Eviction cases are piling up in Los Angeles County courtrooms, especially now that the county’s COVID protections have ended. Landlords almost always show up with attorneys, while tenants tend to represent themselves.

Reporter: David Wagner, LAist

 Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg says he's proud of the way community groups and local officials are stepping up, to aid the dozens of bewildered migrants who’ve arrived in his city by chartered jets in recent days.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CARE Court program is part of the state's big changes in how it treats the most severely mentally ill. A handful of counties are scheduled to begin the programs this year, including Los Angeles County.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

State authorities say they’ll investigate how a group of migrants, who were reportedly bused from Texas to New Mexico, before being flown to California, ended up at a church in Sacramento. 

Reporter: Daphne Young, KQED 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State lawmakers are trying to make renting more affordable by capping how much landlords can charge for security deposits. 

Reporter: Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, CalMatters

There's been some very un-California weather in the southern part of our state. Cloudy skies have filled the skies the last few weeks.

Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report

Accessible health care is often a huge challenge in rural parts of California. That includes in Nevada County in the Sierra Foothills.

Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By next year, every county in California will have to implement a new statewide program called CARE Court. It focuses on getting unhoused people with severe mental health disorders into treatment.  Eight counties have agreed to begin early, including San Francisco.

Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Catalytic converters are a part that all gas-powered vehicles in California are required to have in order to keep their exhaust up to our air quality standards. Thousands of cars across Los Angeles have had theirs stolen, because of the part’s valuable precious metals.

Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW

California’s record snowpack is starting to melt, and it might impact peak wildfire season. For some higher-elevation parts of the state, excess snowpack from the winter might stick around longer than usual and help in reducing severe wildfire risks. But in lower-elevation areas that dry out sooner, it’s a different story. 

Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Federal data show overdose deaths in California up slightly, and drug policy experts say lasting change requires lawmakers to examine and treat underlying causes of addiction. Meanwhile, a bill to create a task force is now advancing at the State Capitol.

Reporter: Stephanie O’Neill Patison, KFF Health News

The city of Carmel-by-the-Sea is known for its quaint shops, movie star residents and bohemian quirkiness. It’s that bohemian quirkiness that's causing a controversy in the coastal village. Last fall a group of residents asked the city to change a one hundred year old tradition.

Reporter: Doug McKnight, KAZU

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Consider the beaver. Once thought of as a “nuisance rodent,” yes it’s a rodent, for flooding roads, farmland and other properties that we want to keep dry, the beaver is now embraced as a “climate solving hero” and an eco-engineer. Why? Well for its natural ability to help increase water storage and to create natural buffers against wildfires. 

Guests: Laurie Wayburn, Co-Founder of Pacific Forest Trust and Leila Phillip, Author of the book "Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America"

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California State University system has some of the lowest tuition rates in the country. But a huge budget gap could force new tuition hikes. 

Reporter: Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters

Stanford University is conducting the first clinical trial in the world, looking at whether Paxlovid could be a possible treatment for Long COVID patients.  

Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report

Kennedy High School is in Richmond, a town northeast of San Francisco. One retired teacher has shown extraordinary commitment to the school, where he’s dedicated his time and energy for more than 50 years. 

Reporter: Richard Gonzales, The California Report Magazine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year for the past two decades, tribes along the Oregon-California border have come together for an event known as the Salmon Run. It’s a spiritual run and prayer for the health of the Klamath watershed.  

Reporter: Jane Vaughan, Jefferson Public Radio

A new state legislative committee is digging into the fentanyl crisis in search of solutions. Over five hours of testimony on Wednesday, public health and law enforcement experts painted a grim picture of a complex crisis requiring multifaceted solutions.

Reporter: Vanessa Rancano, KQED 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year, the city of Los Angeles decided to turn one of its methane gas plants into a hydrogen plant. It's part of the city’s ambitious goal to run on 100% renewable energy by 2035. It might sound great, but it’s actually a controversial move.

Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW

A new state legislative committee focused on fentanyl and opioid addiction is holding its first meeting Wednesday in Sacramento. The committee is hoping to address the ongoing opioid crisis. 

Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices