KQED's The California Report

On this final day of the legislative session, a lot of eyes in Sacramento are on one particular measure moving through the State Senate. It would allow workers who are on strike for more than two weeks, like the Hollywood writers and actors, to apply for unemployment insurance.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDIn Sacramento, it’s the final day of the legislative session -- and that means the fate of dozens of bills must be decided as the hours and minutes tick down. The Assembly and Senate have until midnight to send bills to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom.Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED  A $25 minimum wage is in sight for tens of thousands of California’s lowest-paid health workers. The wage hike would be for people like nursing assistants, medical techs and janitorial workers.Reporter: Ana Ibarra, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you think of a meadow, what comes to mind? Probably a peaceful expanse of grass and flowers straight out of a postcard. A perfect place to have a picnic or read a book. But meadows are also key to the health of forests And in the Sierra Nevada most meadows have been degraded or lost.Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPRMeeting in Long Beach Wednesday morning, California State University’s Board of Trustees is expected to vote on whether to increase tuition at all 23 CSU campuses. The proposal would include a 6% tuition hike over the next five years.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDCalifornia currently bans state-funded travel to 26 states because of their anti-LGBTQ laws. But state lawmakers have voted to repeal the travel bans after acknowledging that they haven’t been successful.Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of bitter conflict, fast food companies and labor unions have reached a deal that could raise the minimum wage for 500,000 fast food workers in California.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED If you’re a parent or caregiver in the state, chances are you’ve seen billboards urging you to talk, read and sing to your baby. Now the agency behind those ads, First Five California, is pushing a new statewide campaign to raise awareness about toxic stress. Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQEDAs cities across California struggle with a lack of affordable housing, developers are thinking micro, as in micro apartments, some smaller than 300 square feet. That includes a new five-story building in downtown Sacramento, the city's third micro apartment community.Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The popular social media app Instagram and its parent company, Meta, use artificial intelligence to moderate content. But there are growing concerns that the “training data” for AI is biased against women and people of color. A Los Angeles photographer thinks this “algorithmic bias” is part of the reason Instagram disabled his account.Reporter: Beth Tribolet, KQEDThe California legislature has passed a bill that would ban the hand-counting of ballots in most elections. The legislation was targeted specifically at Northern California’s Shasta County, where supervisors did away with Dominion voting machines earlier this year. Reporter: Roman Battaglia, Jefferson Public Radio Much of the world’s highest quality cotton is grown in the San Joaquin Valley. But the return of Tulare Lake could have a devastating impact on the Central Valley's cotton industry.Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. And according to some neighbors, it’s also one of the loudest. Homeowners in the San Diego region, and across the state, are increasingly taking legal action to resolve pickleball noise disputes.Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBSCalifornia is set to scale back its electric car rebate program to focus more on low-income car buyers. Reporter: Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A judge has ruled that a San Bernardino County school district must hold off on enforcing a policy that requires school staff to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender. Chino Valley Unified is being sued by the state attorney general.Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR In San Diego, the Black Panther Party is recruiting new members. Decades ago, the U.S. government spread misinformation that caused the party to become mostly inactive. Now, the San Diego chapter is one of many reviving across the country. Reporter: Katie Hyson, KPBS  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal is unveiling new legislation on Wednesday to help communities near regional airports that have long been facing toxic chemical contamination in their groundwater. The “Clean Airport Agenda” will make sure federal agencies phase out the use of these toxic chemicals in such communities. Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KCBXState lawmakers are voting on a resolution declaring August trans history month across California.Reporter: Lesley McClurg , KQEDCalifornia is on its way to becoming the first state to explicitly ban discrimination based on caste. State lawmakers approved a bill to make it a protected class and sent it to the governor on Tuesday.Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadio  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People who live behind a vast number of aging levees in the United States are more likely to be people of color and have less education compared to those who don’t. And that leaves them more vulnerable to flooding and the impacts of climate change.Reporter: Emily Zentner, California NewsroomA state bill that would require many employers in all kinds of industries to take steps to protect workers from violence at their jobs, has cleared a key hurdle and is headed for a full vote of the State Assembly. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Joe Sanchez was 8 years old, his grandmother asked him to make a promise to never forget his California Indian heritage. She was determined to see the culture live on, after watching her brothers deny their Coast Miwok ancestry, a matter of economic survival in early 20th century California. Today, at 75, Sanchez is making good on that promise in a more ambitious way than he ever imagined: He’s bought back a piece of his ancestral homeland.Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast discusses the high maternal mortality rate in Kern County, California and efforts to address it. It also covers the severe West Nile virus season in Sacramento and Yolo counties, including insecticide spraying. The importance of preventing stagnant water as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and the controversy surrounding the expansion plan at the Eliso Canyon gas storage field are also discussed.