The Bay

San Francisco is re-upping a program to make catalytic converters more traceable, in hopes of slowing down the theft of the highly sought-out car part containing highly valuable metals.

The program comes months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two statewide laws hoping to address the problem, which has caused big headaches for car owners. When people lose their catalytic converters, they sometimes have to go months without a car, and are often on the hook for thousands of dollars in costs. 

Episode transcript

Guest:  Jose Fermoso, road safety reporter for The Oaklandside

This episode first published Oct. 22, 2022.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom has been talking a big game about CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) Court, the state’s new plan for treating people with severe mental illness. CARE Court, which every county in California will have to implement by next year, focuses on steering people suffering from severe psychosis, such as schizophrenia, and addiction into treatment. It will allow first responders, family members, clinicians and others to ask a judge to order treatment plans for unhoused people with severe psychotic disorders.

San Francisco is gearing up to launch this program by Oct. 1. So can CARE Court actually deliver what the governor promises?

Episode transcript

Guest: Scott Shafer, senior editor of KQED’s Politics and Government Desk

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

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In Santa Clara County, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is fighting for one of their most sacred sites, known as Juristac. Beginning In the late 1700s, Spanish colonizers forcibly removed the tribe from Juristac, and currently, the land is owned by a private firm that has proposed a plan to develop a mine onsite. 

For the last 7 years, the tribal band, with support from many residents and local officials, has organized to block the project. They want the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to deny the mining permit from being approved. 

In this episode from Rightnowish’s “From the Soil” series, producer Marisol Medina-Cadena, speaks to Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. 

Episode transcript

This episode originally aired on Feb. 9 

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It’s a bad time to be an Oakland Athletics fan.

First off, they're just having an awful season. But the A's are also the latest pro sports team to announce plans to leave Oakland. And earlier this week, the A’s made a significant step towards a future in Las Vegas, as Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced a tentative agreement with the A's over public funding for a new A’s ballpark on the Las Vegas strip.

These days, the Oakland Coliseum feels pretty empty, save for some of the die-hard fans who want the team owner to know one thing: that the A’s are nothing without Oakland.

Today, we speak with KQED producer and A’s superfan and drummer Nina Thorsen about the latest news, and the heartbreak of being an A’s fan right now. 

Episode transcript

Links:

• The Bay Survey

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Two 17-year old girls working at a Popeye’s in East Oakland have filed labor complaints, alleging harassment and potential violations of child labor law. They say they’ve witnessed violence at work and experienced harassment, and that one 13-year old employee was working longer than the legal limit for minors. At least one state agency is now investigating the complaints.

For labor advocates and fast food employees, this story is just another example of why changes are needed in how the state holds fast food companies accountable for poor working conditions.

Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED labor correspondent.

Episode transcript

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

Links:

• The Bay Survey

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With the end of a pandemic-era immigration policy known as Title 42, Bay Area cities and nonprofits in Santa Clara County have been preparing for the arrival of asylum seekers who’ve been waiting months, if not years, to find refuge in places like the South Bay.

Title 42 left thousands of asylum-seekers on the other side of the U.S. border or back to the countries they fled. Since the Biden administration lifted the order earlier this month, Amigos de Guadalupe in East San Jose has helped several new families find food and shelter in a community that has long welcomed immigrants.

Guest: Maritza Maldonado, founder and executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe in East San Jose

Episode transcript

Links:

• A Firsthand Look at the Border After Title 42 Ended

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

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Cleo Moore has been waiting for justice for years. On Jan. 6, 2017, SFPD Officer Kenneth Cha shot her son, Sean Moore, outside of his home after responding to a noise complaint. Moore died in 2020 from complications related to the shooting.

Moore's family saw a glimmer of hope in 2021, when then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin charged Cha with manslaughter and assault, marking the second time the city has ever filed homicide charges against an officer for an on-duty incident. 

But since Boudin’s recall, the fate of Sean Moore’s case has been in the hands of Brooke Jenkins, and Cleo and other family members are pessimistic that she will move forward with the case.

Episode transcript

Links:

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, with support from Maria Esquinca. 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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The Oakland teacher’s strike ended on Monday, when the teachers union reached a tentative agreement with the district. Classes were canceled for tens of thousands of students for seven days. The deal not only includes pay raises for teachers and other school staff, but also so-called “common good” proposals that address broader community needs, like support for unhoused families and improvements to transportation access and infrastructure.

Episode transcript

This interview was produced by Natalia Navarro and Juan Carlos Lara. This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Maria Esquinca, Jehlen Herdman and Alan Montecillo.

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Child care is too expensive and inaccessible for kids and families. That’s why in 2018, San Francisco voters approved Baby Prop. C, a tax on commercial landlords that would be used to expand access to child care, particularly for lower-and middle-income families, and to help pay early educators a living wage.

After being held up in court battles spearheaded by taxpayer and business groups, money from the tax finally began trickling down to families and providers last year. And while there are still challenges to making child care accessible , this investment appears to be paying off.

Guest: Daisy Nguyen, reporter covering early childhood education and care for KQED

Episode transcript

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

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In late April, a 24-year old transgender Black man named Banko Brown was shot and killed by an armed Walgreens security guard on San Francisco’s Market Street for allegedly shoplifting. The guard was held for a few days but has since been released. And now, community members and the Board of Supervisors are pressuring District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to release the video footage of the shooting. Jenkins has declined to file charges.

Despite San Francisco’s bold commitments to support the trans community and reduce trans homelessness, Brown struggled to find safe and stable housing, even as he was an active organizer who helped others find resources. All of this adds up to what the San Francisco Chronicle’s Nuala Bishari describes as “a tragedy of San Francisco’s making.” 

Guest: Nuala Bishari, opinion columnist and editorial writer for the S.F. Chronicle

Episode transcript

Links:

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

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