KQED's Forum

The House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill Wednesday and now billions of dollars are set to flow to California in direct payments to individuals, and for things like housing aid and child care assistance. President Biden will sign the bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act, into law on Friday. The plan’s much awaited $1,400 stimulus checks, for a segment of the population, could start hitting bank accounts within one to two weeks. The package also extends the existing $300 weekly unemployment benefit until September. We’ll talk about how the plan will impact Californians and how it might boost the state’s own $7.6 billion stimulus package that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last month.

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New CDC guidelines allow fully vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks or social distancing. But what if not everyone in that group is vaccinated? As more Californians get vaccines, and as Covid rates decline, we’ll discuss how social distancing protocols and the necessity for wearing masks should change. And we’ll talk about the latest best practices for personal protective equipment and hear from you. Have you changed your mask-wearing habits lately?

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Native Olympia oysters were once abundant in the San Francisco Bay. But overharvesting and increasing sediment from the Gold Rush mining era had all but wiped them out by the 1860’s when they were a popular and cheap food. We’ll talk about how hard working oysters help clean waterways and provide important habitat for other sea life, and what efforts are underway to bring them back. And we’ll hear about why Olympia oysters were prized by indigenous peoples and miners alike.

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English and Spanish are the most commonly spoken languages in the U.S., and some people see Spanglish -- a hybrid of the two -- as the future. Latinx youth are embracing Spanglish in ways previous generations were told was unacceptable, freely using un poquito de eso and a little bit of that in conversation. We talk about the origins of Spanglish, how people are using it today and why it’s growing.

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Governor Gavin Newsom delivers his third State of the State address Tuesday night, not from Sacramento, but from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. This comes as Newsom has been on the road, touring vaccination sites, businesses and public schools, in what feels very much like a campaign. The Governor is facing pressure from people who want coronavirus vaccinations, from parents who want their kids back in school and from businesses that want to reopen. And there's a recall effort led by disgruntled Republicans in this very blue state. We discuss the state of the state speech.

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Google’s HR department advised employees who filed complaints about racial discrimination to get counseling or take medical leave -- suggestions irrelevant to their complaints, according to a news report from NBC News. Google drew backlash for what some workers consider a toxic and racist company culture because of events such as the firing of Timnit Gebru, April Curley and others who pushed for greater social equity within Google. We talk about how Google has responded to internal complaints of discrimination and what’s happening within its company culture.

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As the House of Representatives prepares to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion covid relief package, we talk with Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee about the stimulus bill and what it could mean for the Bay Area. We’ll also check in with Lee about legislation addressing voting rights, justice in policing and her call for the country to take a deep look at systemic racism by establishing a U.S. Commission on Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation.

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In California, vaccine eligibility now extends to those 65 and over, health care providers, long term care residents and workers in sectors like agriculture and childcare. And officials plan to expand eligibility to more Californians in the coming weeks. But for children under 16, for whom no vaccine has yet been authorized, the wait for a shot will likely extend until at least the end of the year. We’ll talk about the status of national pediatric vaccine trials and what health officials need to greenlight a vaccine for kids. We’ll also talk about new CDC guidance for those who are fully vaccinated

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Springtime planting season is here. To new gardeners, the abundance of plant choices can seem overwhelming. Do you plant a flower garden or try your hand at vegetables… and in a drought, how do you identify water-wise or drought-tolerant plants? In this hour, we talk with a panel of green-thumbed experts to hear how a novice gardener can start growing, and what are some sure-fire veggies or varieties for beginners. And we want to hear your gardening questions, especially if you’re planning your first planter box or garden or troubleshooting last season’s mistakes.

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In 2020, the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center documented 2,808 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with 700 of those reports in the Bay Area. In Los Angeles, the police commission reported a 114% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020. The troubling rise in anti-Asian violence has taken many by surprise. But for those inside the Asian American community, the crimes feel both familiar and horribly inevitable following the rhetoric of the previous White House administration. Political and media underrepresentation — and misconceptions of Asian Americans as a monolithic group — obscure a history of violence against Asian American communities. We’ll discuss that history and the current community activism metabolizing this moment as well as what lies ahead.

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