State Regulators To Vote On New Emergency Rules For Stonecutters' Safety
Pacific Crest Trail Towns Struggling After Dixie Fire; Fresno Gorditas Shop a Tribute to Mom
Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking
How Central Valley Farmworker Communities Are Tackling Climate Change
Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change
17 Struggling California Hospitals Accept Millions in Interest-Free Loans
Thousands of Californians Are Still Waiting for COVID Unemployment Funds
Fresno School Plants Trees to Reduce Highway Pollution, Others May Follow
Sponsored
window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={"attachmentsReducer":{"audio_0":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_0","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"}}},"audio_1":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_1","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"}}},"audio_2":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_2","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"}}},"audio_3":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_3","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"}}},"audio_4":{"type":"attachments","id":"audio_4","imgSizes":{"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"}}},"placeholder":{"type":"attachments","id":"placeholder","imgSizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-160x96.jpg","width":160,"height":96,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-800x478.jpg","width":800,"height":478,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1020x610.jpg","width":1020,"height":610,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-lrg":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1920x1148.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-med":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1180x705.jpg","width":1180,"height":705,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"fd-sm":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-960x574.jpg","width":960,"height":574,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xxsmall":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-240x143.jpg","width":240,"height":143,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xsmall":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-375x224.jpg","width":375,"height":224,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"small":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-520x311.jpg","width":520,"height":311,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"xlarge":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1180x705.jpg","width":1180,"height":705,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-1920x1148.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-32":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-32x32.jpg","width":32,"height":32,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-50":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-50x50.jpg","width":50,"height":50,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-64":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-64x64.jpg","width":64,"height":64,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-96":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-96x96.jpg","width":96,"height":96,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"guest-author-128":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-128x128.jpg","width":128,"height":128,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"detail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/GettyImages-896326950-e1514998105161.jpg","width":1920,"height":1148}}},"news_11954908":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11954908","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11954908","found":true},"title":"Michael Yamamura outside his home in Fresno on July 1, 2023.","publishDate":1688399869,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1703109617,"caption":"Michael Yamamura outside his home in Fresno on July 1, 2023.","credit":"Martin do Nascimento/KQED","altTag":"A person stands by a brick wall in front of a street.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-22-KQED-02.jpg?ver=1703109609","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11964919":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11964919","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11964919","found":true},"title":"231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED","publishDate":1697674625,"status":"inherit","parent":11969381,"modified":1702070442,"caption":"Jorge Moreno watches soccer while his wife Maria Valencia reads the bible at their home in San Francisco on Oct. 17, 2023.","credit":"Beth LaBerge/KQED","altTag":"A person wearing a baseball cap lies down on a bed.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231017-StonecutterSilicosis-009-BL-KQED.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11968249":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11968249","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11968249","found":true},"title":"FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut","publishDate":1700689673,"status":"inherit","parent":11968242,"modified":1700689786,"caption":"Hikers are increasingly skipping burned sections of the Pacific Crest Trail, like this one outside Belden, California.","credit":"Fred Greaves for KQED","altTag":"looking down from above on an exposed part of a trail with burned trees in the background","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-800x550.jpg","width":800,"height":550,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-1020x701.jpg","width":1020,"height":701,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-160x110.jpg","width":160,"height":110,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-1536x1055.jpg","width":1536,"height":1055,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FG_Beldin_PCT_drone_2023_09_13_0265-qut.jpg","width":1920,"height":1319}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11960643":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11960643","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11960643","found":true},"title":"Lizett Lopez in front of Lucy's Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11. 2023.","publishDate":1694463276,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1700688167,"caption":"Lizett Lopez in front of Lucy's Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023.","credit":"Martin do Nascimento/KQED","altTag":"A woman wearing a white shirt with an apron that says \"Lucy's\" stands in front of building that has a sign that reads \"Lucy's Gorditas.\"","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-04-KQED.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11960227":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11960227","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11960227","found":true},"title":"RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED","publishDate":1694030988,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1699570919,"caption":"Huron Mayor Rey León walks through a community garden and compost hub run by the Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute offices, known as LEAP, in Huron, Calif., on Sept. 1, 2023.","credit":"Beth LaBerge/KQED","altTag":"A person with a mustache wearing a baseball cap looks at a plant in a garden.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68665_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-40-BL-KQED.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11954906":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11954906","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11954906","found":true},"title":"The Tower District in Fresno on July 1, 2023.","publishDate":1688399236,"status":"inherit","parent":11970332,"modified":1702936552,"caption":"A man pushes a cart near downtown Fresno on a 108-degree day. Officials estimate about 1,700 people are currently living on Fresno’s streets. ","credit":"Martin do Nascimento/KQED","altTag":"A man in a baseball cap pulls a shopping cart up a sidewalk.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11959187":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11959187","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11959187","found":true},"title":"CalMattersHospitals","publishDate":1692985617,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1692986189,"caption":"A road sign announcing the closure of the Emergency Room and Madera Community Hospital outside the main entrance on Jan. 2, 2023.","credit":"Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters via CatchLight Local","altTag":"An electric road sign on a gloomy, wet day reads, \"ER and Hospital Closed.\" A hospital is seen in the background with several white vehicles in the parking lot.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersHospitals.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11949704":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11949704","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11949704","found":true},"title":"CalMattersNicolasAllen1","publishDate":1684266572,"status":"inherit","parent":0,"modified":1684266841,"caption":"Sharon and Nicolas Allen watch their two sons play in their home in Fresno on April 10, 2023.","credit":"Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local","altTag":"A mother sits in a cushioned, chair inside a child's nursery in her home. She watches her two toddlers play on the tan carpet. Her husband is on his knees watching their children. One child's green T-shirt reads, \"Mom's Lucky Charm\" in white letters.","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-800x533.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-1020x680.jpg","width":1020,"height":680,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-160x107.jpg","width":160,"height":107,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-1536x1024.jpg","width":1536,"height":1024,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-672x372.jpg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-1038x576.jpg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1-1920x1280.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen1.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false},"news_11934062":{"type":"attachments","id":"news_11934062","meta":{"index":"attachments_1591205162","site":"news","id":"11934062","found":true},"title":"20221117_122943-scaled","publishDate":1670185794,"status":"inherit","parent":11934055,"modified":1670186044,"caption":"Tehipite Middle School in Fresno, on Dec. 2, 2022. The school is nestled right up against two highways, leaving the more than 500 students and employees vulnerable to vehicle pollution.","credit":"Ashleigh Panoo/EdSource","altTag":"A view of exterior of Tehipite Middle School","description":null,"imgSizes":{"medium":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-800x600.jpeg","width":800,"height":600,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"large":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-1020x765.jpeg","width":1020,"height":765,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-160x120.jpeg","width":160,"height":120,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"1536x1536":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-1536x1152.jpeg","width":1536,"height":1152,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"2048x2048":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-2048x1536.jpeg","width":2048,"height":1536,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"post-thumbnail":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-672x372.jpeg","width":672,"height":372,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twentyfourteen-full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-1038x576.jpeg","width":1038,"height":576,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"full-width":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1-1920x1440.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1440,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"kqedFullSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_122943-scaled-1.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1920}},"fetchFailed":false,"isLoading":false}},"audioPlayerReducer":{"postId":"stream_live"},"authorsReducer":{"byline_news_11968238":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_news_11968238","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_news_11968238","name":"Olivia Zhao","isLoading":false},"byline_news_11959175":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_news_11959175","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_news_11959175","name":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/anaibarra/\">Ana B. Ibarra\u003c/a>","isLoading":false},"byline_news_11949679":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_news_11949679","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_news_11949679","name":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/laurenhepler/\">Lauren Hepler\u003c/a>","isLoading":false},"byline_news_11934055":{"type":"authors","id":"byline_news_11934055","meta":{"override":true},"slug":"byline_news_11934055","name":"\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/author/apanoo\">Ashleigh Panoo\u003c/a>","isLoading":false},"kqed":{"type":"authors","id":"236","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"236","found":true},"name":"KQED News Staff","firstName":"KQED News Staff","lastName":null,"slug":"kqed","email":"faq@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":null,"bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"futureofyou","roles":["author"]}],"headData":{"title":"KQED News Staff | KQED","description":null,"ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ef0e801a68c4c54afa9180db14084167?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/kqed"},"tychehendricks":{"type":"authors","id":"259","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"259","found":true},"name":"Tyche Hendricks","firstName":"Tyche","lastName":"Hendricks","slug":"tychehendricks","email":"thendricks@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"KQED Senior Editor, Immigration","bio":"\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tyche Hendricks is KQED’s senior editor for immigration, leading coverage of the policy and politics that affect California’s immigrant communities. Her work for KQED’s radio and online audiences is also carried on NPR and other national outlets. She has been recognized with awards from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the Society for Professional Journalists; the Education Writers Association; the Best of the West and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Before joining KQED in 2010, Tyche spent more than a dozen years as a newspaper reporter, notably at the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. At different times she has covered criminal justice, government and politics and urban planning. Tyche has taught in the MFA Creative Writing program at the University of San Francisco and at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she was co-director of a national immigration symposium for professional journalists. She is the author of \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Wind Doesn't Need a Passport: Stories from the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (University of California Press). \u003c/span>","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b8ee458e2731c2d43df86882ce17267e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"tychehendricks","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"stateofhealth","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Tyche Hendricks | KQED","description":"KQED Senior Editor, Immigration","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b8ee458e2731c2d43df86882ce17267e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b8ee458e2731c2d43df86882ce17267e?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/tychehendricks"},"vrancano":{"type":"authors","id":"11276","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11276","found":true},"name":"Vanessa Rancaño","firstName":"Vanessa","lastName":"Rancaño","slug":"vrancano","email":"vrancano@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"Reporter, Housing","bio":"Vanessa Rancaño reports on housing and homelessness for KQED. She’s also covered education for the station and reported from the Central Valley. Her work has aired across public radio, from flagship national news shows to longform narrative podcasts. Before taking up a mic, she worked as a freelance print journalist. She’s been recognized with a number of national and regional awards. Vanessa grew up in California's Central Valley. She's a former NPR Kroc Fellow, and a graduate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f6c0fc5d391c78710bcfc723f0636ef6?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"vanessarancano","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Vanessa Rancaño | KQED","description":"Reporter, Housing","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f6c0fc5d391c78710bcfc723f0636ef6?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/f6c0fc5d391c78710bcfc723f0636ef6?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/vrancano"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"firebase":{"requesting":{},"requested":{},"timestamps":{},"data":{},"ordered":{},"auth":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"authError":null,"profile":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"listeners":{"byId":{},"allIds":[]},"isInitializing":false,"errors":[]},"navBarReducer":{"navBarId":"news","fullView":true,"showPlayer":false},"navMenuReducer":{"menus":[{"key":"menu1","items":[{"name":"News","link":"/","type":"title"},{"name":"Politics","link":"/politics"},{"name":"Science","link":"/science"},{"name":"Education","link":"/educationnews"},{"name":"Housing","link":"/housing"},{"name":"Immigration","link":"/immigration"},{"name":"Criminal Justice","link":"/criminaljustice"},{"name":"Silicon Valley","link":"/siliconvalley"},{"name":"Forum","link":"/forum"},{"name":"The California Report","link":"/californiareport"}]},{"key":"menu2","items":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","link":"/arts","type":"title"},{"name":"Critics’ Picks","link":"/thedolist"},{"name":"Cultural Commentary","link":"/artscommentary"},{"name":"Food & Drink","link":"/food"},{"name":"Bay Area Hip-Hop","link":"/bayareahiphop"},{"name":"Rebel Girls","link":"/rebelgirls"},{"name":"Arts Video","link":"/artsvideos"}]},{"key":"menu3","items":[{"name":"Podcasts","link":"/podcasts","type":"title"},{"name":"Bay Curious","link":"/podcasts/baycurious"},{"name":"Rightnowish","link":"/podcasts/rightnowish"},{"name":"The Bay","link":"/podcasts/thebay"},{"name":"On Our Watch","link":"/podcasts/onourwatch"},{"name":"Mindshift","link":"/podcasts/mindshift"},{"name":"Consider This","link":"/podcasts/considerthis"},{"name":"Political Breakdown","link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown"}]},{"key":"menu4","items":[{"name":"Live Radio","link":"/radio","type":"title"},{"name":"TV","link":"/tv","type":"title"},{"name":"Events","link":"/events","type":"title"},{"name":"For Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"news_11970332":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11970332","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11970332","score":null,"sort":[1702987254000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"rising-utility-costs-compound-californias-housing-crisis","title":"Rising Utility Costs Compound California's Housing Crisis","publishDate":1702987254,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Rising Utility Costs Compound California’s Housing Crisis | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Michael Yamamura shares an apartment in Fresno with his brother and their ailing mother. This summer, as they ran the air conditioning to keep the scorching heat at bay, their monthly utility bills topped $500, which made it hard to keep up on rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, I don’t pay it until they give me the three-day [eviction] notice,” said the 20-year-old, whose family was homeless a few years ago when he was in junior high. “I’ve been pretty behind and pretty terrified of ending up out on the street again.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident\"]‘Sometimes, I don’t pay it until they give me the three-day [eviction] notice. I’ve been pretty behind and pretty terrified of ending up out on the street again.’[/pullquote]Utility costs will swallow an even bigger portion of the family’s budget when PG&E’s latest rate hikes go into effect next month, raising average gas and electricity bills by an estimated $28-$42 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increases come after the state’s three major suppliers, PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov/press-room/reports-and-analyses/q3-2023-electric-rates-report\">nearly doubled\u003c/a> electricity rates over the last decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related expenses, inflation, solar subsidies and the growing energy demands that come with extreme weather are driving the higher costs. As they go up, they’re colliding with California’s housing crisis, pushing families already at the margins to the brink of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quarter of California households reported being unable to pay their utility bills in October, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/hhp/#/?measures=ENERGYBILL&s_state=00006&periodSelector=63\">Census survey\u003c/a>, resulting in what Columbia University public health professor Diana Hernández and others call energy insecurity, or the “heat or eat dilemma.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost like a game of Russian roulette,” she said, describing the monthly juggle low-income families face. “Today’s unpaid energy bill is tomorrow’s eviction notice. And that cycle is a very real one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball cap pulls a shopping cart up a sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man pushes a cart near downtown Fresno on a 108-degree day. Officials estimate about 1,700 people are currently living on Fresno’s streets. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yamamura finished high school last year and takes whatever work he can get — typically a few hours a week at a fast food restaurant and odd jobs on Craigslist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money he and his 23-year-old brother can patch together isn’t enough to cover all the family’s expenses, even with Section 8 paying the bulk of their rent. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident\"]‘The AC there doesn’t work the best, and it’s not the most insulated apartment, so it’s harder for us to actually keep the temperature inside.’[/pullquote]More and more, it’s utilities that are straining their budget. The family’s June PG&E bill was $100 more than the previous year. But rising utility rates aren’t the only reason their bill is so high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The AC there doesn’t work the best, and it’s not the most insulated apartment, so it’s harder for us to actually keep the temperature inside,” Yamamura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy-insecure families like his are more likely to report their homes are drafty or poorly insulated, making them less energy efficient. That’s a key reason they \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56640&src=%E2%80%B9%20Consumption%20%20%20%20%20%20Residential%20Energy%20Consumption%20Survey%20(RECS)-b3\">spend about 25 cents more per square foot on electricity and gas\u003c/a> than households that can afford energy-saving appliances and upgrades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the winter, Yamamura’s family can keep their bills down. “Worst comes to worst, we’re cold. It’s not that bad,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his family can’t forgo the AC in the summer. Keeping the house cool is essential because of his mom’s chronic health problems and her many medications, Yamamura said. It was a health crisis that left her unable to work and plunged the family into homelessness a few years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have so many people who [are] making this impossible choice,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, a UCSF professor who runs the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. “Do I keep my air conditioning on, run up my energy bills so I can’t pay my rent, and then be evicted and have neither? Or do I sit here in this stifling heat and risk death?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not being able to heat or cool your home can worsen existing physical and mental health problems or cause new ones, she said. “Energy insecurity is a threat to health, and it’s a threat, therefore, to housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel led an expansive\u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\"> survey\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians this year that found a complex interplay of factors precipitated homelessness, including medical expenses and lost work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think recognizing energy insecurity as a contributor to this crisis, this is the next frontier that we need to really worry about,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970355\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Powerlines are seen through thick trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-1020x691.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-1536x1040.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E tower is framed by burned trees along the Pacific Crest Trail in Belden, California, Sept. 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Fred Greaves/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A statement from PG&E said higher rates reflect investments in system upgrades needed to make systems safer and more resilient to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“PG&E recognizes our responsibility to serve our customers safely and reliably, and we are aggressively focused on how to deliver work safely at a lower cost. We are working to keep customer costs at or below assumed inflation for the long-term, between an average of 2 and 4% a year.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"A statement from PG&E\"]‘PG&E recognizes our responsibility to serve our customers safely and reliably, and we are aggressively focused on how to deliver work safely at a lower cost.’[/pullquote]The upcoming \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-prioritizes-safety-reliability-and-affordability-in-pge-rate-case-2023\">rate increase\u003c/a>, approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, will pay for PG&E to bury over 1,200 miles of power lines for wildfire prevention. \u003ca href=\"https://grist.org/wildfires/utilities-lawsuits-wildfire-pg-e-pacificorp/\">Like other utilities across the West\u003c/a>, the company has been sued for starting fires with its equipment, including the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has paid out billions in settlements (which shareholders ponied up, according to PG&E) and spent billions more on upgrades, costs that get passed along to customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/newsroom/covid-19/utility-consumer-protections-during-california-covid-19-outbreak#:~:text=Disconnections%3A%20All%20electric%20and%20natural,our%20decision%20for%20more%20information.\">mandated a moratorium\u003c/a> on utility shutoffs, but that has expired. \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M520/K913/520913952.PDF\">PG&E’s latest report\u003c/a> to the CPUC shows more than 162,600 customers had their service disconnected between January and October of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people who lose access to utilities end up moving in with others, restarting their utilities under someone else’s name, or leaving the state, said Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network. “But some of those people absolutely do end up homeless,” he said. [aside label='More Stories on Housing' tag='housing']By this fall, Yamamura’s family was $1,300 in debt to PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians currently owe the state’s biggest utility companies upwards of $2 billion, \u003ca href=\"https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:57::::::\">according to records\u003c/a> submitted to the CPUC in November. Much of this accrued during the pandemic. About half of indebted customers owe more than $2,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This staggering debt has piled up despite the more than $1.6 billion federal and state government provided\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-19/california-utilities-wiping-out-past-due-bills-as-new-charges-rise\"> Californians to pay past-due residential utility bills\u003c/a> as part of pandemic relief efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the investor-owned utilities run a state-mandated debt forgiveness program. As long as customers stay current on their monthly bills, their debt is gradually forgiven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yamamura and his mother said they were enrolled but flunked out because they couldn’t keep up with payments. They regularly get disconnection notices, he said, and have had their service cut in the past despite getting a 30% monthly discount for low-income customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the debt relief program, a patchwork of federal, state and nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/income-qualified-assistance-programs\">programs are available to help customers\u003c/a> manage bills and debt. They range from subsidies to payment plans to help installing insulation and energy-efficient appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these programs are well-used, but others are \u003ca href=\"https://liob.cpuc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/PGE-PY2022-Low-Income-Annual-Report.pdf\">underutilized\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even for many customers who take advantage of them, like Yamamura and his family, they’re simply not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 85,000 PG&E customers were \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/SearchRes.aspx?DocFormat=ALL&DocID=520913952\">kicked out of the debt forgiveness program\u003c/a> during six months earlier this year for failing to stay current on their payments or maintain other eligibility requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, 362,000 PG&E customers were enrolled as of October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With rates due to rise again, some are calling for reforms that would ease the burden on low-income consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The subsidy programs that we have in place are becoming more and more obsolete every day as the cost of utilities, as well as just the overall cost of living, continues to rise,” said Benito Delgado-Olson, chair of the CPUC’s Low Income Oversight Board. “These rate hikes are going to be very difficult for a lot of hardworking people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, Yamamura picked up another part-time job with a nonprofit, Power California, canvassing for rent control in Fresno. The cause felt personal, and he loved talking to people like Melody Erdmann, a 57-year-old who opened her apartment door to him one Saturday. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident\"]‘I consistently worry about ending up homeless again. I’d like to pay rent on time and have bills paid and not be hours away from getting an eviction notice …’[/pullquote]Clipboard in hand, Yamamura launched into his pitch, but Erdmann cut him off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was homeless, so yeah, I know,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, yeah, me too,” Yamamura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I barely make my rent,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing in her doorway, Erdmann told Yamamura her subsidized rent and PG&E bill consume half of her Social Security income. And it was an unpaid utility bill that almost prevented her from getting housed when she was homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They turned us away because of a PG&E bill,” she said. “I had a bill in collections.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually got help taking care of the debt and was able to move into the apartment where she lives now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But stability feels tenuous for her and Yamamura.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consistently worry about ending up homeless again,” he said. “I’d like to pay rent on time and have bills paid and not be hours away from getting an eviction notice, but that’s where I’ve been the past few years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"PG&E is set to raise gas and electricity rates by $28–$42 per month due to wildfire costs, inflation and energy demand. This only worsens the housing crisis for vulnerable California families.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1703098290,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":44,"wordCount":1858},"headData":{"title":"Rising Utility Costs Compound California's Housing Crisis | KQED","description":"PG&E is set to raise gas and electricity rates by $28–$42 per month due to wildfire costs, inflation and energy demand. This only worsens the housing crisis for vulnerable California families.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11970332/rising-utility-costs-compound-californias-housing-crisis","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Michael Yamamura shares an apartment in Fresno with his brother and their ailing mother. This summer, as they ran the air conditioning to keep the scorching heat at bay, their monthly utility bills topped $500, which made it hard to keep up on rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, I don’t pay it until they give me the three-day [eviction] notice,” said the 20-year-old, whose family was homeless a few years ago when he was in junior high. “I’ve been pretty behind and pretty terrified of ending up out on the street again.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Sometimes, I don’t pay it until they give me the three-day [eviction] notice. I’ve been pretty behind and pretty terrified of ending up out on the street again.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Utility costs will swallow an even bigger portion of the family’s budget when PG&E’s latest rate hikes go into effect next month, raising average gas and electricity bills by an estimated $28-$42 per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increases come after the state’s three major suppliers, PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.publicadvocates.cpuc.ca.gov/press-room/reports-and-analyses/q3-2023-electric-rates-report\">nearly doubled\u003c/a> electricity rates over the last decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire-related expenses, inflation, solar subsidies and the growing energy demands that come with extreme weather are driving the higher costs. As they go up, they’re colliding with California’s housing crisis, pushing families already at the margins to the brink of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quarter of California households reported being unable to pay their utility bills in October, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/hhp/#/?measures=ENERGYBILL&s_state=00006&periodSelector=63\">Census survey\u003c/a>, resulting in what Columbia University public health professor Diana Hernández and others call energy insecurity, or the “heat or eat dilemma.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost like a game of Russian roulette,” she said, describing the monthly juggle low-income families face. “Today’s unpaid energy bill is tomorrow’s eviction notice. And that cycle is a very real one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954906\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954906\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a baseball cap pulls a shopping cart up a sidewalk.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man pushes a cart near downtown Fresno on a 108-degree day. Officials estimate about 1,700 people are currently living on Fresno’s streets. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yamamura finished high school last year and takes whatever work he can get — typically a few hours a week at a fast food restaurant and odd jobs on Craigslist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money he and his 23-year-old brother can patch together isn’t enough to cover all the family’s expenses, even with Section 8 paying the bulk of their rent. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The AC there doesn’t work the best, and it’s not the most insulated apartment, so it’s harder for us to actually keep the temperature inside.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>More and more, it’s utilities that are straining their budget. The family’s June PG&E bill was $100 more than the previous year. But rising utility rates aren’t the only reason their bill is so high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The AC there doesn’t work the best, and it’s not the most insulated apartment, so it’s harder for us to actually keep the temperature inside,” Yamamura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Energy-insecure families like his are more likely to report their homes are drafty or poorly insulated, making them less energy efficient. That’s a key reason they \u003ca href=\"https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56640&src=%E2%80%B9%20Consumption%20%20%20%20%20%20Residential%20Energy%20Consumption%20Survey%20(RECS)-b3\">spend about 25 cents more per square foot on electricity and gas\u003c/a> than households that can afford energy-saving appliances and upgrades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the winter, Yamamura’s family can keep their bills down. “Worst comes to worst, we’re cold. It’s not that bad,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But his family can’t forgo the AC in the summer. Keeping the house cool is essential because of his mom’s chronic health problems and her many medications, Yamamura said. It was a health crisis that left her unable to work and plunged the family into homelessness a few years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have so many people who [are] making this impossible choice,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, a UCSF professor who runs the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. “Do I keep my air conditioning on, run up my energy bills so I can’t pay my rent, and then be evicted and have neither? Or do I sit here in this stifling heat and risk death?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not being able to heat or cool your home can worsen existing physical and mental health problems or cause new ones, she said. “Energy insecurity is a threat to health, and it’s a threat, therefore, to housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kushel led an expansive\u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\"> survey\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians this year that found a complex interplay of factors precipitated homelessness, including medical expenses and lost work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think recognizing energy insecurity as a contributor to this crisis, this is the next frontier that we need to really worry about,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11970355\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11970355\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Powerlines are seen through thick trees.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1300\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-1020x691.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/12/FG_Belden_PCT_2023_09_14_FG25873-qut-1536x1040.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A PG&E tower is framed by burned trees along the Pacific Crest Trail in Belden, California, Sept. 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Fred Greaves/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A statement from PG&E said higher rates reflect investments in system upgrades needed to make systems safer and more resilient to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“PG&E recognizes our responsibility to serve our customers safely and reliably, and we are aggressively focused on how to deliver work safely at a lower cost. We are working to keep customer costs at or below assumed inflation for the long-term, between an average of 2 and 4% a year.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘PG&E recognizes our responsibility to serve our customers safely and reliably, and we are aggressively focused on how to deliver work safely at a lower cost.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"A statement from PG&E","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The upcoming \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-prioritizes-safety-reliability-and-affordability-in-pge-rate-case-2023\">rate increase\u003c/a>, approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, will pay for PG&E to bury over 1,200 miles of power lines for wildfire prevention. \u003ca href=\"https://grist.org/wildfires/utilities-lawsuits-wildfire-pg-e-pacificorp/\">Like other utilities across the West\u003c/a>, the company has been sued for starting fires with its equipment, including the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company has paid out billions in settlements (which shareholders ponied up, according to PG&E) and spent billions more on upgrades, costs that get passed along to customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/newsroom/covid-19/utility-consumer-protections-during-california-covid-19-outbreak#:~:text=Disconnections%3A%20All%20electric%20and%20natural,our%20decision%20for%20more%20information.\">mandated a moratorium\u003c/a> on utility shutoffs, but that has expired. \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M520/K913/520913952.PDF\">PG&E’s latest report\u003c/a> to the CPUC shows more than 162,600 customers had their service disconnected between January and October of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people who lose access to utilities end up moving in with others, restarting their utilities under someone else’s name, or leaving the state, said Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network. “But some of those people absolutely do end up homeless,” he said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More Stories on Housing ","tag":"housing"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>By this fall, Yamamura’s family was $1,300 in debt to PG&E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians currently owe the state’s biggest utility companies upwards of $2 billion, \u003ca href=\"https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:57::::::\">according to records\u003c/a> submitted to the CPUC in November. Much of this accrued during the pandemic. About half of indebted customers owe more than $2,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This staggering debt has piled up despite the more than $1.6 billion federal and state government provided\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-19/california-utilities-wiping-out-past-due-bills-as-new-charges-rise\"> Californians to pay past-due residential utility bills\u003c/a> as part of pandemic relief efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the investor-owned utilities run a state-mandated debt forgiveness program. As long as customers stay current on their monthly bills, their debt is gradually forgiven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yamamura and his mother said they were enrolled but flunked out because they couldn’t keep up with payments. They regularly get disconnection notices, he said, and have had their service cut in the past despite getting a 30% monthly discount for low-income customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the debt relief program, a patchwork of federal, state and nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/income-qualified-assistance-programs\">programs are available to help customers\u003c/a> manage bills and debt. They range from subsidies to payment plans to help installing insulation and energy-efficient appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these programs are well-used, but others are \u003ca href=\"https://liob.cpuc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/06/PGE-PY2022-Low-Income-Annual-Report.pdf\">underutilized\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even for many customers who take advantage of them, like Yamamura and his family, they’re simply not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 85,000 PG&E customers were \u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/SearchRes.aspx?DocFormat=ALL&DocID=520913952\">kicked out of the debt forgiveness program\u003c/a> during six months earlier this year for failing to stay current on their payments or maintain other eligibility requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, 362,000 PG&E customers were enrolled as of October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With rates due to rise again, some are calling for reforms that would ease the burden on low-income consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The subsidy programs that we have in place are becoming more and more obsolete every day as the cost of utilities, as well as just the overall cost of living, continues to rise,” said Benito Delgado-Olson, chair of the CPUC’s Low Income Oversight Board. “These rate hikes are going to be very difficult for a lot of hardworking people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, Yamamura picked up another part-time job with a nonprofit, Power California, canvassing for rent control in Fresno. The cause felt personal, and he loved talking to people like Melody Erdmann, a 57-year-old who opened her apartment door to him one Saturday. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I consistently worry about ending up homeless again. I’d like to pay rent on time and have bills paid and not be hours away from getting an eviction notice …’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Michael Yamamura, Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Clipboard in hand, Yamamura launched into his pitch, but Erdmann cut him off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was homeless, so yeah, I know,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, yeah, me too,” Yamamura said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I barely make my rent,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Standing in her doorway, Erdmann told Yamamura her subsidized rent and PG&E bill consume half of her Social Security income. And it was an unpaid utility bill that almost prevented her from getting housed when she was homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They turned us away because of a PG&E bill,” she said. “I had a bill in collections.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually got help taking care of the debt and was able to move into the apartment where she lives now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But stability feels tenuous for her and Yamamura.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I consistently worry about ending up homeless again,” he said. “I’d like to pay rent on time and have bills paid and not be hours away from getting an eviction notice, but that’s where I’ve been the past few years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11970332/rising-utility-costs-compound-californias-housing-crisis","authors":["11276"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_21973","news_27626","news_37","news_1775","news_140"],"featImg":"news_11954908","label":"news"},"news_11969545":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11969545","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11969545","score":null,"sort":[1702305968000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"state-regulators-to-vote-on-new-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety","title":"State Regulators To Vote On New Emergency Rules For Stonecutters' Safety","publishDate":1702305968,"format":"audio","headTitle":"State Regulators To Vote On New Emergency Rules For Stonecutters’ Safety | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">\u003cstrong>Regulators To Vote On Rules For Stonecutters’ Safety \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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. \u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Fresno Raises Palestinian Flag\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last 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.\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reporter: Esther Quintanilla, KVPR \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1702491835,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":4,"wordCount":116},"headData":{"title":"State Regulators To Vote On New Emergency Rules For Stonecutters' Safety | KQED","description":"Regulators To Vote On Rules For Stonecutters’ Safety 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 Romero Fresno Raises Palestinian Flag Last week, the city","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Morning Report","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrarchive/","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC7759356500.mp3?updated=1702316368","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11969545/state-regulators-to-vote-on-new-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11969381/california-regulators-to-vote-on-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety\">\u003cstrong>Regulators To Vote On Rules For Stonecutters’ Safety \u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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. \u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Fresno Raises Palestinian Flag\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last 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.\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reporter: Esther Quintanilla, KVPR \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11969545/state-regulators-to-vote-on-new-emergency-rules-for-stonecutters-safety","authors":["236"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_37","news_21998","news_21268"],"featImg":"news_11964919","label":"source_news_11969545"},"news_11968332":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11968332","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11968332","score":null,"sort":[1701460822000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"pacific-coast-trail-towns-struggling-after-dixie-fire-fresno-gorditas-shop-a-tribute-to-mom","title":"Pacific Crest Trail Towns Struggling After Dixie Fire; Fresno Gorditas Shop a Tribute to Mom","publishDate":1701460822,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Pacific Crest Trail Towns Struggling After Dixie Fire; Fresno Gorditas Shop a Tribute to Mom | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968242/two-years-after-the-dixie-fire-towns-that-relied-on-pacific-crest-trail-hikers-are-still-struggling\">Two Years After the Dixie Fire, Towns That Relied on Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Are Still Struggling\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, the Dixie Fire nearly wiped the Pacific Crest Trail off the map. With a lot of work, the trail has mostly been repaired. But sections of the PCT remain inaccessible, and for the first time in history, doing a continuous hike of the trail from beginning to end is almost impossible. It’s a huge blow to rural towns along the trail, which rely on the hikers and trail tourism to survive. Reporter Dana Cronin ventured out into a tiny town called Belden, to see how people are doing after the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968238/fresnos-new-gordita-shop-is-an-homage-to-moms-cooking\">Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Americans may be more familiar with tacos, but in the northern regions of Mexico, gorditas are a more popular kind of street food. And for Lizett Lopez, a Fresno native who recently moved back to the Central Valley during the pandemic, gorditas are closely tied to her identity, her culture and heritage – and now, her mother. As part of our Flavor Profile series, Reporter Olivia Zhao brings us the bittersweet story behind Lucy’s Gorditas, the latest addition to Fresno’s Mexican food scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-components-Post-components-PostTitle-___PostTitle__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938083/the-coolest-place-on-earth-the-public-library\">The Coolest Place on Earth: The Public Library\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We’re sharing an excerpt of the latest episode of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\">Rightnowish\u003c/a> featuring Fairfield’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mychal3ts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mychal Threets.