When a levee burst in a January rainstorm in the Central Valley town of Planada, floodwaters wrecked the homes of hundreds of farmworker families. In March, the same thing happened again, a levee failed in the Salinas Valley and inundated the farmworker town of Pajaro. Those communities are now pushing to get some real help in the state budget.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

Abortion access is a Constitutional right in California. Yet lawmakers here continue to struggle to regulate so-called crisis pregnancy centers – facilities that abortion advocates say mislead women seeking abortion care.

Reporter: Kristen Hwang, CalMatters 

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Later this month, the statewide task force studying reparations for black Californians will submit its historic final report to the state legislature for consideration.  Most of the focus has been on monetary reparations, but some say the task force will take a bigger picture approach.

Lawmakers in the state senate will consider a bill on Tuesday that aims to help low-income teens access mental health treatment. But some affluent parents say it would take away their rights.

Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED

California lawmakers are now waiting for Governor Gavin Newsom to sign off on their proposed state budget. Among the countless line items – $10 million set aside for LGBTQ + services at California community colleges. 

Reporter: Adam Echelman, CalMatters 

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Mayors across California are feeling the pressure to reduce street homelessness and tent encampments. So, they’re increasingly turning to temporary housing as a solution. But investments in shelters could come at the expense of permanent housing.

Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED

California prides itself on being a diverse state. But actually connecting people who have radically different life experiences can be a challenge. The Santa Monica public library is hosting events to encourage deep one-on-one conversations between people from different backgrounds. It’s called a “Human Library.” 

Reporter: Claire Wiley

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A busload of more than 40 migrants, sent by the state of Texas, arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday afternoon.  The group included at least eight children.

Questions linger about how two groups of migrants ended up on flights to Sacramento earlier this month. Some asylum seekers now say the state of Florida hired contractors to push them to get on the flights. 

Guest: Jack Herrera, L.A. Times national correspondent

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Local and state officials are cracking down on the use of gas-powered gardening equipment, like leaf blowers. But not everyone is thrilled about these changes.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

Tijuana’s migrant shelters are struggling to stay afloat. A few things threaten their long term future: declining donations and rising costs.

Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS

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20 members of Congress from California sent a letter to the EPA. They're worried that a rule intended to improve air quality could make it harder to conduct prescribed burns.

Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED

The rejection of a social studies textbook by three conservative Christian school board members in Temecula is causing more upheaval. While California's Attorney General awaits a response from the board to justify its decision, some community members in Temecula are pushing for a recall of the board members.

Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR 

Residents are moving into an all-electric housing development in the sunny, arid city of Menifee in Riverside County. There are roughly 200 single-family homes, all designed to create zero harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED

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There are more than 300,000 licensed security guards in California - a number that’s been growing over the past decade.  But in the wake of a fatal shooting of an alleged shoplifter in San Francisco last month by a Walgreens drug store guard, the training required by state regulators is looking increasingly outdated. 

Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED

Thousands of unionized hotel workers in Southern California have overwhelmingly voted for a strike authorization measure. If they do walk off the job, they say it will be the biggest hotel strike in U.S. history.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report  

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The southern San Andreas Fault hasn’t generated a major earthquake in 300 years. But why? Well, new research published in the scientific journal Nature explains that might be due to the shrinking of the nearby Salton Sea.

Campaigns to ban books are on the rise in the U.S. That includes the Riverside County community of Temecula. There, the school board’s decision to reject a textbook has sparked a censorship battle.

Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR

Music legend Chris Strachwitz passed away last month in Marin County at the age of 91. He was the founder of Arhoolie Records. He also traveled the country making field recordings of music performed by cotton-pickers, janitors, and other working people.

Reporter: The Kitchen Sisters

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Should Californians have a right to housing enshrined in the state constitution? Well, a bill to do just that just passed its first legislative hurdle in Sacramento.

Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED  

Many people living in wildfire-prone areas of California were already struggling with home insurance before the news that Allstate and State Farm would stop writing new policies. So for those who've lost homes to fire, how does this change their financial calculus?

Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQED

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The administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says it’s responsible for sending two chartered planes of asylum seekers to Sacramento over the past week. That comes after Governor Gavin Newsom suggested that DeSantis, who’s also running for president, might be guilty of kidnapping.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

The return of a Tulare Lake in California’s Central Valley because of flooding has caused millions of dollars in agricultural damage. But the new lake is also giving members of a Native American tribe a rare chance to get back in touch with their roots and sacred traditions.  

 Reporter: Soreath Hok, KVPR

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