KQED's The California Report

The Los Angeles City Council has voted in favor of drafting new municipal ordinances that will ban homeless encampments within 500 feet of all schools and daycare centers in the city.A new state audit has found major problems with the state's Child Abuse Central Index. The audit only reviewed six of California’s 58 counties, but found information gaps in tens of thousands of cases.Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED Our sister station KVPR in Fresno has launched a new podcast series called “The Other California.” It profiles small towns around the San Joaquin Valley. One recent episode focuses on the expansion of the cannabis industry in the community of Woodlake in Tulare County. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR After a very long meeting Tuesday, Democrats in the State Assembly have settled on a new Speaker to succeed Anthony Rendon. But it's still unclear when Robert Rivas will actually become the next Assembly Speaker.Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED This week the Biden Administration has launched a new system for hearing migrants’ asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border. Rather than sending asylum seekers into the overburdened immigration courts, cases will be decided by asylum officer in six cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s growing concern about the potential health and safety risks from more than a dozen leaking oil wells in Bakersfield. At least five of the wells were found to be emitting methane at high enough levels that could either be explosive or cause serious health risks.Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California ReportWith the primary election coming up next month in California, many voters will be casting their ballot for the candidates they feel best represent their interests and needs. But is there equal representation in the state?Guest: Joe Mathews, Policital Columnist and President of the Global Forum on Modern Direct DemocracyDuring the worst months of the pandemic, many childcare providers had to temporarily close their doors. That pushed some providers over the edge, especially in low income communities. Reporter: Claire Trageser, KPBS   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hollywood Bowl has been hosting musicians from far and wide for years. This year is something special as the Los Angeles venue celebrates 100 years with another summer of concerts and performances.Guest: Chad Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Philharmonic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Workers in the California Legislature are not allowed to unionize, and often work long and grueling hours, without overtime. But a new bill would change that.Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadioImmigrant advocates and the U.S. government have reached an agreement on standards for the treatment of children in Border Patrol facilities. It comes two years after advocates raised alarms over shocking conditions at the Texas border during the Trump administration.Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Hundreds of unionized workers, who've been on strike against Chevron's Bay Area refinery, are set to start voting on a deal that could end what's been a bitter two month long walk-out.Reporter: Ted Goldberg, KQEDA strike by thousands of nurses has been averted at four Los Angeles County-run hospitals and multiple clinics. It happened after an all-night bargaining session led to a tentative agreement.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of Tuesday’s mass murder at a Texas elementary school, Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders are calling for fast action aimed at reducing gun violence.Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Governor Newsom’s ambitious plan to overhaul California’s mental healthcare system cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday.  The state Senate voted to approve CARE Court. The program would allow judges to order people with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders into treatment, with a particular focus on people who are also experiencing homelessness.Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQED California’s commision on POST, which stands for peace officer standards and training, has reached a key milestone in its implementation of the new police decertification law, Senate Bill 2. The commission has approved a definition of what constitutes misconduct serious enough to revoke an officer’s badge.  Reporter: Sukey Lewis, KQEDThe Anaheim City Council has voted to cancel the troubled Angels Stadium sale deal. The deal has been mired in controversy as an FBI affidavit has shown the city's former mayor was under investigation for public corruption and other offenses.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC A KPCC investigation has found the state corrections department moved people known as medical parolees to a nursing home in Los Angeles that was recently stripped of its federal certification. The move and decision behind it has been shrouded in secrecy.Reporter: Elly Yu, KPCC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Details are still unfolding around the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 21 people are dead -- 19 students and two teachers. For young people, the tragedy will likely resonate for years. But there are support mechanisms to help them cope with the shooting.Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, The California ReportPreschool students are expelled and suspended at rates three times higher than kids in K-12 schools. It’s a problem California lawmakers are trying to address with a new bill – a bill that would ban the practice, which disproportionately impacts Black children. Reporter: Deepa Fernandes, Early Childhood Reporting Fellow, Pacific Oaks College which is funded in part by First 5 LAAn investigation by KPCC in Los Angeles has found that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has moved people known as medical parolees to an institution that the federal government has stripped of its certification. That’s after the facility consistently violated standards of patient care. Reporter: Aaron Mendelson, KPCC  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom is warning there could be statewide mandatory water restrictions if Californians don’t start conserving more water, as the drought worsens. Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadioStarting in June, 6 million Southern Californians will face new water restrictions. For many people, that’ll mean watering their yards twice or even just once a week, per regulations. Some residents are ready. Others, not so much. Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW There's a widening federal corruption investigation in the city of Anaheim, centered on its $320 milllion deal to sell the Angels baseball stadium to the owner of the team. Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu resigned Monday amid allegations that the city is tightly controlled by a “cabal” of business and political power brokers.Guest: Gabriel San Roman, Reporter, LA TimesA survivor of the 2017 North Bay wildfires is asking a federal bankruptcy judge to order managers of a fund for wildfire victims to account for millions of dollars that have been spent over the last two years.Reporter: Dan Brekke, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, Salvator Cordileone, has directed priests under his jurisdiction not to give House Speaker Nancy Pelosi communion.  Cordileone says it's because of Pelosi's support for abortion rights.State officials have confirmed that two idle oil wells in Bakersfield were leaking methane gas near a residential community, but say they were sealed late last week. Environmental groups have called out regulators for not acting with more urgency once the leaks were first reported, but the state says it wasn’t an emergency.Reporter: Juan Carlos Lara, KQED Five months ago, California unveiled a program to help low income Californians eliminate asthma triggers in their homes. But some families are still struggling to get these services.Reporter: Madi Bolaños, Valley Public RadioThe Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority or LAHSA has unveiled plans to reduce the number of unsheltered homeless in L.A. County over the next three years.Reporter: Ethan Ward, KPCCThere are two leading candidates in the race for Mayor of Los Angeles, according to the polls. One is Democratic Congresswoman and former speaker of the California State Assembly, Karen Bass. Her chief opponent is Rick Caruso, a billionaire property developer and Republican turned Democrat.Guest: Fernando Guerra, Director of Loyola Marymount University’s Center for the Study of Los Angeles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At more than $6 a gallon, California has the highest gasoline prices in the country. So what’s Sacramento doing? State lawmakers want to use part of a $97 billion budget surplus to send out rebate checks. But legislators are in a stalemate over the details. Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadioWhen it comes to COVID-19 infection rates, the Bay Area continues to lead the state, but the numbers are rising across California, driven largely by subvariants of the coronavirus. With cases also rising in Southern California, the CDC has now moved L.A. County’s COVID risk level from low to medium.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCCState Senators Melissa Hurtado and Dave Cortese have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, requesting that the Department of Justice investigate possible drought profiteering and water rights abuses in California, and other western states. Hurtado says she’s concerned about the increasing amount of water rights being purchased by hedge funds.Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report A species of California salmon is at risk of extinction due to climate change. As a short term remedy wildlife officials are trucking the salmon to cooler waters.Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sunday’s shooting at a gathering of Taiwanese American Presbyterians in Orange County has shaken that community in Southern California. It's upsetting the older generation the most.Reporter: Josie Huang, KPCCThis week, more than 40 so-called “Documented Dreamers” are in Washington D.C. They’re lobbying lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect young people who’ve aged out of their families’ immigration applications.Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQEDImmigrant advocates are pleased with Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal that would make California the first state in the nation to extend safety net health coverage to all residents, regardless of immigration status. But with a massive surplus, advocates say it's time for the state to go even further.Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQEDCalifornia has some of the most stringent privacy laws in the country, including protecting the personal data of immigrants. But a two-year investigation by the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology has found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used a range of surveillance tactics to circumvent state privacy laws, including California’s.Guest: Dan Bateyko, Research Coordinator, Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & TechnologyIn response to national shortages of baby formula, President Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to speed production and has authorized the Defense Department to use commercial planes to import formula from overseas that meet U.S. standards. The shortage is also prompting warnings from California health officials.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices