KQED's The California Report KQED

Recycling centers have been shutting down across California for years. That means fewer opportunities for people to recycle their bottles and cans — and get back their deposits. And the state is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed bottle deposits.
Reporter: Scott Rodd, KPBS

State leaders say they’ve reached an agreement on the state budget. In a press release, Governor Newsom said the deal involves $300 billion in expenditures, while filling a nearly $47 billion budget deficit. The deal proposes to use more than $12 billion from the state’s rainy day fund over the next two years to help shore up the deficit.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Information is still scarce regarding the FBI's raid of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's home on Thursday. It was one of a number of raids conducted by the agency in the city.

School districts in California are under pressure to reduce chronic absenteeism. But getting kids back to the classroom can be a challenge for districts with limited resources.
Reporter: Daisy Nguyen, KQED    

Baseball fans are saying bye to the "Say Hey Kid" Willie Mays. Thursday night’s San Francisco Giants game was held at the historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham Alabama, where Mays made his professional debut in 1948. But at Oracle Park in San Francisco, fans old and young came together to watch the game on the scoreboard, root for their team - and grapple with the loss.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About a quarter of all new vehicles sold in California last year were zero emission. But there are big regional differences in where electric vehicles are bought and driven in the state. You see a lot of them on the road in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Orange County, but it’s harder to spot them in the Central Valley or Imperial County. But there are programs aimed at addressing the EV gap.
Reporter: Laura Klivans, KQED

California workplace regulators are expected to vote Thursday on new protections from dangerous heat for millions of indoor workers. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is considering new rules that would require most employers to keep indoor work areas below 87 degrees when feasible, or if it's not, change workers’ shifts or use protective equipment to reduce the risks.
Reporter: Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday. He was 93. Mays spent 21 years with the Giants and is considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
Reporter: Brian Watt, KQED

Today is Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. at the end of the Civil War. In Humboldt County, the group Black Humboldt is ready to shift its Juneteenth focus to a broader celebration of the Black experience on California’s North Coast. That's after four years of Juneteenth events aimed at educating the local community about the holiday.
Reporter: Kelby McIntosh
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fresno State calls itself the Central Valley’s university, but campus buildings and infrastructure are increasingly dilapidated. And twice now, Fresno County residents have voted down ballot measures that would have provided the university with more than a billion dollars for repairs and maintenance. Will voters ever change their mind?
Reporter: Rachel Livinal, KVPR 

Wildfires are burning up and down the state. In Sonoma County, crews are beginning to get a better handle on the Point Fire, which has burned more than 1,200 acres. And staff from around a dozen wineries in Sonoma County are anxiously waiting to learn the fate of their businesses, after they fled the fire on Sunday. 
Reporter: Ezra David Romero, KQED
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Palm Springs is known as a wealthy city filled with luxurious hotels and casinos. But lesser known is the history of its violent racism against a predominately Black and Latino neighborhood. Now, former residents are seeking reparations. 
Reporter: Madi Bolaños, The California Report

Several large wildfires broke out across the state over the weekend, burning thousands of acres in the process.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices