The Bay

School boards in California have historically had a lot of power over decisions at the local level, but the choice to reopen for in-person learning has put that power to the test like never before.

More than a thousand California school districts are deciding whether to take advantage of financial incentives and reopen classrooms for the youngest and most vulnerable students. Many are facing intense pressure from lawmakers who question the power local school boards have, and from parents who are leading recall efforts.

Guest: Guy Marzorati, KQED politics reporter and producer for the Political Breakdown podcast

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3rQTf5k

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The single-family neighborhood has been foundational to American housing policy for decades. It’s also been a tool to keep Black and brown people out of homeownership, and is one reason why there isn’t nearly enough housing overall.

This policy has deep roots in the Bay Area. But now, a handful of cities are rethinking it, and allowing developers to build ‘fourplexes’ in these areas.

A change like this won’t solve the housing crisis overnight, and it won’t bring down rents unless it’s paired with other protections. But it is a big first step.

Guest: Erin Baldassari, KQED housing affordability reporter and co-host of SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3tB5mnN

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Organizers behind the attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom believe they will collect enough verified signatures to trigger a special election later this year.

It’s going to take a lot to actually unseat Gov. Newsom in a recall election and replace him with a Republican. But this campaign is already a lot bigger than any other effort to recall a California governor since 2003. So, why has it gained traction this time?

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/38zV0MG

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On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for fully vaccinated people. New, confirmed cases of COVID-19 are down in California. We have three vaccines in the U.S. This is all good news.

But the virus and its variants are still among us, and a vast segment of the population is still waiting their turn for the vaccine. So how should we navigate this in-between period without sabotaging the progress we’ve made? 

Guest: Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/38oj1WS

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Angelo Quinto was having a mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. After Antioch Police arrived at Quinto’s home, his family says an officer kneeled on his back near the neck before his body went limp. Quinto, a 30 year-old Filipino American, died days later in the hospital. His death has drawn national attention, especially among Filipino Americans across the country, and spotlights a Bay Area suburb where a now majority-Black city council and young activists are trying to change the power dynamics of the traditionally pro-police community.

Guest: Sandhya Dirks, Race & Equity Reporter for KQED

Listen to KQED's American Suburb podcast here. Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/2OAbEEV

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On Thursday, the California state legislature approved a $6.6 billion plan to encourage school districts to resume in-person learning for the youngest public school students in the state. Meanwhile, some students have noticed their perspectives missing from the conversation about re-opening schools. Today, we hear from some.

Guests: Joy Cheng, senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco; Melina Kritikopoulos, senior at Santa Clara High School; Isabella Brenneman, junior at Kit Carson International Academy in Sacramento

Subscribe to our newsletter here. Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3sPLTPB

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Mill Valley in Marin County is one of the 10 most segregated cities in the Bay Area. During the rise of protests following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last year, Mill Valley Mayor Sashi McEntee claimed the Black Lives Matter movement was “not of immediate local importance.” That summer, community activists held protests and sit-ins demanding a public apology from the mayor and plans for lasting change.

In response, the City Council created the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, but in February the City Council rejected half of the task force's proposals and refused to accept its recommendations.

The fight for racial justice is happening in cities across the Bay, but what has it looked like in the Bay Area's whitest and wealthiest county?

Guest: Lorenzo Morotti, Marin Independent Journal reporter and Amber Allen-Peirson, activist in Marin City and Mill Valley.

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/2MIEvGm. Subscribe to our newsletter here.

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The ZIP codes in and near East San Jose have been hit the hardest by COVID-19 in the Bay Area. They’re predominantly immigrant neighborhoods with thousands of essential workers, many of whom work for the Silicon Valley tech giants located nearby.

Many say the pandemic has simply exposed generations of disinvestment in this corner of Santa Clara County. So how are community members in these neighborhoods surviving and helping each other during a pandemic that has affected the Bay so unequally?

Guest: Farida Jhavala Romero, KQED reporter

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3syRj1a

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Last fall, KQED launched a new, five-part podcast about possible solutions to the housing crisis. It’s called SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America, hosted by housing reporters Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon.

Since then, Erin and Molly have also received lots of questions and comments from listeners who are curious about what’s happened on the housing front since the podcast dropped. 

Today, we wanted to pass it off to them. Whether you’ve listened to SOLD OUT or not, this is a timely conversation about a subject that affects all of us.

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3pWPVDS

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An oil spill from Chevron’s Richmond refinery earlier this month and the toxic fumes released last November are part of a long trend of dangerous spills into the Bay Area’s water and air. So why’s it so hard to keep the fossil fuel industry from releasing harmful stuff into our environment over and over again?

Guest: Ted Goldberg, KQED senior editor

Episode transcript here: http://bit.ly/3upixsZ

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