KQED's The California Report

Next month, a major PG&E rate hike goes into effect. It’s the latest cost increase driven by wildfire-related expenses, inflation, and the growing energy demands that come with extreme weather. But these soring utility bills are pushing low income Californians to the edge of homelessness.Reporter: Vanessa Rancaño, KQEDSacramento County has launched a first-of-its-kind mobile veterinary clinic, focused on caring for pets owned by homeless residents. It's a free, mobile clinic with medicine and equipment.Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Migrant farmworkers used to make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce. In recent years, those numbers have decreased. The rules for living in migrant housing are still largely the same, and it's creating a difficult situation for those living in these centers across the state.Guest: Lindsey Holden, Reporter, Sacramento BeeA California law meant to ensure overtime pay for farmworkers may be leading growers to cut workers’ hours, and thus actually reduce their paychecks. That’s according to new research out of UC Berkeley. Reporter: Tyche Hendricks, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s solar industry is facing tough times after state utility regulators changed the rules for rooftop solar last spring. Sales are down and layoffs are up.Reporter: Erik Anderson, KPBS  The Department of Water Resources has released a final environmental impact report for the Delta tunnel project. The project would pump more water from northern to southern California, but is not without its share of critics.Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California regulators are set to vote this week on new emergency rules to protect workers power cutting “engineered stone” to make kitchen countertops. The factory-made material is linked to an aggressive lung disease killing workers.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala RomeroLast week, the city of Fresno became one of the first in the nation to raise the Palestinian flag, in solidarity with those killed in the Gaza Strip. The flag raising comes two months after Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer publicly showed support for Israel and made insensitive comments about the ongoing conflict.Reporter: Esther Quintanilla, KVPR  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 70, 000 Californians are still waiting on support from the state’s COVID-19 rent relief program. And now, that program could run out of money before it pays out the remaining eligible applicants.Reporter: Ben Christopher, CalMattersHeavier than expected snow is falling this week in the Lake Tahoe area, with some places getting over a foot of "powder".  That, of course, is a good thing for ski resorts, who were worried this year's ski season was getting off to a slow start.Reporter: Billy Cruz, The California ReportIt's the story of two California cities and two prisons.  One city is Blythe on the border of California and Arizona. It’s home to the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison. Since the lock up first opened in 1988, Chuckwalla has become synonymous with Blythe, with the prison creating hundreds of local jobs and helping to pump lots of dollars into Blythe’s economy. But last year, the state decided to close Chuckawalla. Now, the city of Norco, hundreds of miles away, wants to make a switch, and instead close its prison.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently ousted Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has announced he’s stepping down from Congress by the end of the year. The news was met with disappointment from many of his constituents in his Central California district.Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR Temecula’s Christian conservative school board president is one step closer to being recalled. A local PAC has turned in the signatures it hopes will force a recall election.Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCRState regulators announced the largest wage theft case in the home health care industry, a case that’s led to workers recovering $2 million so far. Nearly 150 caregivers who worked at Adat Shalom Board & Care are set to receive $5.5 million dollars total.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number of L.A. residents dying from fentanyl overdoses shot up 1600% over the past six years. A record 3,220 people died of drug overdoses in Los Angeles County in 2022. Fentanyl surpassed methamphetamine to become the most common drug in fatal overdoses. Reporter: Jackie Fortier, LAistThe state’s poorest children are having to wait for weeks, sometimes months, to receive urgent mental health care. When someone calls to make an urgent psychiatric appointment for a child, the state standard is for that appointment to be within four days. A new audit found that’s not happening for 40% of kids - some have to wait months to get an appointment.Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadioThe often glaring health disparities between Black and white Americans are known, like African Americans having an average lifespan that’s six years shorter compared to white people. But now research points to another disparity, involving grief and bereavement. Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The border wall that separates the U.S. and Mexico has long been controversial, but the barrier also causes real physical injuries when people fall from it. And with the border wall nearly twice as tall as it used to be in many places, the injuries keep getting worse. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBSThe state agency that lost billions to pandemic unemployment fraud has a new plan to pay out benefits. Employment Development Department officials hope the updates will help stop scammers from stealing peoples’ money. Reporter: Lauren Hepler, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four decades ago, California went to war against an enemy that wasn't human. The adversary was the Mediterranean fruit fly, an invasive pest that threatened to destroy California's agricultural economy. To fight the fly, the state launched controversial aerial pesticide spraying campaigns and set up roadblocks and quarantine zones. Fast forward to today and the fruit fly threat to California is back.Guest: Bodil Cass, Professor on Entomology, UC RiversideFaculty members at four California State University campuses are staging a series of single day strikes starting Monday. It comes after months of bargaining.Reporter: Juan Carlos Lara, KQEDFor the first time, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is returning land to an indigenous tribe. The Fort Independence Indian Community will get back 40 acres of sacred land in Inyo County.Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merced County has the highest rate of homicide in the state. It’s also severely lacking deputies. Sheriff Vernon Warnke says the shortage is so bad, he's disassembling units, like for gang enforcement, just to cover everyday patrol.Reporter: Elizabeth Arakelian, KVPRThe housing crisis in California can be felt in all parts of the state. That includes at colleges and universities, where more and more students are struggling to find on campus housing. At Cal Poly Humboldt, some students have turned to sleeping in their cars. And now they're being fined for doing so.Guest: Jillian Wells, Reporter, The Lumberjack  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices