KQED's The California Report

California bans state-funded travel to other states that discriminate against LGBTQ people. That list has ballooned as legislation targeting trans people sweeps the country. Now Democratic lawmakers want to change tactics.Reporter: Nicole Nixon, CapRadioResidents in Orange County’s Anaheim Hills are voting on a self-imposed tax that would fund a groundwater pump system. That pump system has protected homes from landslides for 30 years, but funding will run out at the end of this year.Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legislative staff in California’s State Capitol have long been banned from unionizing.  In recent years, efforts to grant them that right have been shot down. But another bill to allow staff to unionize is making its way through the state legislature.Reporter: Laura Fitzgerald, CapRadioAdvocates rallied Tuesday in support of a bill California lawmakers are considering that would let workers take more paid sick days to care for themselves or family.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDOperations at Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant, were going to stop in a couple years. But Pacific Gas and Electric is applying to keep it open through 2045 to help the state meet its ambitious green energy goals. A new study says those extra years could result in significantly higher bills for PG&E's ratepayersReporter: Caleigh Wells, KCRW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hollywood strikes this time are different from those of the past, and not just because the technology has changed. Silicon Valley has taken over Hollywood, and Big Tech has an established anti-union bent.Reporter: Rachael Myrow, KQEDNew data shows California has taken 1 in 5 people off Medi-Cal in its first month of the renewal process. Medi-Cal is the state’s health insurance program for its poorest residents.Reporter: Kate Wolffe, CapRadioCalifornia representatives in Washington D.C. have joined more than 100 lawmakers calling for new heat illness protections for workers. Lawmakers want these protections implemented right away. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year, there's no fresh, locally caught salmon. The season was closed. So few adult fish are now in the ocean off the California coast, fisheries managers decided they all were needed to return to their natal streams and spawn.Guest: Danielle Venton, KQED Science ReporterMuch of California continues to buckle under a sweltering heat wave with no end in sight. But the state’s epic snowpack isn’t going anywhere just yet.Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best surf spots in Santa Cruz are infamous for territorial locals and some occasionally aggressive confrontations.  But lately, not all of the offenders have been human. A five-year-old sea otter has become famous for stealing surfboards, and evading capture.Reporter: Erin Malsbury, KAZUCalifornia regulators are developing emergency rules to protect workers dying from inhaling silica dust, in shops making kitchen countertops.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQEDWednesday's winning Powerball ticket was bought in downtown Los Angeles' Garment District. Reporter: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, LAist  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Grateful Dead’s offshoot band, Dead and Company, says this summer was their last tour. And their final stop on that tour was in San Francisco, where fans celebrated the end of an era. Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California ReportDoctors in California say a growing number of workers are getting really sick and dying from inhaling silica dust, while they sand and cut artificial stone to make kitchen countertops. State regulators are considering a petition Thursday for emergency rules. Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of fighting, the Temecula school board once again failed to approve a new elementary social studies textbook on Tuesday night. That sets up a showdown with the governor’s office.Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR California is dumping at least $100 million a year into its flagship rehabilitation program for former prisoners. Specialized Treatment for Optimized Programming, also known as STOP, provides housing and other support for parolees.  But a new investigation from CalMatters has found the state has no idea if the program works. Reporter: Byrhonda Lyons, CalMatters The California State University system is failing to adequately protect its community from sexual harassment.  That's according to a new report from the state auditor released this week.Reporter: Amy Mayer, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting this fall, judges in 8 counties will be put in charge of ordering treatment for people with serious psychotic illness. Some politicians say these new CARE Courts will clean up the streets, while health advocates argue a courtroom is no place for vulnerable patients. In Orange County, officials are balancing this tension as they start to implement the controversial new plan.Reporter: April Dembosky, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Central and Southern California are still not in the clear, with heat warnings in place for much of those regions. And for the state’s 115,000 unsheltered homeless residents, trying to keep cool is easier said than done.Reporter: Vanessa Rancano, KQEDConstruction crews are ahead of schedule on the demolition of the first of four dams on the Klamath River along the Oregon-California border.Reporter: Erik Neumann, Jefferson Public Radio Most small business owners in California support expanding benefits that help employees take care of their health and their family, like paid sick days. That’s according to the results of a new opinion poll.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED California’s latest effort to get college athletes paid is stalled in the legislature after pushback from universities. The bill would have allowed college athletes to get a share of the revenue that they create for their school. Reporter: Ryan Loyola, CalMatters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents film and TV actors, announced that its 160,000 members are striking, with actors expected to form picket lines outside of studios on Friday. SAG -AFTRA members will join already striking Hollywood writers. Such a labor stoppage by both unions at the same time hasn't happened since 1960 and it basically shuts down Hollywood production.The heat wave that’s expected to blanket large swaths of the state is forecast to push temperatures in Palm Springs to more than 120 degrees this weekend. The city is struggling to keep its growing homeless population safe in the heat. Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCRWhat about the state’s power grid, which is always a concern during extended heat waves? California’s electric grid operator says it has more tools to make sure the power stays on.Reporter: Izzy Bloom, The California Report  With temperatures reaching triple digits in much of California, state regulators are once again fanning out to inspect high-risk worksites.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices