If you've been following the fires in Los Angeles, online or on TV, you've likely seen videos of gridlocked roads filled with abandoned cars. As the Palisades Fire closed in, residents trying to escape were forced to leave their vehicles behind and flee on foot. Bulldozers were later used to clear the roads. This chaotic scene highlights a troubling reality. Many communities, especially those with narrow, winding roads, are unprepared for large scale evacuations.

Guest: Lauren Sommer, NPR Climate Desk

The fires raging in Southern California have affected thousands of people who have lost their homes. But those losses also affect a wider community of people, namely a population of largely immigrant and Latino workers.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

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More fires have sparked in Los Angeles as fire crews work tirelessly through the day and night to contain them. Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate their homes. Thousands of homes and structures have been destroyed and five people have been killed in the fires.

Guest: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

Thousands of Los Angeles County residents at risk of losing their homes to fires are on the state’s insurance plan of last resort. That’s according to reporting from our California Newsroom partner, CalMatters.

Reporter: Jeremia Kimelman, CalMatters

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The city of Los Angeles is under a state of emergency following several rapidly growing wildfires that sparked early Tuesday. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate from the two biggest fires - one burning in Pacific Palisades and the other near Pasadena.

Guest: Saul Gonzalez/The California Report

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Californians are remembering the legacy of late president Jimmy Carter as his family and his remains make their way from the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta to Washington DC.

After facing two years of multi-billion dollar deficits, Governor Gavin Newsom says California's state budget for the upcoming fiscal year can be balanced without new cuts or taxes.

Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED

Southern Californians are bracing for what forecasters are calling dangerous and "life-threatening" wind conditions over the next few days. A widespread red flag warning is in effect through Thursday due to the Santa Ana wind event, which could bring gusts of more than 80 miles per hour.

President Joe Biden is visiting the Eastern Coachella Valley Tuesday, where he’ll formally dedicate a new national monument.

Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR

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Monday marks four years since a mob of supporters of then President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. It was an attempt to keep Trump in office, after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. 140 law enforcement officers were injured and five people died during or soon after the riot. Since the insurrection, more than 1,000 people have been sentenced for crimes they committed that day. That includes many Californians.

Guest: Tom Dreisbach, NPR Investigative Correspondent

The Santa Cruz Wharf reopened on Saturday, less than two weeks after 150 feet of it collapsed into the ocean during a storm. That area had already been closed to the public for nearly a year because of previous storms. Still, about 20 businesses had to close as a result.

Reporter: Erin Malsbury, KAZU

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When the Trump administration takes office later this month, it'll be on a collision course with California cities that have vowed to protect their undocumented residents from Donald Trump's plans for mass deportation. But when the city says it will protect immigrants, what does that practically mean?

Guest: Eunisses Hernandez, Los Angeles City Council

Two people were killed and 19 injured when a small aircraft crashed into a furniture manufacturing building in the Orange County city of Fullerton on Thursday afternoon.

California's snowpack near Lake Tahoe is higher than it was this time last year, but still just below average for early January.

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Several new laws went into effect on January 1, dealing with everything from workplace issues to education.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

The future of foreign labor in the tech sector could hinge on the outcome of a debate now raging in the orbit of President-elect Donald Trump, over the H1-B, a temporary visa for skilled workers.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

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Scientists project the Bay Area could rise more than a foot over the next few decades. Solutions implemented now can help communities prepare for a wetter future. This is especially true for the most vulnerable places, like San Francisco’s iconic waterfront. 

Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED

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To end homelessness, California’s political leaders have championed a seemingly simple solution: build homes for people who don’t have them. Even better, put those homes in places where unhoused folks are already living — in cities, close to public transportation and services. But insurers are increasingly eyeing those properties as too risky to serve — not because of potentially catastrophic storms or wildfires — but because of who lives there and the urban neighborhoods where they’re located. 

Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED

A new law that goes into effect in the new year could give tenants facing eviction a better shot at staying in their homes.

Reporter: Felicia Mello, CalMatters

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Since the Supreme Court gave local governments greater power to police homelessness this summer, some 40 cities across California have passed anti-camping laws, according to the National Homelessness Law Center. In the Central Valley, the city of Fresno is home to one of the state’s harshest crackdowns, banning public camping anywhere, anytime. 

Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED 

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