Over a four year period, police officers in Bakersfield broke 45 bones in 31 people, and in no case did the officers involved in those encounters violate departmental policy. That’s the finding of an investigation from the California Reporting Project, a public-radio led collaboration looking into police misconduct. Molly Peterson, …
Read More »As California Drought Worsens, Peak Wildfire Season Could Come Months Earlier Than Usual
Most of California is experiencing extreme drought right now. That means the possibility of bigger, more destructive wildfires earlier in the summer. CapRadio’s Scott Rodd has this report from Butte County. Lunchtime brings a crew of laborers to this taco stand in Oroville. They’re taking a break from clearing trees …
Read More »Next Week, California To Lift COVID-19 Restrictions…Mostly – Virus Update For June 11
Next Tuesday, California is slated to reopen its doors following more than a year of pandemic-related restrictions. The state’s reopening system, known as the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, will dissolve, and businesses and houses of worship will be permitted to open without capacity limits or distancing restrictions. Life will …
Read More »Scholar Caroline Collins Explores The Contributions Of Blacks In Rural California In New Podcast
The Cal Ag Roots podcast series “We Are Not Strangers Here” explores the contributions of Black Californians to agriculture and rural communities. Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with its producer and host Caroline Collins about the importance of preserving that history and the origins of the podcast. https://www.kvpr.org/sites/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/202104/caroline_collins.jpg
Read More »California Voters To Decide On Affirmative Action and Property Tax Increases In November
Propositions 13 and 209 were some of the most impactful in California’s history, but now their fates are back in the hands of voters, who come November will weigh in on whether to bring back affirmative action and potentially increase property taxes for some businesses. To learn more about these …
Read More »New LAist Podcast Explores The False Promise Of Wealth In California City
In the southeast corner of Kern County is the Mojave Desert. In that dry landscape there’s a city that looks half built. There are roads and some houses, but it seems unfinished. That city’s past and present are investigated in a new podcast from KPCC’s LAist Studios, called California City. …
Read More »Central California Blood Center Is Asking Recovered COVID-19 Patients For Plasma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient as an experimental treatment for those sick with the coronavirus. The treatment is based on the concept that the recovered person now has antibodies to fight the disease. Before COVID-19, the Central California …
Read More »California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis on the State’s Response to COVID-19
With recent data indicating that the COVID-19 curve is flattening in some parts of California, FM89’s Kathleen Schock spoke to the state’s Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis about the planning process to reopen the economy and efforts to increase testing capacity. https://www.kvpr.org/sites/kvpr/files/styles/big_story/public/202004/Eleni-Kounalakis-win.jpg
Read More »Oildale Native Gerald Haslam Coined The Phrase ‘The Other California’ – He Tells Us Why
We’ve told you about a podcast we’re hoping to roll out sometime next year called The Other California. It will take a more intimate look at the part of the state where we live, the area that is often considered fly-over or drive-through territory. The phrase comes from a book …
Read More »California Air Officials Dispute EPA Letter Threatening Sanctions Due To Air Pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency has accused the state of failing to comply with federal clean air policy. In a letter sent last Tuesday to Mary Nichols, Chair of the Air Resources Board (CARB), EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler claimed that “since the 1970s, California has failed to carry out its most …
Read More »Why Have So Many Vaping Bills Stalled In The California Legislature?
Earlier this week, the state Department of Public Health urged Californians to stop vaping immediately, less than a week after Governor Newsom signed an executive order to curb vaping among youth. And yet, unlike in many other states, the California legislature has yet to pass a single law related to …
Read More »What Does ‘The Other California’ Mean To The People Who Live Here? A Conversation With The Masumotos
The writer Gerald Haslam grew up at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and is credited with coining the phrase “The Other California” to describe the part of the state where we live. Not Los Angeles. Not San Francisco. Not the coastal California but The Other California — …
Read More »In The Studio: Should California Insulate Itself From Federal Rollbacks Of Environmental Laws?
State legislators have fast-tracked Senate Bill 1, the California Environmental, Public Health and Workers Defense Act of 2019. It is sweeping legislation that would lock current standards in place through January 20, 2025, the last day of Donald Trump’s presidency if he were to win a second term. Proponents see …
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