The Bay

It may feel a little far from the Bay Area, but Sacramento is home to our state Capitol. And just a stone’s throw away from that building, in the downtown area, is where the city experienced its deadliest mass shooting ever on Sunday. 6 people have been killed, and at least 12 have been injured.Guest: Saul Gonzalez, host of KQED's The California ReportThis episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Alan Montecillo, and hosted Ericka Cruz Guevarra, Recommended listening: Let's Talk About Race and the Orinda Shooting, Nov. 6, 2019. Unpacking the Rise in Gun Violence, Oct. 13, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rainy season is over. But it didn’t feel like much of a rainy season at all. And now, California is in another year of drought. In the Bay Area, the North and South Bay are getting hit the hardest.Being asked to save water isn’t new to Californians. So what other solutions are on the table for how we can adapt to drier winters and shrinking dams?Guest: Ezra David Romero, climate reporter for KQEDRecommended listening:Our Fire Conversation Needs to ChangeThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the Emeryville shoreline was a shopping center and commercial area, it was the site of a sacred burial site belonging to the Ohlone people, natives of the San Francisco Bay Area.There were once more than 425 of these shellmounds across the Bay Area. And today, native people are still working to protect what’s left of them. Bay Curious explores the history of these shellmounds, and what happened to them.Episode transcriptThis episode of Bay Curious originally aired Nov. 8, 2018. Since then, the California Court of Appeals ruled that a housing development could move forward on the West Berkeley Shellmound site, despite arguments by the city of Berkeley and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan. Berkeley appealed the ruling, but the State Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to basketball in the Bay Area, there’s no team that’s done more winning than Stanford’s women’s team.Since 1990, the Cardinal have won 15 conference championships, 3 national championships, and have made the Final Four 15 times. Now, they're two wins away from back-to-back national titles, with a semifinal matchup against the UConn Huskies tonight at 6:30 pm PT. And under the helm of longtime head coach Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in women's college basketball history, Stanford has also played a huge role in breaking barriers in the face of inequities between women's and men's sports.Episode Transcript Guest: Michelle Smith, freelance women’s basketball writerLinks: Report - NCAA Gender Review Coaches Speak Up After Report Finds NCAA Undervalues Women's Sports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a weird month for BART’s Board of Directors. In the span of just 2 weeks, the agency removed — and then reinstated — Director Lateefah Simon.A Black, legally blind, regular BART rider, Director Simon was initially removed over a mix-up with her home address, which is barely 300 feet outside her district. But this abrupt decision sparked a huge outcry from constituents, who suddenly couldn’t reach the person they elected.Now Director Simon is back on the board, but there are still lots of unanswered questions about how any of this happened in the first place. And Director Simon has said she is committed to keeping her seat.Episode Transcript Guest: Dan Brekke, KQED editor and reporter This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.Questions? Comments? Email us: thebay@kqed.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Landing in a new country is never easy, even if you’re landing in a place like the Bay Area, which is already home to so many immigrants, refugees, and people who’ve sought asylum. And between Russia's invasion of Ukraine, chaos in Afghanistan, and the ongoing crisis at the US-Mexico border, this topic has been on our minds a lot.On Wednesday, March 23, KQED Live held an event called Finding Asylum in California. It included visual art by Caleb Duarte, and a discussion moderated by KQED Newsroom host Priya David Clemens. That discussion also included KQED immigration senior editor Tyche Hendricks and JFCS East Bay refugee resettlement director Fouzia Azizi. Today, we're sharing that conversation on the show.For more information about live events at KQED, visit https://www.kqed.org/eventsEpisode Transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In April 2020, Vallejo became one of the first cities to opt into the state’s Project Roomkey, a program designed to provide hotel rooms for medically vulnerable people without homes during the pandemic. The program was touted as a success by city leaders. But reporting from The Vallejo Sun found at least 5 people who participated in the program died in their hotel rooms, including 3 who weren’t found for days. So how did this happen? Guest: Scott Morris, investigative journalist for The Vallejo Sun Scott’s article: Left Alone in Their Rooms: Death and dysfunction in Vallejo’s COVID housing for the homeless Episode transcript This episode was produced and edited by Alan Montecillo and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 500 operators and technicians at Chevron’s Richmond refinery went on strike starting Monday. It’s the first labor strike at the plant in more than 40 years.The union representing these workers says that Chevron hasn’t offered enough in the way of pay increases, benefit contributions, and worker safety. Chevron claims the union has asked for too much, and in the meantime has promised to keep the refinery running using non-union workers. This strike is also laying bare the tensions within the city of Richmond about Chevron’s role in the community.Guest: Ted Goldberg, KQED supervising senior editor of newsEpisode transcriptThis episode was produced by Maria Esquinca and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Alan Montecillo. Additional reporting by Maria Fernanda Bernal and Rachael Myrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s no fun getting gas these days. The average price in many Bay Area counties reached $5.80 a gallon. And that's making it tough for people who drive for gig companies like Uber and Lyft, or who are taxi drivers.Guest: Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED reporter and producerThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Devin Katayama.Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Monday to Thursday, a group of teachers staged a sit-in at the SF Unified School District building to protest the fact the district mishandled their paychecks. Some even went months without receiving the money that they're owed for their work.The district says it is working to resolve this, and blamed the problems mainly on its new payroll system. But teachers and union members say the issues run much deeper.Guest: Julia McEvoy, KQED senior editor This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Maria Esquinca, and hosted by Devin Katayama.Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices