The Bay

This episode contains explicit language. Next week, San Jose City Council will vote on a controversial plan that would threaten unhoused people with arrest if they refuse multiple offers of shelter. Mayor Matt Mahan says this approach could help open paths to treatment and increase support for more shelter construction. But Santa Clara County officials are skeptical. Links: Mahan's Final San José Budget Focused on Controversial Homelessness and Pay Plans In San José, a Controversial Choice for Unhoused: Shelter or Arrest? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An independent investigation into a massive fire at the Martinez PBF Energy refinery found that human error, worker inexperience and lack of supervision were at the heart of the February fire that prompted shelter in place orders. Today, we revisit an episode about this initial fire that alarmed local residents. Links: Massive Martinez Refinery Fire in February Caused by Human Error, Investigation Finds This episode first aired Feb. 7, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1900s, San Francisco eradicated native coyotes from the city. But around 20 years ago, they returned and are now a part of daily life. For some residents, they're a source of wonder, while others view them as a nuisance and a danger to pets and children.  Links: The Coyotes of San Francisco How We Photographed Coyotes in San Francisco Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this month's edition of The Bay's news roundup, we talk about a proposed 10-year ban on state AI regulations that the House of Representatives passed as part of President Trump's budget bill. Plus, Oakland's MACRO program – a non-emergency alternative to police – releases new data, and the Bay Area's very own Ruby Ibarra wins NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Links: Californians would lose AI protections under bill advancing in Congress Oakland's MACRO touts improvements despite criticism; needs $4M a year to survive Ruby Ibarra: NPR Tiny Desk Concert Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than four years after the Taliban took control of Kabul, thousands of Afghan families are still waiting for the U.S. to fulfill promises it made to take them in for helping the American war effort. Now, the U.S. is moving to deport thousands of Afghans who have recently arrived here, after the Trump administration announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for people from Afghanistan. Links: Bay Area Afghans, Allies Decry Trump's End of TPS: ‘They're Terrified' Jewish Community and Family Services East Bay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2023, Rise East, a collective of East Oakland nonprofits, received a $50 million grant a from national philanthropic organization. But there was a catch: The money could only be unlocked if Rise East could raise more $50 million more from local donors. On Thursday, Rise East announced that they had done it. And East Oaklanders have already begun dreaming about what to do with this money to help reimagine their communities. This episode originally aired on Oct. 11, 2024. Links: Rise East Unlocks $100 Million to Reimagine East Oakland Live From East Oakland: Can $100 Million Revitalize Oakland's Black Community? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My Wildest Story is a national live storytelling and comedic trauma-bonding event series from the pop-up comedy collective Fools Circle. Earlier this month, some of the Bay Area's favorite comedians and storytellers gathered at KQED for this showcase of crazy and jaw-dropping personal experiences that could only happen here. This episode contains explicit language. Links: Watch the full event Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by hunger strikes at California State University campuses, at least 20 students, staff and faculty at Stanford are on an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with Gaza. They're demanding that Stanford disclose and divest from companies they say are profiting from Israel's siege. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has tapped some of the city's richest people to run a new nonprofit aimed at raising money to revitalize the city's downtown, and also recently announced a fund that will use private dollars to help address homelessness. But how much power should the city's ultrarich have over the city's comeback? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area is home to the WNBA's newest team. Tonight, the Golden State Valkyries play their first-ever regular season game at Chase Center. For women's sports fans across the region, it's been a long time coming. The Chronicle's Marisa Ingemi joins us to preview the Valkyries' inaugural season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 2019, a bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge added more options for cyclists. Now, the fate of the bike lane is a hot button issue as officials decide whether to limit access to weekends only, or keep the lane open seven days a week. Richmondside reporter Joel Umanzor joins us to talk about what's next for the bridge, and the strong opinions on both sides of the bike lane.  Links: Cyclists cheer as Richmond-San Rafael bridge bike lane vote is delayed again Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Press Democrat, the longtime local newspaper of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, has been sold to MediaNews Group, a newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital, an investment firm based in Manhattan. The sale has raised alarms among North Bay journalists and residents, who fear that the company will continue its pattern of buying newspapers and then slashing staff. KQED's Gabe Meline joins us to discuss the sale and its potential impact on the local media landscape in the North Bay.  Correction: The description of Alden Global Capital has been updated. Links:  Santa Rosa's Press Democrat Was Just Sold. Locals Are Concerned For the Paper's Future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, the National Endowment for the Arts has provided federal grant funding to local arts nonprofits around the country and the Bay Area. Now, several recipients have had their grants cancelled by the Trump Administration, leaving many uncertain about the future of arts and culture in the region.  