
KQED's The California Report
KQED
KQED's statewide radio news program, providing daily coverage of issues, trends, and public policy decisions affecting California and its diverse population.
Location:
San Francisco, CA
Networks:
KQED
Description:
KQED's statewide radio news program, providing daily coverage of issues, trends, and public policy decisions affecting California and its diverse population.
Language:
English
Contact:
2601 Mariposa Street San Francisco, CA 94110
Email:
calreport@kqed.org
Episodes
Latino Communities Contend with the Mental Health Toll of Increased Immigration Enforcement
9/11/2025
Across Latino communities, the fear of arrest has become a part of daily life under stepped up immigration enforcement. Advocates say that constant stress is wearing on people's mental health.. And many are carrying the burden quietly. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempt to fast-track his administration’s proposal for a 45-mile-long tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta failed to pass the Legislature. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:47
Trump Administration's Shift On Homelessness Leaves California In Limbo
9/10/2025
For two decades, the nation’s solution to homelessness has been pretty straightforward: get people into housing. This approach is known as Housing First, and in California it’s even written into state law. But this summer, President Trump signed an executive order reversing this policy, turning a California mandate into a liability. Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED The Garnet Fire east of Fresno has burned more than 56,000 acres, and has reached the McKinley Grove of Giant Sequoias. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR A San Diego law firm filed a class action lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement – arguing that federal agents are breaking the law when they arrest asylum seekers at immigration court. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:43
Immigrant Advocates Vow To Continue Fight Despite Supreme Court Ruling
9/9/2025
Immigrant communities across Southern California are once again on edge after the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s roving immigration sweeps can continue. There could be broad implications from Monday's ruling. Reporter: Wendy Fry, CalMatters Business owners in the Bay Area, and across the state, have been following the dramatic workplace immigration raids in Southern California. That’s left many wondering what to do if ICE shows up at their place of business. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:24
California's Aging Farm Labor Work Force Leaves Questions About The Future Of Agriculture
9/8/2025
California’s farm labor force is aging and younger generations aren’t stepping in to fill those jobs. At the same time, agriculture itself is changing with new technology and immigration enforcement, leaving big questions about the future of the industry. Reporter: Madi Bolanos, The California Report John Burton, a towering figure in California politics, has died at the age of 92. A family member confirmed his death to KQED. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:10
Central Valley Coffee Shop Training The Next Baristas
9/5/2025
Climate change and tariffs may be shaking up the coffee industry. But young people are still abuzz these days about specialty drinks like lattes and macchiatos. And a Merced coffee shop is even giving this industry a boost, by training more people to serve up the delicious drinks. Reporter: Rachel Livinal, KVPR Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have filed suit against Southern California Edison, over its alleged role in starting a pair of deadly wildfires. Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED A bill that would have created career pathways for incarcerated firefighters was shelved by a Senate committee on Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:36
Debate Over Key Climate Change Program Continues In Sacramento
9/4/2025
At the state capitol, negotiations are heating up over California's signature program to fight climate change. It's called cap and trade, and the state uses it to cap greenhouse gas emissions. But the program expires in 2030, and lawmakers are debating how to extend the program amid rising energy costs and concerns about the closure of oil refineries. Guest: Guy Marzorati, KQED California, Oregon, and Washington are forming a health alliance to issue their own vaccine recommendations. The move comes in response to the Trump administration’s changing vaccine guidance. Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQED A major new immigration detention facility has quietly opened in California’s Mojave Desert. But advocates say the private prison company that owns it has not obtained permits to operate. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:47
Sonoma Wineries Prepare For Possible Impacts from Immigration Enforcement
9/3/2025
The federal budget allocated a record-setting $170 billion for immigration enforcement. The money is set to go toward expanding detention facilities and hiring new agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After pledging in June to protect the agriculture industry from crackdowns, President Trump reversed course a few days later. Now, as California’s annual grape harvest begins, the state’s wine community is on edge. Reporter: Tina Caputo The only emergency room in a rural North State county is closing its doors on October 21. Glenn Medical Center serves some 30,000 people in Glenn County but federal regulators have pulled its funding. Reporter: Sarina Grossi, North State Public Radio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:23
Volunteers Help Monitor For ICE Activity Near Where Day Laborers Gather
9/2/2025
Hundreds of volunteers in California are getting up early in the morning to stand at corners where day laborers wait for jobs. The goal? To watch out for ICE. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a new taskforce to clear homeless encampments in California. Reporter: Marisa Kendall, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:31
Dolores Huerta On The State Of Worker's Rights In California
9/1/2025
On this Labor Day, we're taking a closer look at the labor force here in California. With increased immigration enforcement from the Trump administration, the state of the immigrant workforce has perhaps never been more in flux. Guest: Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder of United Farm Workers, President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:38
Modesto Loses Its Longtime Minor League Baseball Team
8/29/2025
Minor league baseball has a rich history in California, going back more than a century. But minor league baseball is changing. Like other professional sports, it has become a big-money game, attracting owners looking to cash in on rising team values. One Central Valley city is witnessing what that big-money game looks like firsthand, as its longtime team plays its last few home games, before moving to Southern California. Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:11:14
What Newsom's Approach To Battling Trump Might Mean For Political Aspirations
8/28/2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom is making national waves as he takes on President Donald Trump -- on social media and, soon, at the ballot box, with an initiative that would redraw congressional districts to give Democrats more seats in the House of Representatives. What does all this mean for the famously ambitious politician? Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED In a hearing in Sacramento on Wednesday, state lawmakers grilled officials tasked with protecting the health and safety of workers. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:42
North State Voters Brace For Changes With Possible Redistricting On The Horizon
8/27/2025
In rural Northern California, voters represented by Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa are bracing for big changes. A proposed congressional map on the November ballot would shift them into a more Democratic-leaning territory. Reporter: Izzy Bloom, KQED Some foreign dissidents in California say they need law enforcement help when the governments they fled threaten them here on U.S. soil. A bill moving through the legislature would train police on how to respond. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:40
The Playbook to Fight Wildfires' Unseen Threat to Tap Water
8/26/2025
The Tubbs Fire that struck the North Bay in 2017 shed light on an unseen threat that wildfires pose to clean water supplies; and a civil engineering professor out of Indiana has devised the playbook that utilities rely on to address the contamination. As the redistricting battle heats up between California and Texas, Republican legislators in the Golden State are suing to block the plan spearheaded by Governor Newsom to gerrymander California in favor of House Democrats. The move aims to offset congressional gains that Texas would get with their own redistricting plans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:42
California Heads Into Uncharted Territory With Redistrict Vote
8/25/2025
State Lawmakers have paved the way for Governor Newsom's redistricting plan to go before voters on a November ballot, but not all voters are sold on the idea of taking a partisan approach to draw up California's district map--even if Texas plans to do the same in an attempt to tip the mid-term elections in the GOP's favor. Some worry the move would take California into murky political waters down the line. Wildfire victims in Los Angeles County are starting to rebuild their lives. A bill is making its way through Sacramento to make sure that renters are not excluded from help that is extended to home owners--however, it's facing mounting criticism from both landlords and tenants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:42
Hikers Can Walk Among Grazing Cattle At New Coastal National Monument
8/22/2025
A stunning national monument just opened to the public in Santa Cruz County. It’s called Cotoni-Coast Dairies. It's opening was delayed due to the pandemic, neighbors’ fears over traffic, and figuring out how to keep a herd of nearly 100 cows that graze there away from hikers and bikers. Reporter: Jerimiah Oetting California voters will decide this November whether to redraw the state's congressional lines to help Democrats pick up seats in the House of Representatives. Reporter: Guy Marzorati , KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:39
Two Recent In Custody Deaths Increase Scrutiny Over San Diego Jails
8/21/2025
San Diego County’s jail system is facing new scrutiny in a class action lawsuit that challenges nearly every aspect of daily operations. The case centers on years of reported neglect inside the jails, where at least 250 people have died since 2006. A hearing had been set for Thursday, on whether evidence from two recent jailhouse deaths can be used in the case, but the judge canceled it, saying he already has enough information to make a ruling. Guest: Kelly Davis, Reporter, San Diego Union Tribune The California Supreme Court has ruled against state Republicans, who were attempting to slow down Governor Newsom's redistricting efforts. The state legislature is expected to approve the proposal on Thursday, after which Newsom will call for a special election on November 4. That gives local election offices less than three months to prepare. Reporter: Maya Miller, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:50
Heat Wave Brings Dangerously Hot Conditions, Increased Fire Risk
8/20/2025
It's heating up here in California! From the deserts of Southern California to the foothills of the Sierra and parts of the Bay Area, we’re looking at triple-digit temperatures and dangerous fire weather through the weekend. Reporter: Billy Cruz, The California Report It's the first few weeks of school and for some families, the usual back-to-school stress, like packing lunches and making the morning bus is now mixed with more serious concern: immigration enforcement near campuses. A group of volunteers in San Diego are trying to ease some of the stress. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS In the Inland Empire, two nurses accused of trying to stop immigration agents from arresting a man at a surgery center have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR A new report is highlighting how often fast food workers are subjected to dangerously high temperatures in the workplace. Reporter: Brian Krans, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:33
Sonoma County Wineries Have Mixed Feelings On Wine Improvement District Plan
8/19/2025
In Sonoma County, leaders in the wine industry are floating the idea of a Wine Improvement District. Under the proposed plan, consumers would pay 1 to 2 percent more for tasting room visits, wine club memberships within California, and every bottle purchased at a local winery. Supporters say the plan would provide much-needed collective marketing dollars to boost the industry, but many Sonoma County winery owners are not thrilled with the idea. Reporter: Tina Caputo In Sacramento, Democrats are moving quickly on a sweeping redistricting plan. And Republicans are pushing back. California Democrats formally introduced legislation on Monday to establish a new congressional map and bypass the state’s independent redistricting rules. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:38
Imperial County Tries To Save Sugar Beet Industry
8/18/2025
The Imperial Valley has been growing sugar beets for more than a century. But this summer's harvest could be the region's last. The valley's only sugar beet factory is shutting down, threatening hundreds of jobs and one of its staple crops. Reporter: Kori Suzuki, KPBS San Diego Unified School District officials are condemning the recent arrest of a parent near an elementary school by immigration agents. Valley Fever is on the rise in California. State health officials say there were more than 5,500 provisional cases from January through June, continuing an upward trend after last year's record high. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:35
Radio Stations Serving Indigenous Communities Face Challenges From Federal Cuts
8/15/2025
When Congress passed a budget bill that clawed back more than a billion dollars in federal funding for public media, radio stations across the country were put on notice. With the lack of funding, many have already laid off staff, and many smaller stations in rural areas are at risk of closing for good. That includes stations in the western United States that serve indigenous communities. Guest: Peggy Berryhill, General Manager, KGUA School is back in session for thousands of students across the state. In Los Angeles County, the start of the school year looks a bit different after a summer colored by aggressive, federal immigration enforcement. Teachers and staff are on high alert, patrolling neighborhoods around their campuses looking for ICE agents and preparing for what to do if there’s a raid. Reporter: Benjamin Gottlieb Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Duration:00:10:28