KQED's The California Report KQED

Close races in California this year could decide who controls the U.S. House of Representatives. One of those competitive races is District 13, a sprawling area between Stockton and Fresno. Climate change is among voters' top priorities. But some liberal voters say they face an ethical dilemma as they are disillusioned by U.S. support of Israel and may choose not to vote in November.
Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED

The official start date for incrementally increasing the minimum wage to $25 an hour for about 500,000 healthcare workers in California will likely be delayed for at least a month. Los Angeles State Senator Maria Elena Durazo is introducing a bill to start implementing the wage increases on July 1 instead of June 1. This gives Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers more time to negotiate the projected costs to the state, which faces a nearly $28 billion dollar budget deficit.
Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED
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Workers who are cheated on their paychecks often don’t recover the wages they are owed -- even after state regulators rule in their favor. In San Diego County, a first-of-its-kind government program aims to change that.
Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED

Academic workers at UC Santa Cruz go on strike on Monday, becoming the first UC campus to do so following a union vote last week. The walkout is in response to what the union calls unfair labor practices at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine, where campus leaders called for police to intervene during on-campus protests over the war in Gaza.
Reporter: Elena Neale-Sacks, KAZU

The California Supreme Court will hear a new challenge to Proposition 22 on Tuesday. That’s the 2020 ballot initiative that classified gig workers as independent contractors.
Reporter: Katherine Monahan, KQED
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Brown pelicans are starving up and down the California coast. The Monterey Bay is a particular hot spot. A wildlife rescue center there has taken in more than a hundred sickened birds over the past month. 
Reporter: Alix Soliman, KQED

Advocates for a large, self-governed homeless encampment in Sacramento are trying to stop the city from closing it. 
Reporter: Chris Nichols, CapRadio

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Proposition 47, California's landmark critical justice reform measure, has received plenty of recent criticism. Many blame Prop 47 for shoplifting, drug use and homelessness in the state -- and are trying to roll it back with a new initiative this fall. But Prop 47 has also resulted in $800 million in state savings, because fewer people are being sent to prison and jail for drug and low-level property crimes under the law. 
Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED

Sonoma State University President Mike Lee has been placed on indefinite leave by Cal State University's Chancellor. It comes a day after Lee reached a divestment agreement with pro-Palestinian student protesters on campus.
Reporter: Noah Abrams, KRCB
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Hospitals across the state were hit hard during the pandemic, which disrupted their operations and chipped away at their finances. Maybe the most glaring example is Madera Community Hospital, which shuttered its doors over financial challenges and filed for bankruptcy in 2022. But one nearby hospital saw record profits, financial investments and executive compensation.
Reporter: Omar Sheikh Rashad, Reporter Fresnoland

Good news for visitors and residents of Big Sur. Caltrans has completed temporary repairs on Highway 1 over a week ahead of schedule. Storms in late March caused one lane of the highway to fall into the ocean.
Reporter: Jerimiah Oetting, KAZU 
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California has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, but a Democratic state lawmaker says there’s a big loophole for some people deemed mentally ill by a state court - and he wants to fix it. The loophole - while California law prohibits someone from possessing a gun if a court finds them mentally incompetent to face a felony charge, it doesn’t apply to people being prosecuted for a misdemeanor.
Reporter: Marisa Lagos, KQED

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says the state could save up to a billion dollars a year by closing more prisons. This as California faces a budget deficit in the tens of billions. But Governor Gavin Newsom is taking a more cautious approach to trimming prison beds. 
Reporter: Nigel Duara, CalMatters 

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