The Bay

Oakland sure has a lot of vacant properties, despite being in the middle of a housing crisis. In November, voters will decide whether the city should tax owners of those properties to help raise millions of dollars for homeless services. But how Measure W defines what 'vacant' means isn’t exactly clear. Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED race and equity reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New homes are popping up in Santa Rosa one year after the Northern California fires. Some are rebuilding in the exact same spots. Others are worried about losing everything again when the next fire comes, including firefighters who live there. They know more than anyone about these risks, so what would a firefighter who lost their home do? Guest: Lauren Sommer, KQED science reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kayla Swaim's home was destroyed a year ago in the Tubbs Fire. She lost everything, including her sense of safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever wish you had a coupon that would give you a discount on what you pay for your house? Proposition 13 is kind of like that. Now Proposition 5 would give homeowners over the age of 55, and a few others, the ability to take their lower property tax rates with them to a new house. It's effectively an extension of Proposition 13. But who pays for that discount? Californians will vote on the measure this November. We at The Bay along with KQED’s Bay Curious podcast explain Proposition 5. Guest: Scott Shafer, senior editor of KQED's California politics and government desk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people run from a fire. Some journalists go toward it. Two reporters at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, winner of a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the North Bay fires, did just that. The Bay host Devin Katayama interviewed those reporters at the live show The Fire Tapes, a joint event with Snap Judgment. Guest: Julie Johnson and Martin Espinoza, Santa Rosa Press Democrat reporters and Pulitzer Prize winners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First there was one crack. Then two. Now San Francisco's new $2.2 billion Salesforce Transit Center could be shut down for weeks. In an earlier episode, we covered the opening of the transit center (called by some the Grand Central Station of the West). Today, an update on the damage then the original episode about what people hope the transit hub can be. Guests: Chloe Veltman, KQED News reporter, and Dan Brekke, KQED transportation editor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Airbnb, caramel macchiatos and luxury dining. Yosemite is starting to feel more and more like the Bay Area. There are more visitors, more traffic, and now a Starbucks. Today, we'll introduce you to Yosemiteland, a podcast from Capital Public Radio that shows us how the national park serving millions of visitors each year is trying to adapt to a changing world. Guest: Ezra David Romero, host of Yosemiteland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Blasey Ford’s and Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony riveted Americans to their screens on Thursday. People gathered in Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco and elsewhere to watch the historic Supreme Court nomination hearing. Some of whom were so compelled by what they heard and saw that they told their own stories of sexual assault at protests and rallies across the Bay Area. Guest: Monica Samayoa, KQED News reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a police killing, it can be hard to get a clear picture of what exactly happened. Like the case of Mario Woods, who was shot and killed by San Francisco police in 2015. Nearly three years later, as the civil case is being prepared for trial, we're getting new information in court filings -- including new testimony from the man Woods stabbed a couple hours before he was shot and a new video of the shooting taken from a different perspective. Guest: Alex Emslie, KQED criminal justice reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you use Uber or Lyft in San Francisco, you're no doubt helping to kill the taxi cab industry. But the city didn't help either when it started charging $250,000 for taxi medallions as the ride service companies were getting started. Here's a story about a man who died waiting for a fare and the family that's still paying off his medallion debt. Guest: Sam Harnett, Silicon Valley reporter at KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices