The Bay

This episode contains mentions of suicide.

Too often, psychosis isn’t treated until it’s too late. But studies from early psychosis clinics show that patients see a greater reduction of symptoms, like voices or delusions, and a greater improvement in functioning at school, at work and in their social lives, compared to people who get treatment as usual.

But too often, private insurers don’t cover these treatments, leaving many families to navigate the byzantine system of insurance on their own.

This episode of The California Report Magazine first aired on March 1, 2023.

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Residents of Pajaro in Monterey County were finally allowed to return home Thursday after destructive flooding from last week’s storms. When the levee broke, causing the town to flood, it wasn’t a huge surprise; problems with that levee have been well-known for decades, but it wasn’t enough to address the problem fast enough.

The Bay Area has hundreds of its own levees. And it turns out, we don’t really know how safe or vulnerable most of them are.

Guest: Ezra David Romero, climate reporter for KQED

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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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Silicon Valley Bank is best known for its relationships with the tech industry. But the bank also had billions out in loans to developers working on affordable housing projects in the Bay Area.

Unlike larger banks, regional banks like SVB are more likely to fund local affordable housing projects.

But now that the bank has collapsed, the future of these projects is precarious, and calls into question how these much-needed affordable housing projects are funded in the first place.

Guest: Sydney Johnson, KQED reporter

Episode transcript

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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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is in the middle of rolling out a plan to make preschool universal across the state. Also known as “transitional kindergarten,” it’s all part of an ambitious plan to make childcare more accessible, and close some big learning gaps between children from low and high income families. So far, the implementation has been mixed.

But some districts have been providing transitional kindergarten already. The Alum Rock Union School District in East San Jose is one of them, and its program is attracting more and more interest from families. Today, we explain why. 

Guest: Daisy Nguyen, Early Childhood Education and Care reporter for KQED

Episode transcript

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The U.S. ranks 55th in the world in maternal mortality rates. Those rates are even worse for Black women, whose maternal mortality rate is more than two times higher than any other racial or ethnic group. Patients and advocates cite lower access to quality care and racism in the medical system as main drivers of these outcomes. 

A program in Alameda County is providing an answer to that problem. BElovedBIRTH Black Centering, operating through the Alameda Health System, is completely rethinking what birthing looks like for Black folks. The program provides group perinatal care by, for, and with Black people — and it’s leading to better outcomes for the families involved.

Guest: Jyesha Wren, a midwife and co-founder and program coordinator of BElovedBIRTH Black Centering in Oakland

Episode transcript

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

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As residents across California continue to cope with heavy wind and rain, perhaps no community has been hit harder than Pajaro, where thousands of residents have evacuated after a levee broke late last Friday, flooding the town.

An unincorporated community in Monterey County, Pajaro is home to mainly low-income Latino farmworkers who provide a large portion of California-grown produce. They've lost not only their homes and vehicles to flooding, but also their livelihoods as farms across the county are forced to shut down. 

Guest: Katherine Monahan, KQED Reporter

Episode transcript

For information and referrals to disaster relief organizations, residents of evacuated areas can call 211.

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San Francisco’s mobile opioid treatment clinics popped up as a way to address overcrowding at San Francisco General Hospital during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These vans distribute methadone, a medication used to reduce withdrawal symptoms — while offering program patients snacks, water and canisters of naloxone, an overdose-reversal nasal spray. 

In San Francisco alone, nearly 2,000 people have died of drug overdoses since 2020. And surprisingly, these temporary mobile clinics are drawing more patients than SF General's indoor treatment clinics. Now, the people who run it want to find a way to keep them around.

Guest: Sydney Johnson, KQED reporter

Episode transcript

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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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A potential dynasty is building at Oakland Technical High School, where the girls’ basketball team is on its way to clutching its 3rd state championship in 5 years.

Not only are the Lady Bulldogs skilled, but they’re hella fun to watch. The team boasts height, three point shooters, phenomenal defense — and swag. And their coaches have a message for their city with a chip on its shoulder over the loss of the Raiders and the Warriors t: come watch these girls play.

Guest: Ariana Prohel, culture reporter for KQED

Episode transcript

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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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two men who worked at an auto shop in Napa have been sentenced to federal prison for plotting to blow up the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento in 2021. Ian Benjamin Rogers, of Napa, was sentenced to 9 years and 3 years of supervision after he is released. Jarrod Copeland, of Vallejo, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years. He also has 3 years of supervision after he is released. 

Their case is part of a surge in violent extremist activity the FBI is investigating in Northern California and throughout the nation — and the Bay Area is not immune. 

Guests: Julie Small and Alex Hall, KQED reporters

Episode transcript

This episode first published on May 18, 2022.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein is retiring after more than 30 years in Washington. Her retirement has gotten many people talking about her legacy and career in the U.S. Senate.

But before that, Feinstein was a local official in her hometown of San Francisco. In 1969, she won a seat on the Board of Supervisors and eventually became Board President. In 1978, she became mayor after the shocking assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Feinstein would serve in that role until 1988.

Guest: Scott Shafer, senior editor of KQED's California politics and government desk

Episode transcript

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

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

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