The Bay

For the last 100 years, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite has supplied millions of Bay Area residents with some of the cleanest water in the country. A feat of human engineering, Hetch Hetchy has both an impressive and tainted history; its construction came at both an environmental and human cost to the indigenous people of the area.

Now, climate change is making it harder to manage the reservoir, and scientists say something has to change to adapt Hetch Hetchy to the future.

Guest: Ezra David Romero, KQED climate reporter

Episode transcript

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

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The federal COVID emergency will officially end on Thursday. But for those living with long COVID, the end of the pandemic couldn’t feel farther from reality. 

Dubbed by some as a “mass disabling event,” long COVID has left millions of Americans unable to work and stuck navigating the system of disability benefits in order to survive. Doctors and researchers have yet to pin down the exact cause of long COVID. Meanwhile, patients feel that not enough has been done to help find an effective treatment.

Guest: Keith Mizuguchi, producer for KQED’s The California Report 

Episode transcript

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

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On Thursday morning, nearly 3,000 educators and staff at the Oakland Unified School District went on strike in a push for higher wages and better resources. The union and the district have not had an active contract since the last one expired in October. This marks the third walkout this year and the second official strike since 2019.

Guest: Erin Baldassari, KQED reporter

Episode transcript

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

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San José Mayor Matt Mahan has been pushing to build more emergency interim housing as a cost-effective approach to get unhoused residents off the streets more quickly. It’s intended to be a temporary step toward more permanent housing.

But one big roadblock to building it? Local housed residents, who say they want to see solutions to homelessness...just not in their own backyards.

Guest: Guy Marzorati, politics and government correspondent for KQED

Episode transcript

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

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BART Board Director Lateefah Simon is running to replace East Bay Rep. Barbara Lee in Congress, who herself is running to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

On KQED’S Political Breakdown podcast, Simon talks with Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos about growing up with a single mom in San Francisco’s Western Addition, her early work with Kamala Harris, facing threats in office, and her run for Congress.

Episode transcript

This conversation first aired April 13, 2023.

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

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Alameda County’s eviction moratorium helped keep hundreds, potentially thousands of people housed during the pandemic.

But after increased pressure from local landlords who face hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent, as well as the deaths of two tenant-friendly members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the county has decided to officially end the eviction moratorium at midnight April 29. 

Some cities, like Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro, are phasing out their moratoriums more slowly. But the end of Alameda County’s moratorium marks the end of one of the strongest in the Bay Area, and thousands of residents will be affected.

Guest: Vanessa Rancaño, housing reporter for KQED

Episode transcript

Links:

• As Bay Area Eviction Moratoriums Expire, Local Lawmakers Scramble

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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Eastwind Books, one of the nation’s first Asian American bookstores, has closed its doors after more than four decades in business.

The store has been run by Harvey and Beatrice Dong, two activists who were part of civil rights movements in the Bay Area in the 1960s, including the fights over ethnic studies and evictions at the International Hotel in San Francisco.

Now in their seventies, Harvey and Beatrice say higher rents and maintenance bills have prompted them to close up shop.

Guest: Iris Kwok, Berkeleyside reporter

Episode transcript

This episode was produced by Jehlen Herdman and Holly J. McDede, edited by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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There were more than 2,700 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assault in 2021, the highest count since the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Extremism began tracking these incidents four decades ago. 

In October, a group called the Goyim Defense League hung a banner off I-405 in Los Angeles that read “Kanye Was Right About the Jews.” Although this happened in southern California, this group was actually founded right here, in the Bay Area.

Guests: Julie Small, KQED reporter and Jill Castellano, inewsource investigative reporter

Episode transcript

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

This story was produced in partnership with inewsource, a nonprofit news organization in San Diego. It is part of an ongoing project with inewsource and other NPR stations to chronicle the extent of extremism in California.

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To commemorate National Poetry Month, producer Maria Esquinca talks to Bay Area-based poet Antmen Pimentel Mendoza about his Chapbook collection, “My Boyfriend Apocalypse.” He talks about surviving the apocalypse, queer love, and finding play in poetry. 

You can listen to Antmen Pimentel Mendoza read live on Tuesday, April 25, at 7 p.m. at Fabulosa Books in San Francisco. You can find him on Twitter and instagram @antmenismagic.

Episode transcript

This episode was hosted and produced by Maria Esquinca, and edited by Alan Montecillo.

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On Wednesday night, the Oakland A's announced that they have signed an agreement to buy land for a stadium in Las Vegas. This news doesn't mean the move is complete, but it does make it even more likely that yet another major pro sports team will leave the city of Oakland.

We want to know what you're thinking about this. How are you feeling about the team's likely move to Las Vegas? How has it felt to be a fan of the A's? What's going through your mind?

Leave us a voicemail at 415-710-9223. Please leave your first name and city, and you may hear your message in a future episode.

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