The Bay

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Californians won’t lose the right to an abortion. The right to have one is codified into state law.

But having the right to an abortion isn’t the same as having good access to one — especially if you’re low income or live in rural parts of the state, where 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, KQED politics and government reporter

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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When the police kill or hurt someone, the public has a right to know what happened. But in many cases, the police’s story is carefully crafted to protect officers. And in California, it’s often done with the help of a Vacaville-based PR firm known as Cole Pro Media, which has at least 100 clients across the state.

Cole Pro focuses on helping police departments and sheriff’s offices improve their public image. But they’ve also helped law enforcement agencies avoid scrutiny and transparency.

Guest: Scott Morris, reporter at the Vallejo Sun

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

Links:

• The Vacaville PR firm influencing police narratives across California

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During the first few weeks of sheltering in place, food banks saw a huge explosion in demand as thousands lost their jobs and income. Food banks also had to stop or restrict volunteer programs for fear of spreading COVID-19.

Now, as we go into our second holiday season during the pandemic, many still can’t afford to buy the food they need for themselves and their families. And on top of that, prices for many food items have increased as well.

Guest: Carly Severn, KQED senior engagement editor

Links:

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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Federal health officials are expanding the search for the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the U.S, including at San Francisco International Airport, where there’s increased testing for some international travelers.

There’s still a lot we don’t know — Omicron could be a big deal, or it could change very little about the pandemic. Medical experts are currently trying to figure out whether this variant is more contagious, whether it's more deadly, and how the vaccines hold up against it.

Guest: Dr. Chaz Langelier, assistant professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at UCSF

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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Artists in Afghanistan are in trouble now that the Taliban are back in charge. Visual artists and performers are fleeing the country for fear of being harassed, persecuted, and even killed.

This has ripple effects here in the Bay Area, which is home to a well-networked Afghan community and many Afghan American artists. They fear that creativity and freedom of expression are under attack once again. And they’re responding in different ways — through raising money, through changing their artistic practices, and through using art to help newly arrived refugees. 

Guest: Chloe Veltman, KQED arts and culture reporter

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

Links:

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Meeting new people as an adult is hard enough, whether it’s dating or meeting new friends. Then the pandemic happened, and it got even more difficult.

But there are success stories out there. KQED Silicon Valley reporter Adhiti Bandlamudi did start dating someone during the pandemic. And in a recent episode of The California Report Magazine, she spoke with host Sasha Khokha about what that was like — and how it led to a connection she wasn’t expecting.

We're hiring a producer! Please apply by Dec. 1.

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A movement to support Indian farmers scored a win this past week. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, announced plans to roll back three controversial laws that had sparked protests for more than a year.

The Sikh community in California had rallied behind this movement and staged several marches here in the Bay Area, including one that stopped traffic on the Bay Bridge. Many said they wanted to take a stand against privatization. Some wanted to stand in solidarity with relatives back home. And now, it seems that these continued demonstrations have paid off.

Guest: Lakshmi Sarah, KQED reporter

This episode originally aired on December 14, 2020. It was originally produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Alan Montecillo, and Kyana Moghadam, and hosted by Devin Katayama.

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This month, Walgreens closed 5 stores in 5 different San Francisco neighborhoods. The company claims it was because of “organized, rampant retail theft,” although available information doesn't quite back that up.

These Walgreens locations also got national attention, and became part of heated local debates about policing and a fear of increased crime. And all the while, many San Francisco residents — especially older people and lower-income families — have lost an essential resource in their neighborhoods.

Guest: Abené Clayton, lead reporter of The Guardian’s Guns and Lies in America series

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

More Reading:

• 'Walgreens fed my family': inside the San Francisco stores closing over 'retail theft'

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The United Nations COP26 climate summit was billed by conference organizers as the “last, best hope” to save our warming planet. In the end, countries left with an agreement that makes some progress, but ultimately doesn’t go far enough. And if you’re worried about climate change, it probably didn’t do much to ease your anxiety.

But we don’t have to rely on world leaders alone. Today, we discuss how to take feelings of climate anxiety and turn them into meaningful action. 

Guest: Laura Klivans, KQED climate reporter

More Resources:

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

We're hiring a producer! Please apply by Dec. 1.

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52 years ago this month, a group of Native Americans began to occupy Alcatraz to assert their right to self-determination. The 19-month occupation is still known as one of the most important actions in contemporary Native American history and in the fight for American Indian civil rights.

On Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2019, Native people from across the West Coast gathered in San Francisco for a ceremonial canoe journey to Alcatraz Island.

This episode originally aired on Oct. 16, 2019.

(00:08) See the location of Alcatraz Island

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