Halloween is coming up. For many people it’s just one evening of trick or treating and frightening fun. But in one LA County neighborhood ,there’s a two-block stretch known as “horror row.” It draws people looking to keep things spine-tingling year round.

Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW

As Fresno Unified teachers prepare to strike next week, they have support from an unlikely source - substitute teachers who are supposed to take their place. The union representing Fresno area substitute teachers voted not to cross the picket line. 

Reporter: Rachel Livinal, KVPR  

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The Council of American-Islamic Relations is warning its Bay Area members to be alert, after hearing reports that the FBI is targeting Palestinians elsewhere in the country for questioning

Reporter: Christopher Alam, KQED 

A small rural town in Riverside County faces an unexpected danger -packs of aggressive stray dogs. In recent months, the dogs have killed dozens of livestock and terrorized many residents. Authorities say illegal marijuana farms are to blame.

Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR

In Los Angeles, attorneys have finished opening statements in the trial for the captain of the Conception.  That's the diving boat that caught fire four years ago while anchored off the coast south of Santa Barbara, killing 34 people on board.

Reporter: Julia Paskin, LAist

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The Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended permits that allowed robo-taxi company Cruise to operate in San Francisco. That comes after an incident earlier this month, in which one of the company's fully driverless vehicles hit and dragged a pedestrian. 

Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED

Teachers from the Fresno Unified School District, California’s third largest public school system, have voted to strike. It’s the first strike authorization by Fresno Unified teachers in more than 40 years. 

Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR

When Los Angeles-area landlords want to evict their tenants, they often hire attorney Dennis Block. Block’s law firm and has boasted about evicting more tenants than anyone else on earth. But a new investigation has found that a judge ruled that Block’s firm recently submitted fake cases in court and artificial intelligence might play a role.

 Reporter: David Wagner, LAist 

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Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom authorized $30 million in new spending to increase security and police protection at mosques, synagogues, and other houses of worship. It's an example of how war in the Middle East has increased fears about safety within California's Jewish and Muslim communities.

Guest: Dr. Alex Lechtman, President of the Board at Congregation B'nai David in Visalia

More than two dozen Stanford students are on the fourth day of a sit-in to demand university support for Palestinians.

Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED

Have you ever wondered just how many mountain lions live in California? Well researchers have an estimate. 

Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio

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Water is the lifeblood of agriculture But as climate change brings more extreme weather, farming towns in the Central Valley face increasing risks from both drought and flooding. But an innovative solution is scaling up with new state investments.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED 

About 30% of Head Start programs in California aren’t within easy walking distance to a transit stop for families with young children. That’s a problem, according to a new report, because access to transit is one of the biggest barriers for families who qualify for the federal early education program.

Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED

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It’s been nearly two weeks since Hamas militants abducted nearly 200 people from Israel. Many foreign nationals, including at least 13 Americans, are among the hostages. Here in California, families of the hostages and supporters will be at the state Capitol early next week to demand the release of their loved ones.

Guest: Ryan Pessah, Sacramento Resident, Family Abducted by Hamas

California's U.S. Senate race took another surprise turn Thursday, as Senator Laphonza Butler says she will not run for a full-term next year. 

Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED 

California invested billions to help children bounce back from learning loss that happened during the pandemic. But students are still struggling to catch up. That’s according to new test scores out from the state’s Department of Education.

Reporter: Carolyn Jones, CalMatters

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A fast growing humanitarian crisis has erupted in Gaza because of the war between Hamas and Israel. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the war began last week. Conflict in this region has been going on for decades, causing many Palestinians to relocate or seek political asylum in other parts of the world, including here in California.

Reporter: Madi Bolaños, The California Report

Rampant disinformation about the Israeli/Hamas conflict has the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation calling on social media companies to do better.

Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED

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In more than a dozen California counties, a little-known rule in the Clean Air Act has forgiven air pollution – not from the sky, but from the record. After wildfires flourished across North America this year, more U.S. states east of the Mississippi may use this exceptional events rule to subtract smoke from the record, if not from the air we breathe. But these exceptional events are no longer exceptional, and the requests to obscure them from air-quality records are more common.

Reporter: Molly Peterson, The California Newsroom

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Thousands of migrant families who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration, will now get some benefits and a shot at asylum under a proposed settlement with the federal government. The agreement lets reunified families stay in the U.S. for three years and apply for permanent protection. 

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

It's clear that artificial intelligence is here to stay. For colleges, this means figuring out how to regulate the use of it, while still encouraging students to engage with the software that will only grow in popularity.

Guest: Carolyn Jones, Education Reporter, CalMatters

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For the first time in California history, all coastal cities are now required to plan for sea level rise, a looming climate impact yet to be fully experienced. A new law requires those cities to come up with strategies and recommend projects to address future sea level rise by 2034.

Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED 

Climate change is taking a toll on farmworker communities in the Central Valley, from extreme heat and deteriorating air quality to drought and sporadic flooding. New state funding and grass roots organizations are working to help those communities manage the most immediate impacts of the worsening climate crisis.

Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED

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