An election to recall 2 school board members is underway in the 900-person town of Sunol in Alameda County. The recall targets 2 of the town's 3 school board members, who voted in September to ban all flags other than the state and federal flags, which recall supporters saw as an attempt to prevent a LGBTQ Pride flag from being flown at the district's only school.

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This episode was produced by Adhiti Bandlamudi and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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San Francisco’s mayor’s race kicked into high gear after 5 candidates took to the stage for their first debate last Wednesday evening. 

Today, in Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez’s last act as a KQED journalist, he opens up his reporter’s notebook to break down his key takeaways from the debate, and what it told us about the upcoming race ahead.

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On April 27, 2023, an armed security guard shot and killed a Black trans man named Banko Brown outside of a San Francisco Walgreens.

Brown’s killing sparked outrage. But San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins decided not to charge the security guard who shot him, saying that he acted in self-defense. And just last Friday, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced that it supported that decision. 

This announcement has crushed Banko Brown’s loved ones, including those who say that his killing was an example of the conditions that unhoused transgender people face in San Francisco.

KQED reporter Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez sits down with Brown’s chosen family, to discuss life as a homeless queer person in San Francisco, and Banko’s life before his death.

This episode originally aired on Sept. 6, 2023.

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At elite high schools in Silicon Valley, the pressure to succeed is intense. And according to Sophia Shao, a former student at Los Altos High School, her proximity to California’s tech capital is a big reason why. 

In this special collaboration with KQED’s Youth Takeover, a yearlong project to highlight compelling stories written and produced by local teens, Shao talks with us about going to school in a place where everyone is expected to excel.

This episode first ran on Aug. 15, 2022

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The ruins of Sutro Baths, at the far western edge of San Francisco, are mysterious. Clearly something big used to stand here. Today, the folks from the Bay Curious podcast take you back in time to what visiting this grand swimming facility would have been like.

Episode Transcript

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California is in the middle of figuring out exactly how it wants to regulate artificial intelligence. CalMatters’ Khari Johnson joins us to explain how these efforts are going — and how AI could affect all of our lives soon.

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Applying for student aid this year was supposed to be easier for incoming college students, with a more simplified application process for FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. 

But technical problems and missed deadlines for the new form’s rollout has led to disastrous results for students, especially those who are undocumented or come from mixed status families. These issues are likely a big reason why California saw a major drop in FAFSA applications for the Class of 2024.

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ellie Prickett-Morgan, Tamuna Chkareuli and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

Transcript

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The company that owns the Regional Medical Center of San Jose says it plans to close the hospital’s trauma center on August 12. The trauma center is the only one of its kind on Santa Clara County’s east side.

Now, local leaders, patient advocates, and even some doctors from the hospital want the state to intervene, warning that this closure will have devastating ripple effects on the entire region.

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In this edition of The Bay’s monthly news roundup, Ericka, Alan, and intern Ellie talk about a possible tax on oil refining in Richmond, the debate over farmworker housing in Half Moon Bay, and Berkeley’s baby falcons. Plus, an interview with Tamuna Chkareuli, a visiting journalist from the Republic of Georgia who has been working at KQED for the past few weeks.

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If you ride BART, you may have seen uniformed employees with the words ‘Crisis Intervention Specialist” on their backs. About 20 of these ‘CIS-es’ — who are not police officers — can be seen walking through trains, seeking out and offering help to the many people in the sprawling transit system struggling with lack of shelter, mental health problems or addiction. 

KQED’s Matthew Green joins us to talk about what he learned about this program, and what a morning on the job was like.

Links:

• 'We Approach in Peace': Are BART's Efforts to Help People in Crisis Working?

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ellie-Prickett Morgan, Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and Tamuna Chkareuli, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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