KQED's Forum

PG&E CEO Bill Johnson requested California lawmakers to approve a $20 billion bond plan to address wildfire cases and its bankruptcy case, last week. Although critics are calling this plan a bailout, PG&E claims this will help wildfire victims and will be paid off by shareholders instead of ratepayers. Residential rates, however, are still likely to go up as much as $30 a month. PG&E is asking regulators to consider a variety of rate-related proposals to pay for wildfire prevention and its electric transmission system, among other areas. Forum takes a closer look at the state of PG&E's proposed plans and the ongoing battle of who will own the beleaguered utilities company.

With people today living decades past the age of 60, UCSF geriatrician Louise Aronson says that we need to stop looking at aging as if it’s a disease or a chronic deterioration. Elderhood, according to Aronson, should be viewed as a life stage, like childhood or adulthood, with its own benefits and challenges. Dr. Aronson joins us to discuss misconceptions about aging and her new book “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.”

Between 2015 and 2018, insurance companies dropped nearly 350,000 California homeowners in high-risk fire areas. This insurance coverage data, recently released by California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's office, does not reflect how many people who lost insurance went on to purchase it elsewhere, or if newly purchased premiums were at a higher price. Forum talks about what wildfires are costing California homeowners and businesses, and what policymakers are doing to keep Californians affordably insured.

Members of the Democratic National Committee, plus 14 Democratic presidential candidates, are gathered in San Francisco for three days of meetings that began Thursday. The weekend convening is the last chance before primary season for the Democratic Party to develop a 2020 strategy and attend to party business. On Thursday, sparks flew when the DNC's Resolutions Committee stuck down holding a climate change-focused presidential debate, with activists singing and chanting in protest of the decision. Forum reviews the meeting and what's next for the Democratic Party.

Nothing captures a sense of summer's freedom like a good road trip. As the end of summer looms and a long Labor Day weekend approaches, we'll help you savor the last days of summer with tips for great California road trips. The San Francisco Chronicle has mapped out six itineraries to off-the-beaten-path California spots that go beyond Highway 1. We'll talk with one of the Chronicle's editors and take your suggestions for getting on the road, and off the familiar routes.

Brazil's Amazon rainforest is burning at a record rate, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research. The Amazon is often called "the planet's lungs," and these fires could have disastrous effects on the fight against climate change. On Wednesday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro accused nongovernmental organizations of starting the fires, though he did not provide evidence. Critics of Bolsonaro's administration pointed to its reduced efforts to curb illegal logging, farming and mining in the Amazon as the fire's true cause. We'll talk about what the Amazon fires could mean for Brazil and global climate change.

After witnessing child separations, a dearth of hygiene products and poor medical care at Texas migrant detention centers last summer, Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon has introduced the "Stop Cruelty to Migrant Children Act." His new book, "America Is Better Than This: Trump's War Against Migrant Families," is both a report on detention center conditions and a call to action against the Trump administration's immigration policies. We'll talk with Sen. Merkley about the Trump administration's plan to expand the number of days that migrant minors can be detained, and what he thinks U.S. migrant policy should look like.

According to education writer Natalie Wexler, American elementary schools are failing to train better readers, especially when it comes to poor students. In her book "The Knowledge Gap," Wexler argues that schools in the U.S. are largely ignoring the research on elementary learning, which shows that students best learn to read through context, not through short passages and multiple choice questions. Wexler joins Forum to talk about "The Knowledge Gap" in elementary schooling, and how it contributes to greater socioeconomic gaps in education.

Earlier this month, the state threatened the city of Cupertino with a lawsuit for not meeting its mandated housing goals. Cupertino responded assuring all is on track, however a number of other small California cities in metropolitan areas are successfully blocking the production of new multifamily dwellings. According to a recent report, Bay Area towns like Los Altos Hills and Atherton didn't build a single multifamily unit in the four years from 2013-2017. We'll talk about the report and how the state’s most affluent cities are thwarting the production of state-mandated housing.

Earlier this month, India revoked Article 370, which had granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special autonomous status for the past 70 years, further escalating long-standing tensions in the region. Claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has been divided between the two nations since 1949. On Tuesday, Pakistan announced it will bring the dispute to the International Court of Justice. We'll talk about recent developments in the conflict, and what the future could hold for Kashmir.