The Bay

For the next few weeks, we’re taking a break from making new episodes. It’s a lot of work to bring you 3 shows a week, and we’re going to use this time to rest up and reflect. We’re still going to be accessible if you want to hit us up with questions, comments or story ideas. We’re on Twitter @TheBayKQED, and reachable via email at thebay@kqed.org. Our next episode will be on Monday, August 2. Thank you all so much for listening and for supporting the show, and we’re looking forward to sharing new episodes with you all when we come back.Episode transcript here: https://bit.ly/3hwPZbA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our colleagues at KQED and NPR have spent countless hours analyzing the world of police discipline, thanks to a police transparency law that unsealed thousands of files. And over the past few weeks, they’ve been sharing that work in the form of On Our Watch, a limited-run podcast that brings you into the rooms where officers are interrogated and witnesses are questioned, to find out who this shadow system of police accountability really serves, and who it protects.Many episodes of On Our Watch also focus on Bay Area police departments. And today, we wanted to share an episode that focuses on Antioch — and what happened when a veteran detective spent years leaking operational secrets.Subscribe to On Our Watch here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law that extends California’s eviction protections for people economically impacted by COVID-19 — and who have paid at least 25% of the rent they owe — until Sept. 30. The state also has a plan to use $5.2 billion in federal money to pay for 100% of rental debt owed by eligible tenants.So for now, California has prevented thousands of landlords from evicting tenants who have been behind on rent due to the pandemic. But if we don’t want to be in the same situation in 3 months, the state needs to get relief money to the people who need it — and fast. Guest: Molly Solomon, KQED housing affordability reporter and co-host of Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in AmericaEpisode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is in a second year of drought. And depending on where you live, you might already have water restrictions in place. Healdsburg, for example, has a mandatory 40% water restriction, while Santa Rosa has a voluntary 20%. In Mendocino County, and in areas of the North Bay that rely on the Russian River for water, cities, farmers and residents are trying to save for current and future droughts. Guest: Ezra David Romero, KQED climate reporterEpisode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s our 500th episode! One of the great joys of working on the show has been using our space to help people in the Bay Area get excited about or involved in issues they care about. Often that starts with local government.So we want to share one of our favorite episodes with you from earlier this year with tips about how to publicly address your elected leaders. Then, after that, we all hop on the mic to talk a little bit about why we love this episode, and share some stories from The Bay's early days.Guest: LaTonda Simmons, Oakland city clerk from 2004 to 2020, currently assistant city administratorEpisode transcript here.This episode of our By the People series first published on January 4, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forty years after the AIDS epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens those most at risk in the LGBTQ community across the world. Community organizers in the Bay Area have been building on the work of people like Bobbi Campbell, a San Francisco nurse who became the first person to go public with a cancer associated with AIDS. His work to educate the other gay men in the city was the beginning of an activist-led campaign that helped protect the queer community from AIDS even before the federal government acknowledged the disease.Guest: Sarah Hotchkiss, KQED Arts’ Senior associate editorRead more of KQED Arts’ series Pride as Protest.Episode transcript here.This episode originally aired on June 26, 2019. Subscribe to The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 2, so many people spoke during a Bay Area Air Quality Management District board meeting that the agency had to postpone a vote to regulate air pollution from two Bay Area refineries — one run by Chevron in Richmond, and one run by PBF Energy in Martinez.The proposal would force Chevron and PBF Energy to install potentially hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment to clean the particulate matter released every day by their refineries. Now, the Air District board is has been rescheduled for July 21, in this pivotal decision that affects health, jobs, and our climate.Guest: Ted Goldberg, KQED senior editorEpisode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, San Jose’s City Council will vote on a plan to rezone parts of the Flea Market on Berryessa Road, where hundreds of immigrant vendors have set up shop for more than 60 years.The new development would include commercial and residential space near transit, including some affordable housing units. But it would also shrink the space for vendors dramatically, so much so that many fear they will lose their businesses altogether.Guests: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporter and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, KQED en Español reporterEpisode transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many live concerts and events are returning to the Bay Area, as COVID-19 cases remain low and the state ends capacity limits, social distancing and mask requirements in most places. But not everyone working in live events is comfortable with the idea of working indoors with unmasked guests, and independent venues are still waiting for federal relief money that was promised months ago.Guest: Nastia Voynovskaya, KQED arts and culture associate editorEpisode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California will fully reopen for “business as usual”on June 15. That means, among other things, that fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to masks in most places around the state. But there are plenty of reasons you’ll still see people in the Bay Area continuing to wear masks. We’ll tell you about some of them.Guest: Carly Severn, KQED senior engagement editorEpisode transcript here. Subscribe to our newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices