KQED's The California Report

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is continuing to track price gouging in the aftermath of the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. On Wednesday, Bonta announced charges against a Southern California real estate agent for gouging a couple who lost their home to the fires. It's yet another challenge facing people who lost their homes, who are just trying to figure out where to live. And some residents are tracking price gougers on their own. Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, CalMatters An organization representing farmworkers has received postcards threatening people without legal status. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month's devastating wildfires in the L.A. area have once again raised questions in California about the wisdom of building homes and entire communities close to mountainous wilderness areas that burned so easily and tragically in dry conditions. Guest: Branden Brough, family home was in Pacific Palisades In one of the first acts of his presidency, Donald Trump ordered cut off of access to the CPB One app for migrants seeking asylum in the United States. That's left many in Tijuana without an idea of their future. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS A new executive order from President Donald Trump on gender identity could complicate travel and employment for California’s transgender and non-binary individuals. Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California immigrant advocates are condemning President Donald Trump’s plans to call out the military for immigration enforcement and challenge the Constitutional right to citizenship for everyone born in the U.S. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Immediately after his inauguration, Donald Trump’s promise to crack down on immigration started to take shape, with the new administration moving to abruptly shut down the CBP One app. The government app allowed migrants to schedule appointments in their attempts to gain asylum in the United States at legal ports of entry. Looking ahead to the possibility of mass deportations of people already in the U.S. those who run migrant shelters in the border city of Tijuana say they’re not prepared to receive a wave of people. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, Donald Trump will be again sworn in as President of the United States. And one of his first official trips as president is expected to be to Southern California on Friday to tour fire devastated areas. Beyond that trip, what will Trump’s return to power mean for California? Guests: California Congressmen Tom McClintock and Jay Obernolte California lawmakers and advocates for immigrants are bracing for a sharp rightward shift on immigration immediately after Donald Trump’s swearing in. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Firefighters are still battling the two biggest blazes in Los Angeles - the Palisades and Eaton fires. Crews have been able to get better control of both. As we head into the recovery process, what happens next for people in the region? Guest: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fire crews are still on the front lines battling the Los Angeles blazes, but California’s Democratic state leaders are bracing for a different fight ahead: a potential clash with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump over disaster aid. Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED A 14-year-old in Los Angeles is trying to help to restore a sense of normalcy for girls who lost everything in the wildfires there. Her effort to give those girls some free retail therapy has gone viral. Reporter: Robin Estrin, KCRW The fires that have destroyed homes have also burned through thousands of acres of wildland that’s home to bears, mountain lions, squirrels and other animals. Reporter: Jill Replogle, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of the army of firefighters trying to contain the blazes in the Los Angeles area, 1000 are incarcerated individuals hacking out fireline with hand tools in rugged terrain. Despite the experience they gain from this work, they face an uphill battle getting hired as firefighters after their release. Reporter: Katherine Monahan, KQED Thousands of families looking for stability after the Los Angeles fires are suddenly confronting another crisis. L.A.’s lack of affordable housing. Reporter: David Wagner, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Eaton Fire tore through the community of Altadena. The city has long been a sanctuary for Black people, who make up about 18-percent of its population. The losses from the fire are felt deeply in the community and beyond. Reporter: Erin Stone, LAist Pacific Palisades, where the Palisades fire continues to burn, is often known for its glitzy homes and celebrity residents. But it hasn’t always been that way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By now, most Californians are aware that animals – pets and wildlife – are also suffering because of the fires raging in Los Angeles County. Whenever a natural disaster strikes, animal rescue operations have to kick into high gear. Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED California’s insurance commissioner has issued a one-year moratorium on homeowner insurance policy cancellations and non-renewals in areas affected by the Los Angeles fires. Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've been following the fires in Los Angeles, online or on TV, you've likely seen videos of gridlocked roads filled with abandoned cars. As the Palisades Fire closed in, residents trying to escape were forced to leave their vehicles behind and flee on foot. Bulldozers were later used to clear the roads. This chaotic scene highlights a troubling reality. Many communities, especially those with narrow, winding roads, are unprepared for large scale evacuations. Guest: Lauren Sommer, NPR Climate Desk The fires raging in Southern California have affected thousands of people who have lost their homes. But those losses also affect a wider community of people, namely a population of largely immigrant and Latino workers. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More fires have sparked in Los Angeles as fire crews work tirelessly through the day and night to contain them. Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes. Thousands of homes and structures have been destroyed and five people have been killed in the fires. Guest: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Thousands of Los Angeles County residents at risk of losing their homes to fires are on the state’s insurance plan of last resort. That’s according to reporting from our California Newsroom partner, CalMatters. Reporter: Jeremia Kimelman, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The city of Los Angeles is under a state of emergency following several rapidly growing wildfires that sparked early Tuesday. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from the two biggest fires - one burning in Pacific Palisades and the other near Pasadena. Guest: Saul Gonzalez/The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Californians are remembering the legacy of late president Jimmy Carter as his family and his remains make their way from the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta to Washington DC. After facing two years of multi-billion dollar deficits, Governor Gavin Newsom says Califonia's state budget for the upcoming fiscal year can be balanced without new cuts or taxes. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Southern Californians are bracing for what forecasters are calling dangerous and "life-threatening" wind conditions over the next few days. A widespread red flag warning is in effect through Thursday due to the Santa Ana wind event, which could bring gusts of more than 80 miles per hour. President Joe Biden is visiting the Eastern Coachella Valley Tuesday, where he’ll formally dedicate a new national monument. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monday marks four years since a mob of supporters of then President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. It was an attempt to keep Trump in office, after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. 140 law enforcement officers were injured and five people died during or soon after the riot. Since the insurrection, more than 1,000 people have been sentenced for crimes they committed that day. That includes many Californians. Guest: Tom Dreisbach, NPR Investigative Correspondent The Santa Cruz Wharf reopened on Saturday, less than two weeks after 150 feet of it collapsed into the ocean during a storm. That area had already been closed to the public for nearly a year because of previous storms. Still, about 20 businesses had to close as a result. Reporter: Erin Malsbury, KAZU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Trump administration takes office later this month, it'll be on a collision course with California cities that have vowed to protect their undocumented residents from Donald Trump's plans for mass deportation. But when the city says it will protect immigrants, what does that practically mean? Guest: Eunisses Hernandez, Los Angeles City Council Two people were killed and 19 injured when a small aircraft crashed into a furniture manufacturing building in the Orange County city of Fullerton on Thursday afternoon. California's snowpack near Lake Tahoe is higher than it was this time last year, but still just below average for early January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Several new laws went into effect on January 1, dealing with everything from workplace issues to education. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report The future of foreign labor in the tech sector could hinge on the outcome of a debate now raging in the orbit of President-elect Donald Trump, over the H1-B, a temporary visa for skilled workers. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientists project the Bay Area could rise more than a foot over the next few decades. Solutions implemented now can help communities prepare for a wetter future. This is especially true for the most vulnerable places, like San Francisco’s iconic waterfront. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To end homelessness, California’s political leaders have championed a seemingly simple solution: build homes for people who don’t have them. Even better, put those homes in places where unhoused folks are already living — in cities, close to public transportation and services. But insurers are increasingly eyeing those properties as too risky to serve — not because of potentially catastrophic storms or wildfires — but because of who lives there and the urban neighborhoods where they’re located. Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED A new law that goes into effect in the new year could give tenants facing eviction a better shot at staying in their homes. Reporter: Felicia Mello, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the Supreme Court gave local governments greater power to police homelessness this summer, some 40 cities across California have passed anti-camping laws, according to the National Homelessness Law Center. In the Central Valley, the city of Fresno is home to one of the state’s harshest crackdowns, banning public camping anywhere, anytime. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cal State Monterey Bay researchers and several partners are working to make Central Coast farming more climate resilient. The grant-funded project is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from specialty crops - think lettuce and strawberries - by using things like compost and cover crops. Reporter: Elena Neale-Sacks, KAZU A new law in 2025 will scrub most medical debt from Californians’ credit reports. Reporter: Ana Ibarra, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices