KQED's The California Report

Rivers in California are flowing fast and wide this year as record snowpack in the mountains melt. All that water has created flood damage and worries about more to come, but one industry is thriving after years of drought and shrinking rivers -- whitewater rafting.   Reporter: Joshua Yeager, KVPRCalifornia workplace health and safety regulators are holding a public hearing on Thursday on a proposed rule to prevent heat-related illness in indoor spaces.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Along the Yuba River on Tuesday, California officials announced a plan to give fish access to areas they haven't swam in for more than a century. Daguerre Point Dam has blocked migrating salmon, sturgeon and Pacific lamprey since it was built in 1910.Reporter: Danielle Venton, KQEDAfter a wildfire destroyed his home a few years back, a young Latino man from Santa Rosa was inspired to become a firefighter. Now, he’s well on his way to achieving his goal -- thanks to a program designed to increase diversity in California’s fire departments.Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2015, the Berryessa Snow Mountain region became a national monument. The monument status brought protections to the area’s biologically diverse landscape.  But one large swath of land, nestled in the monument’s center, was excluded from protection. Now environmental groups and tribes are trying to fix that.  Reporter: Manola Secaira, CapRadioGovernor Gavin Newsom warned of a more than $31 billion shortfall when he released his revised state spending plan last week. One sector that will feel the pinch of a tighter budget is child care.Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. immigration officials are expressing confidence in the state of things at the U-S Mexico border. That after the Trump-era Title 42 program ended last week. It prevented migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. But there are still plenty of concerns from people trying to cross the border.Reporter: Saul Gonzalez, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that the pandemic era border restrictions, known as Title 42, have been lifted., it’s estimated six thousand migrants are in shelters across the San Diego -Tijuana border waiting to apply for asylum. Many had been waiting for days without much food. They slept on the ground under bright lights.Governor Gavin Newsom will be announcing how big of a budget deficit the state is expecting next year – and how he plans to close that gap.Reporter: Alexei Koseff, CalMatters Fire season is fast approaching in California. As the climate warms, fires are expected to be more intense. This comes as California struggles to beef up its wildfire personnel. But a new program in the Bay Area aims to help build that workforce.Reporter: Madi Bolanos, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Title 42, the border policy that was put in place during the pandemic to turn asylum seekers away, ends Thursday night. Officials are expecting a surge of migrants at the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is already keeping 400 migrants in a makeshift camp in San Ysidro, between the primary and secondary border walls. Reporter: Gustavo Solis, KPBS Thursday marks the end of the COVID 19 federal public health emergency.  But for people who are affected by Long COVID, it’s not the end of the pandemic.  Many have lost their jobs, have no means of income, and are relying on disability checks to try to survive. But getting approved for long-term disability is becoming a major roadblock.Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we’re now in the fourth year of the pandemic, there is a growing sense of optimism that the worst is likely behind us. Vaccines and boosters have helped reduce the number of hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. But for millions of Americans who are suffering from Long COVID symptoms, there’s no end in sight for their day-to-day struggles.Reporter: Keith Mizuguchi, The California Report Governor Gavin Newsom is scheduled to release his revised budget on Friday. He’s warned about a major deficit, but that isn’t stopping lawmakers from putting pressure on him to increase child care funding, to the tune of a billion dollars. Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED After the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on Thursday, some people who were receiving medications through telehealth will need to visit a doctor in person.Reporter: Katie Hyson, KPBS  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s legislature has approved spending $150 million to help cash-strapped hospitals across the state. The money would fund a hospital loan program.Reporter: Ana Ibarra, CalMattersMenifee in Riverside County is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. As it's grown, the city made the decision to create its own police department from scratch. It launched in the summer of 2020 – just as policing was under intense scrutiny in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.  Reporter: Madison Aument, KVCR Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week will mark the end of a controversial border policy that started under President Donald Trump. Title 42 is part of the U.S. Public Health Code meant to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. But it's been used to keep hundreds of thousands of migrants from crossing the border.Guest: Tyche Hendricks, KQEDWe’re nearing the end of the first week of the Hollywood writers strike, and studios and the union representing writers stand far apart on a number of key issues. But, the strike doesn’t only threaten the financial health of those who work on TV shows or movies. It has lots of other businesses worried as well. Reporter: Josie Huang, LAistThe California reparations task force has approved a statewide plan for descendants of American Slavery.  The sweeping recommendations include a method to calculate money denied to Black residents by racist policies and plans for a new state agency to manage repayment.Reporter: Annelise Finney, KQED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of parents and teachers in Oakland are taking to the picket line on Friday morning for day two of the citywide teachers strike. Reporter: Phoebe Quinton, KQEDDavid “Mas” Masumoto has been growing peaches, nectarines and grapes on his family farm in Del Rey, just south of Fresno, for over 40 years. He thought he knew all about his family history in the area -- the racism, imprisonment during World War II, and eventually buying some land, establishing a home. But Masumoto got a big shock in 2012. Reporter: Lisa Morehouse, The California Report Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices