The Bay

On Tuesday, a California court ruled that officials at San Quentin State Prison have to either transfer or release half of the facility's population. That's because the outbreak at San Quentin got so bad that roughly 2,200 people got sick with COVID-19. 28 people have died.Today, we're revisiting how the outbreak first started at the beginning of the summer — and what incarcerated people and their loved ones were warning and worrying about at the time.Guest: Kate Wolffe, KQED reporterThis episode originally aired on June 26, 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Housing is not a human right in the United States. But more people are saying it should be.That growing movement has roots here in the Bay Area, where it's been nearly a year since the mothers behind Moms 4 Housing first occupied a house on Magnolia Street in West Oakland. Earlier this month, the moms announced that the home would soon be used for transitional housing.In the latest episode of the KQED podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America, hosts Molly Solomon and Erin Baldassari dive deep into what it would actually mean to make housing a right. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Generations of Armenians and descendants of those who escaped the Armenian Genocide have found refuge in San Francisco. That’s the epicenter of a robust church community center and where Armenian Americans can celebrate their culture, history and heritage. It’s also where a recent spate of suspected hate crimes are raising fears about the current border conflict — and painful memories of violence.Guest: Nastia Voynovskaya, KQED Arts and Culture editor and reporter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Community fridges have been popping up all over the Bay since the pandemic began as a form of mutual aid, which has deep roots here. There's a long history of this kind of community care, especially around food insecurity.Private companies have also used similar language to describe some of their own efforts. But KQED food writer and columnist Ruth Gebreyesus writes that the values of mutual aid are distinct — and worth protecting.Guest: Ruth Gebreyesus, food reporter and columnist for KQED Arts and Culture Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Proposition 25 is the culmination of a long fight over the bail system in California. A win for the "Yes" vote would uphold a law that abolishes cash bail and replaces it with a system that uses "risk assessment" algorithms to help judges decide whether to keep people locked up before trial. A win for the "No" vote would stop these changes and keep cash bail in place.The bail industry is in the "No" camp, but so are some progressive groups who think this new system would also be unjust and want the state legislature to go back to the drawing board on bail reform. That's why the campaign around Prop 25 isn't just about the merits of cash bail — it's about whether or not this is the state's best chance to end it for good.Guest: Marisa Lagos, KQED politics correspondent and co-host of the Political Breakdown podcastClick here to check out KQED's California Voter Guide, which includes information on statewide propositions, local measures, and voting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Distance learning is hard enough. And once you get past acquiring the technology needed to make it happen, there’s an additional step for many immigrant families and Indigenous-language speakers: figuring out how to log on and communicate with your teachers. In Oakland Unified School District, where about half of students speak a language other than English at home, supporting all students has been a struggle.Guests: Madeleine Bair, founding director of El Tímpano and Ashley McBride, Education Equity reporter for The OaklandsideYou can find the full story at The Oaklandside. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Curious is exploring the 12 statewide ballot propositions with its Prop Fest series. Today, we're sharing their guides to Props 16 and 17, which make big decisions on affirmative action and voting while on parole respectively.For more on Bay Curious’ Prop Fest, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Latino and immigrant workers keep the economy of "wine country" going. And while many in the Bay Area sheltered in place at the start of the pandemic, farmworkers in Napa and Sonoma counties continued working.Now, the Glass Fire is threatening their livelihoods. Many workers have evacuated, and likely won't get much support from the government to help stabilize their lives.Guest: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED immigration reporterThese organizations offer cash assistance to undocumented immigrants in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties: UndocuFund for Disaster Relief in Sonoma County UpValley Relief Fund (includes Napa and Lake counties) Down Valley Relief Fund (Napa County) Find a full list of organizations providing assistance in Northern California here via the California Immigrant Resilience Fund.Find COVID-19-related resources from the state of California for immigrants in Spanish, Vietnamese and other languages here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Berkeley recently renamed a street after a South Asian activist Kala Bagai. But her story isn’t the typical one you hear about people who get streets or monuments named after them.Nearly 100 years ago, Bagai and her family were driven out of town by racist neighbors who didn’t want them to move in. She and her family eventually left the Bay Area, and a lot of her later activism was the kind of work that didn’t make the headlines. But that’s exactly why some people feel like she’s the perfect person to represent the past and the present.Guest: Barnali Ghosh, curator and community historian with the South Asian Radical History Walking TourClick here to read a Mar. 12, 2020 op-ed in Berkeleyside by Kala Bagai’s granddaughter, Rani Bagai, about her grandmother’s story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

North Bay journalist Sarah Stierch has become a resource for locals looking for critical fire information, down to their specific block. That’s because when the North Bay was burning in 2017, she knew the streets and roads and homes intimately enough to gain the trust of her neighbors seeking information. But aside from the latest fire reports, she’s also been a compassionate voice for many people during these traumatic times.Guest: Sarah Stierch, writer and freelance journalist in SonomaConsider supporting Sarah’s work by donating to her Venmo or PayPal accounts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices