Sonoma County is trying to set a trend for other cities in banning the construction of new gas stations. In 2021, Petaluma became the first city in the whole country to do so. Now nearly half of the county has followed suit, including Santa Rosa.

For the residents who’ve pushed this forward, these bans are a small but important step to fighting climate change, in a county that has experienced some of the worst wildfires in the state.

Guest: Paulina Pineda, Santa Rosa Press Democrat city hall reporter

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

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You’ve probably seen pictures or even smelled them by now. This past week, thousands upon thousands of dead fish have washed up on shorelines all over the Bay Area. And there are way more beneath the surface. 

So, what's behind this? And is this a one-off, or a sign that we need to do something to prevent it from happening again?

Guest: Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with SF Baykeeper

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

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Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed a trial run of safe injection sites in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. These sites, where people can use illicit drugs under supervision, would have been the first legal ones in the state.

But the idea isn’t new. Safe injection sites have been used as a harm reduction tool for decades in Canada, Australia, and in parts of Europe. They exist in other parts of the United States — two have opened in New York City, and Rhode Island has approved them statewide. So, why don’t we have them in California yet?

Guest: Lesley McClurg, KQED health correspondent

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

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More than 2 years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most emergency housing protections have expired. This means millions of renters are facing eviction.

Today, in an episode of The California Report Magazine, journalist Kori Suzuki tells the story of a group of tenants in Walnut Creek who tried to fight their evictions in court.

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

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It’s official: by 2035, California will end the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. State air regulators approved the plan yesterday, but it started back in 2020 when Gov. Gavin Newsom first presented the idea through an executive order. So how big of a dent could this make in addressing the climate crisis?

Guest: Kevin Stark, KQED climate editor

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This episode first aired on Sept. 25, 2020.

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Over the weekend, protesters tore down a fence that had been put up around the 24th Street Mission BART plaza at the request of San Francisco Supervisor Hilary Ronen. 

Proponents of the fence said it was necessary to curb the sale of stolen goods and improve safety. Opponents said it further marginalized people who were already struggling and who relied on the public space to make a living.

The fence was supposed to be a temporary measure before the city finishes setting up a new street vending permitting system. But the fence — and whether or not it should have ever been there — has sparked a heated debate about what this public space should be. 

Guest: Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED reporter and editor

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

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Noncitizen voting isn’t a brand new idea. White, landowning, noncitizen men were once allowed to vote in 40 states.

Today, a handful of cities have granted noncitizen residents the right to vote in various local elections. Until recently, San Francisco was one of them: in 2016, voters approved Proposition N, which granted the vote to noncitizen parents of SF Unified students in school board races. 

But late last month, a state Superior Court judge struck down San Francisco's law in a suit brought forward by conservative groups. The city has appealed the decision, and what happens next will have ripple effects across the Bay Area and the rest of the state.

Guest: Annelise Finney, KQED reporter

Correction: this episode states that noncitizens were once allowed to vote in 22 states. Research shows that the correct figure is 40 states. Our episode description has been updated accordingly.

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A heat wave that swept through the Bay Area this week made way for fires again. That, plus a slew of other fires burning across California sent smoke hovering over areas of the state. So we thought it’d be a good time to re-evaluate how we talk about fires in the first place, so that we can better understand how to address them.

Guest: Danielle Venton, Climate Reporter for KQED

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This episode first aired Aug. 20, 2021. It was hosted by Devin Katayama and produced by Alan Montecillo and Christopher Beale

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It’s been one year since the Taliban took control of Kabul. Millions of Afghans have fled the country, in many cases becoming separated from their families in the process.

Thousands of refugees have since come to northern California, thanks to the help of resettlement agencies and Afghan community organizations. But many are still in limbo, as they try to secure permanent legal status while also juggling daily life in the Bay Area and staying connected with people back with Afghanistan.

Guest: Tyche Hendricks, KQED senior immigration editor

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• 'We Are All Very Devastated': Bay Area Afghans Scramble to Contact Family After Earthquake

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

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At elite high schools in Silicon Valley, the pressure to succeed is intense. And according to Sophia Shao, a senior at Los Altos High School, her proximity to California’s tech capital is a big reason why.

In this special collaboration with KQED’s Youth Takeover, a yearlong project to highlight compelling stories written and produced by local teens, Shao talks with us about growing up in a place where everyone is expected to succeed.

Guest: Sophia Shao, senior at Los Altos High School

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

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