KQED's The California Report

California’s recall election is in full swing, with a campaign launch featuring a live bear. Meanwhile, embattled Governor Gavin Newsom is defending his record managing the state through a tumultuous year. Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadioPublic health experts are keeping a close eye on data that shows the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations slowing down. While the slowdown is concerning, some early skeptics of the vaccine have had a change of heart, and are now getting their shot.Guest: Dr. Brian Castrucci, president and chief executive officer of the de Beaumont Foundation The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has voted to launch another investigation into complaints that sheriff’s deputies harass relatives of victims of law enforcement violence. This comes following a new report released by the National Lawyers Guild and American Civil Liberties Union. Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCC A law passed in 2018 that requires California companies to have women on their boards of directors is having an effect. The number of female directors at California has doubled in the three years since the measure was signed into law.Reporter: Nina Thorsen, KQEDSmaller family-owned businesses have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, leaving some to close their doors and others to pivot to new ventures. One immigrant family in the Central Valley used generosity and foresight to help them get through the last year.Reporter: Soreath Hok, Valley Public Radio  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's still unclear how many people in California have actually delayed getting the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. But there's concern about what that will mean for their immunity moving forward.Guest: Dr. Steven Parodi, Executive Director of the Permanente Group at Kaiser PermanenteAs COVID-19 numbers continue to improve across the state, more counties are expecting to move into the least restrictive yellow tier on Tuesday. That will mean businesses will be able to open with even fewer restrictions.Immigrant advocates in California applauded President Joe Biden’s decision to raise the limit on refugee admissions this year, from a historic low to more than 62,000. The president has also reaffirmed his goal of doubling that number by next year.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Fresno County Department of Public Health is diverting COVID-19 vaccines allocated to that county elsewhere because of low demand. Some people in the county are still waiting to get the vaccine, but for reasons that might not be often associated with hesitancy. Reporter: Alex Hall, The California ReportFour people are dead after a 40-foot cabin cruiser, suspected of being part of a human smuggling operation, crashed and overturned Sunday in the waters off of Point Loma in San Diego. The temporary shelter for unaccompanied migrant children is located at the Fairplex in Pomona. The goal is to reunite them with their family or sponsor within two weeks.The Biden administration's Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas spoke at UCLA on Friday. He called the decision to expel most migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border "a source of pain."Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQEDSome California students are suing the state and its top education leaders, claiming they’re denying underserved students an “equal right to an education” during the pandemic.Reporter: Vanessa Rancano, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Health officials said they're worried about the lack of demand for doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which has dropped significantly this week. Many California counties are experiencing similar issues as supply of the vaccines is outweighing demand.California’s underwater kelp forests are in trouble. A combination of climate change and hungry purple sea urchins have decimated these vital marine habitats. But the Monterey Peninsula has a kind of kelp forest guardian -- sea otters. Reporter: Erika Mahoney, KAZUDisneyland and Disney California Adventure opened to guests Friday for the first time in more than 13 months. The parks have COVID-19 safety protocols in place and are limiting capacity to 25% for now.Guest: Gavin Doyle, Founder of the website MickeyVisit.comEveryone 16-and-up is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine -- and it’s now easier for older teenagers in L.A. County to get the shot. They can now bring a signed consent form with them, rather than have their parents there in person.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCC Immigration rights activists in California and across the country are planning marches Saturday to call on Congress to legalize millions of unauthorized immigrants in the country.Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond toured several schools in the L.A. Unified School District on Wednesday. He said districts are progressing well when it comes to getting kids back in classrooms.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California ReportDespite heated debates over school reopenings across the state, a majority of Californians approve of how their elected officials have handled classroom closures. That's according to a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED California’s Supreme Court Chief Justice is praising a new policy issued this week by the Department of Homeland Security that will limit how federal officials operate in or near courthouses.Reporter: Michelle Wiley, KQEDThe Los Angeles Police Department says it needs nearly $70 million to address problems that contributed to its mishandling of last year’s protests, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.  Reporter: Robert Garrova, KPCCNumbers from the state health department show that nearly 1,400 Californians have tested positive for COVID-19 after they were fully vaccinated. These cases are fully expected, because the vaccines don’t protect people 100 percent of the time.Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQEDOfficials are investigating how schemes to rip off the state’s unemployment insurance program, some of which was done by people in prison, may have cost California billions of dollars. Lawmakers are trying to close loopholes, but some advocates for the incarcerated argue it could do more harm than good.Reporter: Mary Franklin Harvin, The California ReportConsumers often misunderstand the triangular, “chasing arrows” symbol on packaging when it comes to recycling. California lawmakers are taking on this issue with a proposal they call "Truth in Labeling For Recyclable Materials."Reporter: Scott Rodd, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite billions of dollars funneled from the state Capitol, the share of school districts in California offering full-time, in-person learning ranks among the lowest in the U.S. But as more districts begin opening their doors, state lawmakers are turning their focus to next school year as part of the annual state budget process.Guest: Guy Marzorati, KQEDFor adults on the autism spectrum it can be hard to get and keep a job. Now a Sacramento-based pilot program that’s helped some autistic adults find employment is looking to expand statewide.Reporter: Katie Orr, KQEDBay Area immigrant advocates are urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to get rid of Trump-era orders that deny asylum to many immigrants fleeing domestic violence.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED  As thousands of migrant families cross into the United States, many are being flown by Customs and Border Protection to San Diego, where they are then removed to Mexico, without any of their belongings. This type of treatment is likely contributing to the rise of unaccompanied children crossing the border.Reporter: Max Rivlin-Nadler, KPBS  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom will face a recall election later this year. State officials have announced that the campaign to remove the governor from office has gathered enough signatures to put it before voters.Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQEDThe 2020 Census results came out Monday and California is among the losers. The state is among those losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.Reporter: Katie Orr, KQEDWith California losing a Congressional seat due to the latest Census results, some are wondering whether the final tally was truly accurate, or if the results undercounted communities of color in the state.Guest: Fernando Guerra, Director for the Center of the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University California’s new Attorney General Rob Bonta, who was appointed by Governor Newsom, has only been on the job for a few days. But he already has a high profile challenger for the 2022 election.Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQEDThe city of Fresno has reached settlements totaling nearly $10 million with the families of people killed in separate incidents by police in that city. Reporter: Alex Hall, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ruling to offer shelter to the homless by October has been sharply criticized by the city and county of Los Angeles, which plan to appeal the decision. Many of the homeless who live on Skid Row said that despite the ruling, people may not leave the area.L.A. County is home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia itself. Many welcomed the news that President Biden formally recognized the mass killings of Armenians by Turkish forces during World War I as a genocide.On Friday, Governor Newsom took a big step to ban fracking in California. He said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil extraction by 2045.Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQEDWith the deadline for validating signatures fast approaching, Gavin Newsom will almost surely face a recall election later this year. Democrats learned some hard lessons when then Governor Gray Davis faced his own recall, nearly two decades ago.Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leaders of the University of California and the California State University systems have announced that their students and employees will need proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to return to campus in the fall. But there are a few conditions to that requirement. Reporter: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, KPCC This week's conviction in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd has one Californian questioning why such a volume of video evidence was so necessary in the case at all.Guest: Allissa Richardson, Journalism Professor, USCCalifornia will soon be getting a new Attorney General as the state legislature has confirmed Oakland Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s appointment to the position. He'll be taking over for Xavier Becerra who is now serving as Health and Human Services Secretary under the Biden administration.Reporter: Katie Orr, KQED12 governors, including Governor Newsom, are urging the Biden Administration to set strict standards for a faster transition to clean vehicles. They want all new cars and light trucks sold to be zero-emission by 2035.Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQEDA section of Highway 1 in Big Sur has been closed since late January after it collapsed during a storm. But it's reopening Friday, two months ahead of schedule. Reporter: Erika Mahoney, KAZU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Newsom has declared a drought emergency for Mendocino and Sonoma counties. In the Klamath Basin near the California-Oregon border, officials are anticipating a summer of unprecedented drought.Reporter: Erik Neumann, Jefferson Public RadioYoung people in California have been at the heart of protests and rallies since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. One youth organizer in Oakland says the fight will continue, even after guilty verdicts were handed down to Derek Chauvin.Guest: Luna EkunDayo, Co-Founder of Black Youth for the People’s LiberationRob Bonta faced questions from both the Assembly and Senate in Sacramento on Wednesday. He was pressed on how he would handle various high-profile issues, should he be confirmed as California's next Attorney General.Reporter: Katie Orr, KQEDWildfire smoke may not just be choking the lungs. It could be irritating the skin, that according to a new study from researchers at U.C. San Francisco and U.C. Berkeley.  Reporter: Lesley McClurg, KQEDLow-wage workers in the Bay Area and around California say their bosses often fail to inform them of their rights during the pandemic, and may even retaliate if they ask for COVID-19 protections. That’s according to a new survey of more than 600 frontline workers.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices