KQED's The California Report

Since last summer, when the Trump administration ramped up deportation efforts, a group of volunteer observers has kept a constant presence at the Santa Ana Immigration Court. Reporter: Jill Replogle, LAist A four-week strike by thousands of Kaiser Permanente health care workers in California and Hawaii is ending Tuesday morning, even though no contract deal has been reached. Cities on the US-Mexico border remain on high alert following a weekend of violence, in response to the killing of a cartel leader. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kat Fullwider, a KUNR reporter who covered Truckee’s vigil, provides on-the-ground community response. Emily Zettner, a California Newsroom data journalist focused on climate and water, analyzes Sierra Nevada snowpack and warming impacts. They discuss recent storms, memorials after the avalanche, rising reservoirs, warming-driven snowline shifts, and why reduced snowpack still worries scientists.

Keith Mizuguchi, a reporter who documented Japanese-American incarceration survivors, guides a historical reckoning. He recounts Executive Order 9066, wartime fear after Pearl Harbor, personal removal and camp stories, and explores modern legal moves seen as echoing that past. Short, urgent, and grounded in survivor testimony.

Sarah Wright, KQED outdoors engagement reporter who covers outdoor safety, walks through a deadly Donner Summit avalanche and the regional storm conditions that made slopes unstable. She explains how often avalanches happen in Tahoe and contrasts backcountry risks with resort controls. Practical safety gear and quick survival tips are also discussed.

Search and rescue efforts are underway for nine backcountry skiers after a Sierra Nevada avalanche. Los Angeles considers banning certain private detention facilities amid nationwide warehouse detention talk. Hollywood experiments with phone-first vertical microdramas that promise bingeable storytelling and new production models.

Gene Maddaus, senior media reporter at Variety who covers Hollywood labor and AI issues, breaks down how AI is reshaping negotiations. He discusses AI risks to performers and the rise of synthetic actors. He also covers current AI uses in production and how shrinking global work affects jobs and strike dynamics.

The Trump administration is making changes to how it treats unaccompanied migrant children who are pregnant, and that's raising alarm bells inside the government. Since last July, the administration has been concentrating pregnant kids in one shelter in South Texas, even if they're apprehended in California or other states. This comes over objections from the government's own health and child welfare officials. They say neither the facility nor the region can provide the specialized care the girls need. Guest: Mark Betancourt, The California Newsroom Firefighters across the state are working with scientists at the University of California to minimize their risk to cancer. Reporter: Alonso Daboub, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation in connection with last year’s deadly Eaton Fire. Attorney General Rob Bonta said they want to find out if race, age or disability discrimination were factors during the emergency response in the historically Black community of West Altadena. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and environmental groups are celebrating the purchase of Sargent Ranch by the Peninsula Open Space Trust. Reporter: Erin Malsbury, KAZU Valentine's Day for many means heart shaped candies and chocolates. But if romance is not your thing, visitors to San Francisco’s Exploratorium can interact with the actual organ. Reporter: Alonso Daboub, KQED An environmental advocate who helped build the community of fans around Big Bear’s bald eagles has died. Reporter: Makenna Sievertson, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danielle Venton, KQED reporter who covered on-site Maidu cultural burning, walks through revival of ancestral fire practices. Short scenes show crews clearing invasives, tending coil meadows, and using fire to nurture food, fiber and medicine plants. Stories and recent wildfire finds reconnect people to stewardship and community-led burns bring hope.

San Francisco teachers are in their third day of a high stakes labor fight with the district, leaving nearly 50,000 students out of school. And they're not alone. Across California, more local teachers unions are in active disputes right now, from bargaining breakdowns to strike authorizations and walkouts. Guest: Danielle Mahones, UC Berkeley Labor Center A new report commissioned by LA County lays out how ICE raids there have hurt some local businesses. Reporter: Libby Rainey, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices