The Bay

Starting this month, Medi-Cal has expanded coverage to include traditional healing practices like music therapy, rituals and ceremonial dances to support those suffering from addiction. For years, Native people have argued that this more holistic, culturally-specific approach can help fill an important gap in the state’s approach to drug and alcohol treatment. Links: How to Help People Affected by the L.A. Fires Got Loved Ones Affected by LA Fires? These Wildfire Resources May Help This episode was hosted by Cecilia Lei and produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Jessica Kariisa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area is home to thousands of people with Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. Immigrants with TPS are provided a temporary shield from deportation and a work permit as a result of upheaval in their home countries. But as Donald Trump prepares to enter his second term, many fear deportation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, Vallejo will swear in its new mayor. Andrea Sorce, chair of the city’s Surveillance Advisory Board and co-founder of the ACLU’s Solano County chapter, won by running as a political outsider promising change. Today, Ericka sits down with the mayor-elect in Vallejo to discuss what barriers she sees to fulfilling Vallejo’s “potential,” the Vallejo Police Department, housing and homelessness and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next week, San Francisco mayor London Breed will pass the baton off to mayor-elect Daniel Lurie. Breed led the city through most of the first Donald Trump presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. In this exit interview with the Political Breakdown podcast, Breed reflects on her six years as mayor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sept. 26 marked the A’s last game in Oakland. Next season they’ll play in Sacramento ahead of a planned move to Las Vegas, after more than 50 years representing The Town. Today, we share the sights and sounds of that day with help from KQED’s Joseph Geha. This episode first aired on Sept. 27, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This holiday season, we’re sharing our favorite episodes of 2024. Producer Jessica Kariisa’s pick is our episode featuring San Jose’s Story Road Night Market in the Little Saigon neighborhood. This episode first ran on Oct. 18, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This holiday season, The Bay team is sharing their favorite episodes of 2024. Ericka’s pick highlights the work of student journalists covering pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the Bay earlier this Spring. This episode first published on May 3, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we wrap up 2024, we hear from members of KQED’s arts and culture desk about the ‘One Beautiful Thing’ each of them experienced over the past year. Links: Read all of KQED arts and culture’s 2024 ‘One Beautiful Thing’ essays Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Santa Rosa is home to an ice skating rink unlike any other. In 1969, Snoopy’s Home Ice was built by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz and his first wife Joyce. Since then, generations of Santa Rosa residents have visited and skated there — and it's extra special during the holiday season. Today, KQED’s Gabe Meline takes us inside Snoopy’s Home Ice, where he goes to skate with his family every Christmas Eve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re sharing this episode from the podcast Sea Change, a show by WWNO in New Orleans and WRKF in Baton Rouge. In it you’ll hear about how three different cities – including San Francisco — are addressing unique challenges around sea level rise. Links: Sea Change Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President-elect Donald Trump has doubled down on his campaign promise to deport millions off undocumented people living in the United States. In turn, California officials have promised to protect the state’s undocumented population. KQED’s Political Breakdown podcast sat immigration senior editor Tyche Hendricks to talk about how far Trump’s deportation plans can go in California, and how immigrant communities and legal advocacy groups are preparing to fight back. Links: California Is a Sanctuary State. How Much Will That Protect Immigrants From Trump's Deportation Plans? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Sept. 22, thousands of hotel workers at some of San Francisco’s largest hotels have been in a stalemate with employers, demanding wage increases and affordable health care. KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero explains why this dispute has dragged on, and why everyone has a stake in what happens to the city’s hotel industry. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Jessica Kariisa, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: Episode transcript Slow San Francisco Tourism Complicates Hotel Strike Resolution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Great Highway is the last road in San Francisco before you hit Ocean Beach. And in this past election, voters passed Prop. K, which permanently closes a portion of it. Supporters hope the highway will become a beachfront park, open to the entire city. But a majority of people living near the Great Highway voted against Prop. K — particularly those in the city's Sunset neighborhood. Now, a group of residents have filed papers to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, who led the effort to close the road. This episode was produced by Jessica Kariisa and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People across the Bay Area were rattled by a tsunami warning alert on Thursday morning, after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the coast of Humboldt County. The warning triggered evacuation orders before it was eventually canceled at approximately 12:00 pm. But it begs the question: What would really happen if a tsunami hit the Bay Area? Back in 2017, our friends at Bay Curious set out to answer this question. This episode first aired on June 15, 2017. Links: How to Prepare for the Big One What Would Really Happen if a Tsunami Hit the Bay Area? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The push to ban transgender athletes from competitive sports reached San Jose State University this year. In September, the co-captain of the women's volleyball team joined a lawsuit targeting trans women in college sports — including one of her own teammates. This episode was produced by Jessica Kariisa and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: Anti-Trans Suit Seeking to Ban San José State Volleyball Player Is Denied on Appeal Inside San Jose State's polarizing volleyball season Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

83% of Oakland’s rental housing may contain lead. Despite winning millions of dollars in settlement money from paint companies to help address the problem, the funds have remained unused as residents face potential exposure. This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Jessica Kariisa. It was edited by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: Toxic Inaction: Oakland’s lead funding languishes as residents live with serious health risks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nestled in the Berkeley Hills, Indian and Mortar rocks are popular hangout spots known in part for epic views of the Bay. For climbers like Berkeleyside reporter Ally Markovich, they’re known for their outsized role in the development of bouldering. But for the native Ohlone, the boulders are a symbol of a destroyed cultural landscape, and an urgent call to protect native history. This episode first ran on Dec. 23, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2010, Sandy Stier and Kris Perry were part of a landmark case challenging California’s Prop. 8, which eliminated the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples after being approved by voters two years earlier. Their trial eventually resulted in Prop. 8 being struck down. More than a decade later, Stier and Perry joined KQED to watch the unsealed tapes of their younger selves taking the stand, and reflected on what it meant to be part of that fight. This episode originally aired on Dec. 22, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many Bay Area families swear by local Dungeness crab at the holiday dinner table. But for the last 6 years, commercial crabbing season has been delayed to mid-December. So if you want that fresh crab for Thanksgiving, you'll need to either pay for a chartered boat or go catch one yourself. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Jessica Kariisa, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: California’s Dungeness Crab Season Delayed Again, But Could Open in Time for Holidays Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been more than 2 weeks since Election Day, but all 10 of California’s statewide ballot measures have been called. Olivia Allen-Price, host of Bay Curious, and Alan Montecillo, senior editor of The Bay, join Ericka to break down the results and what they mean for you. This episode was produced by Jessica Kariisa and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices