The Bay

On Oct. 19, 1991, a fire started to burn and spread in the Oakland Hills. By the time it was done, an estimated 25 people were killed and thousands of homes were destroyed.

30 years later, a warmer climate and drier conditions mean that another wildfire could break out in or near the city of Oakland. So, are we more prepared this time?

Guest: Brian Krans, contributing reporter for The Oaklandside

Listen: Remembering the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm

This episode was produced by Kate Wolffe and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Alan Montecillo.

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Nearly a decade ago, Vallejo launched an experiment: what if citizens played a more active role in deciding how to spend public money?

It's a process called 'participatory budgeting', and Vallejo is the first city in the nation to try this citywide. Now, more local governments in California are considering this approach, too.

Today, we're sharing an episode of California State of Mind, a podcast from Capital Public Radio and CalMatters. Hosts Nicole Nixon and Nigel Duara explore this topic with CapRadio's News and Features Editor Pauline Bartolone.

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California’s Reparations Task Force has a huge challenge before them: to study and recommend reparation proposals for Black Californians and descendants of enslaved people.

The task force wrapped up a series of meetings this week ranging from housing discrimination, to environmental racism to educational inequities. But this formal public process is also a time for people to share their personal emotions and experiences — and tell the state what reparations would mean to them.

View past meetings and see more about upcoming meetings of the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans

Guest: Lakshmi Sarah, KQED digital producer and reporter

This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Kate Wolffe, and hosted by Alan Montecillo.

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In 2020, homicides in the Bay Area increased by about 25%, according to a Guardian analysis of census and state data. Many of those deaths involved guns. The majority of people killed were Black and Latino, and some of the largest increases took place in Oakland, Vallejo, and Stockton.

We don't yet know all of the reasons why this increase occurred, but many local practitioners of gun violence prevention point to factors like economic hardship, and the closures of important community spaces during the pandemic.

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

Read Abené's full piece in The Guardian

This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Kate Wolffe, and hosted by Alan Montecillo.

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The Caldor Fire came very close to burning thousands of homes and businesses in South Lake Tahoe. But in the end, while the wildfire has done a lot of damage, the city was largely spared.

That’s no accident. South Lake Tahoe was protected from the Caldor Fire thanks to the hard work of firefighters, some favorable wind shifts, and years of forest preparation. 

Guest: Danielle Venton, KQED climate reporter

This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Alan Montecillo.

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Vineyard workers already have hard jobs that usually don’t pay high wages. And as wildfire season increasingly overlaps with harvest season, their work has gotten even more dangerous.

Now, advocates and farmworkers in Sonoma County are demanding that wine businesses provide stronger protections for the laborers who make the industry possible in the first place.

Guest: Nashelly Chavez, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion reporter for the Press Democrat

Follow The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa.

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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Currently, there's little stopping a police officer accused of serious misconduct from simply resigning and moving to a new department.

But that's about to change. The Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021, named after a Black man who was shot in the back by an exonerated Gardena Police Officer in 2018, makes it possible for the state to strip bad cops of their badges so they are barred from working in law enforcement for good.

Guest: Sukey Lewis, KQED criminal justice reporter and host of On Our Watch

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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The news about COVID-19 booster shots has been confusing. In mid-August, President Biden announced that a COVID-19 booster shot would roll out to all eligible U.S. residents starting the week of Sept. 20. But then, amid disagreement among federal health officials, that plan was scaled back.

Now, the federal government is recommending that some people get a third shot. Today, we break down who is eligible, and how to get one.

Read more about the COVID vaccine rollout and information on how to get a COVID booster shot. 

Guest: Carly Severn, KQED senior engagement editor

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Since July, at least 2,000 refugees from Afghanistan have arrived in California, with most settling in Northern California and the Bay Area.

Since the Taliban took over Kabul in mid-August, the pace of resettlement has ramped up, and many of the people supporting newly arrived refugees come from already-established communities of Afghan Americans in the Bay — who know what it means to be displaced and start anew.  

Guest: Tyche Hendricks, KQED immigration senior editor

Click here to find more information about Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay's efforts to help resettle newly arrived Afghan refugees.

This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Adhiti Bandlamudi, edited by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.

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California’s eviction moratorium is set to expire tomorrow, September 30. But in many parts of the Bay, Latino immigrant tenants have still been getting evicted by their landlords.

That’s because protections on paper haven’t necessarily added up to protections in practice, as many renters have not been made aware of their rights and face barriers to receiving rental assistance.

Guest: Madeleine Bair, founding director of El Tímpano

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/3F3jQTW

This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Translation assistance was provided by Madeleine Bair and Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, with additional editorial and production help from Erika Kelly, Erin Baldassari, and Molly Solomon.

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