KQED's The California Report

Millions of L.A. County residents and businesses can resume outdoor watering, after news that urgent repairs to a pipeline that brings water from the Colorado River to Southern California have wrapped up early.Reporter: Darrell Satzman, KCRW  Open agricultural burning is a useful tool for farmers, but its high particulate emissions are harmful to San Joaquin Valley residents. Air regulators plan to phase out the practice by 2025, but air quality advocates have doubts after years of inaction.  Reporters: Kerry Klein and Monica Vaughan, KVPRGovernor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills aimed at reforming the state’s cannabis regulations. This comes as the governor is directing state officials to study the health impacts of high-potency cannabis.Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED Experts at UC San Diego studying extortion in Tijuana are saying that crime is much more rampant than previously believed. Researcher Romain Le Cour spent a year walking the streets of Tijuana, talking to business owners about what he calls, an ‘invisible crime.'Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBSIn an interview with "60 Minutes," President Joe Biden declared that the pandemic was over. Many health experts say that's just not the case, but do agree that we may be moving to a new phase of the pandemic.Guest: Dr. Bob Wachter, Chair of Medicine, UC San Francisco  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the start of the work week, many state workers who are unvaccinated will not have to undergo regular testing for COVID-19. Since July of 2021, unvaccinated state employees have had to submit to weekly testing.Reporter: Matt Guilhem, KCRWOpen agricultural burning is due to be phased out in California by 2025, in an effort to reduce harmful emissions. But many farmers are apprehensive of a future without burning.Reporters: Monica Vaughan and Kerry Klein, KVPR The San Francisco Police Department may have collaborated with a federal surveillance center that uses facial recognition and social media monitoring – without a contract or oversight. That’s according to public documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQEDThe mother of a man who died in a jail in Los Angeles last year is suing LA County and its Sheriff, Alex Villanueva. An official report says Jalani Lovett died from a drug overdose, but his family claims that he was beaten to death.Reporter: Darrell Satzman, KCRW   As California grapples with its homelessness crisis, some local governments are fighting with each other over the details of housing and shelter programs and who gets most of the burden. One of the most recent examples is the ongoing battle between El Cajon and San Diego County officials over using hotels as shelters for the homeless.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some 2,000 Kaiser Permanente mental health care professionals are a month into a strike. This week, negotiations between labor and management have broken down. Reporter: Sara Hossaini, KQED Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have significantly lowered what California families pay for state subsidized childcare. The legislation would have capped the amount low income families pay at 1% of their monthly income.Reporter: Amanda Stupi, KQED An energetic new rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park represents another step in the effort to save a related rhino species that’s nearly extinct.Reporter: Erik Anderson, KPBSBecause of a new state law, San Francisco’s Superior Court has eliminated about $50 million in debt due to late fees for things like traffic tickets.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED With a nationwide rail strike averted, the Port of Los Angeles is shifting its attention to the movement of cargo ahead of the fall and winter holiday shopping season. Reporter: Megan Jamerson, KCRW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing Amazon, alleging the online retail giant engages in anticompetitive contracting, in violation of state laws.Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQEDAcross the country, many families and dyslexia advocates are pushing for something called “structured literacy,” a type of early reading instruction that’s attuned to how the brain learns to read, with an emphasis on phonics. Experts say this type of reading instruction can benefit all students, especially those with dyslexia. But it’s not the norm in most California classrooms, or in teacher prep programs.  Reporter: Julia Barajas, KPCC/LAist Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated a major legislative accomplishment on Wednesday. He signed his CARE Court bill into law, which seeks to improve mental health care in California, especially for people who are homeless with severe mental illnesses.Reporter: Erin Baldassari, KQEDIn November, California voters will vote on Proposition 30. It’s a “clean air initiative” that would tax California’s wealthiest residents to pay for electric car rebates and infrastructure. Governor Gavin Newsom does not support the measure, but most fellow Democrats do. Reporter: Kevin Stark, KQEDA majority of likely California voters say they plan to reject a ballot measure this fall that would legalize online sports betting. That's according to the latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A shift in wind led to increased activity on Tuesday, as firefighters continue to battle the Mosquito Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties. The fire jumped the Middle Fork of the American River, threatening the community of Foresthill. State health officials are advising Californians to get a flu shot, in addition to the COVID-19 vaccination or booster.Reporter: Nimah Gobir, KQED If you lost your job during the pandemic and you still aren't making as much as you used to, there's a new state grant that could help boost your professional skills. And -- hopefully -- your earning potential.Reporter: Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMattersLike other big California ports, L.A., Oakland, San Diego, the Port of Long Beach is filled with fleets of big, loud diesel trucks. They’re vehicles that carry cargo containers from the docks to warehouses and logistical centers inland. But there's a new type of vehicle that's supposed to become much more common at California ports in the coming years: battery-powered big rig trucks. Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California ReportMore than a dozen California Democratic Congressmembers are calling on the federal government to investigate complaints by immigrant detainees, who say they've been held in solitary confinement for supporting a labor strike. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDStrawberries are one of California’s biggest and most delicious agricultural moneymakers, but they are also vulnerable to diseases that can be devastating for growers. But now, California researchers have made a key discovery to help fight one of strawberries’ biggest threats.Reporter: Benjamin Purper, KCBX  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most Californians are feeling the effects of the drought.. But in big areas of the state, where people rely on groundwater, the pain of this drought is especially severe. Wells are going dry and there’s intense competition to find more water that’s underground.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California ReportFederal and Los Angeles County health officials have confirmed the first death of a person with monkeypox in California. The L.A. County resident was severely immunocompromised and had been hospitalized with the virus.Unlike the rest of the country, gas prices in California have been on the rise. That's after they dropped from record highs earlier this summer.Reporter: Ted Goldberg, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Placer and El Dorado counties, fire crews are making progress fighting the Mosquito Fire, which has burned more than 46,000 acres. Meanwhile, in Southern California, firefighters took advantage of wet conditions to help in the fight against the Fairview Fire.One of the bills that’s passed through the legislature on Governor Newsom’s desk would offer cash benefits to unemployed undocumented workers, currently excluded from the state’s unemployment insurance program. It’s an idea that not so many years ago would have been considered out of the question. Today? It’s a different story.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDSan Francisco's representatives in the State Assembly say they’ll be keeping an eye on Pacific Gas & Electric’s possible role in the Mosquito Fire, burning in the Sierra Nevada foothills in El Dorado and Placer counties. PG&E filed notice with state regulators last week, saying that electrical activity occurred on one of its lines close to the time the Mosquito Fire was reported.Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency for Riverside County due to the Fairview Fire and for El Dorado and Placer counties due to the Mosquito Fire. Firefighters have been struggling to control both fires, which have grown explosively and forced extensive evacuations.Reporter: Jonathan Linden, KVCR LA County health officials are investigating the death of a person with monkeypox. Few details are being released about the case. What we do know is that this person died in LA and had monkeypox but it’s unclear if the virus caused the death. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCCThe Biden Administration has rolled back a Trump-era rule that penalized immigrants who used a wide range of government benefits – and led to fear in many California immigrant communities. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California's extended heat wave will continue on Thursday, with temperatures topping out over 100 in many inland areas. The state's power agency is also issuing another call for power conservation, for the ninth straight day.As the heat wave drags on, broken cooling systems are disrupting the school day in many parts of California. That’s forced many school districts to bring in fans and portable AC units to lower classroom temperatures. Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQEDA new report out from the Prison Policy Initiative reveals unexpected data about incarceration rates among rural Californians. Per capita, the highest rate of incarcerated people comes from small, rural counties in the state.Guest: Nigel Duara, Reporter CalMattersOpponents of a first-of-its-kind state law that could raise wages for fast food workers have officially started an effort to delay and potentially block it.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDParents fighting against school closures in Oakland and several California school districts got a win this week. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring certain districts make time for an equity impact analysis before closing schools. Reporter: Julia McEvoy, KQEDGovernor Gavin Newsom signed an emergency budget package Tuesday authorizing $41 million to fight the spread of the monkeypox virus.Reporter: Jackie Fortier, KPCCA bill that could make California a refuge for transgender youth seeking gender-affirming care is on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. Advocates and lawmakers who support the legislation say it provides life-saving care. But opponents say it interferes with a parent’s authority over their child’s health decisions.Reporter: Ariel Gans, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The statewide heat wave continued on Tuesday as records were broken across California, with much of the state once again facing triple digit temperatures. But the state did not have to order rolling blackouts, despite a deeply stressed power grid.Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQEDWhile cities across the state continue to break heat records this week, there are a few places that are still comfortable, if not downright cool.Reporter: Amanda Stupi, KQED The hot weather across the state has brought added concerns about wildfires sparking. And a pair of fires that are burning in the Inland Empire in Southern California are now forcing residents to flee their homes.Reporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRWPresident Joe Biden has come out in favor of a California bill that Governor Gavin Newsom has said he’s not ready to sign. The bill aims to make it easier for farmworkers to choose whether to unionize, including by mail-in ballots -- without fear of reprisal.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDStarting this week, millions of people in Southern California are dealing with big new water restrictions. The Metropolitan Water District says that's necessary so that a broken pipeline that carries water from the Colorado River to the region can be repaired.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report  California's eviction moratorium ended earlier this summer, but some cities in L.A. County have also banned rent hikes. But tenants are still getting demands to pay more. In many cases, whether they can fight those rent hikes depends on where they live. Reporter: David Wagner, KPCC  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices