Following the latest medical literature about coronavirus is exhausting and, sometimes, discouraging. Guest: Clay Josephy, emergency medicine doctor in South Lake Tahoe NASA Scientists Build a Better Ventilator Months into this pandemic, there remains a national shortage of ventilators. Well, a team of engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena is figuring out how to build more -- and fast. Reporter: Jerome Campbell, KCRW Student Volunteers Help at Monterey's Public Health Lab Monterey County’s Public Health Laboratory has increased its COVID-19 testing capacity seven-fold over the last 5 weeks thanks to one graduate student who offered to help, after hearing a s

The Feds' Help for Small Businesses: Did California Get a Fair Share? We’ve been hearing growing calls from elected officials for a phased, responsible re-opening of California, just parts of it, for now. They’re coming from the conservative northern parts of the state, and in San Luis Obispo County along the Central Coast. These politicians are asking Governor Gavin Newsom to sign off on a gradual reopening. Guest: Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, San Luis Obispo Yurok Tribe Avoids Outbreak So Far In some places across the country, Native Americans have been hit incredibly hard by the coronavirus. But California tribes seem to have averted that catastrophe so far. We checked in on how the Yurok in Northern California are working to keep their community safe. Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED The Feds' Help for Small Businesses: Did California Get a Fair Share? California got the more PPP dollars than any other state in Round 1 of the program. But when ranked by the proportion of small businesses who got help

Nursing Home Workers' Union Calls for Better PPE In the community of Yucaipa in San Bernardino County, 20 people have died from coronavirus — 18 of them from a single skilled nursing facility. At Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation, more than a hundred staff and residents have also tested positive for COVID-19. It’s just one startling example of how the coronavirus has ravaged such facilities, their residents and the people who work at them. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Politics Editor Call the Midwife: Birth Is Different During the Pandemic In this pandemic, we’ve been checking in with healthcare workers… and today we’ll hear from a midwife. Some pregnant mothers who want to avoid hospitals during the pandemic are turning to freestanding birth centers — these facilities offer midwife care in a homelike environment. Last month, Pacifica Family Maternity Center in Berkeley received three times as many inquiries as usual. Guest: Jessamyn Meyerhoff, Berkeley midwife Muslims Gather for Virtual Iftars Dur

Gov. Newsom Talks Coronavirus Testing Governor Gavin Newsom says California is making big strides in its push to ramp up COVID-19 testing, but he isn’t committing to a date for reopening the state just yet. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Politics Worker Tests Positive at Foster Farms Plant Employees at a Foster Farms plant in the Central Valley are worried about their health… now that one of their coworkers has tested positive for COVID-19. Reporter: Alex Hall, KQED DACA Students Lose Out on Aid Undocumented college students dealing with campus closures won’t be getting any emergency help from the federal government because of the coronavirus pandemic. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED Health Clinics Struggle Without Patients Non-profit community clinics and health centers care for people regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status. But during this pandemic, many clinics across California are struggling to keep their doors open. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Coffeehouse Owner Plans f

First Known Coronavirus Death Weeks Earlier Than Previously Thought The first confirmed deaths from the novel coronavirus in the United States look like they took place in Santa Clara County, more than a month earlier than initially thought and reported. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, KQED PG&E's CEO Steps Down The CEO of embattled utility Pacific Gas and Electric is stepping down. The utility's plan for leaving bankruptcy has been approved and will allow it to tap a state insurance fund in case of future fires. Reporter: Lily Jamali, KQED Governor Newsom Warns Against Re-opening State Golf courses, beaches and parks are opening again as some California cities and counties begin to ease stay-at-home orders put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But Governor Gavin says the number of positive tests, hospitalizations, and deaths have actually ticked up, not down. New Poll Illuminates Coronavirus Concerns With the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths still climbing, a new poll finds many Californi

Research Shows More People Had Coronavirus Than Previously Thought What if far more people are infected with coronavirus than previously thought? A preliminary study that tested more than 800 adults in L.A. County for COVID-19 antibodies suggests that’s the case. Those antibodies indicate someone’s been exposed to the virus. Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC Legislators Want More Oversight of Pandemic Spending In a legislative hearing yesterday, members of both parties said they wanted more oversight over how Governor Newsom is responding to the pandemic, especially when it comes to how money is being spent, like a recent deal to buy millions of masks from China. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED Politics City Officials Watch Dwindling Tax Revenues As tax revenues dwindle because of the business shutdown, the state’s largest cities are getting financial help from the federal government through the CARES Act. But smaller cities, at least for now, are on their own. So what’s like to run a smaller city during the pan

Cities and Counties Brace for Budget Cuts Due to Coronavirus Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti gave a sobering warning in his State of teh City address Sunday. Because of cratering municipal revenue during the coronavirus shutdown, the city plans to enact furlough days for thousands of employees and make painful cuts to municipal services. L.A. is just the biggest example of how California’s 482 cities and towns are wrestling with the consequences of the pandemic on their budgets. Guest: Carolyn Coleman, Executive Director, League of California Cities California Prisons Try to Keep Inmates Coronavirus-Free The first California inmate has died from health complications related to COVID-19. He was incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in San Bernardino. That comes after a federal judge denied an emergency motion that would have forced state prison officials to reduce the state’s prison population by thousands to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The judge wants to see first if changing up prison

Newsom: Food Workers To Get Paid Sick Leave Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that food workers in California will get two weeks of paid sick leave to help them deal with the outbreak of COVID 19. Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED Politics Safeway Reports COVID-19 Outbreak at Warehouse In San Joaquin County, a worker at a grocery distribution center belonging to Safeway has died of COVID-19. The grocery chain also confirms that several other workers at that same warehouse have also tested positive. Reporter: Haley Gray Megadrought Conditions Have Returned to the West, Scientists Say There’s new research that shows climate change is pushing California and much of the American West into a drought like we haven’t experienced in centuries. Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQED Science Chief Worries About Pandemic's Effect on Firefighting Efforts After the record blazes Californians have lived through these last few years, firefighters now have to factor in the COVID-19 outbreak as they plan for the coming fire season. Gu