The Bay

So much of life is online these days, but barriers to internet access remain, especially for folks who are unhoused. Resources at public libraries, like free Wi-Fi, are aiming to fill that gap. A 2022 study by the American Library Association found that 93 percent of libraries provide or plan to provide Wi-Fi 24 hours a day because of the high demand for internet.But San Francisco’s Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library has moved in the opposite direction after neighbors raised concerns about homelessness, crime, and open air drug use outside of the library. Mounting public pressure prompted the Harvey Milk Library to shut off Wi-Fi after hours to try and deter homelessness in the area. So is it working?Guest: Sydney Johnson, digital reporter for KQED Episode transcriptLinks: What Happens When Libraries Stop Sharing Wi-Fi? This episode was produced by Jehlen Herdman, Maria Esquinca, Molly Solomon, and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has been at the forefront of the opioid epidemic, amassing a reputation as a place of open air drug dealing, crime, and homelessness. Viral images and videos of open-air drug use have been seen around the world.Some argue publishing pictures and videos of people experiencing addiction is dehumanizing and has long-term effects that follow them for the rest of their lives. Others argue the images raise awareness and showcase the reality of San Francisco’s overdose epidemic. Episode transcriptThis episode originally aired on Dec. 9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caste is a hierarchical system, based on birth, that affects South Asians on the subcontinent and around the world. Many hesitate to discuss it out in the open. But over the years, people from marginalized caste backgrounds have been speaking up — including in Silicon Valley, home to thousands of workers of South Asian descent, where allegations of caste discrimination have hung over some of the area’s largest tech companies. Now, a bill has been introduced to ban caste discrimination in California. And it has sparked heated arguments within South Asian communities.Episode transcriptGuest: Sonia Paul, freelance journalistLinks: LISTEN: The hidden caste codes of Silicon Valley READ: Trapped in Silicon Valley’s Hidden Caste System The audio used in this episode with Professor Anupama Rao originally aired in The Agenda With Steve Paikin. This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca. Jehlen Herdman is our intern. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco is re-upping a program to make catalytic converters more traceable, in hopes of slowing down the theft of the highly sought-out car part containing highly valuable metals.The program comes months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two statewide laws hoping to address the problem, which has caused big headaches for car owners. When people lose their catalytic converters, they sometimes have to go months without a car, and are often on the hook for thousands of dollars in costs. Episode transcriptGuest:  Jose Fermoso, road safety reporter for The OaklandsideThis episode first published Oct. 22, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been talking a big game about CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) Court, the state’s new plan for treating people with severe mental illness. CARE Court, which every county in California will have to implement by next year, focuses on steering people suffering from severe psychosis, such as schizophrenia, and addiction into treatment. It will allow first responders, family members, clinicians and others to ask a judge to order treatment plans for unhoused people with severe psychotic disorders.San Francisco is gearing up to launch this program by Oct. 1. So can CARE Court actually deliver what the governor promises?Episode transcriptGuest: Scott Shafer, senior editor of KQED’s Politics and Government DeskThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Santa Clara County, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is fighting for one of their most sacred sites, known as Juristac. Beginning In the late 1700s, Spanish colonizers forcibly removed the tribe from Juristac, and currently, the land is owned by a private firm that has proposed a plan to develop a mine onsite. For the last 7 years, the tribal band, with support from many residents and local officials, has organized to block the project. They want the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to deny the mining permit from being approved. In this episode from Rightnowish’s “From the Soil” series, producer Marisol Medina-Cadena, speaks to Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. Episode transcriptThis episode originally aired on Feb. 9   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a bad time to be an Oakland Athletics fan.First off, they're just having an awful season. But the A's are also the latest pro sports team to announce plans to leave Oakland. And earlier this week, the A’s made a significant step towards a future in Las Vegas, as Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced a tentative agreement with the A's over public funding for a new A’s ballpark on the Las Vegas strip.These days, the Oakland Coliseum feels pretty empty, save for some of the die-hard fans who want the team owner to know one thing: that the A’s are nothing without Oakland.Today, we speak with KQED producer and A’s superfan and drummer Nina Thorsen about the latest news, and the heartbreak of being an A’s fan right now. Episode transcriptLinks:The Bay Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two 17-year old girls working at a Popeye’s in East Oakland have filed labor complaints, alleging harassment and potential violations of child labor law. They say they’ve witnessed violence at work and experienced harassment, and that one 13-year old employee was working longer than the legal limit for minors. At least one state agency is now investigating the complaints.For labor advocates and fast food employees, this story is just another example of why changes are needed in how the state holds fast food companies accountable for poor working conditions.Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED labor correspondent.Episode transcriptThis episode was hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca.Links:The Bay Survey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the end of a pandemic-era immigration policy known as Title 42, Bay Area cities and nonprofits in Santa Clara County have been preparing for the arrival of asylum seekers who’ve been waiting months, if not years, to find refuge in places like the South Bay.Title 42 left thousands of asylum-seekers on the other side of the U.S. border or back to the countries they fled. Since the Biden administration lifted the order earlier this month, Amigos de Guadalupe in East San Jose has helped several new families find food and shelter in a community that has long welcomed immigrants.Guest: Maritza Maldonado, founder and executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe in East San JoseEpisode transcriptLinks:A Firsthand Look at the Border After Title 42 Ended This episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cleo Moore has been waiting for justice for years. On Jan. 6, 2017, SFPD Officer Kenneth Cha shot her son, Sean Moore, outside of his home after responding to a noise complaint. Moore died in 2020 from complications related to the shooting.Moore's family saw a glimmer of hope in 2021, when then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin charged Cha with manslaughter and assault, marking the second time the city has ever filed homicide charges against an officer for an on-duty incident. But since Boudin’s recall, the fate of Sean Moore’s case has been in the hands of Brooke Jenkins, and Cleo and other family members are pessimistic that she will move forward with the case.Episode transcriptLinks: The Bay Survey 'I Need to Be Able to Go on With My Life': Sean Moore's Mother Is Still Awaiting Justice, Years After Her Son Was Killed by SFPD This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, with support from Maria Esquinca. Ericka Cruz Guevarra is the host. Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices