Crisis pregnancy centers, or anti-abortion centers, are designed to look like community health clinics. But the vast majority of them don’t have a medical license, and all of them have an explicit goal: to persuade people to not have an abortion. 

There are thousands of these centers all over the country. They advertise aggressively — especially in lower-income communities of color — and are in many cases located directly next to abortion clinics. And despite California’s reputation as a sanctuary state for abortion rights, there are more crisis pregnancy centers than abortion centers in our state.

Guest: Emma Silvers, KQED digital editor/producer

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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In November 2020, then-San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin filed criminal charges against former SFPD officer Christopher Samayoa. In 2017, Samayoa, who had been on the force for just 4 days, shot and killed 42-year old Keita O’Neil through a police vehicle window. 

But now, Boudin’s successor, Brooke Jenkins, has announced she plans to drop the charges, arguing that Boudin pursued the case for "political reasons and not in the interests of justice." Meanwhile, O’Neil’s aunt, April Green, says she told the DA “all that blood from killing and murders you're justifying from police are going to be on your head.” She has stated that she does not trust Jenkins to prosecute the officer who killed her nephew.

Guest: Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, KQED politics reporter

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This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca. Jehlen Herdman is our intern. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host. 

Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts.

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Last spring, workers at Chevron’s Richmond refinery went on strike for 10 weeks, demanding higher pay, better health benefits, and safer working conditions. When the strike ended, union leaders say that Chevron initially encouraged managers and workers to put the strike behind them.

But now, USW Local 5, the union representing Richmond refinery workers, alleges Chevron has fired at least 5 workers for their role in the strikes, a claim that Chevron denies.

Guest: Ted Goldberg, KQED supervising senior editor for news

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This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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The Here/There homeless encampment was familiar to anybody who drove between Oakland and Berkeley. The camp had its roots in the Bay Area’s Occupy movements in the early 2010s, and was founded in 2017 to highlight the problem of homelessness. It once had its own structure, rules, and a good relationship with the neighborhood.

But over the last few years, the camp changed. Its founders passed away and people moved on. And last week, the city officially closed it down.

Read the episode transcript

Guest: Supriya Yelimeli, Berkeleyside housing and homelessness reporter

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This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca. Jehlen Herdman is our intern. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host. 

Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts.

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Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong was placed on administrative leave last month, after an external investigation into the handling of two police misconduct cases found he failed to hold officers accountable. This latest chapter comes two decades into the department’s reform efforts under the oversight of a federal court. 

Recent headlines have focused mostly on Armstrong’s suspension and his efforts to get reinstated. But as journalist and author Ali Winston puts it, this latest scandal is really a symptom of longstanding issues within OPD.  

Read the episode transcript

Guest: Ali Winston, independent journalist and co-author of the book The Riders Come Out At Night

This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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Sandra Castañeda was convicted for a murder she didn’t commit and was sentenced to 40 years to life. She thought she was going to spend the rest of her life in prison. 

In 2018, she got hopeful news: California dismissed her sentence and ordered her release. But instead of finding freedom, she was immediately detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being released from prison. 

Even though her crimes were dismissed in California, federal immigration authorities still consider Sandra deportable. In this months-long investigation, KQED’s Tyche Hendricks reports on the thousands of immigrants whose cases have been dismissed at the state level but whose cases are still being pursued by ICE. 

Read the episode transcript

This episode originally aired on KQED's The California Report Magazine on Jan. 27, 2023.

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The mass shooting last Monday in Half Moon Bay that left 7 farmworkers dead has brought renewed attention to the living conditions of California farmworkers. State and local officials say they plan to investigate potential wage theft and safety violations at the two farms.

But more broadly, the issues that this mass shooting highlighted are not new: farmworkers across California make very low wages, struggle to afford housing, and are vulnerable to exploitation. And looming over it all is the fact that a majority are undocumented immigrants, with less power than most Americans.

Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED labor correspondent

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This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra

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You’ve seen the news by now: tech companies are laying people off in droves. Nearly 60,000 people have been laid off from Bay Area-based tech companies since November 2022, according to the latest estimates from Layoffs.fyi, a website that has tracked tech layoffs since the start of the pandemic.

Companies cite everything from the need to cut costs, to over-hiring during the pandemic, to fears of a looming recession. But what's really going on? And what does it mean for the tens of thousands of people who once worked in an industry that is famous for the perks, fancy offices, high pay, and stability?

Guest: Kevin Vu Nguyen, Bay Area journalist whose work has appeared in the SF Standard, the Sacramento Bee, and the Guardian

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Maria Esquinca and Jehlen Herdman, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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An estimated 62 million gallons of sewage — or about 94 Olympic-sized swimming pools — spilled into the San Francisco Bay during the storms in late December and January. 

Those storms are now behind us, and officials say the water is now safe. But now is actually the perfect time to unpack what went wrong with our sewage system, and how we can better prepare our infrastructure for the next big storm.

Guest: Lesley McClurg, KQED health correspondent

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

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Organizers of Oakland’s Lunar New Year Parade hope it marks a new start for Chinatown and the city’s Asian communities. Over the past few years, the neighborhood has been hit hard by the pandemic and violent attacks on Asians.

Now, the mass shootings in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, and East Oakland this past week have revived fears over safety. But Stewart Chen, who is involved in organizing the parade, hopes that the city and the Bay Area truly show up for Oakland Chinatown this Sunday — and that people keep coming back in the future.

Guest: Stewart Chen, board president of Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council

Oakland’s Lunar New Year Parade begins at 11:00 am at Wilma Chan Park on Sunday, Jan. 29. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Christina Chen at (510) 570-9155.

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