Links: Trump Cancels NEA Grants for Many Bay Area Arts Nonprofits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a decadeslong fight, the majority of ranching along the Point Reyes National Seashore will end by next year, thanks to a legal settlement involving environmentalists, ranchers, and the National Park Service. Environmentalists say the deal will protect native animal and grass species. Meanwhile, ranchers and workers are now in a scramble to find housing in an area already squeezed for options. Links: Cattle Ranching Is at the Center of a Battle Brewing in Point Reyes Point Reyes Ranching Will All But End Under New Deal, Capping Decadeslong Conflict Point Reyes Cattle Ranchers Urge Republicans to Leave Environmental Deal Alone Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to private school enrollment, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Marin counties are all well above the state average. But why? In this episode from our friends at Bay Curious, we'll explore the many reasons San Francisco families choose to send their kids to private schools. It's a trend rooted in the history of desegregation that's been hard to reverse. Links: Why Is Private Schooling So Popular in the San Francisco Bay Area? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wednesday marked 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. As a result of the north's victory, an estimated 120,000 Vietnamese refugees fled to communities all over the U.S. — including to San José. Today, it's hard to imagine San José without the Vietnamese American community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this edition of The Bay's monthly news roundup, we unpack the razor-thin election results in San José's District 3 and the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs in San Francisco's Chinatown. Plus, we learn more about how roughly 900 Berkeley homeowners will need to clear vegetation in order to protect their houses against wildfire damage. Links: After Recount, Tordillos Advances to Runoff Election for San José Council Seat San Francisco Chinatown Businesses Enter Survival Mode During Trade War Berkeley Moves to Require Vegetation Removal Near Homes in Fire Zones Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Head Start was founded 60 years ago to help America's poorest families break the cycle of poverty. Now, it's one of many federal programs that the Trump administration wants to reduce or cut altogether.  KQED's Daisy Nguyen tells the story of one federal employee in the Bay Area who was laid off from Head Start — and how the program changed her life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As part of Youth Takeover Week at KQED, The Bay and Bay Curious have teamed up to collaborate with four high school students who live in San Pablo, Fremont, Walnut Creek and San Jose. For several months, these teenagers — two juniors and two seniors — have shared what's going on in their lives, what's got them worried, what's making them excited and what they're passionate about. This episode was produced by Jessica Kariisa, Alan Montecillo, Katrina Schwartz, Olivia Allen-Price, and Christopher Beale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join host Xorje Andrés Olivares and guests to explore what it means to live within a hyphenation. Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to have easy conversations about hard things: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. Hyphenación—where conversation and cultura meet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After running on a promise to unite Oakland, former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee has defeated former city councilmember Loren Taylor in a tight race for mayor. Lee will complete the term of former Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled in November. Today, The Oaklandside's Eli Wolfe joins us to discuss what to expect from Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the oil giant Valero announced that it will “idle, restructure, or cease operations” at its Benicia refinery that employs more than 400 workers by April 2026. KQED's Julie Small tells us how officials are reacting, and why many view this decision as a response to state and local regulations. Links: Oil Giant Valero Looks to Shutter Troubled Bay Area Refinery. It's ‘a Big Surprise' Bay Area Air District Hits Valero's Benicia Refinery With 'Historic' $82 Million Fine Benicia Moves Toward Tougher Oversight of Valero Refinery Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Picture an all-electric home with smart appliances that talk to each other via WiFi to figure out when to pull power from the grid. That's the idea behind something called ‘virtual power plant' technology. While it's not new, the technology's advocates hope it will power many more homes in the coming years. KQED's Laura Klivans takes us inside one such home in north Richmond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Saturday, San Francisco officially opened Sunset Dunes Park on the city's west side. It replaces a 2-mile section of the Great Highway, 5 months after voters approved a citywide measure to permanently close it to motor vehicles. But many residents, still furious about the decision to close the road, haven't given up. Some are even campaigning to recall their local supervisor.  Links: Sunset Dunes: San Francisco's Controversial New Park Officially Opens SF Supervisor Faces a Recall Campaign Over Great Highway Closure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis are now commonplace on the streets of San Francisco. Feelings about these autonomous vehicles vary — from excitement, to amusement, to outright hostility. Some have even gone so far as to vandalize the cars. In this episode from KQED's Close All Tabs podcast, Morgan Sung speaks with Bloomberg journalist Ellen Huet and law professor Ryan Calo to explore the rise of Waymo vandalism, and its roots in our collective anxiety over AI. Links: Waymo's Expansion Provokes Anxieties of AI Takeover – Ellen Huet, Bloomberg The next big robotaxi push is almost here — Harri Weber, Quartz  The Courts Can Handle the Deadly Uber Self-Driving Car Crash. But that doesn't mean the law is ready for autonomous vehicles. — Ryan Calo, Slate Good Robot, Bad Robot: Dark and Creepy Sides of Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and AI — Jo Ann Oravec, Professor at the University of Wisconsin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of student visas across the country, claiming many have participated in ‘pro-Hamas' activism on college campuses. Now, two international students at California colleges are suing the federal government after their student visas were revoked and their records in a federal database were terminated, effectively stripping them of their ability to continue studying in the U.S. Links: California Students, Blindsided by Visa Cancellations, Sue Trump Administration What Should International Students on Visas and Green Cards Know Right Now? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on imports go into effect today, and businesses around the Bay Area are already feeling the impact. Some worry that the costs will trickle down to consumers and discourage businesses already struggling to afford operating in the Bay Area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the A's begin their first season in Sacramento, KQED found that some Coliseum workers promised financial assistance from the A's ahead of the team's transition out of Oakland haven't gotten anything.  Links: Some Oakland Coliseum Workers Say They Never Received Assistance From A's Farewell Fund Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In San Francisco, Black men born between 1951 and 1970 accounted for 12% of overdose deaths between January 2020 and October 2024, despite representing less than 1% of the city's population. The disparity in San Francisco is greater than any other major city.  Today, we hear from Richard Beal, director of recovery services at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, about his personal story of addiction and recovery, and later talk with The San Francisco Standard's David Sjostedt about what's behind this trend of Black overdose deaths in the city.  Links: SF is losing a generation of Black men to overdoses. It's worse here than anywhere Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's executive orders and rhetoric have created a climate of fear in queer and transgender communities, including here in the Bay Area. KQED's Bianca Taylor reports on a self-defense class in San Francisco's Transgender District that teaches people skills to protect themselves while also building community. Links: Amid Rising Threats, Transgender Community Builds Bonds at This SF Self-Defense Class Where LGBTQ+ people can find self-defense classes in the Bay Area Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this month's edition of The Bay's monthly news roundup, Alan, Jessica, and Ericka talk about what happened when a Marin County school board member questioned the term “toxic masculinity,” delays in finding a new site for San Jose's iconic flea market, and an Eid festival coming to San Francisco's Tenderloin. Plus, we discuss threats to public media funding. Links: Watch: NPR, PBS Heads Answer Lawmakers' Allegations of Bias A Marin School Board Questioned the Term ‘Toxic Masculinity.' Then Came the Backlash State law blocks potential San Jose flea market site San Francisco's Tenderloin Is Bringing a New Eid Festival to Its Streets  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, San Francisco rolled out speed cameras at dozens of locations throughout the city. After seeing one of SF's deadliest years on the road, advocates hope the cameras will make walking and driving in San Francisco safer.  This episode first ran on Jan 15, 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for Oakland voters to pick a new mayor. Voting is underway in Oakland's special election until April 15. Once a mayor is picked, they'll have to hit the ground running in order to balance the city's budget and address voters' concerns about public safety and homelessness.  Links: Oakland Special Election: Candidate Guide and How to Vote Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Day laborers, or jornaleros, can often be found standing at specific street corners, where they are hired on the spot for inexpensive manual labor. Most are Latino migrants and can be found all over the Bay Area. Berkeleyside's Ximena Natera joins us to talk about how jornaleros in Berkeley are dealing with increased fears of deportation, and where these workers are finding support in difficult times. Links: For Berkeley day laborers with bills and fears, staying home is not an option Para los jornaleros de Berkeley, quedarse en casa no es opción, a pesar del miedo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Christmas Eve, 58-year-old James Oakley was crushed to death during a Vallejo city-run trash cleanup, sparking shock and outrage among homeless residents and advocates. Three months after his death, the city of Vallejo has put a temporary pause on encampment sweeps. Links: Report: Unhoused Man Seen Alive Before Being Crushed During Vallejo Cleanup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters in San José's downtown, north side, Guadalupe-Washington, and Japantown neighborhoods are already casting ballots to fill an empty city council seat left open by former Councilmember Omar Torres, who resigned in November and faces child sex abuse charges. The future of downtown San José — and possibly Mayor Matt Mahan's agenda — hangs in the balance. Links: San José District 3 Special Election: Who's Running and How to Vote Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a competitive karaoke league in the East Bay that's about more than just singing. Every Monday at KaraOakland, teams perform songs on specific themes. Then, participants used ranked choice voting to pick the best performances — like Oakland voters will in the city's special election next month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate 1000 episodes of the podcast, The Bay team took a little field trip. We reflect on the show, and listen to voicemails from listeners and colleagues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, more than 1,500 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus drivers, light rail operators and other employees went on strike for the first time in the agency's history after more than six months of failed negotiations over wages and other issues. Links: VTA Sues to End Historic South Bay Transit Workers' Strike Send us a voice memo for our 1000th episode to thebay@kqed.org, or leave a voicemail at 415-710-9223! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has laid off more than a thousand National Park Service employees in the past few weeks as part of its broader efforts to reduce the federal workforce. KQED's Sarah Mohamad talks about how these layoffs are affecting workers — and how your next visit to a national park might be a little different.  Links: What You Should Know About Visiting National Parks Right Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're celebrating 1000 episodes of The Bay with a very special episode and we want to hear from you! Tell us what you love about the show. Leave us a voicemail at 415-710-9223, or send a voice memo to thebay@kqed.org. Tell us your name, your city, and how long you've been listening to The Bay.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An investigation by CalMatters found that homeless shelters are dangerous, chaotic, and ineffective at getting people into permanent housing. The lead reporter behind the investigation, Lauren Hepler, spoke with KQED's Political Breakdown about what's gone wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices