More than 35,000 people are living unhoused across the Bay Area – up 9 percent in the last three years, according to an annual count of folks living on the streets.

In light of the release of those most recent statistics, we wanted to re-up an episode of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America that asks: what are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis?

This episode first published on Apr 25, 2022

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Just because COVID sick pay exists doesn't necessarily mean employees always feel comfortable using it. Between Americans’ unhealthy relationship with work and a sense that the world is opening back up again, employers have a lot to gain from the lack of widespread knowledge of COVID sick pay benefits in California.

But if you work in California and get infected with COVID, you may be able to claim up to 80 hours of paid leave. And now that the Bay Area isin another COVID surge because of the omicron BA.2 variant, learning your rights about sick pay is more important than ever. 

Guest: Carly Severn, senior engagement editor for KQED

Links: 

• COVID Sick Pay in California: How to Claim This New Paid Leave

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The threat of domestic extremist violence is all over the country. Just last weekend, an 18-year old white man drove to a predominantly Black part of Buffalo, New York, and shot 13 people at a grocery store. 10 have died.

The Bay Area is not immune to this threat. Last year, two men who worked at an auto shop in Napa were arrested and accused of plotting to blow up the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento. 

Guests: Julie Small and Alex Hall, KQED reporters

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

Links: 

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California’s new 8th Congressional district, which includes Vallejo, Fairfield, Richmond, Pittsburg, and part of Antioch, is the most diverse in the region. It’s the only district in the entire state with at least 15% white, Latino, Black, and Asian populations. 

That’s no coincidence. Grassroots activists in Contra Costa and Solano counties pushed for these communities to be included in the same district — and succeeded.

Now, there’s an election coming. And in the race to represent this district in the U.S. House, the overwhelming frontrunner is Rep. John Garamendi, a white, 77-year old Democrat who doesn’t live in the district. So how did this happen, and how do people feel about it?

Guest: Guy Marzorati, KQED politics and government reporter and producer

Episode Transcript

Links:

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Lots of high-profile jobs in San Francisco have opened up lately — whether it’s because of a recall, a corruption scandal, or a simple job promotion. And as a result, Mayor London Breed has been able to appoint a lot of people.

Most recently, Breed was tasked with filling the District 6 Board of Supervisors seat left vacant by the election of Matt Haney to the state Assembly. She picked Matt Dorsey, an openly gay, longtime political insider who most recently served as a spokesperson for the SFPD.

Today, we talk about Dorsey’s appointment and what it could signal for the city's politics.

Guest: Scott Shafer, KQED senior editor of politics and government and co-host of the Political Breakdown podcast

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

Episode transcript

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Currently, the Bay Area is California’s COVID hot spot.

The good news? Fewer people are being hospitalized or dying from COVID, thanks to the vaccine and the increased availability of treatments. This wave might also be a window into what life will look like going forward, without the public health mandates we saw at the pandemic’s peak.

Guest: Lesley McClurg, KQED health correspondent

Episode transcript

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

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It’s election season again. On June 7, Californians have some big decisions to make in elections both locally and statewide. 

In San Francisco, voters will decide whether or not District Attorney Chesa Boudin will keep his job. Boudin was a public defender who grew up with parents in prison. And when he was elected in 2019, he promised progressive reforms around prosecution and police accountability.

Now, he faces a recall election. The people who want him out of office say he hasn’t been tough enough on crime, and that the city is less safe under his leadership as DA.

So in this episode, we’re sharing an interview between Chesa Boudin and KQED’s Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer. It was recorded in front of a live audience at our headquarters in San Francisco on May 3.

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At West County High School in Sebastopol, there are way fewer students of color compared with schools in many Bay Area cities. And the students there have been fighting racist bullying for years. In 2016, the federal government investigated the West Sonoma County Union High School District for how it handled racist bullying at its schools.

Over the past month, this issue has gotten a ton of attention from the community again — and students of color say not much has changed.

Guest: Julia McEvoy, KQED senior editor

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

Episode Transcript

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A majority of the Supreme Court plans to strike down Roe v. Wade, according to leaked documents obtained by Politico. In California, most public officials have pledged to double down on our state’s protections for abortion rights. 

But that doesn’t mean getting access to an abortion is always easy. An estimated 40% of mostly rural counties in California — home to hundreds of thousands of people in the state — have no clinics that provide abortions.

Guest: Katie Orr, former KQED politics and government reporter

Episode Transcript

This episode originally aired on Dec. 8, 2021. 

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Growing up, Katrina Ramos White helped her immigrant parents run a toy stand at the Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose. A few years ago, with hopes of buying her own home in SIlicon Valley, she took over the family business on top of her tech job. But big change is on the horizon for La Pulga, which sits on privately-owned land and is now slated for redevelopment. For Katrina and her family, saying goodbye to La Pulga could mean saying goodbye to the Bay Area altogether. 

Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporter and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, KQED en Español reporter

Episode Transcript

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