KCBS Radio Cover Stories

Thirty years after he pulled a boy alive from the wreckage of the Cypress Freeway by chainsawing through another earthquake victim, an East Bay doctor still thinks about that miraculous rescue, almost every single day. So does KCBS Radio Reporter Doug Sovern, who was there when it happened, and had a reunion with the surgeon to share their memories of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

A pioneering program in the East Bay is bringing psychiatric care right into those homeless tent encampments that dot the Bay Area's urban landscape. There are more than eight thousand people experiencing homelessness in Alameda County, and roughly half have mental health issues. KCBS Radio Reporter Doug Sovern hit the streets of Oakland with the county's StreetHealth Team.

Some Russian River residents say there are two seasons in the county, flood season and fire season with little rest in between.

In the last installment of her four-part series, KCBS Radio reporter Holly Quan went back to Guerneville to see, six months after the worst flooding in a quarter century, whether the area is ready for evacuations of a different kind. 

Six months after the worst flooding on the Russian River in 25 years, the long term effects are being felt in a diaspora of long time locals. Housing was tough enough before the water rose 13 feet above flood stage.

As KCBS Radio reporter Holly Quan discovers in part three of her special four-part series from Guerneville, this disaster could change the face and feel of the town. 

Six months since the Russian River climbed 13 feet above flood stage, the worst in 25 years, the scars are well hidden. This is high season, what you earn this summer can make or break you come winter.

In part two of her special four-part series, KCBS Radio reporter Holly Quan re-visits the tourist heavy region to see who's thriving and who's barely able to survive. 

Next week will mark six months since heavy rains pushed the Russian River to 45 feet, inundating towns and washing out roads. For an area so reliant on summer tourism, not everything is back to normal.

In part one of her special four-part series, KCBS Radio reporter Holly Quan went back to the flood zone to find some roads still closed with no timetable for repairs. 

The owner of a sake shop in San Francisco's Hayes Valley is venting his frustration over the neighborhood's lack of parking by putting his money where his mouth is.

KCBS Radio Reporter Doug Sovern says his latest window display is the buzz of the neighborhood.

As Mexican authorities pull more migrants out of caravans, deporting them to their home countries, desperate Central Americans are returning to some older methods to try to reach the United States. That includes handing over their life savings to so-called "coyotes" who smuggle them across the border.

In the fifth and final part of this week's special series, "A Desperate Frontier: Death And Dreams In El Salvador," KCBS Radio Political Reporter Doug Sovern brings us the story of one man who made that dangerous journey, from San Salvador all the way to Sonoma County.

In recent days, Mexico has been cracking down on migrant caravans, arresting and deporting more of the immigrants moving through the country toward the United States.

But in Central America, KCBS Radio Political Reporter Doug Sovern found out that the Mexican government was already getting tough on those migrants, even as President Trump was complaining the country wasn't doing enough.

Here is Part 4 of this week's special 5-part series, "A Desperate Frontier: Death And Dreams In El Salvador."

President Trump is trying to eliminate U-S aid to the three countries that make up Central America's "Northern Triangle," because he doesn't think they're doing enough to keep their people from migrating to the United States.

But in El Salvador, KCBS Radio Political Reporter Doug Sovern discovered that cutting off those dollars could force even more migrants to try to cross our border.

Here's Part Three of this week's special series, "A Desperate Frontier: Death And Dreams in El Salvador."