\u003c/a> Threets is a superstar librarian, who readily professes the importance of childhood literacy, library access, and mental health. Because of that, he’s amassed a social media following that rivals your favorite artists and entertainers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1702512364,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":6,"wordCount":299},"headData":{"title":"Pacific Crest Trail Towns Struggling After Dixie Fire; Fresno Gorditas Shop a Tribute to Mom | KQED","description":"Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast. Two Years After the Dixie Fire, Towns That Relied on Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Are Still Struggling Two years ago, the Dixie Fire nearly wiped the Pacific Crest Trail off the map. With a lot of work, the trail has mostly been repaired. But sections of the PCT remain inaccessible, and for the first time in history, doing a continuous hike of the trail from beginning to end is almost impossible. It's a huge blow to rural towns along the trail, which rely on the","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"The California Report Magazine","sourceUrl":"http://www.kqed.org/californiareportmagazine","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC2646011317.mp3?updated=1701291380","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11968332/pacific-coast-trail-towns-struggling-after-dixie-fire-fresno-gorditas-shop-a-tribute-to-mom","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968242/two-years-after-the-dixie-fire-towns-that-relied-on-pacific-crest-trail-hikers-are-still-struggling\">Two Years After the Dixie Fire, Towns That Relied on Pacific Crest Trail Hikers Are Still Struggling\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Two years ago, the Dixie Fire nearly wiped the Pacific Crest Trail off the map. With a lot of work, the trail has mostly been repaired. But sections of the PCT remain inaccessible, and for the first time in history, doing a continuous hike of the trail from beginning to end is almost impossible. It’s a huge blow to rural towns along the trail, which rely on the hikers and trail tourism to survive. Reporter Dana Cronin ventured out into a tiny town called Belden, to see how people are doing after the fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968238/fresnos-new-gordita-shop-is-an-homage-to-moms-cooking\">Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Americans may be more familiar with tacos, but in the northern regions of Mexico, gorditas are a more popular kind of street food. And for Lizett Lopez, a Fresno native who recently moved back to the Central Valley during the pandemic, gorditas are closely tied to her identity, her culture and heritage – and now, her mother. As part of our Flavor Profile series, Reporter Olivia Zhao brings us the bittersweet story behind Lucy’s Gorditas, the latest addition to Fresno’s Mexican food scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-components-Post-components-PostTitle-___PostTitle__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13938083/the-coolest-place-on-earth-the-public-library\">The Coolest Place on Earth: The Public Library\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We’re sharing an excerpt of the latest episode of KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\">Rightnowish\u003c/a> featuring Fairfield’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mychal3ts/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mychal Threets.\u003c/a> Threets is a superstar librarian, who readily professes the importance of childhood literacy, library access, and mental health. Because of that, he’s amassed a social media following that rivals your favorite artists and entertainers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11968332/pacific-coast-trail-towns-struggling-after-dixie-fire-fresno-gorditas-shop-a-tribute-to-mom","authors":["236"],"programs":["news_72","news_26731"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_37"],"featImg":"news_11968249","label":"source_news_11968332"},"news_11968238":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11968238","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11968238","score":null,"sort":[1701358256000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"fresnos-new-gordita-shop-is-an-homage-to-moms-cooking","title":"Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking","publishDate":1701358256,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":26731,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>On a sunny summer afternoon in Fresno, Lucy’s Gorditas is bustling with the lunch rush. Monica Irene Rainey came here specifically after reading an article about the new establishment’s commitment to keeping the prices affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their whole thing is about being generous to people who are less privileged,” Rainey said. “I love it. That’s why I came here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Lizett Lopez, owner, Lucy’s Gorditas\"]‘The running joke that I always tell my brothers is, ‘Mom is watching you.’’[/pullquote]\u003cbr>\nWhile people may be more familiar with the tacos and burritos offered in many Mexican restaurants, this shop focuses on gorditas, a dish from the Mexican state of Durango. Miners in this mountainous northern region of Mexico favor the gorditas for a quick bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[A gordita is] almost like a taco, but the tortilla becomes a very thick tortilla,” said Lizett Lopez, owner of Lucy’s Gorditas. “And instead of having the filling or the meat on top, we just slice it in the middle and fill it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960647\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A picadillo gordita with salsa and shredded cabbage.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A picadillo gordita with salsa and shredded cabbage at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11. 2023.a \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The small restaurant focuses on takeout, but there are one or two tables for folks who want to dine in too. The observant customer will notice a framed photo of a woman with short, highlighted hair sporting a white fur stole sitting next to the cash register — Maria Lucille Huerta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The running joke that I always tell my brothers is, ‘Mom is watching you,’” Lopez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking care of others had always been her calling\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s mother, Maria Lucille Huerta — known to all as Lucy — moved from Durango to Fresno in 1976. Her first job was cleaning at a convalescent home. Later, she helped cook and clean for kids with special needs. But she spent most of her career — almost 35 years — working as an in-home caregiver to elderly people. She loved her job because everyone she helped became a friend — she even invited them to family holiday parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960645\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two women are seen in a kitchen. The woman wearing an apron and closest to the camera turns over a gordita with her hand and utensil.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lizett Lopez cooks gorditas on the griddle at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11954383,news_11958720\" label=\"Related Stories\"]Huerta was a wonderful cook, but she guarded her recipes carefully, keeping them even from her own daughter. And she was competitive! If a family member praised a dish made by someone else, she would strive to make one better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huerta was so well known for her cooking that some clients’ families even asked her to cater their events. She dreamed about opening her own restaurant one day. It would be a small takeout place to serve the working people of Fresno, just like back home in Durango.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Love and Loss During the Pandemic\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Huerta continued to work as an in-home caregiver in Fresno, her daughter, Lizett Lopez, left her hometown for the glamorous big city. As a kid, Lopez had always wanted to live in San Francisco. After completing her general education requirements at Fresno City College, she applied to transfer to San Francisco State. She graduated with a biology degree and got a job in the Bay Area as a data analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a spoon to scoop food in a tray.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The picadillo gordita filling at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the coronavirus pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, Lopez and her husband decided to move back to Fresno to be closer to family. She was pregnant with their first son and wanted her mom’s help with the baby. For several weeks after the birth, Huerta stayed with Lopez, teaching her everything she needed to know as a new mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huerta had diabetes, and around this time, she developed an infection in her leg. At first, she didn’t take it too seriously. It was early in the COVID pandemic, and she was scared to go to the hospital. One day, when Lopez called to check on her mom, she realized Huerta wasn’t lucid. Her son rushed her to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The infection had turned gangrenous, and Huerta went into sepsis. The doctor did several surgeries to remove the infection, but it was too late. The infection had spread throughout her bloodstream. Huerta passed away at age 61, leaving behind six sons and one daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a very traumatic time for Lopez, who had just given birth. She wasn’t sure if her intense sadness was postpartum depression or just grief at losing her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lucy’s legacy lives on\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As Lopez and her brothers mourned the loss of their mother, a birthday rolled around. Normally, Huerta would let the person whose birthday it was request a special treat. After her death, Lopez carried on the tradition. She asked her brother what he wanted for his birthday meal. He replied, “gorditas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960644\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960644\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two hands shape a piece of dough above a metal bowl.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lizett Lopez shapes the corn dough to make the gordita wrap at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez had never made gorditas before but promised to do her best. She was nervous, worried she wouldn’t be able to recreate her mother’s recipes from memory. So, she was pleased when her first gorditas turned out well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when one of her brothers suggested they open a family restaurant. What better way to honor their mother’s memory than following her dream? They quickly found a place on East Clinton Avenue, and Lucy’s Gorditas was born. Lopez works at the shop during the week, while her brothers take over on weekends. The shop has little nods to Huerta all over it — her favorite butterflies and hummingbirds decorate the walls, and, of course, her photo at the cash register.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Lopez, opening this restaurant in Fresno is both heart-warming and humbling. Many customers knew her mom; others have shared their own stories of losing loved ones during the pandemic. It’s comforting to share those memories along with the food, knowing that her mom finally got her gorditas shop.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A Fresno family celebrates their mother’s memory with a restaurant dedicated to her specialties.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1701306839,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":20,"wordCount":1067},"headData":{"title":"Fresno’s New Gordita Shop is an Homage to Mom’s Cooking | KQED","description":"A Fresno family celebrates their mother’s memory with a restaurant dedicated to her specialties.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/a0ffd840-3ac0-4223-8b03-b0ca0012a351/audio.mp3","nprByline":"Olivia Zhao","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11968238/fresnos-new-gordita-shop-is-an-homage-to-moms-cooking","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a sunny summer afternoon in Fresno, Lucy’s Gorditas is bustling with the lunch rush. Monica Irene Rainey came here specifically after reading an article about the new establishment’s commitment to keeping the prices affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their whole thing is about being generous to people who are less privileged,” Rainey said. “I love it. That’s why I came here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The running joke that I always tell my brothers is, ‘Mom is watching you.’’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Lizett Lopez, owner, Lucy’s Gorditas","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nWhile people may be more familiar with the tacos and burritos offered in many Mexican restaurants, this shop focuses on gorditas, a dish from the Mexican state of Durango. Miners in this mountainous northern region of Mexico favor the gorditas for a quick bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[A gordita is] almost like a taco, but the tortilla becomes a very thick tortilla,” said Lizett Lopez, owner of Lucy’s Gorditas. “And instead of having the filling or the meat on top, we just slice it in the middle and fill it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960647\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A picadillo gordita with salsa and shredded cabbage.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A picadillo gordita with salsa and shredded cabbage at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11. 2023.a \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The small restaurant focuses on takeout, but there are one or two tables for folks who want to dine in too. The observant customer will notice a framed photo of a woman with short, highlighted hair sporting a white fur stole sitting next to the cash register — Maria Lucille Huerta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The running joke that I always tell my brothers is, ‘Mom is watching you,’” Lopez said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Taking care of others had always been her calling\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lopez’s mother, Maria Lucille Huerta — known to all as Lucy — moved from Durango to Fresno in 1976. Her first job was cleaning at a convalescent home. Later, she helped cook and clean for kids with special needs. But she spent most of her career — almost 35 years — working as an in-home caregiver to elderly people. She loved her job because everyone she helped became a friend — she even invited them to family holiday parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960645\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two women are seen in a kitchen. The woman wearing an apron and closest to the camera turns over a gordita with her hand and utensil.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lizett Lopez cooks gorditas on the griddle at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11954383,news_11958720","label":"Related Stories "},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Huerta was a wonderful cook, but she guarded her recipes carefully, keeping them even from her own daughter. And she was competitive! If a family member praised a dish made by someone else, she would strive to make one better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huerta was so well known for her cooking that some clients’ families even asked her to cater their events. She dreamed about opening her own restaurant one day. It would be a small takeout place to serve the working people of Fresno, just like back home in Durango.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Love and Loss During the Pandemic\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Huerta continued to work as an in-home caregiver in Fresno, her daughter, Lizett Lopez, left her hometown for the glamorous big city. As a kid, Lopez had always wanted to live in San Francisco. After completing her general education requirements at Fresno City College, she applied to transfer to San Francisco State. She graduated with a biology degree and got a job in the Bay Area as a data analyst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds a spoon to scoop food in a tray.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The picadillo gordita filling at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When the coronavirus pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, Lopez and her husband decided to move back to Fresno to be closer to family. She was pregnant with their first son and wanted her mom’s help with the baby. For several weeks after the birth, Huerta stayed with Lopez, teaching her everything she needed to know as a new mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huerta had diabetes, and around this time, she developed an infection in her leg. At first, she didn’t take it too seriously. It was early in the COVID pandemic, and she was scared to go to the hospital. One day, when Lopez called to check on her mom, she realized Huerta wasn’t lucid. Her son rushed her to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The infection had turned gangrenous, and Huerta went into sepsis. The doctor did several surgeries to remove the infection, but it was too late. The infection had spread throughout her bloodstream. Huerta passed away at age 61, leaving behind six sons and one daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a very traumatic time for Lopez, who had just given birth. She wasn’t sure if her intense sadness was postpartum depression or just grief at losing her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lucy’s legacy lives on\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As Lopez and her brothers mourned the loss of their mother, a birthday rolled around. Normally, Huerta would let the person whose birthday it was request a special treat. After her death, Lopez carried on the tradition. She asked her brother what he wanted for his birthday meal. He replied, “gorditas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960644\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960644\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two hands shape a piece of dough above a metal bowl.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/091023-LUCYS-GORDITAS-MD-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lizett Lopez shapes the corn dough to make the gordita wrap at Lucy’s Gorditas in Fresno on Sept. 11, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez had never made gorditas before but promised to do her best. She was nervous, worried she wouldn’t be able to recreate her mother’s recipes from memory. So, she was pleased when her first gorditas turned out well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s when one of her brothers suggested they open a family restaurant. What better way to honor their mother’s memory than following her dream? They quickly found a place on East Clinton Avenue, and Lucy’s Gorditas was born. Lopez works at the shop during the week, while her brothers take over on weekends. The shop has little nods to Huerta all over it — her favorite butterflies and hummingbirds decorate the walls, and, of course, her photo at the cash register.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Lopez, opening this restaurant in Fresno is both heart-warming and humbling. Many customers knew her mom; others have shared their own stories of losing loved ones during the pandemic. It’s comforting to share those memories along with the food, knowing that her mom finally got her gorditas shop.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11968238/fresnos-new-gordita-shop-is-an-homage-to-moms-cooking","authors":["byline_news_11968238"],"programs":["news_72","news_26731"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_33539","news_27626","news_32866","news_37","news_33538","news_32867"],"featImg":"news_11960643","label":"news_26731"},"news_11966862":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11966862","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11966862","score":null,"sort":[1699876819000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"how-central-valley-farmworker-communities-are-tackling-climate-change","title":"How Central Valley Farmworker Communities Are Tackling Climate Change","publishDate":1699876819,"format":"standard","headTitle":"How Central Valley Farmworker Communities Are Tackling Climate Change | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":72,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A rural community on the banks of the San Joaquin River was spared from flooding during last winter’s powerful storms after hundreds of acres of former farmland were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965257/california-looks-to-restore-floodplains-to-protect-communities-from-impacts-of-climate-change\">restored to their natural state as floodplains\u003c/a>, giving the rising water a place to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An immigrant family in the Central Valley city of Tulare got relief from 100-degree heat and sky-high energy bills with insulation and energy retrofits installed under a state program to weatherize the homes of low-income farmworkers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A small town mayor in a region with some of the most polluted air in the nation launched a free rideshare program with a fleet of electric vehicles — the first step in his goal of creating hundreds of green jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are a few of the climate resilience strategies emerging in hard-hit agricultural communities in California’s Central Valley, supported by state and federal funds that could enable local initiatives to scale up. But the very places that need help the most may have the hardest time accessing the funding available, \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/aYv2COYZQzi2BvYEskPu2V?domain=next10.org\">research shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of San Joaquin Valley face a barrage of challenges as the planet warms and weather patterns shift, often with catastrophic results. Land development has been engineered over decades to maximize agricultural productivity, with little attention to environmental resilience. And low-income immigrant workers, who are the backbone of this economy, are on the front lines, living in communities that lack resources and critical infrastructure to cope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer temperatures throughout the valley routinely spike into triple digits, making outdoor work dangerous and shoddily built homes stifling. Wildfires repeatedly blanket the region with smoke, exacerbating the air pollution that leads to the state’s worst rates of asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966814\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A dry field with an irrigation channel alongside it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An irrigation channel carries water to new plantings in the recently restored floodplain on the banks of the San Joaquin River near Grayson, Calif., on Aug. 31. The restoration work was conducted by the nonprofit River Partners to allow the fast-moving river to spread out over a wider expanse, diminishing its destructive force and preventing catastrophic flooding. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Violent floods wash away homes and livelihoods in communities with neglected levees and insufficient storm drains. And recurring drought contributes to the fact that most of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2021-118/index.html\">nearly 1 million Californians who lack access to safe drinking water\u003c/a> live in the Central Valley. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior water and climate scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists\"]‘The biggest problem is the combination of things: farmworker communities not having a rest from one climate impact to another.’[/pullquote]“The biggest problem is the combination of things: farmworker communities not having a rest from one climate impact to another,” said Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior water and climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “All these things start interconnecting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortiz-Partida said policymakers must listen to those who live with these impacts daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be some top-down solutions, but also some bottom-up solutions,” he said. “How can we start that process of equitable transition to cleaner energies? … How can we start bringing a new, more sustainable vision of agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Left behind in the clean energy transition\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has established itself as a national leader in climate policy. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/merrian-borgeson/ca-climate-energy-policy-update-summer-2023\">Natural Resources Defense Council estimates\u003c/a> the state has committed to spend more than $52 billion over the next several years to \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/ab-32-climate-change-scoping-plan/2022-scoping-plan-documents\">transition off fossil fuels\u003c/a> and tackle the effects of climate change. That’s in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars from President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Act and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/California.pdf\">Inflation Reduction Act\u003c/a> that will soon flow to the state to fight climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet low-income immigrant communities in rural areas that are among the most impacted have not always seen the benefit — and could be at risk of losing out again. [aside postID=news_11943590 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/CalMatters_01-1020x680.jpg'] A \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/publications/local-climate\">new report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment, and two nonprofits — the Institute for Local Government and Next 10 — found that many California municipalities, especially smaller ones, need to staff up and develop detailed climate action plans if they want a shot at competitive grants for the unprecedented funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the state faces worsening impacts from climate change, local governments are the front-line defense for our communities,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10. “We need to identify the barriers cities and counties face so we can take full advantage of the historic federal and state funding available to better protect ourselves now and in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Anna Caballero represents some of the San Joaquin Valley’s poorest places and said climate policies don’t work if they only benefit wealthier residents of coastal cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s seen plenty of well-intentioned climate programs miss the mark for her Central Valley constituents. One example is rebates for purchasing electric cars and solar panels, which require paying the full price upfront and getting the discount later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The urgency of getting this right and including rural communities in our discussion about climate change is that we’re going to end up with two separate worlds,” she said. “If you can afford it, you have an electric vehicle and a solar rooftop. And if you can’t, there’s nothing for you. There’s no job. There’s no way to pay your bills. And your community has no way of sustaining itself.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"State Sen. Anna Caballero\"]‘If you can afford it, you have an electric vehicle and a solar rooftop. And if you can’t, there’s nothing for you.’[/pullquote]The region’s economy is dominated by agriculture and fossil fuel extraction industries, whose leaders trend Republican and have often resisted Democratic moves to slash carbon emissions and protect water and ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, 55% of the San Joaquin Valley’s 4.3 million residents live in disadvantaged communities, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/CA4_CCA_SJ_Region_Eng_ada.pdf\">California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment\u003c/a> for the region. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/naws/pdfs/NAWS%20Research%20Report%2015.pdf\">Among California farmworkers, 9 in 10 are immigrants\u003c/a>, and 8 in 10 are not citizens. Though their labor is essential, and many have lived here for decades, they can’t vote, so their voices and experiences aren’t always represented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Caballero, a Democrat, and many other lawmakers and advocates have been pushing for equitable solutions, and some are beginning to bear fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The river is their backyard’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The unincorporated community of Grayson, on the west bank of the San Joaquin River, is just five-by-six blocks. The only business, The One-Stop, is a gas station, convenience store, lunch counter and laundromat rolled into one. Residents rely on wells for drinking water that are often contaminated with agricultural chemicals from surrounding fields. Flooding has long been a risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilia Lomelí-Gil, who runs the Grayson United Community Center, pointed out some older homes on Charles Street, where the water rose ominously as rain pounded the region last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966813\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair stands in front of a dry field.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lilia Lomelí-Gil walks along the recently restored floodplain on the banks of the San Joaquin River near her home in Grayson, Calif., on Aug. 31. Lomelí-Gil, who runs the Grayson United Community Center, said the natural floodplain protected Grayson from flooding last winter and creates a place where community residents can get closer to nature. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The river is their backyard,” she said. “The lady that lives right there in that little house was at risk of getting flooded. It did go up to their yard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lomelí-Gil, 71, knows that risk firsthand. Back in 1997, she was living in nearby Modesto when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXEza6kPyFk\">a massive flood hit on New Year’s Day\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost my home,” she said. “Because the waters came in 4-feet high. And since we were downriver from the sewage plant, of course, it was all contaminated waters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She salvaged what she could and moved back to Grayson, where she’d grown up the daughter of farmworkers from Mexico. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Lilia Lomelí-Gil, co-founder, Grayson United Community Center\"]‘Going back to nature … It works with mental health and your physical health and your spiritual health. I think that triangle is the key to facing life’s challenges.’[/pullquote]During last winter’s storms, levees failed and catastrophic floods devastated other farmworker communities, like Pajaro and Planada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Grayson, the San Joaquin River surged, but the outcome was very different: the town did not flood. One reason? A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/28/1178441292/flood-protection-california\">recent floodplain restoration project\u003c/a> allowed the fast-moving river to spread over a wider expanse, diminishing its destructive force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work was done by \u003ca href=\"https://riverpartners.org\">River Partners\u003c/a>, a nonprofit organization that restores riverside habitats around California. The group purchased unused farmland abutting the river, then removed the earthen berms holding the water in its channel. Dozens of people from the local community, including Lomelí-Gil, got involved in planting native tree saplings and grasses to restore wildlife habitat in the new floodplain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent weekday, Lomelí-Gil tramped down an abandoned road at the end of Minnie Street to show off the plantings. Once the work is complete, she said, she’s looking forward to taking kids and seniors from the community center out to walk along trails by the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going back to nature … It works with mental health and your physical health and your spiritual health,” she said, stopping to listen to the sound of the birds and the babbling water. “I think that triangle is the key to facing life’s challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Removing levees to allow floods to flow across fallow farmland is a low-tech solution with significant payoffs, River Partners executive director Julie Rentner said. It not only reduces flood risk and expands wildlife habitat and space for recreation, but it refills underground aquifers that have been depleted by decades of over-pumping — and that should lead to cleaner drinking water for Lomelí-Gil and her neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similar projects will soon break ground. In the wake of last winter’s storms, state lawmakers budgeted nearly half a billion dollars to shore up levees and rebuild damaged communities. Tucked in there was $40 million for River Partners to restore natural floodplains on 2,500 more acres elsewhere along the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That money is only a downpayment on what’s ultimately needed, Rentner said, but it’s an important step that could be a game-changer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s thinking more holistically about how we manage our water and our soil and our communities,” she said. ”So that we can find solutions to climate resilience that benefit us all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Weatherization on steroids’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Extreme heat is another consequence of climate change hitting the San Joaquin Valley hard. Scientists calculate that annual average maximum \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/CA4_CCA_SJ_Region_Eng_ada.pdf\">temperatures increased by 1F from 1950 to 2020\u003c/a>. In 2021, Fresno experienced \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/media/hnx/SEPTEMBER%202021%20WEATHER%20SUMMARY.pdf\">a record 69 straight days with temperatures over 100F\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside the little city of Tulare, nearly three hours south of Grayson, Arturo Yañez, 55, unloads crates of kiwis and pomegranates. He said in the three decades he’s lived in the valley, he’s felt it get a little hotter each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966816\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966816\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap looks at photos on a shelf inside a home.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arturo Yañez looks at family photos at his home in Tulare on Aug. 31. He received home weatherization and solar panels through a state program for green energy retrofits for farmworkers’ households. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This year, too, it was extremely hot,” he said in Spanish. “To work in these temperatures is tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help mitigate the heat, California uses funds from the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/california-climate-investments\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a> to weatherize homes of low-income families, with some of that money \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/Farmworker-Housing-Component.aspx\">carved out for the small percentage of farmworkers who are homeowners\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yañez is one of them. On a late summer afternoon, he showed where a crew had laid insulation in his attic and installed ceiling fans. An efficient, electric air-conditioning system was on the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the thermometer outdoors still reading 103 F at 5 p.m., those measures would make the house more comfortable, he said, and keep his energy costs more manageable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, it’s tough to cover all the bills,” he said, adding that when it’s too hot to safely work outside, farmworkers are sent home early, costing them hours on their paychecks. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Arturo Yañez, San Joaquin Valley resident\"]‘We’ll be saving energy. And we can help reduce global warming too.’[/pullquote]Yañez had also applied for solar panels through the weatherization program, and that afternoon he learned that he’d qualified. His face lit up in relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s wonderful!” he said. “We’ll be saving energy. And we can help reduce global warming too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caballero said efforts like these are exactly what the valley needs but they must expand rapidly, to include hundreds of thousands of farmworker families who rent, often in shoddy homes with poor insulation and no air conditioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of ‘weatherization on steroids,’” she said. “The benefits could be very, very powerful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office published an \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Climate-Resilience/2022-Final-Extreme-Heat-Action-Plan.pdf\">extreme heat action plan\u003c/a>, and the legislature budgeted $1.1 billion for “decarbonization” retrofits in the homes of low- and moderate-income Californians, such as electric appliances and heat pumps for heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Caballero wrote a bill, signed by Gov. Newsom, to monitor where those funds are spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to make sure that, with limited funds, we started with the communities that had the worst extreme heat,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Building a greener economy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the town of Huron, becoming more climate resilient is also about creating new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surrounded by tomato fields and almond orchards, the Fresno County town of about 6,000 is not the kind of place you’d expect to see Teslas and Chevy Volts. The poverty rate is 40%, and just 3 in 10 adults have finished high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a moustache and wearing a baseball cap stands in front of a white car.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huron Mayor Rey León stands near an electric vehicle outside the Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute offices, known as LEAP, in Huron, Calif., on Sept. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet, from a former diesel garage on an alley behind the struggling main street, a busy rideshare service dispatches drivers in shiny electric cars to ferry Huron residents to the doctor and other appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The free program is called \u003ca href=\"https://greenraiteros.org\">Green Raiteros\u003c/a>, a play on the Spanish slang for someone who gives rides. The five-year-old project is the brainchild of Rey León, founding director of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://theleapinstitute.org\">Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute\u003c/a>, or LEAP. Green Raiteros is funded with state grants. And drivers are employees, not gig workers, with pay starting at $18 per hour, according to LEAP staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>León, who’s also Huron’s mayor, said the program is part of his vision of meeting basic needs like transportation while leaning into the green economy. The hope is to both reduce emissions and create jobs, preparing the workforce as climate change-induced drought disrupts the agricultural economy of the Central Valley. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Huron Mayor Rey León\"]‘Huron is in an area that’s been not just drought-stricken, but poverty-stricken for a very long time.’[/pullquote]“Huron is in an area that’s been not just drought-stricken, but poverty-stricken for a very long time,” said León, sitting in his office upstairs from the dispatchers. “We hope we can make the investments necessary to employ, empower and really animate folks from the community to advance their economy — with innovative technologies so that we can simultaneously fight the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>León sees the physical health of his community as intertwined with its economic health — and both as inextricably linked with the health of the environment where they live: \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/california-has-some-of-the-worst-air-quality-in-the-country-the-problem-is-rooted-in-the-san-joaquin-valley\">one of the most contaminated air basins in the nation\u003c/a>. Huron residents breathe air that carries dust from the fields, pesticides and smog from nearby Interstate 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among other efforts, León has installed 30 EV charging stations around town, planted 300 street trees and enacted measures to promote water conservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, León is aware that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/environment/2022-11-03/amid-californias-three-year-drought-a-san-joaquin-valley-farmworker-considers-seeking-work-outside-the-region\">tens of thousands of agricultural jobs could dry up\u003c/a> in coming years, as climate-change-fueled drought persists and environmental laws to restore depleted aquifers take effect. The LEAP headquarters on the alley is an incubator for projects he hopes will eventually lead to hundreds of well-paying jobs in manufacturing and environmental stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960224\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap looks out the window from the backseat of a car.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Enrique Contreras gets a ride in an all-electric vehicle from the Green Raiteros rideshare program in Huron, Calif., to a doctor’s appointment on Sept. 1, 2023. The program is run by Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute offices, known as Leap. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one bay of the garage, several men were building prototypes of portable trailers with solar panels on top, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/gfo-20-310-mobile-renewable-backup-generation-morbugs/\">California Energy Commission hopes can serve as emergency shelters\u003c/a> and power stations, to deploy during wildfires or other disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in a greenhouse behind the garage, two workers are running an experiment, funded by the USDA, to test a liquid organic fertilizer on tomatoes — with hopes of scaling up production and using local agricultural waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Huron’s mayor, León is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/gfo-20-310-mobile-renewable-backup-generation-morbugs/\">scoping the possibility of developing a park\u003c/a> and nature conservancy on 3,000 acres of overgrown federal land just outside of town. He envisions replenishing the underground aquifer there using the town’s treated wastewater, and employing residents to build trails and plant native trees grown in LEAP greenhouses.\u003cbr>\n[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Solange Gould, co-director, Human Impact Partners\"]‘There’s a lot of funding, but the state needs to provide more technical assistance to Central Valley groups to be able to access that money.’[/pullquote]León’s dreams are big, but they’ll take more money, political muscle and capacity building to realize. He knows they won’t happen overnight and, for now, he’s experimenting at a small scale. The Green Raiteros fleet in Huron has 11 cars, but state grants are funding an expansion, with five additional vehicles in Fresno and three more in the Salinas Valley town of Pajaro. In a poor community like his, León said, such government funding has been essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If not for the resources provided by state agencies, it really wouldn’t be possible,” he said. “We’re farmworkers and, traditionally, farmworkers have never been afforded the privilege of being able to build up wealth. … We hope that with the projects we’re doing, they could see them as pilots for what could be done in similar communities throughout the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small farming towns like Huron have had some success winning competitive grants. But even with all the new money flowing from state and federal governments, it often goes to big cities and large nonprofits with sophisticated fundraising operations, leaving small, rural places at a disadvantage — even if their need is intense, some advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are dire inequities on every measure of human wellbeing in the Central Valley because of past and current policies and disinvestment,” said Solange Gould, co-director of Human Impact Partners, a nonprofit that advocates for health equity. “There’s a lot of funding, but the state needs to provide more technical assistance to Central Valley groups to be able to access that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Central Valley’s agriculture-driven communities strive for climate resilience with state and federal aid, but funding hurdles persist for its most vulnerable residents.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1702496328,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":60,"wordCount":3418},"headData":{"title":"How Central Valley Farmworker Communities Are Tackling Climate Change | KQED","description":"The Central Valley’s agriculture-driven communities strive for climate resilience with state and federal aid, but funding hurdles persist for its most vulnerable residents.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/52c0dce5-45de-4888-8ce0-b0b9010e9b06/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11966862/how-central-valley-farmworker-communities-are-tackling-climate-change","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A rural community on the banks of the San Joaquin River was spared from flooding during last winter’s powerful storms after hundreds of acres of former farmland were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965257/california-looks-to-restore-floodplains-to-protect-communities-from-impacts-of-climate-change\">restored to their natural state as floodplains\u003c/a>, giving the rising water a place to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An immigrant family in the Central Valley city of Tulare got relief from 100-degree heat and sky-high energy bills with insulation and energy retrofits installed under a state program to weatherize the homes of low-income farmworkers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A small town mayor in a region with some of the most polluted air in the nation launched a free rideshare program with a fleet of electric vehicles — the first step in his goal of creating hundreds of green jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are a few of the climate resilience strategies emerging in hard-hit agricultural communities in California’s Central Valley, supported by state and federal funds that could enable local initiatives to scale up. But the very places that need help the most may have the hardest time accessing the funding available, \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/aYv2COYZQzi2BvYEskPu2V?domain=next10.org\">research shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of San Joaquin Valley face a barrage of challenges as the planet warms and weather patterns shift, often with catastrophic results. Land development has been engineered over decades to maximize agricultural productivity, with little attention to environmental resilience. And low-income immigrant workers, who are the backbone of this economy, are on the front lines, living in communities that lack resources and critical infrastructure to cope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Summer temperatures throughout the valley routinely spike into triple digits, making outdoor work dangerous and shoddily built homes stifling. Wildfires repeatedly blanket the region with smoke, exacerbating the air pollution that leads to the state’s worst rates of asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966814\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966814\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A dry field with an irrigation channel alongside it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An irrigation channel carries water to new plantings in the recently restored floodplain on the banks of the San Joaquin River near Grayson, Calif., on Aug. 31. The restoration work was conducted by the nonprofit River Partners to allow the fast-moving river to spread out over a wider expanse, diminishing its destructive force and preventing catastrophic flooding. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Violent floods wash away homes and livelihoods in communities with neglected levees and insufficient storm drains. And recurring drought contributes to the fact that most of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2021-118/index.html\">nearly 1 million Californians who lack access to safe drinking water\u003c/a> live in the Central Valley. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The biggest problem is the combination of things: farmworker communities not having a rest from one climate impact to another.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior water and climate scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The biggest problem is the combination of things: farmworker communities not having a rest from one climate impact to another,” said Pablo Ortiz-Partida, senior water and climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. “All these things start interconnecting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ortiz-Partida said policymakers must listen to those who live with these impacts daily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be some top-down solutions, but also some bottom-up solutions,” he said. “How can we start that process of equitable transition to cleaner energies? … How can we start bringing a new, more sustainable vision of agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Left behind in the clean energy transition\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California has established itself as a national leader in climate policy. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrdc.org/bio/merrian-borgeson/ca-climate-energy-policy-update-summer-2023\">Natural Resources Defense Council estimates\u003c/a> the state has committed to spend more than $52 billion over the next several years to \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/ab-32-climate-change-scoping-plan/2022-scoping-plan-documents\">transition off fossil fuels\u003c/a> and tackle the effects of climate change. That’s in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars from President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Act and \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/California.pdf\">Inflation Reduction Act\u003c/a> that will soon flow to the state to fight climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet low-income immigrant communities in rural areas that are among the most impacted have not always seen the benefit — and could be at risk of losing out again. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11943590","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/CalMatters_01-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> A \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/publications/local-climate\">new report\u003c/a> from UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment, and two nonprofits — the Institute for Local Government and Next 10 — found that many California municipalities, especially smaller ones, need to staff up and develop detailed climate action plans if they want a shot at competitive grants for the unprecedented funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the state faces worsening impacts from climate change, local governments are the front-line defense for our communities,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10. “We need to identify the barriers cities and counties face so we can take full advantage of the historic federal and state funding available to better protect ourselves now and in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Anna Caballero represents some of the San Joaquin Valley’s poorest places and said climate policies don’t work if they only benefit wealthier residents of coastal cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s seen plenty of well-intentioned climate programs miss the mark for her Central Valley constituents. One example is rebates for purchasing electric cars and solar panels, which require paying the full price upfront and getting the discount later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The urgency of getting this right and including rural communities in our discussion about climate change is that we’re going to end up with two separate worlds,” she said. “If you can afford it, you have an electric vehicle and a solar rooftop. And if you can’t, there’s nothing for you. There’s no job. There’s no way to pay your bills. And your community has no way of sustaining itself.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘If you can afford it, you have an electric vehicle and a solar rooftop. And if you can’t, there’s nothing for you.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"State Sen. Anna Caballero","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The region’s economy is dominated by agriculture and fossil fuel extraction industries, whose leaders trend Republican and have often resisted Democratic moves to slash carbon emissions and protect water and ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, 55% of the San Joaquin Valley’s 4.3 million residents live in disadvantaged communities, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/CA4_CCA_SJ_Region_Eng_ada.pdf\">California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment\u003c/a> for the region. \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/naws/pdfs/NAWS%20Research%20Report%2015.pdf\">Among California farmworkers, 9 in 10 are immigrants\u003c/a>, and 8 in 10 are not citizens. Though their labor is essential, and many have lived here for decades, they can’t vote, so their voices and experiences aren’t always represented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Caballero, a Democrat, and many other lawmakers and advocates have been pushing for equitable solutions, and some are beginning to bear fruit.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The river is their backyard’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The unincorporated community of Grayson, on the west bank of the San Joaquin River, is just five-by-six blocks. The only business, The One-Stop, is a gas station, convenience store, lunch counter and laundromat rolled into one. Residents rely on wells for drinking water that are often contaminated with agricultural chemicals from surrounding fields. Flooding has long been a risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilia Lomelí-Gil, who runs the Grayson United Community Center, pointed out some older homes on Charles Street, where the water rose ominously as rain pounded the region last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966813\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair stands in front of a dry field.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lilia Lomelí-Gil walks along the recently restored floodplain on the banks of the San Joaquin River near her home in Grayson, Calif., on Aug. 31. Lomelí-Gil, who runs the Grayson United Community Center, said the natural floodplain protected Grayson from flooding last winter and creates a place where community residents can get closer to nature. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The river is their backyard,” she said. “The lady that lives right there in that little house was at risk of getting flooded. It did go up to their yard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lomelí-Gil, 71, knows that risk firsthand. Back in 1997, she was living in nearby Modesto when \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXEza6kPyFk\">a massive flood hit on New Year’s Day\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I lost my home,” she said. “Because the waters came in 4-feet high. And since we were downriver from the sewage plant, of course, it was all contaminated waters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She salvaged what she could and moved back to Grayson, where she’d grown up the daughter of farmworkers from Mexico. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Going back to nature … It works with mental health and your physical health and your spiritual health. I think that triangle is the key to facing life’s challenges.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Lilia Lomelí-Gil, co-founder, Grayson United Community Center","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During last winter’s storms, levees failed and catastrophic floods devastated other farmworker communities, like Pajaro and Planada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Grayson, the San Joaquin River surged, but the outcome was very different: the town did not flood. One reason? A \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/28/1178441292/flood-protection-california\">recent floodplain restoration project\u003c/a> allowed the fast-moving river to spread over a wider expanse, diminishing its destructive force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work was done by \u003ca href=\"https://riverpartners.org\">River Partners\u003c/a>, a nonprofit organization that restores riverside habitats around California. The group purchased unused farmland abutting the river, then removed the earthen berms holding the water in its channel. Dozens of people from the local community, including Lomelí-Gil, got involved in planting native tree saplings and grasses to restore wildlife habitat in the new floodplain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent weekday, Lomelí-Gil tramped down an abandoned road at the end of Minnie Street to show off the plantings. Once the work is complete, she said, she’s looking forward to taking kids and seniors from the community center out to walk along trails by the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going back to nature … It works with mental health and your physical health and your spiritual health,” she said, stopping to listen to the sound of the birds and the babbling water. “I think that triangle is the key to facing life’s challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Removing levees to allow floods to flow across fallow farmland is a low-tech solution with significant payoffs, River Partners executive director Julie Rentner said. It not only reduces flood risk and expands wildlife habitat and space for recreation, but it refills underground aquifers that have been depleted by decades of over-pumping — and that should lead to cleaner drinking water for Lomelí-Gil and her neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Similar projects will soon break ground. In the wake of last winter’s storms, state lawmakers budgeted nearly half a billion dollars to shore up levees and rebuild damaged communities. Tucked in there was $40 million for River Partners to restore natural floodplains on 2,500 more acres elsewhere along the San Joaquin River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That money is only a downpayment on what’s ultimately needed, Rentner said, but it’s an important step that could be a game-changer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s thinking more holistically about how we manage our water and our soil and our communities,” she said. ”So that we can find solutions to climate resilience that benefit us all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Weatherization on steroids’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Extreme heat is another consequence of climate change hitting the San Joaquin Valley hard. Scientists calculate that annual average maximum \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-01/CA4_CCA_SJ_Region_Eng_ada.pdf\">temperatures increased by 1F from 1950 to 2020\u003c/a>. In 2021, Fresno experienced \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/media/hnx/SEPTEMBER%202021%20WEATHER%20SUMMARY.pdf\">a record 69 straight days with temperatures over 100F\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside the little city of Tulare, nearly three hours south of Grayson, Arturo Yañez, 55, unloads crates of kiwis and pomegranates. He said in the three decades he’s lived in the valley, he’s felt it get a little hotter each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966816\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966816\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a baseball cap looks at photos on a shelf inside a home.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231108-CLIMATE-FLOODPLAIN-TH-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arturo Yañez looks at family photos at his home in Tulare on Aug. 31. He received home weatherization and solar panels through a state program for green energy retrofits for farmworkers’ households. \u003ccite>(Tyche Hendricks/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“This year, too, it was extremely hot,” he said in Spanish. “To work in these temperatures is tough.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help mitigate the heat, California uses funds from the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/california-climate-investments\">cap-and-trade program\u003c/a> to weatherize homes of low-income families, with some of that money \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/Farmworker-Housing-Component.aspx\">carved out for the small percentage of farmworkers who are homeowners\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yañez is one of them. On a late summer afternoon, he showed where a crew had laid insulation in his attic and installed ceiling fans. An efficient, electric air-conditioning system was on the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the thermometer outdoors still reading 103 F at 5 p.m., those measures would make the house more comfortable, he said, and keep his energy costs more manageable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Sometimes, it’s tough to cover all the bills,” he said, adding that when it’s too hot to safely work outside, farmworkers are sent home early, costing them hours on their paychecks. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘We’ll be saving energy. And we can help reduce global warming too.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Arturo Yañez, San Joaquin Valley resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Yañez had also applied for solar panels through the weatherization program, and that afternoon he learned that he’d qualified. His face lit up in relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s wonderful!” he said. “We’ll be saving energy. And we can help reduce global warming too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caballero said efforts like these are exactly what the valley needs but they must expand rapidly, to include hundreds of thousands of farmworker families who rent, often in shoddy homes with poor insulation and no air conditioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s kind of ‘weatherization on steroids,’” she said. “The benefits could be very, very powerful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office published an \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Climate-Resilience/2022-Final-Extreme-Heat-Action-Plan.pdf\">extreme heat action plan\u003c/a>, and the legislature budgeted $1.1 billion for “decarbonization” retrofits in the homes of low- and moderate-income Californians, such as electric appliances and heat pumps for heating and cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Caballero wrote a bill, signed by Gov. Newsom, to monitor where those funds are spent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to make sure that, with limited funds, we started with the communities that had the worst extreme heat,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Building a greener economy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the town of Huron, becoming more climate resilient is also about creating new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Surrounded by tomato fields and almond orchards, the Fresno County town of about 6,000 is not the kind of place you’d expect to see Teslas and Chevy Volts. The poverty rate is 40%, and just 3 in 10 adults have finished high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960228\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person with a moustache and wearing a baseball cap stands in front of a white car.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68672_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-50-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Huron Mayor Rey León stands near an electric vehicle outside the Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute offices, known as LEAP, in Huron, Calif., on Sept. 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet, from a former diesel garage on an alley behind the struggling main street, a busy rideshare service dispatches drivers in shiny electric cars to ferry Huron residents to the doctor and other appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The free program is called \u003ca href=\"https://greenraiteros.org\">Green Raiteros\u003c/a>, a play on the Spanish slang for someone who gives rides. The five-year-old project is the brainchild of Rey León, founding director of the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://theleapinstitute.org\">Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute\u003c/a>, or LEAP. Green Raiteros is funded with state grants. And drivers are employees, not gig workers, with pay starting at $18 per hour, according to LEAP staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>León, who’s also Huron’s mayor, said the program is part of his vision of meeting basic needs like transportation while leaning into the green economy. The hope is to both reduce emissions and create jobs, preparing the workforce as climate change-induced drought disrupts the agricultural economy of the Central Valley. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Huron is in an area that’s been not just drought-stricken, but poverty-stricken for a very long time.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Huron Mayor Rey León","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Huron is in an area that’s been not just drought-stricken, but poverty-stricken for a very long time,” said León, sitting in his office upstairs from the dispatchers. “We hope we can make the investments necessary to employ, empower and really animate folks from the community to advance their economy — with innovative technologies so that we can simultaneously fight the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>León sees the physical health of his community as intertwined with its economic health — and both as inextricably linked with the health of the environment where they live: \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/california-has-some-of-the-worst-air-quality-in-the-country-the-problem-is-rooted-in-the-san-joaquin-valley\">one of the most contaminated air basins in the nation\u003c/a>. Huron residents breathe air that carries dust from the fields, pesticides and smog from nearby Interstate 5.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among other efforts, León has installed 30 EV charging stations around town, planted 300 street trees and enacted measures to promote water conservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, León is aware that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kvpr.org/environment/2022-11-03/amid-californias-three-year-drought-a-san-joaquin-valley-farmworker-considers-seeking-work-outside-the-region\">tens of thousands of agricultural jobs could dry up\u003c/a> in coming years, as climate-change-fueled drought persists and environmental laws to restore depleted aquifers take effect. The LEAP headquarters on the alley is an incubator for projects he hopes will eventually lead to hundreds of well-paying jobs in manufacturing and environmental stewardship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960224\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap looks out the window from the backseat of a car.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/RS68646_230901-CentralValleyClimateSolutions-13-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Enrique Contreras gets a ride in an all-electric vehicle from the Green Raiteros rideshare program in Huron, Calif., to a doctor’s appointment on Sept. 1, 2023. The program is run by Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute offices, known as Leap. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In one bay of the garage, several men were building prototypes of portable trailers with solar panels on top, that the \u003ca href=\"https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/gfo-20-310-mobile-renewable-backup-generation-morbugs/\">California Energy Commission hopes can serve as emergency shelters\u003c/a> and power stations, to deploy during wildfires or other disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in a greenhouse behind the garage, two workers are running an experiment, funded by the USDA, to test a liquid organic fertilizer on tomatoes — with hopes of scaling up production and using local agricultural waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Huron’s mayor, León is also \u003ca href=\"https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/gfo-20-310-mobile-renewable-backup-generation-morbugs/\">scoping the possibility of developing a park\u003c/a> and nature conservancy on 3,000 acres of overgrown federal land just outside of town. He envisions replenishing the underground aquifer there using the town’s treated wastewater, and employing residents to build trails and plant native trees grown in LEAP greenhouses.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘There’s a lot of funding, but the state needs to provide more technical assistance to Central Valley groups to be able to access that money.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Solange Gould, co-director, Human Impact Partners","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>León’s dreams are big, but they’ll take more money, political muscle and capacity building to realize. He knows they won’t happen overnight and, for now, he’s experimenting at a small scale. The Green Raiteros fleet in Huron has 11 cars, but state grants are funding an expansion, with five additional vehicles in Fresno and three more in the Salinas Valley town of Pajaro. In a poor community like his, León said, such government funding has been essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If not for the resources provided by state agencies, it really wouldn’t be possible,” he said. “We’re farmworkers and, traditionally, farmworkers have never been afforded the privilege of being able to build up wealth. … We hope that with the projects we’re doing, they could see them as pilots for what could be done in similar communities throughout the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small farming towns like Huron have had some success winning competitive grants. But even with all the new money flowing from state and federal governments, it often goes to big cities and large nonprofits with sophisticated fundraising operations, leaving small, rural places at a disadvantage — even if their need is intense, some advocates say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are dire inequities on every measure of human wellbeing in the Central Valley because of past and current policies and disinvestment,” said Solange Gould, co-director of Human Impact Partners, a nonprofit that advocates for health equity. “There’s a lot of funding, but the state needs to provide more technical assistance to Central Valley groups to be able to access that money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11966862/how-central-valley-farmworker-communities-are-tackling-climate-change","authors":["259"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_4092","news_31720","news_32371","news_311","news_21349","news_19204","news_255","news_18269","news_27626","news_3431","news_30964","news_37","news_32157","news_2929","news_31551","news_5525","news_1775","news_32889","news_20202","news_26422","news_32519","news_32552","news_4695","news_18699"],"featImg":"news_11960227","label":"news_72"},"news_11965063":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11965063","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11965063","score":null,"sort":[1698058845000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","title":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change","publishDate":1698058845,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the ‘Bleeding Edge’ of Climate Change | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen summer temperatures in Fresno break 100 degrees, Deana Everhart cooks. It’s a rare privilege for a woman without a kitchen or a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Callender’s TV dinners are her favorite, and she puts them on the sidewalk to let the sun do an oven’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will cook as if they were in a microwave,” she said on a 108-degree day in July. “In about 30 minutes, they’re hot and ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be the only perk that’s come with the increasingly hellish summers plaguing her hometown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61, Everhart has lived about 20 years cycling on and off Fresno’s streets. But as she gets older, and the \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=All-Climate-Indicators%2CHeat-Waves\">heat waves become more frequent\u003c/a>, it’s harder to survive outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past year has been especially challenging as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/atmospheric-rivers-hit-west-coast\">historic winter storms\u003c/a> gave way to a blistering summer. Now, she’s bracing for yet another potentially drenching winter, thanks to El Niño.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Everhart is caught in the middle of an ever-changing web of policies, put in place by Fresno city leaders who face pressures to reduce street homelessness while mitigating the harm unhoused residents face from deadly weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a story playing out across California as our climate and housing crises collide. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/?filter_Year=2019&filter_Scope=State&filter_State=CA&filter_CoC=&program=CoC&group=PopSub\">The number of unsheltered people in California rose 6.5%\u003c/a> from 2019 to 2022. The increase is much steeper in Fresno, where unsheltered homelessness has spiked 48% since 2019, the vast majority of that increase during the first year of the pandemic, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dangerously Hot Days Are on the Rise in Fresno\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-EbsnW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. As the heat index rises, so does the risk of heat-related illness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of dangerously hot days in Fresno has \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/high-heat-index-days-2023?graphicSet=High+Heat+Index+Days&location=Fresno&lang=en\">gone up by 17 days a year\u003c/a> since 1979. The state is \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/changes-climate/precipitation\">increasingly yo-yoing between periods of drought and heavy rain\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/pablo-ortiz/climate-change-impacts-on-california-central-valley-the-warning-shot-the-us-is-ignoring/\">a trend that’s particularly pronounced in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, where bursts of heavy precipitation easily lead to flooding. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\"]‘Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature.’[/pullquote]Seniors like Everhart are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/older-adults-heat.html\">especially vulnerable\u003c/a> to the elements, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061143/#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20disadvantage%20experienced%20by,functional%20and%20cognitive%20impairment%2C%20incontinence\">living on the streets hastens aging\u003c/a>. Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, compared the physical condition of a 50-year-old living outside to that of a person two to three decades older in the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature,” said Kushel, the lead investigator on a \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">landmark survey\u003c/a> of houseless Californians released this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It found that people 50 years and older now represent nearly half of single adults experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just hard,” Everhart said. “At my age, everything combined is hard on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The most-best shade in all of Fresno’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It was sometime in late spring when Everhart rolled her belongings onto a patch of dirt under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She was thinking about the oncoming heat when she chose the spot, shielded by hundreds of tons of concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the most-best shade, I bet, in all of Fresno, right here,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5564168870&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The camp she made there with a longtime friend, Shannon Thom, was a jumble of carts and strollers piled with dozens of bulging plastic bags, chairs in various states of disrepair, empty food containers and a molding sheet cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somebody gave it to us, but it’s already old,” Everhart said. “Out here, you learn to accept stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954896 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink hat leans on a chainlink fence under a freeway overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deana Everhart, 61, spent the hottest part of the summer sheltering under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She’s been unhoused on and off for about 20 years. “I remember how scared I was the first time sleeping by myself,” she said of her early days on the streets. Today, it’s hard for her to imagine another way of life. While she said she wants housing, the responsibility that comes with it feels daunting. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The living arrangement was chaotic but reflected their years of combined street savvy: cell phones, documents, food and clothes concealed by junky-looking bags were less likely to entice thieves. Allowing trash to build up around them was less likely to draw complaints than throwing it into the dumpster outside a nearby apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, they’ve camped together and developed a system to keep each other and their things safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take shifts on sleeping because we have to watch the stuff 24/7,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her skin is tanned and freckled from years of sun, but there’s something girlish about her. She wears her long, dark hair in low pigtails. In her 20s, Everhart played guitar in an all-girl metal band called Sweet Lies — “Like sweet, but not so sweet,” she said. “We were rocker girls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She still seems to relish the spotlight, but these days, she tends to hold her hand in front of her mouth while she talks because she’s shy about her teeth. She can’t always brush them outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart’s path to homelessness is entwined with her mental illness. As her obsessive-compulsive disorder became increasingly debilitating, she struggled to hold on to housing. Court records show she has been evicted twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart now lives on $1,252 a month in Social Security disability benefits, plus food stamps — less than the median rent in Fresno, which spiked in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2021-03-31/fresno-rent-spike-taps-into-california-covid-housing-trends\">rents rose almost 40\u003c/a>%, the biggest increase of any large city in the country. [aside postID=news_11964791 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1020x680.jpg']Despite her situation, she is less worried about herself than her son, Travis Everhart. He’s 39, has schizophrenia and lives on Fresno’s streets, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the camp, she pointed out a box full of his things and the mat where he sleeps beside her when he’s not wandering the city alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time she and Thom, 41, shared a room, they said her son was banned from visiting because his psychosis caused him to yell out. Early last summer, after a string of hot days gave him a nasty sunburn that turned his nose the mottled blue-red of raw hamburger meat, Everhart gave up her housing to be closer to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, I’ll go to him,” she said. “I’m trying to keep my son alive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, her anxiety about his well-being reached a new level after the death of his friend, Patrick Weaver, who was also unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were close in age, shared a love of comic books and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Everhart said, adding, “It’s hard for my son to find a good friend like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weaver was found dead in a parking lot, according to a city official, at the tail end of a solid month of triple-digit temperatures. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘I thought, I’ll go to him. I’m trying to keep my son alive.’[/pullquote]“Devastating is the only word I could think of to describe that,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She believes heat played a role in Weaver’s death. He died four days after Fresno reached its second hottest temperature on record: 114 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has yet to release his death report to KQED but did confirm the official cause was an overdose. Weaver had methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. Meth raises a person’s body temperature and contributes \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-31/california-heat-related-deaths-climate-change-homelessness-methamphetamine\">to heat-related illness and death\u003c/a> across California. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">Almost one-third\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians reported using it, according to the UCSF survey Kushel led.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schizophrenia, which is \u003ca href=\"https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2361-7\">vastly more common\u003c/a> among unhoused people than the general population, affects the brain’s ability to regulate body temperature and make reasoned decisions, potentially putting people at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/schizophrenia-pinpointed-key-factor-heat-deaths#:~:text=Epidemiologists%20combing%20through%20provincial%20health,increase%20compared%20with%20typical%20summers.\">higher risk of heat-related death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of unhoused people who die due to extreme weather in Fresno, and around California, is hard to know. Historically, most coroners haven’t tracked housing status. KQED public records requests to coroners and medical examiners across the state yielded few results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people experiencing homelessness are \u003ca href=\"https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BFI_WP_2023-41.pdf\">already far more likely to die than their housed counterparts\u003c/a>. Depending on age, studies found that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2795475?guestAccessKey=7ac6269d-6dbd-4288-a405-b1ecca6e082e&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=082922\">death is three\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1556797\">nine times\u003c/a> more common on the streets. And there is some evidence extreme weather worsens those odds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people made up almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-19/la-me-homeless-heat-deaths#:~:text=Although%20the%20unhoused%20population%20represents,data%20from%20the%20coroner's%20office.\">half of heat-related deaths in Los Angeles County last year, though they represent less than 1% of the population\u003c/a>. In Sacramento County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.srceh.org/_files/ugd/ee52bb_c3a8312b492b4ded8980857803c67708.pdf\">death rate among people experiencing homelessness in 2021 from hypothermia was 215.5 times higher than the county rate overall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A ‘complete disaster’ or a lifesaver?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Faced with the confluence of increasingly deadly weather and a growing homeless population that’s especially vulnerable to it, Fresno city leaders are being forced to respond. Last year, under pressure from advocates, they \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11257222&GUID=51A17E03-0CE8-412D-BA38-6CB5A21A72C1\">expanded the city’s warming and cooling centers\u003c/a>, the primary resource for unhoused people during extreme weather events. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias\"]‘In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods.’[/pullquote]Cooling centers now open when temperatures reach 100 degrees, instead of 105, and stay open longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger change was to warming centers last winter. Because of the heavy rain, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11534615&GUID=D8ADCBC2-BA69-4C93-B820-E5B00A3589CB\">voted to keep certain centers open\u003c/a> for more than three months straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People crowded in, filling them beyond capacity. The community centers, once home to after-school programs, services for the elderly and adult recreational activities, became de facto homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods,” said City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the district where Everhart and most of the city’s unhoused residents live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backlash came fast and loud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954903 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt='The doors of a large community center are seen beyond a gate with a sign reading \"cooling center.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno hosts a temporary reprieve during triple-digit heat. In Fresno, like in many cities, warming and cooling centers are the main resource for unhoused people in extreme weather. Changes to Fresno’s centers have generated a backlash from residents in surrounding neighborhoods. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood,” said Chris Collins, who lives with his family directly next to the Ted C. Wills Community Center, one of four recreation centers that became a warming center last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said someone was living in a tent in the alley behind their house, and more tents lined the sidewalk around the corner. Another person dumped a stroller full of belongings in their front yard, and in the middle of the night, a man pounded on his neighbor’s door and refused to leave until the owner pulled out a gun. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Chris Collins, resident, Fresno\"]‘It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood.’[/pullquote]Meanwhile, staff at the center were completely overwhelmed, according to one parks department employee who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People brought alcohol and weapons into the sleeping area, used drugs in the bathroom and left huge messes, according to the staffer. They said before the community center’s preschool program was put on pause, a little girl stepped in human waste and ended up smearing it on her clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias acknowledged the challenges. Almost overnight, he said, employees accustomed to running rec rooms were disinfecting cots and triaging ailments ranging from gangrene to diabetic seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s got to be a better solution,” Collins said, adding that neighbors never had a problem with the center operating as it had in the past, a few days at a time. [aside postID=news_11956715 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1557929497-KQED-1020x661.jpg']But as the stretches of wild weather get longer and city leaders are forced to step in, Arias expects this kind of conflict isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the many unintended consequences of climate change at the local level,” he said. “And residents will continue to push back on local government as we try to adjust and expand services to save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes that made Collins and his neighbors miserable made the center lifesaving for Everhart, who stayed there nearly the whole time it was open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, she rarely used the warming centers because the sporadic schedules made them impractical and people weren’t allowed to bring their belongings inside. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors.’[/pullquote]Last winter, she’s not sure how she would have survived without it. “I was truly scared,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the centers now requires a full-time city employee, and Fresno has already more than doubled what it spends on them, from $300,000 to $800,000, Arias said. By next year, he expects that will rise to $1 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the controversy last winter, the city is looking for ways to minimize the impact on neighbors and center staff. The plan is to \u003ca href=\"https://www.planetbids.com/Fresno/BMfiles/20230707105523093%20PUBLIC%20NOTICE%2012400023.pdf\">turn over management to nonprofits and churches\u003c/a>, who would run the programs out of the community centers for now, and eventually find alternative facilities, Arias hopes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A painful family history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Everhart once held jobs, went to community college and had an apartment and a car. There were always signs of her mental illness, but as she grew older, it progressed into a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By her early 30s, she had four children, no income except what welfare programs supplied and couldn’t manage the responsibilities of parenting or maintaining a home. All of her kids ended up with their grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was not capable of raising children because of how her mental illness affected her way to function,” her daughter Carolyn Mercer, 30, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercer, who was out of her mother’s care by the time she was 2 years old, described her as neglectful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954907 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A car drives up a street set below a freeway overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An overpass along State Route 180, near the place Deana and Shannon camped during the summer. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know I wasn’t taking as good of care of the kids as I felt I should,” Everhart said, acknowledging she was struggling with her mental health at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having OCD is like working two or three jobs — it’s mentally exhausting,” she said. “I did the best I could. I needed help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since she became homeless, Everhart has only lived indoors for short stretches. She said she lost a room in an SRO because she spent four hours in the shower, convinced she was still covered in soap, and got kicked out of a women’s shelter because she couldn’t keep up with their schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said they’re on waiting lists for housing, but Everhart finds the obligations that come with being housed daunting. She was hesitant when asked if she’d take what the city might eventually be able to offer: a converted motel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not opposed to it, but if I have to be out here I’m OK,” she said, adding that she feels a sense of duty to help care for more severely incapacitated people living on the streets. “Maybe I just feel like I need to be out here to help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one responsibility, perhaps the only one, she feels equal to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954897 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in the shade under a freeway overpass grasping the post of a street sign.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Thom, 41, has camped with Deana for the past several years. Living together allows them to sleep in shifts to keep watch over each other and their things. They take turns using the bathroom at a liquor store, or take short breaks from the heat at a nearby cooling center. Shannon grew up in Fresno, bouncing around apartments with her mother and sister. At one point, she ended up homeless with her mother on L.A.’s Skid Row, she said. After her mother and sister died, she was left without any close relatives. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the winter, she and Thom keep extra blankets and jackets from thrift stores to hand out. She found one man’s family on Facebook and reconnected them, and when another young man wandered over to their camp confused and hungry one afternoon, Everhart was eager to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honey, if you wait a minute we’ll go to the store over there and get you a cup o’ noodle and we’ll heat it in the microwave and get you a little soda,” she said. “Do you want that?” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carolyn Mercer, 30, daughter of Deana Everhart\"]‘All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents. I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.’[/pullquote]She finds purpose in caring for people on the streets, trying in her way to “mother” them — most of all, her own son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Everhart’s daughter said she never benefited from this tenderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I finally came to the realization that I will never get the mother I always wanted and needed,” she said. Mercer is no longer in contact with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s come to understand the pain her mother caused her as a legacy of Everhart’s own abuse and neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents,” she said, speculating that this played a role in the development of Everhart’s mental illness. “I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Mercer can’t help but worry about her mother, aging on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It always keeps me up at night when I’m able to keep warm in my home with a heater in the winter or be comfortable with AC in the summer,” she said. “I always feel a sense of guilt that I never know if she’s ‘comfortable’ and safe from the elements outdoors while I’m able to live comfortably.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Business as usual\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early this past summer, even as Fresno was expanding cooling centers, city leaders were taking aim at unhoused residents with a \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12032871&GUID=50F7141B-5564-4058-A28C-71BC9843868A\">new law restricting access to any place designated a “sensitive area.\u003c/a>” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?’[/pullquote]Among the many sites listed as possible targets are overpasses, underpasses and bridges — places where Everhart often finds refuge from heat and rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart and Thom fretted about where they would go to avoid the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be under here. We thought they were bad — they went from bad to worse,” Everhart said, referring to the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team. “We’re very scared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954898 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a light pink button down shirt stands in front of large brown doors.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias outside the entrance to the cooling center at the Ted C Wills community center. He and other city officials are facing pressure from homeowners and businesses to clean up homelessness while advocates simultaneously demand urgent action to protect unhoused people from increasingly extreme weather. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before they could figure out a plan, the Response Team showed up — a visit that had nothing to do with the new law, as far as Everhart could tell. It was just business as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was forecast to hit 110 degrees in Fresno that day, and the National Weather Service was \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSHanford/status/1680213678715723776?s=20\">warning of a “major to extreme risk” for heat-related illnesses\u003c/a>, especially for people with no escape from the elements. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"William Freeman, attorney, ACLU\"]‘It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places. Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.’[/pullquote]Undeterred, city workers cleared the trash surrounding the camp, then told Everhart and Thom to leave the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, it’s real hot,” Everhart recalled telling one of the police officers with the team that responds to complaints about encampments. “Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweeps like this one have become routine, but advocates worry the new law, with its heightened restrictions, will make them even more frequent. Fresno city leaders approved the plan despite warnings that the consequences could be dire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places,” said ACLU attorney William Freeman, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article276239381.html\">urged the city council not to pass the plan\u003c/a>, arguing it violates the constitutions of the United States and California. “Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias, one of the council members who put the new rule forward, said it was about ensuring unhoused people and their things don’t block public rights of way, a goal another official chalked up to an attempt to avoid a lawsuit similar to the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article272274053.html\">Sacramento is facing\u003c/a> from residents with disabilities who say homeless camps have taken over sidewalks, making it impossible for them to get around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Arias said, clearing encampments is a public health requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11954904\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds two bottles of cold water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nas, an unhoused man in the Tower District in Fresno, holds cold water bottles given to him by\u003cbr>local advocates with the Fresno Homeless Union, Bob and Linda McCloskey, on July 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you have the amount of feces, the amount of drug paraphernalia, the amount of rotting food, all in one location, you get outbreaks of disease,” he said. “That’s why we have to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After city workers left, Everhart and Thom set up their camp again — this time, about 200 feet from where they’d been, still under the same overpass. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them.’[/pullquote]The city formed the response team last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article257698758.html\">pitching it as a more compassionate alternative\u003c/a> to the police department’s former homeless task force. The team includes outreach workers from a local nonprofit, staff from the code enforcement department and police officers. The city rolled it out along with a new 311 line to field complaints about unhoused people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said the team has thrown away nearly all their possessions several times, a mental and financial blow that can be especially grave in extreme weather. They’ve lost things they need to survive in the heat and the cold, like blankets, clothes, food and water. By Everhart’s count, the response team has shuffled them around the city seven times in less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists here have tried — without success — to get the city to stop sweeps during extreme weather. This past summer, the Sacramento Homeless Union won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article277931013.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">temporary injunction\u003c/a> banning the city from cleaning encampments during a heat wave, a case Everhart followed closely when she could charge her phone. [aside label='More Stories on Housing' tag='housing']Advocates are pushing for sanctioned encampments where people can set up tents or RVs with the city’s permission and tiny home villages with air conditioning. Everhart has helped them lobby for dumpsters and porta-potties to solve some of the sanitation concerns about camps. Long term, they are fighting for rent control and more affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Fresno has spent over $100 million to address homelessness, more than 90% of it on housing, according to the city. It’s permanently housed nearly 1,900 people while sheltering or temporarily putting up more than 3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city estimates there are still 1,700 people living on its streets. “And that’s because the unhoused numbers continue to grow,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A welcome ‘vacation’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early September, an infected spider bite sent Everhart to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She suspects a black widow because she spotted one near where she was sleeping. She had surgery to remove the necrotic flesh on her thumb, and the doctor put in a drain she described as a McDonald’s straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My thumb looks like the zombie apocalypse,” she joked from her hospital bed. “I am not exaggerating either. It looks terrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks earlier, her son, Travis Everhart, went to jail for property damage and resisting arrest. Everhart’s understanding is that he threw some rocks at a car, “because the car was loud,” she said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident\"]‘It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that. They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.’[/pullquote]She’s glad he’s set to be released in November, but in a way, she’s relieved he’s in jail. At least she knows where he is and that he has food and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid of all this, the hospital, with its air conditioning and bed, is almost a welcome vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that,” she said. “They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She met with a social worker there, but when she explained she was already on a waiting list for housing, Everhart said the woman told her there wasn’t much else to do but wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she gets released from the hospital, the plan is to have Thom help her tie a plastic bag around her bandaged hand to keep out the dirt. Their camp is alongside a different stretch of freeway now, where they’ll wait for her son to get out of jail. There, under a tarp and umbrella, they’ll try to shelter from the waning heat and the coming rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"KQED follows one woman struggling to survive on the streets of Fresno during a summer of blisteringly hot temperatures.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1698701611,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":100,"wordCount":4772},"headData":{"title":"Unhoused Californians Are Living on the 'Bleeding Edge' of Climate Change | KQED","description":"KQED follows one woman struggling to survive on the streets of Fresno during a summer of blisteringly hot temperatures.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"templateType":"standard","featuredImageType":"standard","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11965063/unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of the third season of KQED’s podcast Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America. You can \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/soldout\">find that series here\u003c/a> and read about why \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1984697/why-kqed-focused-a-season-of-its-housing-podcast-on-climate-change#:~:text=Sold%20Out%20Is%20Back%20With%20Season%203&text=Host%20Erin%20Baldassari%20leads%20a,an%20affordable%20place%20to%20live.\">KQED chose to focus a season of its housing podcast on climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">W\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hen summer temperatures in Fresno break 100 degrees, Deana Everhart cooks. It’s a rare privilege for a woman without a kitchen or a house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marie Callender’s TV dinners are her favorite, and she puts them on the sidewalk to let the sun do an oven’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will cook as if they were in a microwave,” she said on a 108-degree day in July. “In about 30 minutes, they’re hot and ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It might be the only perk that’s come with the increasingly hellish summers plaguing her hometown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61, Everhart has lived about 20 years cycling on and off Fresno’s streets. But as she gets older, and the \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bdd9567a847a4b52abd20253539143df/page/Weather-and-Climate/?views=All-Climate-Indicators%2CHeat-Waves\">heat waves become more frequent\u003c/a>, it’s harder to survive outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past year has been especially challenging as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/atmospheric-rivers-hit-west-coast\">historic winter storms\u003c/a> gave way to a blistering summer. Now, she’s bracing for yet another potentially drenching winter, thanks to El Niño.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Everhart is caught in the middle of an ever-changing web of policies, put in place by Fresno city leaders who face pressures to reduce street homelessness while mitigating the harm unhoused residents face from deadly weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a story playing out across California as our climate and housing crises collide. \u003ca href=\"https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/coc/coc-homeless-populations-and-subpopulations-reports/?filter_Year=2019&filter_Scope=State&filter_State=CA&filter_CoC=&program=CoC&group=PopSub\">The number of unsheltered people in California rose 6.5%\u003c/a> from 2019 to 2022. The increase is much steeper in Fresno, where unsheltered homelessness has spiked 48% since 2019, the vast majority of that increase during the first year of the pandemic, according to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dangerously Hot Days Are on the Rise in Fresno\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-EbsnW\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/EbsnW/6/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. As the heat index rises, so does the risk of heat-related illness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the number of dangerously hot days in Fresno has \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/graphic/high-heat-index-days-2023?graphicSet=High+Heat+Index+Days&location=Fresno&lang=en\">gone up by 17 days a year\u003c/a> since 1979. The state is \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/changes-climate/precipitation\">increasingly yo-yoing between periods of drought and heavy rain\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://blog.ucsusa.org/pablo-ortiz/climate-change-impacts-on-california-central-valley-the-warning-shot-the-us-is-ignoring/\">a trend that’s particularly pronounced in the Central Valley\u003c/a>, where bursts of heavy precipitation easily lead to flooding. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Dr. Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Seniors like Everhart are \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/older-adults-heat.html\">especially vulnerable\u003c/a> to the elements, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10061143/#:~:text=The%20cumulative%20disadvantage%20experienced%20by,functional%20and%20cognitive%20impairment%2C%20incontinence\">living on the streets hastens aging\u003c/a>. Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, compared the physical condition of a 50-year-old living outside to that of a person two to three decades older in the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the health crises that are happening with extremes of temperature,” said Kushel, the lead investigator on a \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">landmark survey\u003c/a> of houseless Californians released this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It found that people 50 years and older now represent nearly half of single adults experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just hard,” Everhart said. “At my age, everything combined is hard on me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The most-best shade in all of Fresno’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It was sometime in late spring when Everhart rolled her belongings onto a patch of dirt under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She was thinking about the oncoming heat when she chose the spot, shielded by hundreds of tons of concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the most-best shade, I bet, in all of Fresno, right here,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5564168870&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The camp she made there with a longtime friend, Shannon Thom, was a jumble of carts and strollers piled with dozens of bulging plastic bags, chairs in various states of disrepair, empty food containers and a molding sheet cake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Somebody gave it to us, but it’s already old,” Everhart said. “Out here, you learn to accept stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954896 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a pink hat leans on a chainlink fence under a freeway overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-06-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deana Everhart, 61, spent the hottest part of the summer sheltering under an overpass near downtown Fresno. She’s been unhoused on and off for about 20 years. “I remember how scared I was the first time sleeping by myself,” she said of her early days on the streets. Today, it’s hard for her to imagine another way of life. While she said she wants housing, the responsibility that comes with it feels daunting. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The living arrangement was chaotic but reflected their years of combined street savvy: cell phones, documents, food and clothes concealed by junky-looking bags were less likely to entice thieves. Allowing trash to build up around them was less likely to draw complaints than throwing it into the dumpster outside a nearby apartment complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the years, they’ve camped together and developed a system to keep each other and their things safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We take shifts on sleeping because we have to watch the stuff 24/7,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her skin is tanned and freckled from years of sun, but there’s something girlish about her. She wears her long, dark hair in low pigtails. In her 20s, Everhart played guitar in an all-girl metal band called Sweet Lies — “Like sweet, but not so sweet,” she said. “We were rocker girls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She still seems to relish the spotlight, but these days, she tends to hold her hand in front of her mouth while she talks because she’s shy about her teeth. She can’t always brush them outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart’s path to homelessness is entwined with her mental illness. As her obsessive-compulsive disorder became increasingly debilitating, she struggled to hold on to housing. Court records show she has been evicted twice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart now lives on $1,252 a month in Social Security disability benefits, plus food stamps — less than the median rent in Fresno, which spiked in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2021-03-31/fresno-rent-spike-taps-into-california-covid-housing-trends\">rents rose almost 40\u003c/a>%, the biggest increase of any large city in the country. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11964791","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Despite her situation, she is less worried about herself than her son, Travis Everhart. He’s 39, has schizophrenia and lives on Fresno’s streets, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the camp, she pointed out a box full of his things and the mat where he sleeps beside her when he’s not wandering the city alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time she and Thom, 41, shared a room, they said her son was banned from visiting because his psychosis caused him to yell out. Early last summer, after a string of hot days gave him a nasty sunburn that turned his nose the mottled blue-red of raw hamburger meat, Everhart gave up her housing to be closer to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, I’ll go to him,” she said. “I’m trying to keep my son alive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, her anxiety about his well-being reached a new level after the death of his friend, Patrick Weaver, who was also unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two were close in age, shared a love of comic books and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Everhart said, adding, “It’s hard for my son to find a good friend like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weaver was found dead in a parking lot, according to a city official, at the tail end of a solid month of triple-digit temperatures. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I thought, I’ll go to him. I’m trying to keep my son alive.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Devastating is the only word I could think of to describe that,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She believes heat played a role in Weaver’s death. He died four days after Fresno reached its second hottest temperature on record: 114 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has yet to release his death report to KQED but did confirm the official cause was an overdose. Weaver had methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. Meth raises a person’s body temperature and contributes \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-31/california-heat-related-deaths-climate-change-homelessness-methamphetamine\">to heat-related illness and death\u003c/a> across California. \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">Almost one-third\u003c/a> of unhoused Californians reported using it, according to the UCSF survey Kushel led.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schizophrenia, which is \u003ca href=\"https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-019-2361-7\">vastly more common\u003c/a> among unhoused people than the general population, affects the brain’s ability to regulate body temperature and make reasoned decisions, potentially putting people at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/content/article/schizophrenia-pinpointed-key-factor-heat-deaths#:~:text=Epidemiologists%20combing%20through%20provincial%20health,increase%20compared%20with%20typical%20summers.\">higher risk of heat-related death\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The number of unhoused people who die due to extreme weather in Fresno, and around California, is hard to know. Historically, most coroners haven’t tracked housing status. KQED public records requests to coroners and medical examiners across the state yielded few results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But people experiencing homelessness are \u003ca href=\"https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BFI_WP_2023-41.pdf\">already far more likely to die than their housed counterparts\u003c/a>. Depending on age, studies found that \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2795475?guestAccessKey=7ac6269d-6dbd-4288-a405-b1ecca6e082e&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=082922\">death is three\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1556797\">nine times\u003c/a> more common on the streets. And there is some evidence extreme weather worsens those odds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused people made up almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-19/la-me-homeless-heat-deaths#:~:text=Although%20the%20unhoused%20population%20represents,data%20from%20the%20coroner's%20office.\">half of heat-related deaths in Los Angeles County last year, though they represent less than 1% of the population\u003c/a>. In Sacramento County, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.srceh.org/_files/ugd/ee52bb_c3a8312b492b4ded8980857803c67708.pdf\">death rate among people experiencing homelessness in 2021 from hypothermia was 215.5 times higher than the county rate overall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A ‘complete disaster’ or a lifesaver?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Faced with the confluence of increasingly deadly weather and a growing homeless population that’s especially vulnerable to it, Fresno city leaders are being forced to respond. Last year, under pressure from advocates, they \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11257222&GUID=51A17E03-0CE8-412D-BA38-6CB5A21A72C1\">expanded the city’s warming and cooling centers\u003c/a>, the primary resource for unhoused people during extreme weather events. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cooling centers now open when temperatures reach 100 degrees, instead of 105, and stay open longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bigger change was to warming centers last winter. Because of the heavy rain, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11534615&GUID=D8ADCBC2-BA69-4C93-B820-E5B00A3589CB\">voted to keep certain centers open\u003c/a> for more than three months straight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People crowded in, filling them beyond capacity. The community centers, once home to after-school programs, services for the elderly and adult recreational activities, became de facto homeless shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In response to climate change, we’re having to fundamentally change the use of community centers in neighborhoods,” said City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the district where Everhart and most of the city’s unhoused residents live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backlash came fast and loud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954903\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954903 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt='The doors of a large community center are seen beyond a gate with a sign reading \"cooling center.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ted C. Wills Community Center in Fresno hosts a temporary reprieve during triple-digit heat. In Fresno, like in many cities, warming and cooling centers are the main resource for unhoused people in extreme weather. Changes to Fresno’s centers have generated a backlash from residents in surrounding neighborhoods. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood,” said Chris Collins, who lives with his family directly next to the Ted C. Wills Community Center, one of four recreation centers that became a warming center last winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said someone was living in a tent in the alley behind their house, and more tents lined the sidewalk around the corner. Another person dumped a stroller full of belongings in their front yard, and in the middle of the night, a man pounded on his neighbor’s door and refused to leave until the owner pulled out a gun. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It was a complete disaster for our neighborhood.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Chris Collins, resident, Fresno","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, staff at the center were completely overwhelmed, according to one parks department employee who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People brought alcohol and weapons into the sleeping area, used drugs in the bathroom and left huge messes, according to the staffer. They said before the community center’s preschool program was put on pause, a little girl stepped in human waste and ended up smearing it on her clothes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias acknowledged the challenges. Almost overnight, he said, employees accustomed to running rec rooms were disinfecting cots and triaging ailments ranging from gangrene to diabetic seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s got to be a better solution,” Collins said, adding that neighbors never had a problem with the center operating as it had in the past, a few days at a time. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11956715","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-1557929497-KQED-1020x661.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But as the stretches of wild weather get longer and city leaders are forced to step in, Arias expects this kind of conflict isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is one of the many unintended consequences of climate change at the local level,” he said. “And residents will continue to push back on local government as we try to adjust and expand services to save lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes that made Collins and his neighbors miserable made the center lifesaving for Everhart, who stayed there nearly the whole time it was open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, she rarely used the warming centers because the sporadic schedules made them impractical and people weren’t allowed to bring their belongings inside. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Everybody loved it and most of the people in there were seniors.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last winter, she’s not sure how she would have survived without it. “I was truly scared,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managing the centers now requires a full-time city employee, and Fresno has already more than doubled what it spends on them, from $300,000 to $800,000, Arias said. By next year, he expects that will rise to $1 million annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the controversy last winter, the city is looking for ways to minimize the impact on neighbors and center staff. The plan is to \u003ca href=\"https://www.planetbids.com/Fresno/BMfiles/20230707105523093%20PUBLIC%20NOTICE%2012400023.pdf\">turn over management to nonprofits and churches\u003c/a>, who would run the programs out of the community centers for now, and eventually find alternative facilities, Arias hopes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A painful family history\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Everhart once held jobs, went to community college and had an apartment and a car. There were always signs of her mental illness, but as she grew older, it progressed into a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By her early 30s, she had four children, no income except what welfare programs supplied and couldn’t manage the responsibilities of parenting or maintaining a home. All of her kids ended up with their grandparents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She was not capable of raising children because of how her mental illness affected her way to function,” her daughter Carolyn Mercer, 30, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mercer, who was out of her mother’s care by the time she was 2 years old, described her as neglectful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954907\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954907 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A car drives up a street set below a freeway overpass.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-04-02-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An overpass along State Route 180, near the place Deana and Shannon camped during the summer. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I know I wasn’t taking as good of care of the kids as I felt I should,” Everhart said, acknowledging she was struggling with her mental health at the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having OCD is like working two or three jobs — it’s mentally exhausting,” she said. “I did the best I could. I needed help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since she became homeless, Everhart has only lived indoors for short stretches. She said she lost a room in an SRO because she spent four hours in the shower, convinced she was still covered in soap, and got kicked out of a women’s shelter because she couldn’t keep up with their schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said they’re on waiting lists for housing, but Everhart finds the obligations that come with being housed daunting. She was hesitant when asked if she’d take what the city might eventually be able to offer: a converted motel room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not opposed to it, but if I have to be out here I’m OK,” she said, adding that she feels a sense of duty to help care for more severely incapacitated people living on the streets. “Maybe I just feel like I need to be out here to help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s one responsibility, perhaps the only one, she feels equal to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954897\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954897 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman stands in the shade under a freeway overpass grasping the post of a street sign.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-07-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Thom, 41, has camped with Deana for the past several years. Living together allows them to sleep in shifts to keep watch over each other and their things. They take turns using the bathroom at a liquor store, or take short breaks from the heat at a nearby cooling center. Shannon grew up in Fresno, bouncing around apartments with her mother and sister. At one point, she ended up homeless with her mother on L.A.’s Skid Row, she said. After her mother and sister died, she was left without any close relatives. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the winter, she and Thom keep extra blankets and jackets from thrift stores to hand out. She found one man’s family on Facebook and reconnected them, and when another young man wandered over to their camp confused and hungry one afternoon, Everhart was eager to help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Honey, if you wait a minute we’ll go to the store over there and get you a cup o’ noodle and we’ll heat it in the microwave and get you a little soda,” she said. “Do you want that?” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents. I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Carolyn Mercer, 30, daughter of Deana Everhart","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She finds purpose in caring for people on the streets, trying in her way to “mother” them — most of all, her own son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Everhart’s daughter said she never benefited from this tenderness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I finally came to the realization that I will never get the mother I always wanted and needed,” she said. Mercer is no longer in contact with her mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s come to understand the pain her mother caused her as a legacy of Everhart’s own abuse and neglect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I see in her is a little girl that never got the love and affection she truly deserved from her parents,” she said, speculating that this played a role in the development of Everhart’s mental illness. “I wish she would see the little girl in me that needed that same love, but she never will.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Mercer can’t help but worry about her mother, aging on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It always keeps me up at night when I’m able to keep warm in my home with a heater in the winter or be comfortable with AC in the summer,” she said. “I always feel a sense of guilt that I never know if she’s ‘comfortable’ and safe from the elements outdoors while I’m able to live comfortably.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Business as usual\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early this past summer, even as Fresno was expanding cooling centers, city leaders were taking aim at unhoused residents with a \u003ca href=\"https://fresno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12032871&GUID=50F7141B-5564-4058-A28C-71BC9843868A\">new law restricting access to any place designated a “sensitive area.\u003c/a>” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among the many sites listed as possible targets are overpasses, underpasses and bridges — places where Everhart often finds refuge from heat and rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everhart and Thom fretted about where they would go to avoid the new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t be under here. We thought they were bad — they went from bad to worse,” Everhart said, referring to the city’s Homeless Assistance Response Team. “We’re very scared now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954898\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11954898 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a light pink button down shirt stands in front of large brown doors.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias outside the entrance to the cooling center at the Ted C Wills community center. He and other city officials are facing pressure from homeowners and businesses to clean up homelessness while advocates simultaneously demand urgent action to protect unhoused people from increasingly extreme weather. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before they could figure out a plan, the Response Team showed up — a visit that had nothing to do with the new law, as far as Everhart could tell. It was just business as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was forecast to hit 110 degrees in Fresno that day, and the National Weather Service was \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSHanford/status/1680213678715723776?s=20\">warning of a “major to extreme risk” for heat-related illnesses\u003c/a>, especially for people with no escape from the elements. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places. Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"William Freeman, attorney, ACLU","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Undeterred, city workers cleared the trash surrounding the camp, then told Everhart and Thom to leave the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, it’s real hot,” Everhart recalled telling one of the police officers with the team that responds to complaints about encampments. “Where can we go? I’m 61 years old. You want me to roll my stuff in the 110-degree [heat] and die?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweeps like this one have become routine, but advocates worry the new law, with its heightened restrictions, will make them even more frequent. Fresno city leaders approved the plan despite warnings that the consequences could be dire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s as though the city council looked for places where people go, where they can find shelter, and singled out those places,” said ACLU attorney William Freeman, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article276239381.html\">urged the city council not to pass the plan\u003c/a>, arguing it violates the constitutions of the United States and California. “Ordinances that essentially require people to constantly be moving and prohibit them from having any fixed place to be just puts tremendous stress on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arias, one of the council members who put the new rule forward, said it was about ensuring unhoused people and their things don’t block public rights of way, a goal another official chalked up to an attempt to avoid a lawsuit similar to the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article272274053.html\">Sacramento is facing\u003c/a> from residents with disabilities who say homeless camps have taken over sidewalks, making it impossible for them to get around the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, Arias said, clearing encampments is a public health requirement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954904\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11954904\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holds two bottles of cold water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230701-FRESNO-UNHOUSED-HEAT-MHN-17-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nas, an unhoused man in the Tower District in Fresno, holds cold water bottles given to him by\u003cbr>local advocates with the Fresno Homeless Union, Bob and Linda McCloskey, on July 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When you have the amount of feces, the amount of drug paraphernalia, the amount of rotting food, all in one location, you get outbreaks of disease,” he said. “That’s why we have to respond.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After city workers left, Everhart and Thom set up their camp again — this time, about 200 feet from where they’d been, still under the same overpass. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city formed the response team last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article257698758.html\">pitching it as a more compassionate alternative\u003c/a> to the police department’s former homeless task force. The team includes outreach workers from a local nonprofit, staff from the code enforcement department and police officers. The city rolled it out along with a new 311 line to field complaints about unhoused people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything we do, everything, revolves around them — trying to evade them,” Everhart said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and Thom said the team has thrown away nearly all their possessions several times, a mental and financial blow that can be especially grave in extreme weather. They’ve lost things they need to survive in the heat and the cold, like blankets, clothes, food and water. By Everhart’s count, the response team has shuffled them around the city seven times in less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists here have tried — without success — to get the city to stop sweeps during extreme weather. This past summer, the Sacramento Homeless Union won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article277931013.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">temporary injunction\u003c/a> banning the city from cleaning encampments during a heat wave, a case Everhart followed closely when she could charge her phone. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More Stories on Housing ","tag":"housing"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Advocates are pushing for sanctioned encampments where people can set up tents or RVs with the city’s permission and tiny home villages with air conditioning. Everhart has helped them lobby for dumpsters and porta-potties to solve some of the sanitation concerns about camps. Long term, they are fighting for rent control and more affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2019, Fresno has spent over $100 million to address homelessness, more than 90% of it on housing, according to the city. It’s permanently housed nearly 1,900 people while sheltering or temporarily putting up more than 3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city estimates there are still 1,700 people living on its streets. “And that’s because the unhoused numbers continue to grow,” Arias said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A welcome ‘vacation’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In early September, an infected spider bite sent Everhart to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She suspects a black widow because she spotted one near where she was sleeping. She had surgery to remove the necrotic flesh on her thumb, and the doctor put in a drain she described as a McDonald’s straw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My thumb looks like the zombie apocalypse,” she joked from her hospital bed. “I am not exaggerating either. It looks terrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of weeks earlier, her son, Travis Everhart, went to jail for property damage and resisting arrest. Everhart’s understanding is that he threw some rocks at a car, “because the car was loud,” she said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that. They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Deana Everhart, unhoused Fresno resident","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She’s glad he’s set to be released in November, but in a way, she’s relieved he’s in jail. At least she knows where he is and that he has food and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid of all this, the hospital, with its air conditioning and bed, is almost a welcome vacation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been nice, I’ll tell you that,” she said. “They bring your food, you lay in this comfortable bed that has lots of pillows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She met with a social worker there, but when she explained she was already on a waiting list for housing, Everhart said the woman told her there wasn’t much else to do but wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she gets released from the hospital, the plan is to have Thom help her tie a plastic bag around her bandaged hand to keep out the dirt. Their camp is alongside a different stretch of freeway now, where they’ll wait for her son to get out of jail. There, under a tarp and umbrella, they’ll try to shelter from the waning heat and the coming rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11965063/unhoused-californians-are-living-on-the-bleeding-edge-of-climate-change","authors":["11276"],"categories":["news_6266","news_8","news_30302"],"tags":["news_18538","news_27080","news_27626","news_37","news_21216","news_21214","news_4020","news_1775","news_2109","news_95","news_28541","news_33409","news_28527","news_29607","news_30602","news_31793"],"featImg":"news_11954906","label":"news"},"news_11959175":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11959175","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11959175","score":null,"sort":[1692989337000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"17-california-hospitals-accept-millions-interest-free-loans","title":"17 Struggling California Hospitals Accept Millions in Interest-Free Loans","publishDate":1692989337,"format":"standard","headTitle":"17 Struggling California Hospitals Accept Millions in Interest-Free Loans | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Seventeen \u003ca href=\"https://hcai.ca.gov/california-announces-300-million-in-financial-support-for-community-hospitals-across-the-state/\">financially distressed California hospitals\u003c/a> — including three that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year — will receive close to $300 million in interest-free loans, state officials announced Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/hospital-closure/\">Madera Community Hospital\u003c/a>, which closed its doors in January, stands to receive the biggest chunk, $52 million. The money comes from the Distressed Hospital Loan Program, which the Legislature created to support rural and independent hospitals that faced financial challenges coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Madera hospital had requested $80 million, but the money it received is expected to be enough to fund a reopening for the rural hospital about 25 miles north of Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adventist Health, which operates hospitals in four West Coast states, last month announced a proposal to take over Madera’s operations through a management agreement, contingent on it receiving the state funds. In a letter outlining its terms, Adventist \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Madera-LOI-20230727-final.pdf\">projected needing $55 million to reopen (PDF)\u003c/a> and another $30 million to sustain operations in the second year.[aside postID=news_11958245 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/033023_Hollister_Hospital_LV_CM_01-1020x680.jpg']Madera will initially receive $2 million to cover immediate operating costs. Officials at Adventist Health and Madera Community will have to submit a “comprehensive hospital turnaround plan” and, if approved, will then become eligible to receive the remaining $50 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This financial assistance is an important step in the right direction to help Madera Community Hospital reopen its doors to the community. We have more work to do, but I’m proud to have led this effort,” said Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, a Fresno Democrat whose district includes Madera and who authored legislation that led to the loan program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adventist Health in a written statement said it is working with “community partners and stakeholders in developing a thoughtful, comprehensive hospital turnaround plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beverly Hospital, located east of Los Angeles, will receive $5 million to cover operations while it is in bankruptcy. The hospital applied for $35 million, but it is now set to be bought by Adventist Health White Memorial. A bankruptcy judge last week approved \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/bh-638.pdf\">Adventist’s $39 million purchase of Beverly (PDF)\u003c/a>.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"State Treasurer Fiona Ma\"]‘The hospitals approved for this program have shown a detailed plan for financial recovery and these funds will help them keep the doors open so they can keep serving their communities.’[/pullquote]Another bankrupt hospital, Hazel Hawkins Memorial, will receive the $10 million it requested. It’s the only source of emergency care in San Benito County, a rural community east of Monterey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hospitals approved for this program have shown a detailed plan for financial recovery and these funds will help them keep the doors open so they can keep serving their communities,” said State Treasurer Fiona Ma, whose office is helping administer the funds. Ma said her team has already begun providing instructions and assistance to the awarded hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Biggest loans to distressed hospitals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Department of Health Care Access and Information reviewed applications and selected hospitals for the program. Thirty hospitals applied for loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other hospitals that will receive significant funding include the following:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tricitymed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/agenda-packet.Special-Meeting-7.27.23.pdf\">Tri-City Medical Center (PDF)\u003c/a> in San Diego will receive $33.2 million. The hospital recently announced plans to suspend its labor and delivery services amid “financial losses.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/hospital-closure/\">Kaweah Delta Health Care District\u003c/a> in Visalia will get a $20.8 million loan. This hospital laid off 130 employees late last year.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://inewsource.org/2023/02/07/el-centro-hospital-financial-problems/\">El Centro Regional Medical Center\u003c/a> in Imperial County, which in January closed its maternity ward, will receive $28 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://pmhd.org/\">Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District\u003c/a>, Imperial County’s only other hospital, also is set to receive $28 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dameronhospital.org/\">Dameron Hospital\u003c/a> in Stockton, now also being managed by Adventist Health, will be loaned $29 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Vulnerable California hospitals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most California hospitals are part of large networks that can navigate turbulent financial periods. A number of community and independent hospitals have struggled for years, especially after the peak of the pandemic. Some recently reduced services or laid off staff.[aside label='More on Health Care' tag='health-care']Hospitals have pointed to a number of factors for their distressed state — increased labor costs, and inadequate reimbursement from public insurance programs, Medicare and Medi-Cal, and in \u003ca href=\"https://fresnoland.org/2023/03/01/reimbursements-rates-madera-hospital-closure/\">some cases private insurance.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some hospitals began to ask the state for help late last year, but the closure of Madera Community Hospital prompted more urgency from lawmakers. It shut its doors after Trinity Health, a large Catholic health system, pulled out of negotiations to purchase the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madera Community Hospital in the San Joaquin Valley was the only general acute care hospital in the county of about 160,000 people. The closest emergency rooms are about \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article272712840.html\">30 and 40 minutes drive away in Fresno and Merced\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Distressed Hospital Loan Program closes at the end of 2031. Hospitals will get an 18-month grace period and then will have to repay loans over a six-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The Distressed Hospital Loan Program provides interest-free loans to struggling medical centers in an effort to combat rising costs exacerbated by the pandemic.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1692989243,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":16,"wordCount":850},"headData":{"title":"17 Struggling California Hospitals Accept Millions in Interest-Free Loans | KQED","description":"The Distressed Hospital Loan Program provides interest-free loans to struggling medical centers in an effort to combat rising costs exacerbated by the pandemic.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/anaibarra/\">Ana B. Ibarra\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11959175/17-california-hospitals-accept-millions-interest-free-loans","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Seventeen \u003ca href=\"https://hcai.ca.gov/california-announces-300-million-in-financial-support-for-community-hospitals-across-the-state/\">financially distressed California hospitals\u003c/a> — including three that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year — will receive close to $300 million in interest-free loans, state officials announced Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/hospital-closure/\">Madera Community Hospital\u003c/a>, which closed its doors in January, stands to receive the biggest chunk, $52 million. The money comes from the Distressed Hospital Loan Program, which the Legislature created to support rural and independent hospitals that faced financial challenges coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Madera hospital had requested $80 million, but the money it received is expected to be enough to fund a reopening for the rural hospital about 25 miles north of Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adventist Health, which operates hospitals in four West Coast states, last month announced a proposal to take over Madera’s operations through a management agreement, contingent on it receiving the state funds. In a letter outlining its terms, Adventist \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Madera-LOI-20230727-final.pdf\">projected needing $55 million to reopen (PDF)\u003c/a> and another $30 million to sustain operations in the second year.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11958245","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/033023_Hollister_Hospital_LV_CM_01-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Madera will initially receive $2 million to cover immediate operating costs. Officials at Adventist Health and Madera Community will have to submit a “comprehensive hospital turnaround plan” and, if approved, will then become eligible to receive the remaining $50 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This financial assistance is an important step in the right direction to help Madera Community Hospital reopen its doors to the community. We have more work to do, but I’m proud to have led this effort,” said Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, a Fresno Democrat whose district includes Madera and who authored legislation that led to the loan program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adventist Health in a written statement said it is working with “community partners and stakeholders in developing a thoughtful, comprehensive hospital turnaround plan.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beverly Hospital, located east of Los Angeles, will receive $5 million to cover operations while it is in bankruptcy. The hospital applied for $35 million, but it is now set to be bought by Adventist Health White Memorial. A bankruptcy judge last week approved \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/bh-638.pdf\">Adventist’s $39 million purchase of Beverly (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘The hospitals approved for this program have shown a detailed plan for financial recovery and these funds will help them keep the doors open so they can keep serving their communities.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"State Treasurer Fiona Ma","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Another bankrupt hospital, Hazel Hawkins Memorial, will receive the $10 million it requested. It’s the only source of emergency care in San Benito County, a rural community east of Monterey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The hospitals approved for this program have shown a detailed plan for financial recovery and these funds will help them keep the doors open so they can keep serving their communities,” said State Treasurer Fiona Ma, whose office is helping administer the funds. Ma said her team has already begun providing instructions and assistance to the awarded hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Biggest loans to distressed hospitals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Department of Health Care Access and Information reviewed applications and selected hospitals for the program. Thirty hospitals applied for loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other hospitals that will receive significant funding include the following:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tricitymed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/agenda-packet.Special-Meeting-7.27.23.pdf\">Tri-City Medical Center (PDF)\u003c/a> in San Diego will receive $33.2 million. The hospital recently announced plans to suspend its labor and delivery services amid “financial losses.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/01/hospital-closure/\">Kaweah Delta Health Care District\u003c/a> in Visalia will get a $20.8 million loan. This hospital laid off 130 employees late last year.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://inewsource.org/2023/02/07/el-centro-hospital-financial-problems/\">El Centro Regional Medical Center\u003c/a> in Imperial County, which in January closed its maternity ward, will receive $28 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://pmhd.org/\">Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District\u003c/a>, Imperial County’s only other hospital, also is set to receive $28 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dameronhospital.org/\">Dameron Hospital\u003c/a> in Stockton, now also being managed by Adventist Health, will be loaned $29 million.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Vulnerable California hospitals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most California hospitals are part of large networks that can navigate turbulent financial periods. A number of community and independent hospitals have struggled for years, especially after the peak of the pandemic. Some recently reduced services or laid off staff.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More on Health Care ","tag":"health-care"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Hospitals have pointed to a number of factors for their distressed state — increased labor costs, and inadequate reimbursement from public insurance programs, Medicare and Medi-Cal, and in \u003ca href=\"https://fresnoland.org/2023/03/01/reimbursements-rates-madera-hospital-closure/\">some cases private insurance.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some hospitals began to ask the state for help late last year, but the closure of Madera Community Hospital prompted more urgency from lawmakers. It shut its doors after Trinity Health, a large Catholic health system, pulled out of negotiations to purchase the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madera Community Hospital in the San Joaquin Valley was the only general acute care hospital in the county of about 160,000 people. The closest emergency rooms are about \u003ca href=\"https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article272712840.html\">30 and 40 minutes drive away in Fresno and Merced\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Distressed Hospital Loan Program closes at the end of 2031. Hospitals will get an 18-month grace period and then will have to repay loans over a six-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11959175/17-california-hospitals-accept-millions-interest-free-loans","authors":["byline_news_11959175"],"categories":["news_457","news_8"],"tags":["news_29464","news_2632","news_33026","news_18538","news_29546","news_37","news_33025","news_18659","news_4032","news_33024"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11959187","label":"news_18481"},"news_11949679":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11949679","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11949679","score":null,"sort":[1684271105000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"thousands-of-californians-are-still-waiting-for-covid-unemployment-funds","title":"Thousands of Californians Are Still Waiting for COVID Unemployment Funds","publishDate":1684271105,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Thousands of Californians Are Still Waiting for COVID Unemployment Funds | KQED","labelTerm":{"term":18481,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>It’s been 22 months and three unemployment appeals since Nicolas Allen’s last job in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the time it has taken the 44-year-old graphic designer to win a fraction of the benefits that he applied for, his wife has weathered a high-risk pregnancy, his youngest son was born and his family has been pushed to the financial brink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Allen is one of thousands of Californians who\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>say they lost jobs due to the pandemic, but are still fighting lengthy legal battles over unemployment money that state and federal relief programs were designed to provide. It’s a ripple effect of earlier \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-edd-unemployment-crisis-explained/\">benefit backlogs\u003c/a> that ensnared some \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">5 million people\u003c/a> at the state Employment Development Department (EDD), which \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-128and628.1/introduction.html\">officials have said\u003c/a> was unprepared and overwhelmed by mass job losses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those caught up in payment disputes say they have struggled with debt, housing and necessities like food or health care. Meanwhile, no one is publicly tracking how much appeals cases and lawsuits might end up costing workers or taxpayers in a state that still owes the federal government \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/trustFundSolvReport2023.pdf\">nearly $19 billion (PDF)\u003c/a> in unemployment debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s easier to not think the money’s there,” Allen said. “Because if I worry about it too much, it’s too painful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD has paid out \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/newsroom/facts-and-stats/dashboard/\">$188 billion\u003c/a> in unemployment benefits since the first pandemic shutdowns. State and federal officials waived many ordinary application requirements as millions of claims flooded in, and the agency \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/california-edd-unemployment-fraud-ca-scam-insurance/10011810/#:~:text=CA%20EDD%20admits%20that%20as,to%20scammers%2C%20California%20EDD%20admits.\">has acknowledged\u003c/a> that up to $31 billion was paid to scammers in the rush to distribute money quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the way, state watchdogs say \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">up to 1 million workers\u003c/a> were wrongly denied benefits — many mistakenly flagged for committing fraud themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Accusing people of fraud is a big deal,” said George Warner, director of the Wage Protection Program at San Francisco’s Legal Aid at Work. “And the EDD does it very casually, very frequently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest logjam of contested unemployment cases lies in a \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/unemployment/appeals/\">state appeals process\u003c/a>, where more than 1 million workers have asked for a review of EDD’s decisions in their cases since March 2020. About 880,000 of those cases have already \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/documents/cuiabUiAppealsFlowchart.pdf\">been transferred (PDF)\u003c/a> and heard by a lesser-known state labor agency, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, where the average case is still languishing for 139 days before a hearing with a judge, federal \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of workers who have exhausted this state process have elevated their claims even further, to \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/03/Historical-CourtCases-0223b.pdf\">appellate or superior courts (PDF)\u003c/a>. Finally, advocacy groups and hundreds more workers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/01/bank-of-america-sued-over-edd-unemployment-debit-card-fraud/\">have joined\u003c/a> proposed class-action lawsuits against the EDD or its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2021/02/how-edd-and-bank-of-america-make-millions-on-california-unemployment/\">debit card contractor\u003c/a>, Bank of America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the EDD and the Appeals Board refused requests for interviews to discuss workers’ concerns and state efforts to respond. The agencies also referred some inquiries to one another or offered conflicting answers, raising questions about how delays and associated costs are being tracked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carole M., officer manager, Southern California\"]‘I had no money, and I kept saying: ‘How long is this going to take?”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Crettol, assistant director of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, told CalMatters in a statement that the Appeals Board has hired and trained 105 judges and 100 new support staffers since the onset of the pandemic. The board is also rolling out a new online system for workers to track their cases, and officials said at an April meeting that judges are now closing almost twice as many cases per month as pre-pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, “Given the historic backlog of appeals,” Crettol said in a statement, the Appeals Board “anticipates it will likely take several more years to completely resolve before workload returns to normal levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unemployment cases are complex and vary widely, but workers awaiting disputed funds have faced similarly dire challenges. A 33-year-old video editor in Burbank had to create a GoFundMe to restart her life during a gender transition. A security guard In L.A. County worried whether fellow workers still seeking unemployment would end up in the homeless camps he once patrolled. A 62-year-old temp worker in Sacramento spent months terrified she’d lose her car, and a legal office manager in Southern California filed for food stamps and Medi-Cal to survive an appeal with no end in sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really feel like I’m a hostage,” said the office manager, who asked to be identified only as Carole M. and has been awaiting an appeal hearing since November. “I had no money, and I kept saying: ‘How long is this going to take?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Fraud fury\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like many of California’s COVID-era unemployment challenges, slow and unwieldy payment disputes aren’t new. But the pandemic did two things: unleash an unprecedented flood of \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/newsroom/facts-and-stats/dashboard/#TotalUnemploymentClaims\">29 million\u003c/a> jobless claims, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/12/who-will-pay-for-all-of-californias-unemployment-fraud/\">supercharge anxiety\u003c/a> about a new generation of online fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rival politicians have seized on jobless claims filed in the name of \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-24/california-has-sent-jobless-benefits-to-death-row-inmates\">death row inmates\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/us/nuke-bizzle-fraud-youtube.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,Rapper%20Arrested%20After%20Bragging%20About%20Unemployment%20Fraud%20in%20Video,coronavirus%20pandemic%2C%20the%20authorities%20said.\">YouTube rappers\u003c/a> bragging about EDD-fueled spending sprees. \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/identity-theft-and-unemployment-benefits\">Investigators attribute\u003c/a> the bulk of pandemic unemployment fraud to organized identity theft. Unemployment attorneys, meanwhile, say they’re seeing regular workers who thought they were eligible for benefits disqualified — and sometimes charged with lying — in cases that can sometimes be explained by confusion about state forms, clerical errors, language barriers or disagreements between workers and employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so wrong,” said Assaf Lichtash, founding attorney of Los Angeles-based Pershing Square Law Firm. “The way I see it, the EDD is punishing regular civilians that are just filing for benefits who make honest mistakes — they’re punishing them for their failure to safeguard the money from fraudsters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State reports have also highlighted a disconnect between the EDD’s ham-fisted approach to large-scale fraud and what some say seems like a hair-trigger impulse to flag individual workers. Organized scammers evaded the agency’s automated application systems early in the pandemic, one \u003ca href=\"https://www.govops.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2020/09/Assessment.pdf\">September 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> by a governor-appointed EDD Strike Team found, while the vast majority of individual workers scrutinized in manual reviews appeared to be innocent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Processes intended to block fraud are slowing service delivery without catching fraud,” the Strike Team wrote, since just 0.02% of the 1.3 million cases flagged that summer appeared to be real fraud. “The cost of finding that small number of imposters is extremely high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Stories on Health' tag='health']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A separate \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">report last August\u003c/a> by the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that, during the pandemic, state appeals judges overturned EDD unemployment denials up to 80% of the time. That report highlighted another sample of 1.1 million unemployment claims stopped due to fraud concerns by an EDD consultant early in the pandemic, where at least 600,000 cases were later “confirmed as legitimate” and workers saw payments needlessly delayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before COVID upended the job market, the Analyst’s Office estimated that improper unemployment denials cost workers $500 million to $1 billion a year in unpaid benefits. The agency also noted “concerning steps” at EDD in recent years that “suggest that ensuring eligible workers get benefits is not among its top priorities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD refused to discuss its approach to appeals during the pandemic. Over the past three years, the agency has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">invested heavily\u003c/a> in new anti-fraud technology and \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/about_edd/pdf/news-22-06.pdf\">sought federal waivers (PDF)\u003c/a> for some workers who may have received extra federal pandemic unemployment funds “through no fault of their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For workers who still want to fight an unemployment case, \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/documents/cuiabUiAppealsFlowchart.pdf\">the first step (PDF)\u003c/a> is to notify the EDD in writing. The EDD then transfers the case to a local office of the Appeals Board, which schedules a hearing with an administrative judge. If a worker or business still feels that their case is unresolved, they can file another appeal with the state-level office of the Appeals Board, or eventually escalate the case to a superior or appellate court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of March, the average first-level appeals case with a judge was taking 139 days — a lag not as extreme as some other states, U.S. Department of Labor \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data shows\u003c/a>, but still roughly triple the federal government’s 30- and 45-day targets for state unemployment appeals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621589/embed?auto=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of surge is predictable after a recession; the Appeals Board heard about 1.6 million cases in the years around the Great Recession, Crettol said. But workers like Allen, the Fresno graphic designer, have seen first-hand how pandemic cases can be complicated by heightened focus on fraud and differing interpretations of emergency health orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Allen’s case, he told state officials that he quit his job in July 2021, when the Delta variant of the coronavirus was raging and his wife was instructed not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 while navigating a high-risk pregnancy. Since health precautions like masking were not strictly enforced at his in-person job as a sign installer, Allen wrote in a state appeals filing, he quit “to eliminate the risk of bringing COVID-19 home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unemployment payment arrived, but then the money stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a black shirt, gold chain and a black Bluetooth device in his ear poses inside his home next to a white door. On the white door is a homemade sign that reads, "William's and Joseph's Room" with two photos of the two boys.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicolas Allen in his home in Fresno on April 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was told that it had been reported that it was a fraudulent claim,” Allen said. “Because my former employer was claiming that I quit without cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So began an odyssey that involved months of arguing about pandemic protocols, clerical confusion over a brief freelance gig and paperwork ping-ponging between the EDD and the Appeals Board. After the second appeal, a state judge awarded Allen about six weeks out of the six months of benefits he applied for — securing around $3,000 of the $10,000 he sought, not counting potential federal unemployment supplements available during the pandemic — but denied the rest after questioning how actively he was seeking work while caring for two children under age 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the state, some 170,000 other appeals cases are still pending, according to the most recent \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data reported\u003c/a> by the U.S. Department of Labor. Crettol said the Appeals Board is encouraged that new appeals have started to decline in recent months, and cited a lower state count of 154,000 backlogged cases through the end of March — a discrepancy that he said stems from differences in how state and federal numbers are reported due to funding sources and EDD processing times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621625/embed?auto=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys like Lichtash add that for those stuck waiting, one challenge is a lack of information about if and when a case has been transferred to the Appeals Board from the EDD, the latter of which he called a “black hole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD said in a statement to CalMatters that it sends cases to the Appeals Board in an average of three days. The Appeals Board offered a conflicting number: that it receives about two-thirds of appeals within a week after an appeal is filed, which Crettol said could differ due to how the two agencies track processing times. Neither agency regularly tracks the “monetary value” of appeals cases, or how much the state is being awarded or ordered to pay, spokespeople said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For workers like Allen caught in the fray, the price of being caught up in the confusion has been high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His family slashed expenses like cable TV and was able to refinance their house, which they credit with avoiding falling behind on the mortgage. But Allen said they were still forced to borrow money from family and take on credit card debt, putting everyday luxuries like a dinner at a restaurant with their kids out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s horrible. I mean, we’re living off my paycheck,” said Allen’s wife, Sharon, who works in human resources. “We’ve almost divorced a few times because of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path for reform?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In many ways, unemployment advocates like Jenna Gerry say the pandemic has shone “a spotlight” on chronic problems with the state’s job safety net, from worker confusion over benefit denials to delays at EDD to inconsistent anti-fraud efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question she and others are asking now is whether state officials will act to change the system that has once again gone haywire, or whether workers caught up in pandemic disputes will be left to bear the brunt of the confusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a perfect storm,” said Gerry, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project. “Instead of being like, ‘Wow, that was really bad. How do we make reforms now?’ … all people want to lift up is fraud, and not actually look at the systemic issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest underlying issue, Gerry said, is that millions of California workers — such as gig workers, undocumented workers and others in tenuous hourly positions — aren’t eligible for normal unemployment benefits. That was why the federal government started \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-edd-unemployment-crisis-explained/\">emergency jobless programs\u003c/a> like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. But subsequent high rates of fraud in the emergency program have complicated conversations at the federal and state levels about whether to make elements of the program permanent to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2022/04/california-undocumented-immigrants/\">cover more workers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jenna Gerry, staff attorney, National Employment Law Project\"]‘All people want to lift up is fraud, and not actually look at the systemic issues.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential change that advocates are watching closely in California is a plan to finally upgrade the state’s unemployment technology. The Appeals Board says it is rolling out a new system now, and the EDD is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2022/12/unemployment-benefits-california-edd/\">preparing to launch\u003c/a> an effort called EDDNext. The challenge will be ensuring that such projects are more effective than other \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">costly upgrades\u003c/a> after the Great Recession, which audits said \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">buckled at the EDD during the pandemic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the more targeted reforms that state agencies \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">have recommended\u003c/a>, but which legislators have yet to act on: removing the EDD from the appeals process, expanding the role of the Appeals Board or adding a new surcharge for businesses that frivolously appeal unemployment insurance (UI) claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To correct state practices that have the effect of limiting UI payments,” the Legislative Analyst’s Office wrote last summer, “the state should give the appeals board the authority and responsibility to set UI policy and practices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As these debates drag on, some unemployment advocates and workers are taking matters into their own hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Alameda County \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/about_edd/notice-of-class-action-settlement.pdf\">lawsuit against the EDD (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Sacramento-based Center for Workers’ Rights negotiated a February settlement to head off more payment disputes. The EDD \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/edd-won-t-require-refunds-unemployment-17789516.php\">agreed to cancel\u003c/a> around 5,000 notices of overpayment sent to workers already past a year-long statute of limitations, and to refrain from sending other similar notices past the allowed timeframe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement applies only to workers not flagged for potential fraud, leaving attorneys to worry that others still caught up in disputes or unsure how to contest their cases will slip through the cracks. Workers marked for making false statements to EDD face severe penalties — they could be forced to repay the money at high interest, have their wages garnished or be disqualified from collecting benefits if they lose a future job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The burden is generally put on the claimant to appeal,” said Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers’ Rights. “But these notices never should have been issued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949702\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with reddish, shoulder-length hair, cateye glasses and a yellow and black floral blouse poses with a serious face in front of her apartment complex.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madeline Maye, a video editor based in Burbank on Feb. 12, 2023. Maye lost $5000 to the Bank of America EDD debit card fraud of 2020. She had been laid off from her job just months earlier and was struggling to find freelance video editing work in the pandemic. The situation was compounded for Maye by the fact that she had just come out as transgender, was navigating hormone therapy, and trying to pay for essentials like rent and feminine-presenting clothes and products. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Farther south, in Burbank, Madeline Maye is still seeking some form of closure two years into another proposed class action lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing couldn’t have been worse in mid-2020, when, in the midst of hormone therapy and a gender transition, the video editor became \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/11/how-bank-of-america-helped-fuel-californias-unemployment-meltdown/\">one of thousands of California workers\u003c/a> who noticed money draining from their unemployment debit cards in alleged fraudulent charges. The next year, she joined a class action claim against the state’s debit card contractor, Bank of America, which is now awaiting a hearing date before a federal judge in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bank of America has filed to dismiss the suit and declined to comment on ongoing litigation. It was separately \u003ca href=\"https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/federal-regulators-fine-bank-of-america-225-million-over-botched-disbursement-of-state-unemployment-benefits-at-height-of-pandemic/\">fined $225 million\u003c/a> last year by federal regulators for what they deemed “botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Maye’s case, it took about six months to get her unemployment money back from the bank, forcing her to start a GoFundMe account to pay rent and buy essentials like new clothes to restart her life. Her lawsuit is one of several that will test what justice might look like after the state’s job safety net failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my money back, but it was one of the worst times in my life,” Maye said. “It felt like I was alone — that no one gave a shit about me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Californians who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, are still fighting lengthy legal battles over unemployment money that state and federal relief programs were designed to provide.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1684281693,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621589/embed","https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621625/embed"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":59,"wordCount":3048},"headData":{"title":"Thousands of Californians Are Still Waiting for COVID Unemployment Funds | KQED","description":"Californians who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, are still fighting lengthy legal battles over unemployment money that state and federal relief programs were designed to provide.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/laurenhepler/\">Lauren Hepler\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11949679/thousands-of-californians-are-still-waiting-for-covid-unemployment-funds","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s been 22 months and three unemployment appeals since Nicolas Allen’s last job in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the time it has taken the 44-year-old graphic designer to win a fraction of the benefits that he applied for, his wife has weathered a high-risk pregnancy, his youngest son was born and his family has been pushed to the financial brink.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Allen is one of thousands of Californians who\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>say they lost jobs due to the pandemic, but are still fighting lengthy legal battles over unemployment money that state and federal relief programs were designed to provide. It’s a ripple effect of earlier \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-edd-unemployment-crisis-explained/\">benefit backlogs\u003c/a> that ensnared some \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">5 million people\u003c/a> at the state Employment Development Department (EDD), which \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-128and628.1/introduction.html\">officials have said\u003c/a> was unprepared and overwhelmed by mass job losses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those caught up in payment disputes say they have struggled with debt, housing and necessities like food or health care. Meanwhile, no one is publicly tracking how much appeals cases and lawsuits might end up costing workers or taxpayers in a state that still owes the federal government \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/trustFundSolvReport2023.pdf\">nearly $19 billion (PDF)\u003c/a> in unemployment debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s easier to not think the money’s there,” Allen said. “Because if I worry about it too much, it’s too painful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD has paid out \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/newsroom/facts-and-stats/dashboard/\">$188 billion\u003c/a> in unemployment benefits since the first pandemic shutdowns. State and federal officials waived many ordinary application requirements as millions of claims flooded in, and the agency \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/california-edd-unemployment-fraud-ca-scam-insurance/10011810/#:~:text=CA%20EDD%20admits%20that%20as,to%20scammers%2C%20California%20EDD%20admits.\">has acknowledged\u003c/a> that up to $31 billion was paid to scammers in the rush to distribute money quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along the way, state watchdogs say \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">up to 1 million workers\u003c/a> were wrongly denied benefits — many mistakenly flagged for committing fraud themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Accusing people of fraud is a big deal,” said George Warner, director of the Wage Protection Program at San Francisco’s Legal Aid at Work. “And the EDD does it very casually, very frequently.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest logjam of contested unemployment cases lies in a \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/unemployment/appeals/\">state appeals process\u003c/a>, where more than 1 million workers have asked for a review of EDD’s decisions in their cases since March 2020. About 880,000 of those cases have already \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/documents/cuiabUiAppealsFlowchart.pdf\">been transferred (PDF)\u003c/a> and heard by a lesser-known state labor agency, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, where the average case is still languishing for 139 days before a hearing with a judge, federal \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data shows\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dozens of workers who have exhausted this state process have elevated their claims even further, to \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2023/03/Historical-CourtCases-0223b.pdf\">appellate or superior courts (PDF)\u003c/a>. Finally, advocacy groups and hundreds more workers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/01/bank-of-america-sued-over-edd-unemployment-debit-card-fraud/\">have joined\u003c/a> proposed class-action lawsuits against the EDD or its \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2021/02/how-edd-and-bank-of-america-make-millions-on-california-unemployment/\">debit card contractor\u003c/a>, Bank of America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the EDD and the Appeals Board refused requests for interviews to discuss workers’ concerns and state efforts to respond. The agencies also referred some inquiries to one another or offered conflicting answers, raising questions about how delays and associated costs are being tracked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I had no money, and I kept saying: ‘How long is this going to take?”","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Carole M., officer manager, Southern California","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gregory Crettol, assistant director of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, told CalMatters in a statement that the Appeals Board has hired and trained 105 judges and 100 new support staffers since the onset of the pandemic. The board is also rolling out a new online system for workers to track their cases, and officials said at an April meeting that judges are now closing almost twice as many cases per month as pre-pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, “Given the historic backlog of appeals,” Crettol said in a statement, the Appeals Board “anticipates it will likely take several more years to completely resolve before workload returns to normal levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unemployment cases are complex and vary widely, but workers awaiting disputed funds have faced similarly dire challenges. A 33-year-old video editor in Burbank had to create a GoFundMe to restart her life during a gender transition. A security guard In L.A. County worried whether fellow workers still seeking unemployment would end up in the homeless camps he once patrolled. A 62-year-old temp worker in Sacramento spent months terrified she’d lose her car, and a legal office manager in Southern California filed for food stamps and Medi-Cal to survive an appeal with no end in sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I really feel like I’m a hostage,” said the office manager, who asked to be identified only as Carole M. and has been awaiting an appeal hearing since November. “I had no money, and I kept saying: ‘How long is this going to take?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Fraud fury\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like many of California’s COVID-era unemployment challenges, slow and unwieldy payment disputes aren’t new. But the pandemic did two things: unleash an unprecedented flood of \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/en/newsroom/facts-and-stats/dashboard/#TotalUnemploymentClaims\">29 million\u003c/a> jobless claims, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/12/who-will-pay-for-all-of-californias-unemployment-fraud/\">supercharge anxiety\u003c/a> about a new generation of online fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rival politicians have seized on jobless claims filed in the name of \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-24/california-has-sent-jobless-benefits-to-death-row-inmates\">death row inmates\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/18/us/nuke-bizzle-fraud-youtube.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,Rapper%20Arrested%20After%20Bragging%20About%20Unemployment%20Fraud%20in%20Video,coronavirus%20pandemic%2C%20the%20authorities%20said.\">YouTube rappers\u003c/a> bragging about EDD-fueled spending sprees. \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/identity-theft-and-unemployment-benefits\">Investigators attribute\u003c/a> the bulk of pandemic unemployment fraud to organized identity theft. Unemployment attorneys, meanwhile, say they’re seeing regular workers who thought they were eligible for benefits disqualified — and sometimes charged with lying — in cases that can sometimes be explained by confusion about state forms, clerical errors, language barriers or disagreements between workers and employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so wrong,” said Assaf Lichtash, founding attorney of Los Angeles-based Pershing Square Law Firm. “The way I see it, the EDD is punishing regular civilians that are just filing for benefits who make honest mistakes — they’re punishing them for their failure to safeguard the money from fraudsters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State reports have also highlighted a disconnect between the EDD’s ham-fisted approach to large-scale fraud and what some say seems like a hair-trigger impulse to flag individual workers. Organized scammers evaded the agency’s automated application systems early in the pandemic, one \u003ca href=\"https://www.govops.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2020/09/Assessment.pdf\">September 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> by a governor-appointed EDD Strike Team found, while the vast majority of individual workers scrutinized in manual reviews appeared to be innocent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Processes intended to block fraud are slowing service delivery without catching fraud,” the Strike Team wrote, since just 0.02% of the 1.3 million cases flagged that summer appeared to be real fraud. “The cost of finding that small number of imposters is extremely high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More Stories on Health ","tag":"health"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A separate \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">report last August\u003c/a> by the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that, during the pandemic, state appeals judges overturned EDD unemployment denials up to 80% of the time. That report highlighted another sample of 1.1 million unemployment claims stopped due to fraud concerns by an EDD consultant early in the pandemic, where at least 600,000 cases were later “confirmed as legitimate” and workers saw payments needlessly delayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even before COVID upended the job market, the Analyst’s Office estimated that improper unemployment denials cost workers $500 million to $1 billion a year in unpaid benefits. The agency also noted “concerning steps” at EDD in recent years that “suggest that ensuring eligible workers get benefits is not among its top priorities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD refused to discuss its approach to appeals during the pandemic. Over the past three years, the agency has \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">invested heavily\u003c/a> in new anti-fraud technology and \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/about_edd/pdf/news-22-06.pdf\">sought federal waivers (PDF)\u003c/a> for some workers who may have received extra federal pandemic unemployment funds “through no fault of their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For workers who still want to fight an unemployment case, \u003ca href=\"https://cuiab.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/documents/cuiabUiAppealsFlowchart.pdf\">the first step (PDF)\u003c/a> is to notify the EDD in writing. The EDD then transfers the case to a local office of the Appeals Board, which schedules a hearing with an administrative judge. If a worker or business still feels that their case is unresolved, they can file another appeal with the state-level office of the Appeals Board, or eventually escalate the case to a superior or appellate court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of March, the average first-level appeals case with a judge was taking 139 days — a lag not as extreme as some other states, U.S. Department of Labor \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data shows\u003c/a>, but still roughly triple the federal government’s 30- and 45-day targets for state unemployment appeals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621589/embed?auto=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This kind of surge is predictable after a recession; the Appeals Board heard about 1.6 million cases in the years around the Great Recession, Crettol said. But workers like Allen, the Fresno graphic designer, have seen first-hand how pandemic cases can be complicated by heightened focus on fraud and differing interpretations of emergency health orders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Allen’s case, he told state officials that he quit his job in July 2021, when the Delta variant of the coronavirus was raging and his wife was instructed not to be vaccinated against COVID-19 while navigating a high-risk pregnancy. Since health precautions like masking were not strictly enforced at his in-person job as a sign installer, Allen wrote in a state appeals filing, he quit “to eliminate the risk of bringing COVID-19 home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One unemployment payment arrived, but then the money stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen.jpg\" alt=\"A man wearing a black shirt, gold chain and a black Bluetooth device in his ear poses inside his home next to a white door. On the white door is a homemade sign that reads, "William's and Joseph's Room" with two photos of the two boys.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersNicolasAllen-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicolas Allen in his home in Fresno on April 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I was told that it had been reported that it was a fraudulent claim,” Allen said. “Because my former employer was claiming that I quit without cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So began an odyssey that involved months of arguing about pandemic protocols, clerical confusion over a brief freelance gig and paperwork ping-ponging between the EDD and the Appeals Board. After the second appeal, a state judge awarded Allen about six weeks out of the six months of benefits he applied for — securing around $3,000 of the $10,000 he sought, not counting potential federal unemployment supplements available during the pandemic — but denied the rest after questioning how actively he was seeking work while caring for two children under age 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the state, some 170,000 other appeals cases are still pending, according to the most recent \u003ca href=\"https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/ui_insurance_appeal.asp\">data reported\u003c/a> by the U.S. Department of Labor. Crettol said the Appeals Board is encouraged that new appeals have started to decline in recent months, and cited a lower state count of 154,000 backlogged cases through the end of March — a discrepancy that he said stems from differences in how state and federal numbers are reported due to funding sources and EDD processing times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/13621625/embed?auto=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys like Lichtash add that for those stuck waiting, one challenge is a lack of information about if and when a case has been transferred to the Appeals Board from the EDD, the latter of which he called a “black hole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EDD said in a statement to CalMatters that it sends cases to the Appeals Board in an average of three days. The Appeals Board offered a conflicting number: that it receives about two-thirds of appeals within a week after an appeal is filed, which Crettol said could differ due to how the two agencies track processing times. Neither agency regularly tracks the “monetary value” of appeals cases, or how much the state is being awarded or ordered to pay, spokespeople said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For workers like Allen caught in the fray, the price of being caught up in the confusion has been high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His family slashed expenses like cable TV and was able to refinance their house, which they credit with avoiding falling behind on the mortgage. But Allen said they were still forced to borrow money from family and take on credit card debt, putting everyday luxuries like a dinner at a restaurant with their kids out of reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s horrible. I mean, we’re living off my paycheck,” said Allen’s wife, Sharon, who works in human resources. “We’ve almost divorced a few times because of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path for reform?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In many ways, unemployment advocates like Jenna Gerry say the pandemic has shone “a spotlight” on chronic problems with the state’s job safety net, from worker confusion over benefit denials to delays at EDD to inconsistent anti-fraud efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question she and others are asking now is whether state officials will act to change the system that has once again gone haywire, or whether workers caught up in pandemic disputes will be left to bear the brunt of the confusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a perfect storm,” said Gerry, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project. “Instead of being like, ‘Wow, that was really bad. How do we make reforms now?’ … all people want to lift up is fraud, and not actually look at the systemic issues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest underlying issue, Gerry said, is that millions of California workers — such as gig workers, undocumented workers and others in tenuous hourly positions — aren’t eligible for normal unemployment benefits. That was why the federal government started \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-edd-unemployment-crisis-explained/\">emergency jobless programs\u003c/a> like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. But subsequent high rates of fraud in the emergency program have complicated conversations at the federal and state levels about whether to make elements of the program permanent to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2022/04/california-undocumented-immigrants/\">cover more workers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘All people want to lift up is fraud, and not actually look at the systemic issues.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Jenna Gerry, staff attorney, National Employment Law Project","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One potential change that advocates are watching closely in California is a plan to finally upgrade the state’s unemployment technology. The Appeals Board says it is rolling out a new system now, and the EDD is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2022/12/unemployment-benefits-california-edd/\">preparing to launch\u003c/a> an effort called EDDNext. The challenge will be ensuring that such projects are more effective than other \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">costly upgrades\u003c/a> after the Great Recession, which audits said \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2021/04/california-unemployment-crisis-contracts/\">buckled at the EDD during the pandemic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the more targeted reforms that state agencies \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4615\">have recommended\u003c/a>, but which legislators have yet to act on: removing the EDD from the appeals process, expanding the role of the Appeals Board or adding a new surcharge for businesses that frivolously appeal unemployment insurance (UI) claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To correct state practices that have the effect of limiting UI payments,” the Legislative Analyst’s Office wrote last summer, “the state should give the appeals board the authority and responsibility to set UI policy and practices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As these debates drag on, some unemployment advocates and workers are taking matters into their own hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one Alameda County \u003ca href=\"https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/about_edd/notice-of-class-action-settlement.pdf\">lawsuit against the EDD (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Sacramento-based Center for Workers’ Rights negotiated a February settlement to head off more payment disputes. The EDD \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/edd-won-t-require-refunds-unemployment-17789516.php\">agreed to cancel\u003c/a> around 5,000 notices of overpayment sent to workers already past a year-long statute of limitations, and to refrain from sending other similar notices past the allowed timeframe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement applies only to workers not flagged for potential fraud, leaving attorneys to worry that others still caught up in disputes or unsure how to contest their cases will slip through the cracks. Workers marked for making false statements to EDD face severe penalties — they could be forced to repay the money at high interest, have their wages garnished or be disqualified from collecting benefits if they lose a future job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The burden is generally put on the claimant to appeal,” said Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers’ Rights. “But these notices never should have been issued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949702\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11949702\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with reddish, shoulder-length hair, cateye glasses and a yellow and black floral blouse poses with a serious face in front of her apartment complex.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/CalMattersMadelineMaye-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madeline Maye, a video editor based in Burbank on Feb. 12, 2023. Maye lost $5000 to the Bank of America EDD debit card fraud of 2020. She had been laid off from her job just months earlier and was struggling to find freelance video editing work in the pandemic. The situation was compounded for Maye by the fact that she had just come out as transgender, was navigating hormone therapy, and trying to pay for essentials like rent and feminine-presenting clothes and products. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Farther south, in Burbank, Madeline Maye is still seeking some form of closure two years into another proposed class action lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing couldn’t have been worse in mid-2020, when, in the midst of hormone therapy and a gender transition, the video editor became \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2020/11/how-bank-of-america-helped-fuel-californias-unemployment-meltdown/\">one of thousands of California workers\u003c/a> who noticed money draining from their unemployment debit cards in alleged fraudulent charges. The next year, she joined a class action claim against the state’s debit card contractor, Bank of America, which is now awaiting a hearing date before a federal judge in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bank of America has filed to dismiss the suit and declined to comment on ongoing litigation. It was separately \u003ca href=\"https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/federal-regulators-fine-bank-of-america-225-million-over-botched-disbursement-of-state-unemployment-benefits-at-height-of-pandemic/\">fined $225 million\u003c/a> last year by federal regulators for what they deemed “botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Maye’s case, it took about six months to get her unemployment money back from the bank, forcing her to start a GoFundMe account to pay rent and buy essentials like new clothes to restart her life. Her lawsuit is one of several that will test what justice might look like after the state’s job safety net failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got my money back, but it was one of the worst times in my life,” Maye said. “It felt like I was alone — that no one gave a shit about me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11949679/thousands-of-californians-are-still-waiting-for-covid-unemployment-funds","authors":["byline_news_11949679"],"categories":["news_457","news_8"],"tags":["news_18538","news_27989","news_31470","news_28340","news_37","news_27660","news_631","news_32553","news_30130"],"affiliates":["news_18481"],"featImg":"news_11949704","label":"news_18481"},"news_11934055":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11934055","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11934055","score":null,"sort":[1670189984000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"fresno-school-plants-trees-to-reduce-highway-pollution-others-may-follow","title":"Fresno School Plants Trees to Reduce Highway Pollution, Others May Follow","publishDate":1670189984,"format":"standard","headTitle":"KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>At first glance, the 60 trees that border Tehipite Middle School in Fresno may not look like much. Only a few years old, they are still short and thin, some supported by wooden poles on each side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their potential is large, especially for the health of students and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the trees grow in the coming years, the people who planted them hope to find they provide a barrier from what lies just over the fence: the tangle of busy and noisy freeways at the Highway 41 and 180 interchange.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tehipite is nestled right up against the two highways, leaving the more than 500 students and employees vulnerable to \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/mobile-source-pollution/how-mobile-source-pollution-affects-your-health#content1\">vehicle pollution, which has been known to cause health problems\u003c/a>, including cardiovascular disease and decreased lung function.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Steven Brown, senior atmospheric scientist, Sonoma Tech\"]'It's been known for a long time that there’s a lot of health disparities for anybody who lives next to a roadway.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees were planted in 2020 in hopes that air quality measurements in the future will show they helped mitigate pollution that drifts into the school grounds. If that proves true, the practice could be used more widely at California schools and other freeway-adjacent places where people live and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The planting is jointly run by \u003ca href=\"https://treefresno.org/\">Tree Fresno\u003c/a>, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing green space in the Central Valley, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomatech.com/services/airquality\">Sonoma Technology\u003c/a>, a private consulting firm that specializes in studying air quality. The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/fresno_trees_sep.pdf\">Fresno TREES (PDF)\u003c/a> project is funded by the California Air Resources Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The impact of air pollution in the Central Valley\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“It’s been known for a long time that there’s a lot of health disparities for anybody who lives next to a roadway,” said Steven Brown, senior atmospheric scientist at Sonoma Tech, who is working on the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really see that, in particular for people who live or work or go to school or have a lot of time being exposed to pollution next to roadways,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200320040SB352\">building new schools within 500 feet of freeways was banned in 2003\u003c/a>, unless space is limited or the pollution can be diminished. But many students, especially in dense urban areas such as Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15143656\">still attend older schools right next to freeways\u003c/a>. Some schools were there before the roads were built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About \u003ca href=\"https://publicintegrity.org/environment/the-invisible-hazard-afflicting-thousands-of-schools/\">4.4 million students in the U.S. attend a school that lies within 500 feet of highways\u003c/a>, truck routes and other roads with significant traffic, according to a 2017 investigation from the Center for Public Integrity, and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. That’s nearly 8,000 public schools, or about 1 in every 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown said even people exposed to “major pollution events in utero” are affected as they grow. Children in particular are more sensitive to the effects of pollution on their lungs because they’re still growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11934063\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11934063\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A view of security guard and small family standing next to trees lining a school sports field.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1.jpeg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-800x500.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-1020x638.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-160x100.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 60 trees that were planted at Tehipite Middle School are still growing, but researchers say it’s possible that up to 50% of particulate matter could be reduced after the trees grow to maturity. \u003ccite>(Ashleigh Panoo/EdSource)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s just a little bit different lung functions, a little bit different heart outcomes,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin Valley is known for its poor air quality. The surrounding \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley/epa-activities-cleaner-air\">mountain ranges trap pollutants on the valley floor\u003c/a>, leaving cities such as Fresno, Bakersfield and Visalia the most polluted in the nation, according to the American Lung Association. In 2022, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities\">Fresno region ranked first in short-term particle pollution\u003c/a>, and second in year-round particle pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vehicle exhaust is a major producer of PM 2.5, or particulate matter that is two-and-a-half microns or less in width.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you breathe it in, it can stay and go deep into your lungs and then really impact your cells,” Brown said. “It can impact how different pieces of your lung are able to function.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>'The trees are important'\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Tehipite Middle School, students coming out of their classrooms looked on as a car loudly peeled out one afternoon in the neighborhood that surrounds the other sides of the school, leaving a thick cloud of smoke drifting toward the campus and its border of young trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers say vegetative barriers can act in two ways against pollution, such as car exhaust: directly blocking it, and also absorbing it. It’s possible that up to 50% of particulate matter could be reduced after the trees grow to maturity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7092696/#:~:text=Solid%20sound%20walls%20and%20vegetation,mitigate%20near%2Droad%20air%20pollution.\">studies\u003c/a> have shown that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-020-0115-3\">it depends on how thick the vegetation is\u003c/a>, how the wind blows and whether the barrier is working alongside a concrete sound barrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees planted at Tehipite are a mix of Aleppo pine, Deodar cedar, Chinese elm and other evergreen trees, according to Mona Cummings, CEO of Tree Fresno. Trees whose leaves don’t fall are best used for barriers because they stay thick year-round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marilyn Lopez-Cuevas has been the principal at Tehipite Middle School for three years, and she grew up in the neighborhood. She says it’s how she understands the challenges her seventh and eighth graders face living in the community near downtown Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Lopez-Cuevas rushed back onto the Tehipite campus one recent afternoon, she held bags of candy for students who reached their academic goals, and she was also thinking about a birthday party she was planning for a student who wouldn’t get any celebration at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of her job, she says, is connecting with students in small ways that feel big, such as with the candy and the birthday party. She sees the trees as just one more solution to the myriad problems the community faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People in \u003ca href=\"https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/who-is-at-risk/disparities\">lower-socioeconomic neighborhoods tend to fare the worst\u003c/a> when it comes to being exposed to pollution, many researchers have found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/community-air-protection-program/communities/south-central-fresno\">south central Fresno, where Tehipite is located, was selected to be monitored\u003c/a> by the California Air Resources Board because of its proximity to major freeways and industrial plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11934064\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11934064\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A view of a highway with a line of trees and a fence along the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1.jpeg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tehipite Middle School's row of new trees separating the school from Highway 41. \u003ccite>(Ashleigh Panoo/EdSource)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://community.valleyair.org/media/1308/fresno_camp_v1_2019_july-1.pdf\">Residents in the area are likely the most heavily burdened (PDF)\u003c/a> in the state by health and environmental challenges, a 2019 report from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District indicated. People are more likely to be burdened by housing costs, to live in poverty or to be unemployed, according to census tract data, and less likely to have graduated from high school or college. Low birth weights, asthma and cardiovascular diseases are also higher than state averages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the project, the air quality at Tehipite was measured before the trees were planted. Average black carbon measurements were at \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/crnr/appendixa.pdf\">a level that can cause an elevated cancer risk after a lifetime of exposure\u003c/a>, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (PDF).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez-Cuevas said she did not know for sure whether students at her school suffered from asthma or other lung conditions more often than in other places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to answer that question, because obviously it’s very scientific, I would have to have data,” she said. “But we know the impact that better air quality has on our lives. So having said that, you can infer that this has an impact on our community. The trees are important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monitoring in the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The planting at Tehipite cost about $41,000 for the three-year-old, 15-gallon trees, including irrigation, Cummings said. Air quality monitoring is not included in that total.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Great strides have been made in the last decade in air pollution measuring technology, Brown said, making it easier to get a good idea whether projects such as these can really help mitigate pollution near roadways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/researchers-assess-roadside-vegetation-barriers-suite-air-monitors\">ongoing pilot study at an elementary school in Oakland\u003c/a> also seeks to understand which sort of vegetative barriers work best, using air quality monitoring, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders on the Fresno project hope to come away with a similar understanding of whether pollution at Tehipite (and the several other sites they’ve planted) has been reduced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project gets funded in increments, Brown said, when money is available from the California Air Resources Board. There is not yet funding to return to Tehipite to measure air quality after the trees have grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“However, it will take one to five years for the trees to grow sufficiently to have a measured impact,” Brown said, “and we continue to work with CARB to secure funding for future air monitoring, so we are hopeful that funding will be in place in future years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/can-trees-reduce-pollution-at-schools-next-to-freeways-a-fresno-campus-tries-plantings/681826\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The trees were planted in 2020 in hopes that air quality measurements in the future will show they helped mitigate pollution that drifts into the school grounds. Other schools may follow if tree experiment improves air quality.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1670300764,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":37,"wordCount":1519},"headData":{"title":"Fresno School Plants Trees to Reduce Highway Pollution, Others May Follow | KQED","description":"The trees were planted in 2020 in hopes that air quality measurements in the future will show they helped mitigate pollution that drifts into the school grounds. Other schools may follow if tree experiment improves air quality.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"EDSOURCE","sourceUrl":"https://edsource.org/","nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/author/apanoo\">Ashleigh Panoo\u003c/a>","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","path":"/news/11934055/fresno-school-plants-trees-to-reduce-highway-pollution-others-may-follow","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At first glance, the 60 trees that border Tehipite Middle School in Fresno may not look like much. Only a few years old, they are still short and thin, some supported by wooden poles on each side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But their potential is large, especially for the health of students and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the trees grow in the coming years, the people who planted them hope to find they provide a barrier from what lies just over the fence: the tangle of busy and noisy freeways at the Highway 41 and 180 interchange.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tehipite is nestled right up against the two highways, leaving the more than 500 students and employees vulnerable to \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/mobile-source-pollution/how-mobile-source-pollution-affects-your-health#content1\">vehicle pollution, which has been known to cause health problems\u003c/a>, including cardiovascular disease and decreased lung function.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'It's been known for a long time that there’s a lot of health disparities for anybody who lives next to a roadway.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Steven Brown, senior atmospheric scientist, Sonoma Tech","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees were planted in 2020 in hopes that air quality measurements in the future will show they helped mitigate pollution that drifts into the school grounds. If that proves true, the practice could be used more widely at California schools and other freeway-adjacent places where people live and work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The planting is jointly run by \u003ca href=\"https://treefresno.org/\">Tree Fresno\u003c/a>, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing green space in the Central Valley, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomatech.com/services/airquality\">Sonoma Technology\u003c/a>, a private consulting firm that specializes in studying air quality. The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/fresno_trees_sep.pdf\">Fresno TREES (PDF)\u003c/a> project is funded by the California Air Resources Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The impact of air pollution in the Central Valley\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“It’s been known for a long time that there’s a lot of health disparities for anybody who lives next to a roadway,” said Steven Brown, senior atmospheric scientist at Sonoma Tech, who is working on the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really see that, in particular for people who live or work or go to school or have a lot of time being exposed to pollution next to roadways,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200320040SB352\">building new schools within 500 feet of freeways was banned in 2003\u003c/a>, unless space is limited or the pollution can be diminished. But many students, especially in dense urban areas such as Los Angeles, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15143656\">still attend older schools right next to freeways\u003c/a>. Some schools were there before the roads were built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About \u003ca href=\"https://publicintegrity.org/environment/the-invisible-hazard-afflicting-thousands-of-schools/\">4.4 million students in the U.S. attend a school that lies within 500 feet of highways\u003c/a>, truck routes and other roads with significant traffic, according to a 2017 investigation from the Center for Public Integrity, and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. That’s nearly 8,000 public schools, or about 1 in every 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown said even people exposed to “major pollution events in utero” are affected as they grow. Children in particular are more sensitive to the effects of pollution on their lungs because they’re still growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11934063\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11934063\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A view of security guard and small family standing next to trees lining a school sports field.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1.jpeg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-800x500.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-1020x638.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221117_121735-1-1200x750-1-160x100.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 60 trees that were planted at Tehipite Middle School are still growing, but researchers say it’s possible that up to 50% of particulate matter could be reduced after the trees grow to maturity. \u003ccite>(Ashleigh Panoo/EdSource)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s just a little bit different lung functions, a little bit different heart outcomes,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Joaquin Valley is known for its poor air quality. The surrounding \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sanjoaquinvalley/epa-activities-cleaner-air\">mountain ranges trap pollutants on the valley floor\u003c/a>, leaving cities such as Fresno, Bakersfield and Visalia the most polluted in the nation, according to the American Lung Association. In 2022, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities\">Fresno region ranked first in short-term particle pollution\u003c/a>, and second in year-round particle pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vehicle exhaust is a major producer of PM 2.5, or particulate matter that is two-and-a-half microns or less in width.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you breathe it in, it can stay and go deep into your lungs and then really impact your cells,” Brown said. “It can impact how different pieces of your lung are able to function.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>'The trees are important'\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Tehipite Middle School, students coming out of their classrooms looked on as a car loudly peeled out one afternoon in the neighborhood that surrounds the other sides of the school, leaving a thick cloud of smoke drifting toward the campus and its border of young trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers say vegetative barriers can act in two ways against pollution, such as car exhaust: directly blocking it, and also absorbing it. It’s possible that up to 50% of particulate matter could be reduced after the trees grow to maturity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7092696/#:~:text=Solid%20sound%20walls%20and%20vegetation,mitigate%20near%2Droad%20air%20pollution.\">studies\u003c/a> have shown that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-020-0115-3\">it depends on how thick the vegetation is\u003c/a>, how the wind blows and whether the barrier is working alongside a concrete sound barrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees planted at Tehipite are a mix of Aleppo pine, Deodar cedar, Chinese elm and other evergreen trees, according to Mona Cummings, CEO of Tree Fresno. Trees whose leaves don’t fall are best used for barriers because they stay thick year-round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marilyn Lopez-Cuevas has been the principal at Tehipite Middle School for three years, and she grew up in the neighborhood. She says it’s how she understands the challenges her seventh and eighth graders face living in the community near downtown Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Lopez-Cuevas rushed back onto the Tehipite campus one recent afternoon, she held bags of candy for students who reached their academic goals, and she was also thinking about a birthday party she was planning for a student who wouldn’t get any celebration at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Part of her job, she says, is connecting with students in small ways that feel big, such as with the candy and the birthday party. She sees the trees as just one more solution to the myriad problems the community faces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People in \u003ca href=\"https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/who-is-at-risk/disparities\">lower-socioeconomic neighborhoods tend to fare the worst\u003c/a> when it comes to being exposed to pollution, many researchers have found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/community-air-protection-program/communities/south-central-fresno\">south central Fresno, where Tehipite is located, was selected to be monitored\u003c/a> by the California Air Resources Board because of its proximity to major freeways and industrial plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11934064\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11934064\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A view of a highway with a line of trees and a fence along the side.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1.jpeg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/20221129_150639-5-scaled-1-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tehipite Middle School's row of new trees separating the school from Highway 41. \u003ccite>(Ashleigh Panoo/EdSource)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://community.valleyair.org/media/1308/fresno_camp_v1_2019_july-1.pdf\">Residents in the area are likely the most heavily burdened (PDF)\u003c/a> in the state by health and environmental challenges, a 2019 report from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District indicated. People are more likely to be burdened by housing costs, to live in poverty or to be unemployed, according to census tract data, and less likely to have graduated from high school or college. Low birth weights, asthma and cardiovascular diseases are also higher than state averages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the project, the air quality at Tehipite was measured before the trees were planted. Average black carbon measurements were at \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/media/downloads/crnr/appendixa.pdf\">a level that can cause an elevated cancer risk after a lifetime of exposure\u003c/a>, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (PDF).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez-Cuevas said she did not know for sure whether students at her school suffered from asthma or other lung conditions more often than in other places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s hard to answer that question, because obviously it’s very scientific, I would have to have data,” she said. “But we know the impact that better air quality has on our lives. So having said that, you can infer that this has an impact on our community. The trees are important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Monitoring in the future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The planting at Tehipite cost about $41,000 for the three-year-old, 15-gallon trees, including irrigation, Cummings said. Air quality monitoring is not included in that total.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Great strides have been made in the last decade in air pollution measuring technology, Brown said, making it easier to get a good idea whether projects such as these can really help mitigate pollution near roadways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/researchers-assess-roadside-vegetation-barriers-suite-air-monitors\">ongoing pilot study at an elementary school in Oakland\u003c/a> also seeks to understand which sort of vegetative barriers work best, using air quality monitoring, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders on the Fresno project hope to come away with a similar understanding of whether pollution at Tehipite (and the several other sites they’ve planted) has been reduced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project gets funded in increments, Brown said, when money is available from the California Air Resources Board. There is not yet funding to return to Tehipite to measure air quality after the trees have grown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“However, it will take one to five years for the trees to grow sufficiently to have a measured impact,” Brown said, “and we continue to work with CARB to secure funding for future air monitoring, so we are hopeful that funding will be in place in future years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2022/can-trees-reduce-pollution-at-schools-next-to-freeways-a-fresno-campus-tries-plantings/681826\">\u003cem>This story originally appeared in EdSource.\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11934055/fresno-school-plants-trees-to-reduce-highway-pollution-others-may-follow","authors":["byline_news_11934055"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_2036","news_32087","news_37","news_32088","news_32086","news_32085"],"featImg":"news_11934062","label":"source_news_11934055"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"13"},"link":"/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"}},"baycurious":{"id":"baycurious","title":"Bay Curious","tagline":"Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time","info":"KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.","airtime":"THU 10pm, FRI 1am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Commonwealth Club of California"},"link":"/radio/program/commonwealth-club","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"}},"considerthis":{"id":"considerthis","title":"Consider This","tagline":"Make sense of the day","info":"Make sense of the day. Every weekday afternoon, Consider This helps you consider the major stories of the day in less than 15 minutes, featuring the reporting and storytelling resources of NPR. Plus, KQED’s Bianca Taylor brings you the local KQED news you need to know.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Consider-This-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"Consider This from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/considerthis","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"7"},"link":"/podcasts/considerthis","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1503226625?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/coronavirusdaily","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM1NS9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3Z6JdCS2d0eFEpXHKI6WqH"}},"forum":{"id":"forum","title":"Forum","tagline":"The conversation starts here","info":"KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal","officialWebsiteLink":"/forum","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"8"},"link":"/forum","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"}},"freakonomics-radio":{"id":"freakonomics-radio","title":"Freakonomics Radio","info":"Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png","officialWebsiteLink":"http://freakonomics.com/","airtime":"SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/freakonomics-radio","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"}},"fresh-air":{"id":"fresh-air","title":"Fresh Air","info":"Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.","airtime":"MON-FRI 7pm-8pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/fresh-air","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"}},"here-and-now":{"id":"here-and-now","title":"Here & Now","info":"A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.","airtime":"MON-THU 11am-12pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/here-and-now","subsdcribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"}},"how-i-built-this":{"id":"how-i-built-this","title":"How I Built This with Guy Raz","info":"Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this","airtime":"SUN 7:30pm-8pm","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/how-i-built-this","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"}},"inside-europe":{"id":"inside-europe","title":"Inside Europe","info":"Inside Europe, a one-hour weekly news magazine hosted by Helen Seeney and Keith Walker, explores the topical issues shaping the continent. No other part of the globe has experienced such dynamic political and social change in recent years.","airtime":"SAT 3am-4am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Inside-Europe-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Deutsche Welle"},"link":"/radio/program/inside-europe","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-europe/id80106806?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Inside-Europe-p731/","rss":"https://partner.dw.com/xml/podcast_inside-europe"}},"latino-usa":{"id":"latino-usa","title":"Latino USA","airtime":"MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm","info":"Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://latinousa.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/latino-usa","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"}},"live-from-here-highlights":{"id":"live-from-here-highlights","title":"Live from Here Highlights","info":"Chris Thile steps to the mic as the host of Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion), a live public radio variety show. Download Chris’s Song of the Week plus other highlights from the broadcast. Produced by American Public Media.","airtime":"SAT 6pm-8pm, SUN 11am-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Live-From-Here-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.livefromhere.org/","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"american public media"},"link":"/radio/program/live-from-here-highlights","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1167173941","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Live-from-Here-Highlights-p921744/","rss":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/a-prairie-home-companion-highlights/rss/rss"}},"marketplace":{"id":"marketplace","title":"Marketplace","info":"Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.","airtime":"MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.marketplace.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"American Public Media"},"link":"/radio/program/marketplace","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/","rss":"https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"}},"mindshift":{"id":"mindshift","title":"MindShift","tagline":"A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids","info":"The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.","airtime":"MON-FRI 3am-9am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/morning-edition"},"onourwatch":{"id":"onourwatch","title":"On Our Watch","tagline":"Police secrets, unsealed","info":"For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"On Our Watch from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/onourwatch","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"1"},"link":"/podcasts/onourwatch","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"}},"on-the-media":{"id":"on-the-media","title":"On The Media","info":"Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us","airtime":"SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm","meta":{"site":"news","source":"wnyc"},"link":"/radio/program/on-the-media","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/","rss":"http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"}},"our-body-politic":{"id":"our-body-politic","title":"Our Body Politic","info":"Presented by KQED, KCRW and KPCC, and created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.","airtime":"SAT 6pm-7pm, SUN 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Our-Body-Politic-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://our-body-politic.simplecast.com/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kcrw"},"link":"/radio/program/our-body-politic","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-body-politic/id1533069868","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9feGFQaHMxcw","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4ApAiLT1kV153TttWAmqmc","rss":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/_xaPhs1s","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Our-Body-Politic-p1369211/"}},"pbs-newshour":{"id":"pbs-newshour","title":"PBS NewsHour","info":"Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.","airtime":"MON-FRI 3pm-4pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"pbs"},"link":"/radio/program/pbs-newshour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/","rss":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"}},"perspectives":{"id":"perspectives","title":"Perspectives","tagline":"KQED's series of of daily listener commentaries since 1991","info":"KQED's series of of daily listener commentaries since 1991.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Perspectives-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/perspectives/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"15"},"link":"/perspectives","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"}},"planet-money":{"id":"planet-money","title":"Planet Money","info":"The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.","airtime":"SUN 3pm-4pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/sections/money/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/planet-money","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"}},"politicalbreakdown":{"id":"politicalbreakdown","title":"Political Breakdown","tagline":"Politics from a personal perspective","info":"Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.","airtime":"THU 6:30pm-7pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Political Breakdown","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"11"},"link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5Nzk2MzI2MTEx","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"}},"pri-the-world":{"id":"pri-the-world","title":"PRI's The World: Latest Edition","info":"Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.","airtime":"MON-FRI 2pm-3pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world","meta":{"site":"news","source":"PRI"},"link":"/radio/program/pri-the-world","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/","rss":"http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"}},"radiolab":{"id":"radiolab","title":"Radiolab","info":"A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.","airtime":"SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/radiolab","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/","rss":"https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"}},"reveal":{"id":"reveal","title":"Reveal","info":"Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.","airtime":"SAT 4pm-5pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/reveal","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/","rss":"http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"}},"says-you":{"id":"says-you","title":"Says You!","info":"Public radio's game show of bluff and bluster, words and whimsy. The warmest, wittiest cocktail party - it's spirited and civil, brainy and boisterous, peppered with musical interludes. Fast paced and playful, it's the most fun you can have with language without getting your mouth washed out with soap. Our motto: It's not important to know the answers, it's important to like the answers!","airtime":"SUN 4pm-5pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Says-You-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.saysyouradio.com/","meta":{"site":"comedy","source":"Pipit and Finch"},"link":"/radio/program/says-you","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/says-you!/id1050199826","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Says-You-p480/","rss":"https://saysyou.libsyn.com/rss"}},"science-friday":{"id":"science-friday","title":"Science Friday","info":"Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.","airtime":"FRI 11am-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/science-friday","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/","rss":"http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"}},"science-podcast":{"id":"science-podcast","title":"KQED Science News","tagline":"From the lab, to your ears","info":"KQED Science explores science and environment news, trends, and events from the Bay Area and beyond.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-News-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/category/science-podcast/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"kqed","order":"17"},"link":"/science/category/science-podcast","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqed-science-news/id214663465","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2Jsb2dzLmtxZWQub3JnL3NjaWVuY2UvZmVlZC8","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed-science-news","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/category/science-podcast/feed/podcast"}},"selected-shorts":{"id":"selected-shorts","title":"Selected Shorts","info":"Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen.","airtime":"SAT 8pm-9pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Selected-Shorts-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.pri.org/programs/selected-shorts","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"pri"},"link":"/radio/program/selected-shorts","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=253191824&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Selected-Shorts-p31792/","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/selectedshorts"}},"snap-judgment":{"id":"snap-judgment","title":"Snap Judgment","info":"Snap Judgment (Storytelling, with a BEAT) mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic, kick-ass radio. Snap’s raw, musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. WNYC studios is the producer of leading podcasts including Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, Note To Self, Here’s The Thing With Alec Baldwin, and more.","airtime":"SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/snapJudgement.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://snapjudgment.org","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/snap-judgment","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=283657561&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Snap-Judgment-p243817/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/snapjudgment-wnyc"}},"soldout":{"id":"soldout","title":"SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America","tagline":"A new future for housing","info":"Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/soldout","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":3},"link":"/podcasts/soldout","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america","tunein":"https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vc29sZG91dA"}},"ted-radio-hour":{"id":"ted-radio-hour","title":"TED Radio Hour","info":"The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.","airtime":"SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/ted-radio-hour","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"}},"tech-nation":{"id":"tech-nation","title":"Tech Nation Radio Podcast","info":"Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.","airtime":"FRI 10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://technation.podomatic.com/","meta":{"site":"science","source":"Tech Nation Media"},"link":"/radio/program/tech-nation","subscribe":{"rss":"https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"}},"thebay":{"id":"thebay","title":"The Bay","tagline":"Local news to keep you rooted","info":"Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED The Bay","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/thebay","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"kqed","order":"6"},"link":"/podcasts/thebay","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM4MjU5Nzg2MzI3","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ","rss":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"}},"californiareport":{"id":"californiareport","title":"The California Report","tagline":"California, day by day","info":"KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED The California Report","officialWebsiteLink":"/californiareport","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"9"},"link":"/californiareport","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1MDAyODE4NTgz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"}},"californiareportmagazine":{"id":"californiareportmagazine","title":"The California Report Magazine","tagline":"Your state, your stories","info":"Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.","airtime":"FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"/californiareportmagazine","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"10"},"link":"/californiareportmagazine","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"}},"theleap":{"id":"theleap","title":"The Leap","tagline":"What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?","info":"Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED The Leap","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/theleap","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"14"},"link":"/podcasts/theleap","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM0NTcwODQ2MjY2","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"}},"masters-of-scale":{"id":"masters-of-scale","title":"Masters of Scale","info":"Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.","airtime":"Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://mastersofscale.com/","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"WaitWhat"},"link":"/radio/program/masters-of-scale","subscribe":{"apple":"http://mastersofscale.app.link/","rss":"https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"}},"the-moth-radio-hour":{"id":"the-moth-radio-hour","title":"The Moth Radio Hour","info":"Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.","airtime":"SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://themoth.org/","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"prx"},"link":"/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/","rss":"http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"}},"the-new-yorker-radio-hour":{"id":"the-new-yorker-radio-hour","title":"The New Yorker Radio Hour","info":"The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.","airtime":"SAT 10am-11am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"}},"the-takeaway":{"id":"the-takeaway","title":"The Takeaway","info":"The Takeaway is produced in partnership with its national audience. It delivers perspective and analysis to help us better understand the day’s news. Be a part of the American conversation on-air and online.","airtime":"MON-THU 12pm-1pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Takeaway-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/takeaway","meta":{"site":"news","source":"WNYC"},"link":"/radio/program/the-takeaway","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-takeaway/id363143310?mt=2","tuneIn":"http://tunein.com/radio/The-Takeaway-p150731/","rss":"https://feeds.feedburner.com/takeawaypodcast"}},"this-american-life":{"id":"this-american-life","title":"This American Life","info":"This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.","airtime":"SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.thisamericanlife.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"wbez"},"link":"/radio/program/this-american-life","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","rss":"https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"}},"truthbetold":{"id":"truthbetold","title":"Truth Be Told","tagline":"Advice by and for people of color","info":"We’re the friend you call after a long day, the one who gets it. Through wisdom from some of the greatest thinkers of our time, host Tonya Mosley explores what it means to grow and thrive as a Black person in America, while discovering new ways of being that serve as a portal to more love, more healing, and more joy.","airtime":"","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Truth-Be-Told-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Truth Be Told with Tonya Mosley","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.kqed.ord/podcasts/truthbetold","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr","order":"12"},"link":"/podcasts/truthbetold","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/truth-be-told/id1462216572","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS90cnV0aC1iZS10b2xkLXBvZGNhc3QvZmVlZA","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/719210818/truth-be-told","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=398170&refid=stpr","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/587DhwTBxke6uvfwDfaV5N"}},"wait-wait-dont-tell-me":{"id":"wait-wait-dont-tell-me","title":"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!","info":"Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.","airtime":"SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"}},"washington-week":{"id":"washington-week","title":"Washington Week","info":"For 50 years, Washington Week has been the most intelligent and up to date conversation about the most important news stories of the week. Washington Week is the longest-running news and public affairs program on PBS and features journalists -- not pundits -- lending insight and perspective to the week's important news stories.","airtime":"SAT 1:30am-2am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/washington-week.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"pbs"},"link":"/radio/program/washington-week","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/washington-week-audio-pbs/id83324702?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Current-Affairs/Washington-Week-p693/","rss":"http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/weta/washingtonweek-audio"}},"weekend-edition-saturday":{"id":"weekend-edition-saturday","title":"Weekend Edition Saturday","info":"Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.","airtime":"SAT 5am-10am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"},"weekend-edition-sunday":{"id":"weekend-edition-sunday","title":"Weekend Edition Sunday","info":"Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.","airtime":"SUN 5am-10am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"},"world-affairs":{"id":"world-affairs","title":"World Affairs","info":"The world as we knew it is undergoing a rapid transformation…so what's next? Welcome to WorldAffairs, your guide to a changing world. We give you the context you need to navigate across borders and ideologies. Through sound-rich stories and in-depth interviews, we break down what it means to be a global citizen on a hot, crowded planet. Our hosts, Ray Suarez, Teresa Cotsirilos and Philip Yun help you make sense of an uncertain world, one story at a time.","airtime":"MON 10pm, TUE 1am, SAT 3am","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/World-Affairs-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg ","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.worldaffairs.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"World Affairs"},"link":"/radio/program/world-affairs","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-affairs/id101215657?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/WorldAffairs-p1665/","rss":"https://worldaffairs.libsyn.com/rss"}},"on-shifting-ground":{"id":"on-shifting-ground","title":"On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez","info":"Geopolitical turmoil. A warming planet. Authoritarians on the rise. We live in a chaotic world that’s rapidly shifting around us. “On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez” explores international fault lines and how they impact us all. Each week, NPR veteran Ray Suarez hosts conversations with journalists, leaders and policy experts to help us read between the headlines – and give us hope for human resilience.","airtime":"MON 10pm, TUE 1am, SAT 3am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2022/12/onshiftingground-600x600-1.png","officialWebsiteLink":"https://worldaffairs.org/radio-podcast/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"On Shifting Ground"},"link":"/radio/program/on-shifting-ground","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/on-shifting-ground/id101215657","rss":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/36668/rss"}},"hidden-brain":{"id":"hidden-brain","title":"Hidden Brain","info":"Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain","airtime":"SUN 7pm-8pm","meta":{"site":"news","source":"NPR"},"link":"/radio/program/hidden-brain","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"}},"city-arts":{"id":"city-arts","title":"City Arts & Lectures","info":"A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.cityarts.net/","airtime":"SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am","meta":{"site":"news","source":"City Arts & Lectures"},"link":"https://www.cityarts.net","subscribe":{"tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/","rss":"https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"}},"white-lies":{"id":"white-lies","title":"White Lies","info":"In 1965, Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma, Alabama. Three men were tried and acquitted, but no one was ever held to account. Fifty years later, two journalists from Alabama return to the city where it happened, expose the lies that kept the murder from being solved and uncover a story about guilt and memory that says as much about America today as it does about the past.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/White-Lies-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510343/white-lies","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/white-lies","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/whitelies","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1462650519?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM0My9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbA","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/12yZ2j8vxqhc0QZyRES3ft?si=LfWYEK6URA63hueKVxRLAw","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510343/podcast.xml"}},"rightnowish":{"id":"rightnowish","title":"Rightnowish","tagline":"Art is where you find it","info":"Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/rightnowish","meta":{"site":"arts","source":"kqed","order":"5"},"link":"/podcasts/rightnowish","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast","apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"}},"jerrybrown":{"id":"jerrybrown","title":"The Political Mind of Jerry Brown","tagline":"Lessons from a lifetime in politics","info":"The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/jerrybrown","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"16"},"link":"/podcasts/jerrybrown","subscribe":{"npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/","tuneIn":"http://tun.in/pjGcK","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9zZXJpZXMvamVycnlicm93bi9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qv"}},"the-splendid-table":{"id":"the-splendid-table","title":"The Splendid Table","info":"\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.splendidtable.org/","airtime":"SUN 10-11 pm","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/the-splendid-table"}},"racesReducer":{"5921":{"id":"5921","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 7","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":158422,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.97,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Doris Matsui","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":89456,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tom Silva","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":48920,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Mandel","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":20046,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-09T01:00:38.194Z"},"5922":{"id":"5922","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 8","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Rudy Recile","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John Garamendi","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5924":{"id":"5924","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 10","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":185034,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.07,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark DeSaulnier","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":121265,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katherine Piccinini","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34883,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nolan Chen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":19459,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Sweeney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":7606,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mohamed Elsherbini","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1821,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-09T01:02:32.415Z"},"5926":{"id":"5926","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":153801,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.88,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lateefah Simon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":85905,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jennifer Tran","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":22964,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tony Daysog","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":17197,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stephen Slauson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9699,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Glenn Kaplan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":6785,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4243,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Abdur Sikder","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2847,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ned Nuerge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2532,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Andre Todd","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1629,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-16T00:22:36.062Z"},"5928":{"id":"5928","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 14","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":125831,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.14,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Eric Swalwell","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":83989,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Vin Kruttiventi","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":22106,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Alison Hayden","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11928,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Luis Reynoso","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":7808,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:51:36.366Z"},"5930":{"id":"5930","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 16","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":182135,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.91,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","timeUpdated":"3:04 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sam Liccardo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":38489,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Evan Low","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":30249,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Simitian","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":30249,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Peter Ohtaki","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":23275,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Peter Dixon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14673,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Rishi Kumar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":12377,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Karl Ryan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11557,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Julie Lythcott-Haims","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11383,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ahmed Mostafa","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":5811,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Greg Tanaka","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2421,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joby Bernstein","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1651,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:32:05.002Z"},"5931":{"id":"5931","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 17","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":117534,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.92,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ro Khanna","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":73941,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Anita Chen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":31539,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Ritesh Tandon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":5728,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mario Ramirez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4491,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Joe Dehn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":1835,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-08T01:50:53.956Z"},"5932":{"id":"5932","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 18","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":96302,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.93,"eevp":98.83,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Zoe Lofgren","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":49323,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Peter Hernandez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":31622,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Charlene Nijmeh","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":10614,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Lawrence Milan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2712,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Luele Kifle","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2031,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:26:02.706Z"},"5963":{"id":"5963","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":139085,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.62,"eevp":98.6,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Greer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":38079,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Chris Rogers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":27126,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rusty Hicks","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25615,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ariel Kelley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19483,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Frankie Myers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":17694,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ted Williams","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":9550,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Cynthia Click","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1538,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-22T21:38:36.711Z"},"5972":{"id":"5972","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":99775,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lori Wilson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":50085,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Dave Ennis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":26074,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Wanda Wallis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14638,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jeffrey Flack","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":8978,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-08T02:01:24.524Z"},"5973":{"id":"5973","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":143532,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:38 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Damon Connolly","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":111275,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andy Podshadley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":17240,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Eryn Cervantes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15017,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-21T00:25:32.262Z"},"5975":{"id":"5975","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 14","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":106997,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.06,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Buffy Wicks","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":78678,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Margot Smith","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":18251,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Utkarsh Jain","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":10068,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-15T01:30:34.539Z"},"5976":{"id":"5976","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":97144,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.98,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sonia Ledo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":30946,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Anamarie Farias","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":29512,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Monica Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":24775,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Karen Mitchoff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11911,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T00:19:38.858Z"},"5977":{"id":"5977","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 16","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joseph Rubay","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rebecca Bauer-Kahan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5978":{"id":"5978","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 17","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":111003,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"8:25 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Matt Haney","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":90915,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Manuel Noris-Barrera","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":13843,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Otto Duke","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":6245,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:36:19.697Z"},"5979":{"id":"5979","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 18","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":86008,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.1,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:41 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mia Bonta","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":73040,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andre Sandford","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"AIP","voteCount":4575,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mindy Pechenuk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4389,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Cheyenne Kenney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4004,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T08:03:23.729Z"},"5980":{"id":"5980","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 19","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":113959,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.8,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Catherine Stefani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":64960,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":33035,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nadia Flamenco","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":8335,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Arjun Sodhani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":7629,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-11T23:50:23.109Z"},"5981":{"id":"5981","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 20","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:36 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Liz Ortega","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5982":{"id":"5982","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 21","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark Gilham","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Diane Papan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"5984":{"id":"5984","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 23","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":116963,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.91,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Marc Berman","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":67106,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Lydia Kou","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":23699,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Gus Mattammal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":13277,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Allan Marson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":12881,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T01:13:06.280Z"},"5987":{"id":"5987","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 26","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":72753,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Patrick Ahrens","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25036,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tara Sreekrishnan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19600,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Sophie Song","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15954,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Omar Din","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":8772,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Bob Goodwyn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":2170,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ashish Garg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1221,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T21:06:29.070Z"},"5989":{"id":"5989","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 28","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Gail Pellerin","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Liz Lawler","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6010":{"id":"6010","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 49","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:36 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Fong","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Long Liu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6018":{"id":"6018","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":229348,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.05,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:38 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jared Huffman","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":169005,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Chris Coulombe","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":37372,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tief Gibbs","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":18437,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jolian Kangas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":3166,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Brisendine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":1368,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:46:10.103Z"},"6020":{"id":"6020","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":187640,"precinctsReportPercentage":96.32,"eevp":96.36,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Thompson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":118147,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John Munn","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":56232,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Andrew Engdahl","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":11202,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Niket Patwardhan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":2059,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-07T00:30:57.980Z"},"6025":{"id":"6025","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 9","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":121271,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.17,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Josh Harder","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":60396,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Kevin Lincoln","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":36346,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"John McBride","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":15525,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Khalid Jafri","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9004,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:49:44.113Z"},"6031":{"id":"6031","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Anna Kramer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Kevin Mullin","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6035":{"id":"6035","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 19","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":203670,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.11,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jimmy Panetta","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":132540,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jason Anderson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":58120,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Sean Dougherty","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Grn","voteCount":13010,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-07T00:23:46.779Z"},"6066":{"id":"6066","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 3","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jamie Gallagher","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Aaron Draper","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6067":{"id":"6067","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 4","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Cecilia Aguiar-Curry","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6087":{"id":"6087","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 24","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":66643,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.19,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Alex Lee","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":45544,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bob Brunton","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14951,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marti Souza","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":6148,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T23:23:49.770Z"},"6088":{"id":"6088","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 25","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":69560,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.31,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ash Kalra","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":35821,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Ted Stroll","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":18255,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Lan Ngo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":15484,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-14T02:40:57.200Z"},"6092":{"id":"6092","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State House, District 29","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Robert Rivas","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"J.W. Paine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6223":{"id":"6223","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 46","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:16 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lou Correa","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"David Pan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6530":{"id":"6530","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 3","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":222193,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Thom Bogue","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":61776,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Christopher Cabaldon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":59041,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Rozzana Verder-Aliga","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":45546,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jackie Elward","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":41127,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jimih Jones","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":14703,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-15T01:24:31.539Z"},"6531":{"id":"6531","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":171623,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.09,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:10 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jim Shoemaker","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":74935,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jerry McNerney","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":57040,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Carlos Villapudua","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":39648,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T20:07:46.382Z"},"6532":{"id":"6532","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 7","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":192446,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.72,"eevp":98.78,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:48 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jesse Arreguín","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":61837,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Jovanka Beckles","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":34025,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Dan Kalb","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":28842,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Kathryn Lybarger","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":28041,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sandre Swanson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":22862,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jeanne Solnordal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":16839,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-16T00:58:11.533Z"},"6533":{"id":"6533","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 9","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Tim Grayson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marisol Rubio","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6534":{"id":"6534","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":228260,"precinctsReportPercentage":99.09,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Scott Wiener","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":166592,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Yvette Corkrean","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34438,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Cynthia Cravens","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":18513,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jing Xiong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":8717,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T02:01:51.597Z"},"6535":{"id":"6535","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 13","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":227191,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.88,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Josh Becker","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":167127,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Alexander Glew","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":42788,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Christina Laskowski","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":17276,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T01:56:24.964Z"},"6536":{"id":"6536","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 15","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":180231,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.81,"eevp":98.95,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:20 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Dave Cortese","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":124440,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Robert Howell","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34173,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Tony Loaiza","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":21618,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-13T01:15:45.365Z"},"6548":{"id":"6548","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"State Senate, District 39","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":0,"uncontested":true,"precinctsReportPercentage":0,"eevp":0,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 20, 2024","timeUpdated":"4:55 PM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Akilah Weber","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bob Divine","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":0,"isWinner":true}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:00:30.000Z"},"6611":{"id":"6611","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 11","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":188732,"precinctsReportPercentage":98.89,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 22, 2024","timeUpdated":"8:25 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Nancy Pelosi","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":138285,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Bruce Lou","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":16285,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marjorie Mikels","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":9363,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Bianca Von Krieg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":7634,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Zeng","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":6607,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jason Boyce","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":4325,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Larry Nichelson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3482,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eve Del Castello","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2751,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-12T00:31:55.445Z"},"8589":{"id":"8589","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. Senate, Class I","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":7276537,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Adam Schiff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2299507,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Steve Garvey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2292414,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katie Porter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1115606,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Barbara Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":714408,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Early","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":240723,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"James Bradley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":98180,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Christina Pascucci","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":61755,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sharleta Bassett","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":54422,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sarah Liew","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":38483,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Laura Garza ","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":34320,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Jonathan Reiss","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":34283,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sepi Gilani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":34056,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Gail Lightfoot","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"Lib","voteCount":33046,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Denice Gary-Pandol","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":25494,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"James Macauley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":23168,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Harmesh Kumar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21522,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"David Peterson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21076,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Douglas Pierce","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":19371,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Major Singh","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":16965,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"John Rose","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14577,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Perry Pound","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":14134,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Raji Rab","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":13558,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Mark Ruzon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":13429,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Forrest Jones","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"AIP","voteCount":13027,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stefan Simchowitz","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":12717,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Martin Veprauskas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":9714,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Don Grundmann","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"NPP","voteCount":6582,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T05:01:46.589Z"},"8686":{"id":"8686","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"President,","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":3589127,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:48 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joe Biden","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":3200188,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Marianne Williamson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":145690,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Dean Phillips","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":99981,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Armando Perez-Serrato","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":42925,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Gabriel Cornejo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":41261,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"President Boddie","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":25373,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Stephen Lyons","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":21008,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eban Cambridge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":12701,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:12:27.559Z"},"8688":{"id":"8688","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"President,","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":2466569,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Donald Trump","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":1953947,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Nikki Haley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":430792,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ron DeSantis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":35581,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Chris Christie","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":20164,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Vivek Ramaswamy","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":11069,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Rachel Swift","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":4231,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"David Stuckenberg","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3895,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Ryan Binkley","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3563,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Asa Hutchinson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":3327,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:13:19.766Z"},"81993":{"id":"81993","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"U.S. Senate, Class I Unexpired Term","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top2","totalVotes":7358837,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Steve Garvey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":2444940,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Adam Schiff","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":2155146,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"Katie Porter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":1269194,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Barbara Lee","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":863278,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Eric Early","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"R","voteCount":448788,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Christina Pascucci","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":109421,"isWinner":false},{"candidateName":"Sepi Gilani","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"D","voteCount":68070,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-06T04:31:08.186Z"},"82014":{"id":"82014","type":"apRace","location":"State of California","raceName":"Proposition, 1 - Behavioral Health Services Program","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceType":"top1","totalVotes":7221972,"precinctsReportPercentage":99,"eevp":99,"tabulationStatus":"Tabulation Paused","dateUpdated":"March 25, 2024","timeUpdated":"5:47 AM","source":"AP","candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":null,"voteCount":3624998,"isWinner":true},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":null,"voteCount":3596974,"isWinner":false}],"winnerDateTime":"2024-03-21T00:11:06.265Z"},"timeLoaded":"April 18, 2024 8:01 PM","nationalRacesLoaded":true,"localRacesLoaded":true,"overrides":[{"id":"5921","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 7","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5922","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 8","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5924","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 10","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5926","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 12","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/congress-12th-district"},{"id":"5928","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 14","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5930","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 16","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/congress-16th-district"},{"id":"5931","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 17","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5932","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 18","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5963","raceName":"State Assembly, District 2","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5972","raceName":"State Assembly, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5973","raceName":"State Assembly, District 12","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5975","raceName":"State Assembly, District 14","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5976","raceName":"State Assembly, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/contracosta/state-assembly"},{"id":"5977","raceName":"State Assembly, District 16","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5978","raceName":"State Assembly, District 17","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5979","raceName":"State Assembly, District 18","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5980","raceName":"State Assembly, District 19","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5981","raceName":"State Assembly, District 20","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5982","raceName":"State Assembly, District 21","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"5984","raceName":"State Assembly, District 23","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-assembly-23rd-district"},{"id":"5987","raceName":"State Assembly, District 26","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/state-assembly-26th-district"},{"id":"5989","raceName":"State Assembly, District 28","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6010","raceName":"State Assembly, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6018","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 2","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6020","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6025","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 9","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6031","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6035","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 19","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6067","raceName":"State Assembly, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6087","raceName":"State Assembly, District 24","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6088","raceName":"State Assembly, District 25","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6092","raceName":"State Assembly, District 29","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6223","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 4","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6530","raceName":"State Senate, District 3","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-senate-3rd-district"},{"id":"6531","raceName":"State Senate, District 5","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6532","raceName":"State Senate, District 7","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/state-senate-7th-district"},{"id":"6533","raceName":"State Senate, District 9","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6534","raceName":"State Senate, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6535","raceName":"State Senate, District 13","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6536","raceName":"State Senate, District 15","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"6611","raceName":"U.S. House of Representatives, District 11","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":""},{"id":"8589","raceName":"U.S. Senate (Full Term)","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/senator"},{"id":"8686","raceName":"California Democratic Presidential Primary","raceDescription":"Candidates are competing for 496 delegates.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/president/democrat"},{"id":"8688","raceName":"California Republican Presidential Primary","raceDescription":"Candidates are competing for 169 delegates.","raceReadTheStory":"https://kqed.org/elections/results/president/republican"},{"id":"81993","raceName":"U.S. Senate (Partial/Unexpired Term)","raceDescription":"Top two candidates advance to general election."},{"id":"82014","raceName":"Proposition 1","raceDescription":"Bond and mental health reforms. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/proposition-1"}],"AlamedaJudge5":{"id":"AlamedaJudge5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":200601,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Terry Wiley","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":200601}]},"AlamedaJudge12":{"id":"AlamedaJudge12","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 12","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":240853,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mark Fickes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":133009},{"candidateName":"Michael P. Johnson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":107844}]},"AlamedaBoard2":{"id":"AlamedaBoard2","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 2","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":33580,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"John Lewis","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6943},{"candidateName":"Angela Normand","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":26637}]},"AlamedaBoard5":{"id":"AlamedaBoard5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 5","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":26072,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Guadalupe \"Lupe\" Angulo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7521},{"candidateName":"Janevette Cole","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13338},{"candidateName":"Joe Orlando Ramos","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5213}]},"AlamedaBoard6":{"id":"AlamedaBoard6","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Education, Trustee Area 6","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":30864,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"John Guerrero","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9989},{"candidateName":"Eileen McDonald","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20875}]},"AlamedaSup1":{"id":"AlamedaSup1","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":41038,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Haubert","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":41038}]},"AlamedaSup2":{"id":"AlamedaSup2","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":31034,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Elisa Márquez","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":31034}]},"AlamedaSup4":{"id":"AlamedaSup4","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":57007,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jennifer Esteen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22400},{"candidateName":"Nate Miley","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":34607}]},"AlamedaSup5":{"id":"AlamedaSup5","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":81059,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Ben Bartlett","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13518},{"candidateName":"Nikki Fortunato Bas","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":27597},{"candidateName":"John J. Bauters","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":16783},{"candidateName":"Ken Berrick","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7520},{"candidateName":"Omar Farmer","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1240},{"candidateName":"Gregory Hodge","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3419},{"candidateName":"Chris Moore","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7428},{"candidateName":"Gerald Pechenuk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":305},{"candidateName":"Lorrel Plimier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3249}]},"AlamedaBoard7":{"id":"AlamedaBoard7","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Flood Control & Water Conservation District Director, Zone 7, Full Term","raceDescription":"Top three candidates win seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top3","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":134340,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Alan Burnham","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":15723},{"candidateName":"Sandy Figuers","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22454},{"candidateName":"Laurene K. Green","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":30343},{"candidateName":"Kathy Narum","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23833},{"candidateName":"Seema Badar","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7468},{"candidateName":"Catherine Brown","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":34519}]},"AlamedaAuditor":{"id":"AlamedaAuditor","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Oakland Auditor","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":59227,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Houston","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":59227}]},"AlamedaMeasureA":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Alameda County. Civil service. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":282335,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":167903},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":114432}]},"AlamedaMeasureB":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Alameda County. Recall rules. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/measure-b","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":282683,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":182200},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":100483}]},"AlamedaMeasureD":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Oakland. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":79797,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":59852},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":19945}]},"AlamedaMeasureE":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Alameda Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":22692,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":17280},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5412}]},"AlamedaMeasureF":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureF","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure F","raceDescription":"Piedmont. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":4855,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3673},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1182}]},"AlamedaMeasureG":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Albany Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":5898,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4651},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1247}]},"AlamedaMeasureH":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Berkeley Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":33331,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":29418},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3913}]},"AlamedaMeasureI":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureI","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure I","raceDescription":"Hayward Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":21929,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14151},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7778}]},"AlamedaMeasureJ":{"id":"AlamedaMeasureJ","type":"localRace","location":"Alameda","raceName":"Measure J","raceDescription":"San Leandro Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:02 PM","dateUpdated":"April 1, 2024","totalVotes":12338,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7784},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4554}]},"CCD2":{"id":"CCD2","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":45776,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Candace Andersen","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":45776}]},"CCD3":{"id":"CCD3","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":25120,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Diane Burgis","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":25120}]},"CCD5":{"id":"CCD5","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/contracosta/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":37045,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Barbanica","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14338},{"candidateName":"Jelani Killings","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5683},{"candidateName":"Shanelle Scales-Preston","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":12993},{"candidateName":"Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4031}]},"CCMeasureA":{"id":"CCMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Martinez. Appoint City Clerk. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":11513,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7554},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3959}]},"CCMeasureB":{"id":"CCMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Antioch Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":17971,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10397},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7574}]},"CCMeasureC":{"id":"CCMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Martinez Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":9230,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6917},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2313}]},"CCMeasureD":{"id":"CCMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Contra Costa","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Moraga School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:45 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":6007,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4052},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1955}]},"MarinD2":{"id":"MarinD2","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/supervisor-2nd-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":18466,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Brian Colbert","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7971},{"candidateName":"Heather McPhail Sridharan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4851},{"candidateName":"Ryan O'Neil","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2647},{"candidateName":"Gabe Paulson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2997}]},"MarinD3":{"id":"MarinD3","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":13274,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Stephanie Moulton-Peters","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13274}]},"MarinD4":{"id":"MarinD4","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":12986,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Dennis Rodoni","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10086},{"candidateName":"Francis Drouillard","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2900}]},"MarinLarkspurCC":{"id":"MarinLarkspurCC","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Larkspur City Council (Short Term)","raceDescription":"Top candidate wins seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":4176,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Stephanie Andre","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2514},{"candidateName":"Claire Paquette","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1008},{"candidateName":"Lana Scott","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":654}]},"MarinRossCouncil":{"id":"MarinRossCouncil","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Ross Town Council","raceDescription":"Top three candidates win seat.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top3","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1740,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Charles William \"Bill\" Kircher, Jr.","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":536},{"candidateName":"Mathew Salter","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":502},{"candidateName":"Shadi Aboukhater","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":187},{"candidateName":"Teri Dowling","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":515}]},"MarinMeasureA":{"id":"MarinMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Tamalpais Union High School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":45345,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":24376},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20969}]},"MarinMeasureB":{"id":"MarinMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Petaluma Joint Union High School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":132,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":62},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":70}]},"MarinMeasureC":{"id":"MarinMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Belvedere. Appropriation limit. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":870,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":679},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":191}]},"MarinMeasureD":{"id":"MarinMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Larkspur. Rent stabilization. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/measure-d","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":4955,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2573},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2382}]},"MarinMeasureE":{"id":"MarinMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Ross. Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/marin/measure-e","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":874,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":683},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":191}]},"MarinMeasureF":{"id":"MarinMeasureF","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure F","raceDescription":"San Anselmo. Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":5193,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3083},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2110}]},"MarinMeasureG":{"id":"MarinMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Bel Marin Keys Community Services District. Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":830,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":661},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":169}]},"MarinMeasureH":{"id":"MarinMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Marinwood Community Services District. Appropriations limit, fire protection. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1738,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1369},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":369}]},"MarinMeasureI":{"id":"MarinMeasureI","type":"localRace","location":"Marin","raceName":"Measure I","raceDescription":"Marinwood Community Services District. Appropriations limit, parks. Passes with a majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:54 PM","dateUpdated":"March 27, 2024","totalVotes":1735,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1336},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":399}]},"NapaD2":{"id":"NapaD2","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":8351,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Liz Alessio","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6340},{"candidateName":"Doris Gentry","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2011}]},"NapaD4":{"id":"NapaD4","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/napa/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":7306,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Amber Manfree","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3913},{"candidateName":"Pete Mott","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3393}]},"NapaD5":{"id":"NapaD5","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/napa/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":5356,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mariam Aboudamous","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2379},{"candidateName":"Belia Ramos","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2977}]},"NapaMeasureD":{"id":"NapaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Howell Mountain Elementary School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":741,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":367},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":374}]},"NapaMeasureU":{"id":"NapaMeasureU","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure U","raceDescription":"Lake Berryessa Resort Improvement District. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":86,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":63},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23}]},"NapaMeasureU1":{"id":"NapaMeasureU1","type":"localRace","location":"Napa","raceName":"Measure U","raceDescription":"Yountville. Appropriations limit. Passes with majority vote. ","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"April 3, 2024","totalVotes":925,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":793},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":132}]},"SFJudge1":{"id":"SFJudge1","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Seat 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/superior-court-seat-1","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":202960,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Begert","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":124943},{"candidateName":"Chip Zecher","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":78017}]},"SFJudge13":{"id":"SFJudge13","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Seat 13","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/superior-court-seat-13","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":202386,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jean Myungjin Roland","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":90012},{"candidateName":"Patrick S. Thompson","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":112374}]},"SFPropA":{"id":"SFPropA","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition A","raceDescription":"Housing bond. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-a","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":225187,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":158497},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":66690}]},"SFPropB":{"id":"SFPropB","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition B","raceDescription":"Police staffing. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222954,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":61580},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":161374}]},"SFPropC":{"id":"SFPropC","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition C","raceDescription":"Transfer tax exemption. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":220349,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":116311},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":104038}]},"SFPropD":{"id":"SFPropD","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition D","raceDescription":"Ethics laws. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222615,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":198584},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":24031}]},"SFPropE":{"id":"SFPropE","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition E","raceDescription":"Police policies. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-e","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222817,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":120529},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":102288}]},"SFPropF":{"id":"SFPropF","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition F","raceDescription":"Drug screening. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanfrancisco/proposition-f","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":224004,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":130214},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":93790}]},"SFPropG":{"id":"SFPropG","type":"localRace","location":"San Francisco","raceName":"Proposition G","raceDescription":"Eighth-grade algebra. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:50 PM","dateUpdated":"March 21, 2024","totalVotes":222704,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":182066},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":40638}]},"SMJudge4":{"id":"SMJudge4","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":108919,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Sarah Burdick","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":108919}]},"SMD1":{"id":"SMD1","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanmateo/supervisor-1st-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":29650,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jackie Speier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":20353},{"candidateName":"Ann Schneider","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9297}]},"SMD4":{"id":"SMD4","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sanmateo/supervisor-4th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":22725,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Antonio Lopez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5730},{"candidateName":"Lisa Gauthier","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10358},{"candidateName":"Celeste Brevard","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1268},{"candidateName":"Paul Bocanegra","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1909},{"candidateName":"Maggie Cornejo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3460}]},"SMD5":{"id":"SMD5","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":19937,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Canepa","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":19937}]},"SMMeasureB":{"id":"SMMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"County Service Area #1 (Highlands). Special tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":1549,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1360},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":189}]},"SMMeasureC":{"id":"SMMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Jefferson Elementary School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":12234,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8543},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3691}]},"SMMeasureE":{"id":"SMMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Woodside Elementary School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":1392,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":910},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":482}]},"SMMeasureG":{"id":"SMMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Pacifica School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":11548,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7067},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4481}]},"SMMeasureH":{"id":"SMMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"San Mateo","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"San Carlos School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:56 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":9938,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6283},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3655}]},"SCJudge5":{"id":"SCJudge5","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":301953,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Jay Boyarsky","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":142549},{"candidateName":"Nicole M. Ford","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":52147},{"candidateName":"Johnene Linda Stebbins","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":107257}]},"SCD2":{"id":"SCD2","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/supervisor-2nd-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":44059,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Corina Herrera-Loera","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10519},{"candidateName":"Jennifer Margaret Celaya","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2394},{"candidateName":"Madison Nguyen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":12794},{"candidateName":"Betty Duong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14031},{"candidateName":"Nelson McElmurry","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4321}]},"SCD3":{"id":"SCD3","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":42549,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Otto Lee","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":42549}]},"SCD5":{"id":"SCD5","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/santaclara/supervisor-5th-district","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":88712,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Margaret Abe-Koga","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":37172},{"candidateName":"Sally J. Lieber","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":21962},{"candidateName":"Barry Chang","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6164},{"candidateName":"Peter C. Fung","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":17892},{"candidateName":"Sandy Sans","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5522}]},"SCSJMayor":{"id":"SCSJMayor","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José Mayor","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":167064,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Matt Mahan","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":144701},{"candidateName":"Tyrone Wade","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":22363}]},"SCSJD2":{"id":"SCSJD2","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14131,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Joe Lopez","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4950},{"candidateName":"Pamela Campos","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3436},{"candidateName":"Vanessa Sandoval","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2719},{"candidateName":"Babu Prasad","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3026}]},"SCSJD4":{"id":"SCSJD4","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14322,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Kansen Chu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5931},{"candidateName":"David Cohen","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8391}]},"SCSJD6":{"id":"SCSJD6","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 6","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":25108,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"David Cohen","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9875},{"candidateName":"Alex Shoor","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3850},{"candidateName":"Angelo \"A.J.\" Pasciuti","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2688},{"candidateName":"Michael Mulcahy","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8695}]},"SCSJD8":{"id":"SCSJD8","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 8","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":21462,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Tam Truong","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6982},{"candidateName":"Domingo Candelas","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8466},{"candidateName":"Sukhdev Singh Bainiwal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5513},{"candidateName":"Surinder Kaur Dhaliwal","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":501}]},"SCSJD10":{"id":"SCSJD10","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"San José City Council, District 10","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top2","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":22799,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"George Casey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8805},{"candidateName":"Arjun Batra","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8354},{"candidateName":"Lenka Wright","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5640}]},"SCMeasureA":{"id":"SCMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Santa Clara. Appointed city clerk. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":20315,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6580},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":13735}]},"SCMeasureB":{"id":"SCMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Santa Clara. Appointed police chief. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":20567,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5680},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":14887}]},"SCMeasureC":{"id":"SCMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Santa Clara","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Sunnyvale School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:05 PM","dateUpdated":"April 4, 2024","totalVotes":14656,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10261},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4395}]},"SolanoD15":{"id":"SolanoD15","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Department 15","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":81709,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mike Thompson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":36844},{"candidateName":"Bryan J. Kim","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":44865}]},"SolanoD1":{"id":"SolanoD1","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/supervisor-1st-district","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":13786,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Michael Wilson","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6401},{"candidateName":"Cassandra James","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7385}]},"SolanoD2":{"id":"SolanoD2","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 2","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":19903,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Monica Brown","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10951},{"candidateName":"Nora Dizon","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3135},{"candidateName":"Rochelle Sherlock","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5817}]},"SolanoD5":{"id":"SolanoD5","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":17888,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Mitch Mashburn","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":11210},{"candidateName":"Chadwick J. Ledoux","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6678}]},"SolanoEducation":{"id":"SolanoEducation","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Sacramento County Board of Education","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":3650,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Heather Davis","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2960},{"candidateName":"Shazleen Khan","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":690}]},"SolanoMeasureA":{"id":"SolanoMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Benicia. Hotel tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/measure-a","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10136,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7869},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2267}]},"SolanoMeasureB":{"id":"SolanoMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Benicia. Sales tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/solano/measure-b","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10164,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7335},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":2829}]},"SolanoMeasureC":{"id":"SolanoMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Benicia Unified School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":10112,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6316},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3796}]},"SolanoMeasureN":{"id":"SolanoMeasureN","type":"localRace","location":"Solano","raceName":"Measure N","raceDescription":"Davis Joint Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"7:08 PM","dateUpdated":"March 28, 2024","totalVotes":15,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10}]},"SonomaJudge3":{"id":"SonomaJudge3","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":115405,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Kristine M. Burk","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":79498},{"candidateName":"Beki Berrey","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":35907}]},"SonomaJudge4":{"id":"SonomaJudge4","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 4","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":86789,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Paul J. Lozada","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":86789}]},"SonomaJudge6":{"id":"SonomaJudge6","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Superior Court Judge, Office 6","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":117990,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Omar Figueroa","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":42236},{"candidateName":"Kenneth English","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":75754}]},"SonomaD1":{"id":"SonomaD1","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 1","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":30348,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Rebecca Hermosillo","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23958},{"candidateName":"Jonathan Mathieu","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":6390}]},"SonomaD3":{"id":"SonomaD3","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 3","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sonoma/supervisor-3rd-district","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":16312,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Chris Coursey","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":11346},{"candidateName":"Omar Medina","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":4966}]},"SonomaD5":{"id":"SonomaD5","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Board of Supervisors, District 5","raceDescription":"Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"top1","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":23356,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Lynda Hopkins","candidateIncumbent":true,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":23356}]},"SonomaMeasureA":{"id":"SonomaMeasureA","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure A","raceDescription":"Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":13756,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":10320},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3436}]},"SonomaMeasureB":{"id":"SonomaMeasureB","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure B","raceDescription":"Petaluma Joint Union High School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":24877,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":15795},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":9082}]},"SonomaMeasureC":{"id":"SonomaMeasureC","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure C","raceDescription":"Fort Ross School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":286,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":159},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":127}]},"SonomaMeasureD":{"id":"SonomaMeasureD","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure D","raceDescription":"Harmony Union School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":1925,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":1089},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":836}]},"SonomaMeasureE":{"id":"SonomaMeasureE","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure E","raceDescription":"Petaluma City (Elementary) School District. Parcel tax. Passes with 2/3 vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":11133,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":7622},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":3511}]},"SonomaMeasureG":{"id":"SonomaMeasureG","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure G","raceDescription":"Rincon Valley Union School District. School bond. Passes with 55% vote.","raceReadTheStory":"","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":14577,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":8668},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":5909}]},"SonomaMeasureH":{"id":"SonomaMeasureH","type":"localRace","location":"Sonoma","raceName":"Measure H","raceDescription":"Sonoma County. Sales tax. Passes with majority vote.","raceReadTheStory":"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/sonoma/measure-h","raceType":"yesNo","timeUpdated":"6:51 PM","dateUpdated":"March 29, 2024","totalVotes":145261,"candidates":[{"candidateName":"Yes","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":89646},{"candidateName":"No","candidateIncumbent":false,"candidateParty":"","voteCount":55615}]}},"radioSchedulesReducer":{},"listsReducer":{"posts/news?tag=fresno":{"isFetching":false,"latestQuery":{"from":0,"postsToRender":9},"tag":null,"vitalsOnly":true,"totalRequested":9,"isLoading":false,"isLoadingMore":true,"total":113,"items":["news_11970332","news_11969545","news_11968332","news_11968238","news_11966862","news_11965063","news_11959175","news_11949679","news_11934055"]}},"recallGuideReducer":{"intros":{},"policy":{},"candidates":{}},"savedPostsReducer":{},"pfsSessionReducer":{},"siteSettingsReducer":{},"subscriptionsReducer":{},"termsReducer":{"about":{"name":"About","type":"terms","id":"about","slug":"about","link":"/about","taxonomy":"site"},"arts":{"name":"Arts & Culture","grouping":["arts","pop","trulyca"],"description":"KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.","type":"terms","id":"arts","slug":"arts","link":"/arts","taxonomy":"site"},"artschool":{"name":"Art School","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"artschool","slug":"artschool","link":"/artschool","taxonomy":"site"},"bayareabites":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"bayareabites","slug":"bayareabites","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"bayareahiphop":{"name":"Bay Area Hiphop","type":"terms","id":"bayareahiphop","slug":"bayareahiphop","link":"/bayareahiphop","taxonomy":"site"},"campaign21":{"name":"Campaign 21","type":"terms","id":"campaign21","slug":"campaign21","link":"/campaign21","taxonomy":"site"},"checkplease":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"checkplease","slug":"checkplease","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"education":{"name":"Education","grouping":["education"],"type":"terms","id":"education","slug":"education","link":"/education","taxonomy":"site"},"elections":{"name":"Elections","type":"terms","id":"elections","slug":"elections","link":"/elections","taxonomy":"site"},"events":{"name":"Events","type":"terms","id":"events","slug":"events","link":"/events","taxonomy":"site"},"event":{"name":"Event","alias":"events","type":"terms","id":"event","slug":"event","link":"/event","taxonomy":"site"},"filmschoolshorts":{"name":"Film School Shorts","type":"terms","id":"filmschoolshorts","slug":"filmschoolshorts","link":"/filmschoolshorts","taxonomy":"site"},"food":{"name":"KQED food","grouping":["food","bayareabites","checkplease"],"type":"terms","id":"food","slug":"food","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"forum":{"name":"Forum","relatedContentQuery":"posts/forum?","parent":"news","type":"terms","id":"forum","slug":"forum","link":"/forum","taxonomy":"site"},"futureofyou":{"name":"Future of You","grouping":["science","futureofyou"],"parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"futureofyou","slug":"futureofyou","link":"/futureofyou","taxonomy":"site"},"jpepinheart":{"name":"KQED food","relatedContentQuery":"trending/food,bayareabites,checkplease","parent":"food","type":"terms","id":"jpepinheart","slug":"jpepinheart","link":"/food","taxonomy":"site"},"liveblog":{"name":"Live Blog","type":"terms","id":"liveblog","slug":"liveblog","link":"/liveblog","taxonomy":"site"},"livetv":{"name":"Live TV","parent":"tv","type":"terms","id":"livetv","slug":"livetv","link":"/livetv","taxonomy":"site"},"lowdown":{"name":"The Lowdown","relatedContentQuery":"posts/lowdown?","parent":"news","type":"terms","id":"lowdown","slug":"lowdown","link":"/lowdown","taxonomy":"site"},"mindshift":{"name":"Mindshift","parent":"news","description":"MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.","type":"terms","id":"mindshift","slug":"mindshift","link":"/mindshift","taxonomy":"site"},"news":{"name":"News","grouping":["news","forum"],"type":"terms","id":"news","slug":"news","link":"/news","taxonomy":"site"},"perspectives":{"name":"Perspectives","parent":"radio","type":"terms","id":"perspectives","slug":"perspectives","link":"/perspectives","taxonomy":"site"},"podcasts":{"name":"Podcasts","type":"terms","id":"podcasts","slug":"podcasts","link":"/podcasts","taxonomy":"site"},"pop":{"name":"Pop","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"pop","slug":"pop","link":"/pop","taxonomy":"site"},"pressroom":{"name":"Pressroom","type":"terms","id":"pressroom","slug":"pressroom","link":"/pressroom","taxonomy":"site"},"quest":{"name":"Quest","parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"quest","slug":"quest","link":"/quest","taxonomy":"site"},"radio":{"name":"Radio","grouping":["forum","perspectives"],"description":"Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.","type":"terms","id":"radio","slug":"radio","link":"/radio","taxonomy":"site"},"root":{"name":"KQED","image":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","imageWidth":1200,"imageHeight":630,"headData":{"title":"KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California","description":"KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."},"type":"terms","id":"root","slug":"root","link":"/root","taxonomy":"site"},"science":{"name":"Science","grouping":["science","futureofyou"],"description":"KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.","type":"terms","id":"science","slug":"science","link":"/science","taxonomy":"site"},"stateofhealth":{"name":"State of Health","parent":"science","type":"terms","id":"stateofhealth","slug":"stateofhealth","link":"/stateofhealth","taxonomy":"site"},"support":{"name":"Support","type":"terms","id":"support","slug":"support","link":"/support","taxonomy":"site"},"thedolist":{"name":"The Do List","parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"thedolist","slug":"thedolist","link":"/thedolist","taxonomy":"site"},"trulyca":{"name":"Truly CA","grouping":["arts","pop","trulyca"],"parent":"arts","type":"terms","id":"trulyca","slug":"trulyca","link":"/trulyca","taxonomy":"site"},"tv":{"name":"TV","type":"terms","id":"tv","slug":"tv","link":"/tv","taxonomy":"site"},"voterguide":{"name":"Voter Guide","parent":"elections","alias":"elections","type":"terms","id":"voterguide","slug":"voterguide","link":"/voterguide","taxonomy":"site"},"news_37":{"type":"terms","id":"news_37","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"37","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Fresno","slug":"fresno","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Fresno Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null,"imageData":{"ogImageSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png","width":1200,"height":630},"twImageSize":{"file":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"},"twitterCard":"summary_large_image"}},"ttid":37,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/fresno"},"source_news_11969545":{"type":"terms","id":"source_news_11969545","meta":{"override":true},"name":"Morning Report","link":"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrarchive/","isLoading":false},"source_news_11968332":{"type":"terms","id":"source_news_11968332","meta":{"override":true},"name":"The California Report Magazine","link":"http://www.kqed.org/californiareportmagazine","isLoading":false},"source_news_11934055":{"type":"terms","id":"source_news_11934055","meta":{"override":true},"name":"EDSOURCE","link":"https://edsource.org/","isLoading":false},"news_8":{"type":"terms","id":"news_8","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"8","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"News","slug":"news","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"News Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":8,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/category/news"},"news_21973":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21973","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21973","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"energy","slug":"energy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"energy Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21990,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/energy"},"news_27626":{"type":"terms","id":"news_27626","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"27626","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"featured-news","slug":"featured-news","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"featured-news Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":27643,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/featured-news"},"news_1775":{"type":"terms","id":"news_1775","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"1775","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"housing","slug":"housing","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"housing Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":1790,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/housing"},"news_140":{"type":"terms","id":"news_140","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"140","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"PG&E","slug":"pge","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"PG&E Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":144,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/pge"},"news_72":{"type":"terms","id":"news_72","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"72","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"The California Report","slug":"the-california-report","taxonomy":"program","description":null,"featImg":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/10/TCR-2-Logo-Web-Banners-03.png","headData":{"title":"The California Report Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":6969,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/program/the-california-report"},"news_21998":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21998","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21998","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"TCRAM","slug":"tcram","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"TCRAM Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":22015,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/tcram"},"news_21268":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21268","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21268","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"tcrarchive","slug":"tcrarchive","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"tcrarchive Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21285,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/tcrarchive"},"news_26731":{"type":"terms","id":"news_26731","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"26731","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"The California Report Magazine","slug":"the-california-report-magazine","taxonomy":"program","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"The California Report Magazine Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":26748,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/program/the-california-report-magazine"},"news_33539":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33539","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33539","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"family restaurant","slug":"family-restaurant","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"family restaurant Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33556,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/family-restaurant"},"news_32866":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32866","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32866","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Flavor Profile","slug":"flavor-profile","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Flavor Profile Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32883,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/flavor-profile"},"news_33538":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33538","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33538","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"gorditas","slug":"gorditas","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"gorditas Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33555,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/gorditas"},"news_32867":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32867","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32867","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Mexican cuisine","slug":"mexican-cuisine","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Mexican cuisine Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32884,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/mexican-cuisine"},"news_4092":{"type":"terms","id":"news_4092","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"4092","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"agriculture","slug":"agriculture-2","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"agriculture Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":4111,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/agriculture-2"},"news_31720":{"type":"terms","id":"news_31720","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"31720","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"california agriculture","slug":"california-agriculture","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"california agriculture Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":31737,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/california-agriculture"},"news_32371":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32371","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32371","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"california farmworkers","slug":"california-farmworkers","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"california farmworkers Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32388,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/california-farmworkers"},"news_311":{"type":"terms","id":"news_311","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"311","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Central Valley","slug":"central-valley","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Central Valley Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":319,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/central-valley"},"news_21349":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21349","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21349","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"clean energy","slug":"clean-energy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"clean energy Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21366,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/clean-energy"},"news_19204":{"type":"terms","id":"news_19204","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"19204","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"climate","slug":"climate","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"climate Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":19221,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/climate"},"news_255":{"type":"terms","id":"news_255","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"255","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"climate change","slug":"climate-change","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"climate change Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":263,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/climate-change"},"news_18269":{"type":"terms","id":"news_18269","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"18269","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"farmworkers","slug":"farmworkers","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"farmworkers Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":18303,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/farmworkers"},"news_3431":{"type":"terms","id":"news_3431","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"3431","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"flooding","slug":"flooding","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"flooding Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":3449,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/flooding"},"news_30964":{"type":"terms","id":"news_30964","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"30964","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"floodplain","slug":"floodplain","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"floodplain Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":30981,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/floodplain"},"news_32157":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32157","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32157","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"green energy","slug":"green-energy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"green energy Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32174,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/green-energy"},"news_2929":{"type":"terms","id":"news_2929","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"2929","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"heat","slug":"heat","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"heat Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2947,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/heat"},"news_31551":{"type":"terms","id":"news_31551","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"31551","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"heat illness","slug":"heat-illness","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"heat illness Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":31568,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/heat-illness"},"news_5525":{"type":"terms","id":"news_5525","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"5525","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"high temperatures","slug":"high-temperatures","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"high temperatures Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":5548,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/high-temperatures"},"news_32889":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32889","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32889","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"immigrant farmworkers","slug":"immigrant-farmworkers","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"immigrant farmworkers Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32906,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/immigrant-farmworkers"},"news_20202":{"type":"terms","id":"news_20202","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"20202","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"immigration","slug":"immigration","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"immigration Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":20219,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/immigration"},"news_26422":{"type":"terms","id":"news_26422","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"26422","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"low-income immigrants","slug":"low-income-immigrants","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"low-income immigrants Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":26439,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/low-income-immigrants"},"news_32519":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32519","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32519","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"pajaro","slug":"pajaro","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"pajaro Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32536,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/pajaro"},"news_32552":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32552","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32552","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Pajaro farmworkers","slug":"pajaro-farmworkers","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Pajaro farmworkers Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32569,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/pajaro-farmworkers"},"news_4695":{"type":"terms","id":"news_4695","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"4695","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"solar energy","slug":"solar-energy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"solar energy Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":4714,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/solar-energy"},"news_18699":{"type":"terms","id":"news_18699","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"18699","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Tulare","slug":"tulare","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Tulare Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":18716,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/tulare"},"news_6266":{"type":"terms","id":"news_6266","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"6266","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Housing","slug":"housing","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Housing Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":6290,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/category/housing"},"news_30302":{"type":"terms","id":"news_30302","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"30302","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Sold Out","slug":"sold-out","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Sold Out Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":30319,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/category/sold-out"},"news_18538":{"type":"terms","id":"news_18538","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"18538","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"California","slug":"california","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"California Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":31,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/california"},"news_27080":{"type":"terms","id":"news_27080","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"27080","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"emergency shelters","slug":"emergency-shelters","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"emergency shelters Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":27097,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/emergency-shelters"},"news_21216":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21216","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21216","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Fresno County","slug":"fresno-county","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Fresno County Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21233,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/fresno-county"},"news_21214":{"type":"terms","id":"news_21214","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"21214","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"homeless encampments","slug":"homeless-encampments","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"homeless encampments Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":21231,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/homeless-encampments"},"news_4020":{"type":"terms","id":"news_4020","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"4020","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"homelessness","slug":"homelessness","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"homelessness Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":4039,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/homelessness"},"news_2109":{"type":"terms","id":"news_2109","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"2109","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"mental health","slug":"mental-health","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"mental health Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2124,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/mental-health"},"news_95":{"type":"terms","id":"news_95","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"95","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Sacramento","slug":"sacramento","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Sacramento Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":411,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/sacramento"},"news_28541":{"type":"terms","id":"news_28541","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"28541","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"sold out","slug":"sold-out","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"sold out Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":28558,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/sold-out"},"news_33409":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33409","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33409","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"sold out season 3","slug":"sold-out-season-3","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"sold out season 3 Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33426,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/sold-out-season-3"},"news_28527":{"type":"terms","id":"news_28527","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"28527","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"soldout","slug":"soldout","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"soldout Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":28544,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/soldout"},"news_29607":{"type":"terms","id":"news_29607","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"29607","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unhoused","slug":"unhoused","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unhoused Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":29624,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unhoused"},"news_30602":{"type":"terms","id":"news_30602","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"30602","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unhoused people","slug":"unhoused-people","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unhoused people Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":30619,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unhoused-people"},"news_31793":{"type":"terms","id":"news_31793","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"31793","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unhoused residents","slug":"unhoused-residents","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unhoused residents Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":31810,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unhoused-residents"},"news_457":{"type":"terms","id":"news_457","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"457","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Health","slug":"health","taxonomy":"category","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Health Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":16998,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/category/health"},"news_29464":{"type":"terms","id":"news_29464","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"29464","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Adventist Health","slug":"adventist-health","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Adventist Health Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":29481,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/adventist-health"},"news_2632":{"type":"terms","id":"news_2632","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"2632","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"bankruptcy","slug":"bankruptcy","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"bankruptcy Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2649,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/bankruptcy"},"news_33026":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33026","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33026","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Beverly Community Hospital","slug":"beverly-community-hospital","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Beverly Community Hospital Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33043,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/beverly-community-hospital"},"news_29546":{"type":"terms","id":"news_29546","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"29546","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Covid 19 Pandemic","slug":"covid-19-pandemic","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Covid 19 Pandemic Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":29563,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/covid-19-pandemic"},"news_33025":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33025","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33025","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital","slug":"hazel-hawkins-memorial-hospital","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33042,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/hazel-hawkins-memorial-hospital"},"news_18659":{"type":"terms","id":"news_18659","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"18659","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"hospitals","slug":"hospitals","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"hospitals Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":18676,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/hospitals"},"news_4032":{"type":"terms","id":"news_4032","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"4032","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"loans","slug":"loans","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"loans Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":4051,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/loans"},"news_33024":{"type":"terms","id":"news_33024","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"33024","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Madera Community Hospital","slug":"madera-community-hospital","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Madera Community Hospital Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":33041,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/madera-community-hospital"},"news_18481":{"type":"terms","id":"news_18481","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"18481","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"CALmatters","slug":"calmatters","taxonomy":"affiliate","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"CALmatters Archives | KQED Arts","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":18515,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/affiliate/calmatters"},"news_27989":{"type":"terms","id":"news_27989","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"27989","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"covid","slug":"covid","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"covid Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":28006,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/covid"},"news_31470":{"type":"terms","id":"news_31470","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"31470","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"COVID pandemic frustrations","slug":"covid-pandemic-frustrations","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"COVID pandemic frustrations Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":31487,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/covid-pandemic-frustrations"},"news_28340":{"type":"terms","id":"news_28340","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"28340","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Employment Development Department","slug":"employment-development-department","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Employment Development Department Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":28357,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/employment-development-department"},"news_27660":{"type":"terms","id":"news_27660","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"27660","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"pandemic","slug":"pandemic","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"pandemic Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":27677,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/pandemic"},"news_631":{"type":"terms","id":"news_631","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"631","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unemployment","slug":"unemployment","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unemployment Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":640,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unemployment"},"news_32553":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32553","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32553","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unemployment aid","slug":"unemployment-aid","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unemployment aid Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32570,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unemployment-aid"},"news_30130":{"type":"terms","id":"news_30130","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"30130","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"unemployment benefits","slug":"unemployment-benefits","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"unemployment benefits Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":30147,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/unemployment-benefits"},"news_2036":{"type":"terms","id":"news_2036","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"2036","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"air pollution","slug":"air-pollution","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"air pollution Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":2051,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/air-pollution"},"news_32087":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32087","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32087","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"freeway pollution","slug":"freeway-pollution","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"freeway pollution Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32104,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/freeway-pollution"},"news_32088":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32088","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32088","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"highway pollution","slug":"highway-pollution","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"highway pollution Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32105,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/highway-pollution"},"news_32086":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32086","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32086","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"Tehipite Middle School","slug":"tehipite-middle-school","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"Tehipite Middle School Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32103,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/tehipite-middle-school"},"news_32085":{"type":"terms","id":"news_32085","meta":{"index":"terms_1591234321","site":"news","id":"32085","found":true},"relationships":{},"included":{},"name":"tree planting","slug":"tree-planting","taxonomy":"tag","description":null,"featImg":null,"headData":{"title":"tree planting Archives | KQED News","description":null,"ogTitle":null,"ogDescription":null,"ogImgId":null,"twTitle":null,"twDescription":null,"twImgId":null},"ttid":32102,"isLoading":false,"link":"/news/tag/tree-planting"}},"userAgentReducer":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isBot":true},"userPermissionsReducer":{"wpLoggedIn":false},"localStorageReducer":{},"browserHistoryReducer":[],"eventsReducer":{},"fssReducer":{},"tvDailyScheduleReducer":{},"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer":{},"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer":{},"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer":{},"userAccountReducer":{"routeTo":"","showDeleteConfirmModal":false,"user":{"userId":"","isFound":false,"firstName":"","lastName":"","phoneNumber":"","email":"","articles":[]}},"youthMediaReducer":{},"checkPleaseReducer":{"filterData":{},"restaurantData":[]},"reframeReducer":{"attendee":null},"location":{"pathname":"/news/tag/fresno","previousPathname":"/"}}
