Advertise on podcast: KQED's The California Report

California's inspector general finds that the unit in charge of investigating prisoner complaints is plagued with delays, unmanageable caseloads and a skyrocketing backlog of grievances. Reporter: Sukey Lewis, KQED The union that represents 100-thousand California school employees is calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to put a hold on the use of AI in public schools. Reporter: Samantha Kennedy, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging a federal appeals court to maintain protections for the health of detainees… who sued the Trump administration over dangerous conditions at an immigration jail in California’s Mojave Desert. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED California is flying as fast as it can to fight climate change. Experts say there’s one field the state has overlooked that could make a big impact: Getting restaurants to cook with electricity instead of gas. But this can be expensive... and unfamiliar for many. Reporter: Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech super PACs spent about 50-million dollars to influence California statehouse races this year…and it looks like that spending paid off. Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CalMatters A U.S. citizen who was shot by an ICE agent last year is suing the US Government in civil court. He claims the federal government violated his constitutional rights. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR California’s wine industry continues to face serious challenges due to declining wine consumption and overproduction. This year, several high-profile wineries closed their doors or filed for bankruptcy, and industry analysts say more could be on the horizon. Reporter: Tina Caputo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Monterey County has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement… calling out federal activity on county-owned property. Reporter: Katie Brown, KAZU The California Coastal Commission has voted [[11/5]] to allow transportation authorities to build a quarter-mile-long seawall to protect the coastal railroad in Orange County. Reporter: Jill Replogle, LAist Google, Meta and TikTok are suing California to block a new law aimed at shielding kids from addictive social media features like personalized feeds and autoplay for videos. Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQED After nearly 18 years off the ice, professional hockey is back in Fresno. The Fresno Falcons are making their return, bringing together old and new hockey fans. The team shut down abruptly in 2008 due to financial hardship. Reporter: Samantha Rangel, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he is commuting the death sentences of all 548 inmates on death row in California. The governor’s decision would convert the sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole – but it faces legal hurdles. Reporter: Scott Shafer, KQED Nithya Raman has won the race for LA mayor. Reporter: Frank Stoltze, LAist Across California, county registrars reported few problems at the polls, except in Shasta County, where problems delayed the count of ballots cast in-person on Election Day. Reporter: Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democrat Randy Villegas has ousted longtime Republican incumbent David Valadao from his seat in the Central Valley's 22nd Congressional District. The seat was one of five targeted by new redistricting maps approved under Prop 50. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED Election results are still being tallied across the state. And of the 14 state propositions on the ballot, more than half remain too close to call. But voters did pass two ballot measures aimed at tackling the state’s housing crisis. Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMatters Democrat Clarissa Cervantes is leading incumbent Republican Leticia Castillo in the race for the 58th Assembly seat in Riverside County. The rematch is one of the most competitive Assembly races in California. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The blue wave that many had predicted came true on Tuesday, with Democrats taking control of both the House and Senate. And in California, it was much the same, with Democrats flipping House seats that were under new maps following the passage of Proposition 50. As anticipated, Democrat Xavier Becerra was also victorious in the governor's race, defeating Republican Steve Hilton. Guest: Guy Marzorati, KQED Proposition 40 - the billionaire tax, looks like it could be headed for defeat. The measure would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on individuals with assets valued over $1 billion, who lived in the state as of the first of the year. Voters rejected Proposition 39, a GOP-backed voter ID measure. About 60% of voters rebuffed the measure, which Democratic leaders opposed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s election day and polls are now open across the state. If you haven’t had a chance to cast your ballot yet and are planning to do so today, we’ve got all the information you need. The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s request to block California from processing thousands of ballots. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, KQED A coalition of community groups in California is standing ready to protect voters’ rights at the polls. It’s because of increasing worries that the Trump administration will interfere with the election. Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s been a lot of debate this election over Prop 40 and whether California’s billionaires should pay a new tax to fund health care. Meanwhile, another California billionaire has put a measure on the ballot asking taxpayers to bankroll his own brand new medical lab. Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED A San Francisco judge is holding a hearing this morning over the US Justice Department’s appeal of a ruling that barred the department from demanding that election officers remove possible noncitizens from voter rolls. The case is one of many involving the federal government’s claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in California. The hearing comes just weeks after 28 green card holders were charged with crimes including voter fraud. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED In Congressional District 13, Incumbent Adam Gray is campaigning as a moderate Democrat. That comes despite the latest redistricting effort from Prop 50, and more chatter around progressive voters. Reporter: Rachel Livinal, The Merced FOCUS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration is following through on its threat to criminally investigate California election officials over alleged noncitizen voting. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, KQED Latino voters helped President Donald Trump return to office. Now, politicos are looking to California’s 58th Assembly District in Riverside to see if they’ll flip again. The district is traditionally democratic and heavily Latino. But in 2024, they swung for Trump … and Republican Leticia Castillo won the state assembly seat … by riding in on his coat tails. Reporter: Anthony Victoria, KVCR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dolores Huerta is being remembered across the country as an iconic leader of the United Farm Workers and a pioneering feminist and civil rights advocate. But she was rooted right here in California. And when she died Wednesday at the age of 96, she was at home in Bakersfield. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Elected officials in Kern County, where Dolores Huerta lived and worked are remembering her legacy. Reporter: Amaray Alvarez, KVPR The CEO of California's High Speed Rail Authority has abruptly resigned from the job. The Monterey County Jail is back to regular operations after a three-hour lockdown Tuesday, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were present in the parking lot. Reporter: Ellie Prickett-Morgan, KAZU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Farmers and ranchers have long been a reliable Republican voting bloc, but that may shift this midterm election as federal policies drive discontent among these communities. How is this playing out in the heart of California’s agricultural production? Reporter: Izzy Bloom, KQED California has tentatively agreed to pay $10 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of incarcerated women at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. A federal judge in Los Angeles is expected to rule today in a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration, over ballots in next week’s midterm election here in California. Federal officials have been seeking to prevent the state from processing the ballots of voters who they believe are not citizens. Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Proposition 40 proponents say the tax would help backfill federal Medical cuts. But as Governor Newsom weighs a presidential run, is he also looking ahead to how it might play to donors and voters? Guest: Marisa Lagos, KQED A federal court has rejected a Trump administration demand that it force California officials to set aside the ballots of 20,000 registered voters, who the Department of Justice alleges are not citizens. Proposition 38 would allocate more than $8 billion for health research grants. That's something supporters say is critical, at a time when the Trump administration has tried to claw back funding. But CalMatters has been digging into concerns about how that money would be distributed, with roughly $4 billion going to a single institution. Reporter: Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As immigration sweeps expand the number of detainees filling the nation's detention centers, the amount of people who manage to be released is also growing. That means a steady stream of people are finding themselves in places they don't know, including Kern County, which is home to four ICE detention facilities, the highest concentration of any county in California. A grassroots movement there has risen to help people find their way back home. Reporter: Soreath Hok, KVPR In a rare Sunday hearing, a panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals questioned the timing and constitutionality of the Department of Justice efforts to intervene in California's midterm election. The three judge panel seemed skeptical of the DOJ's demand to hold aside 20,000 ballots, over concerns about the citizenship of voters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Flooded highways. Inundated airport runways. Water-filled neighborhoods. Beaches washed away. All of these impacts, and more, could take place this winter as El Niño continues to unfold. Several new reports this week suggest that El Niño’s effects this winter — flooding from temporarily high seas and potential storms — foreshadow a future shaped by human-caused climate change. Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED News Proposition 5 Would Revise Rules on Recall Elections Right now, voters are asked two things when there’s a statewide recall: Whether an official should be removed from office, and who should replace them. If Prop. 5 passes, voters would only decide whether or not to remove the official. The vacancy would be filled later through a special election or an appointment. Reporter: Melody Yan, KALW How to "Vote Naked" in California With voting for the Nov. 3 election underway, a Santa Cruz elections official is highlighting her term for a safe, secure way to return your ballot that might make you blush. At an elections event in Santa Cruz, county Clerk Tricia Webber ran through some ballot return options before blurting out a personal favorite: “Or, they can vote naked." Reporter: PK Hattis, KAZU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices