We're in the midst of a national debate about law enforcement oversight and accountability. That was the subject of this week's edition of the virtual "Community Conversations on Race". These interactive panels have been presented by local nonprofit Community Action Partnership. In this excerpt, Moderator Mary Watts Sparks asks Black Lives Matter organizer Amber Lucas and Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro to share their thoughts. (Image: A Black Lives Matter protest in Sonoma. Credit: Diane Askew) Watch the entire conversation: read more

Senator Kamala Harris' career as a district attorney and California's Attorney General is sure to get renewed attention now that Joe Biden has selected her as his running mate. Story by Chris Nichols. (Photo: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., waves during a presidential forum at the California Democratic Party's convention Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, in Long Beach, Calif. - Chris Carlson / AP Photo) Following a summer surge and data reporting issues, California plans to boost contact tracing efforts to control outbreaks in hotspot areas. Story by Nicole Nixon. The federal government allocated billions of dollars to California counties to help them weather the coronavirus pandemic. How was that… read more

Housing and tenant advocates are concerned the State’s current eviction moratorium could end Friday, causing a wave of homelessness that would worsen the current public health crisis. On August 3rd, San Francisco Assemblymember David Chiu held a press conference about the health impacts of evictions and the need for tenant protections during the pandemic. KRCB’s Adia White reports. (Image: A California apartment building. Credit: Linnaea Mallette, Pexels) Watch the entire webinar: read more

California lawmakers have until the end of August to finish the people’s business and pass legislation. Senate and Assembly leaders asked members to narrow down their legislative priorities to the most essential items. Story by Scott Rodd. (Photo: CarbonNYC / Flickr) President Donald Trump opened the gate for a $400 weekly unemployment boost, but Governor Gavin Newsom says California wouldn't be able to afford the required 25% buy-in from states. Story by Nicole Nixon. Dr. Sonia Angell's departure comes days after technical glitches caused a substantial undercount in statewide COVID-19 cases. Story by Scott Rodd. Public health experts say getting a flu shot this fall could prevent a surge… read more

A man wearing an LGBTrump t-shirt was arrested for the second time in New York for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter work of art. In Utah, students and community members are upset about an anti-transgender senior quote posted in the Highland High School yearbook. School officials missed the comment before the books were printed and are now apologizing. Here locally, the Badlands bar in the Castro neighborhood announced it’s closing for good after 45 years in the community. And registration is open now for LGBT studies classes at Napa Valley College. Outbeat News is a service of NorCal Public Media and can be heard Sunday nights at 8:00 pm as part of Outbeat Radio on KRCB FM Radio 91. (Photo:… read more

Californians are seeing their electricity bills rise as they’re forced to spend more time at home. This comes amid the uncertainty and economic hardship caused by the pandemic. Story by Scott Rodd. (Photo: ullstein bild/Getty Images/via CapRadio) It’s wildfire season and over the past few years, some of the largest were started when trees or branches fell on power lines. Now one scientist has a solution for tracking trees nested along hundreds of thousands of miles of power lines. Story by Ezra David Romero. A top California health official says a technical glitch that caused a lag in collecting coronavirus test information has been fixed, but there could be a backlog of up to 300,000… read more

Every election cycle, ballot propositions offer a unique set of political battles in California. But even though the election is still months away, another type of fight over initiatives is playing out this week in the courts. Story by Nicole Nixon. (Photo: Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio) read more

Climate events that led to mass evacuations in the wake of the Oroville Dam spillway failure in 2017, could result in similar disasters in the future. Story by Ezra David Romero. (Photo: The California Department of Water Resources says it has completed the demolition of the top 730 feet of the spillway that failed in February of 2017 - Ezra David Romero / CapRadio) Premium rates for Covered California will only go up by .6% on average in 2021. The state's individual health insurance market released the proposed cost changes Tuesday. Story by Sammy Caiola. read more

Back for its second year, the NPR Student Podcast Challenge wrapped up in June. Among two thousand entries in grades 5 thru twelve, the story of Popo the Clown, a local entertainer, rose to be one of only 25 finalists, although it didn't win one of the two top awards. NPR's website celebrates the work, produced by students at St. Helena High School, as a "witty and poignant conversation" that "helped the students say goodbye to high school in preparation for life beyond." The production work was completed during the pandemic, and sounds fully professional. Advising the students was teacher Elizabeth Ganshorn. News Director Steve Mencher talked with two of the producers, Reid Ivanoff and… read more

While most students in California will have another semester of distance learning this fall, some younger kids could return to class in-person. Story by Nicole Nixon. (Photo: Michelle Hansen, principal at Phoebe A. Hearst Elementary School, left, hands a laptop computer to the parent of a student that attends the school in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2020 - Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo) White homeowners and neighborhood associations used these racially restrictive covenants in the first half of the 20th century. However, that language remains in the property records of many California homes, often unbeknownst to owners. Story by Scott Rodd. Pediatricians say the recent death of a… read more

California hospitals are performing a careful balancing act of continuing business as usual while maintaining COVID-19 surge capacity. In most cases, that doesn’t involve canceling or postponing non-essential procedures. Story by Sammy Caiola. (Photo: University of California, Davis Medical Center - Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo) How much did the racial justice protests contribute to recent spikes in COVID-19 in LA County? LA officials have acknowledged a connection. But health experts say there's no definitive evidence and many other ways the surge could have started. Story by Chris Nichols. Read full versions of all fact checks here. read more

The chief of the critical care unit at a Baltimore Hospital died of COVID-19 last week surrounded by co-workers and his husband has some harsh words for those out there who refuse to wear a mask. In a small town in Pennsylvania, pro-Trump supporters clashed with Black Live Matter protesters and started chanting “kill transgenders!” The city council of a popular tourist stop in Alaska unanimously passed an ordinance last week prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination. And a new study shows that drivers of rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are prone to discrimination against riders who support LGBTQ equality. (Photo: Dr. Joseph Costa was chief of Mercy Medical Center’s Critical Care Division. He… read more

President Trump has repeatedly claimed “absentee voting” is safe but attacked "mail-in" voting as fraudulent. But PolitiFact California found there’s no difference in the safeguards and verification process between the two. Story by Chris Nichols. Find full versions of all fact checks at Politifact.com/California. (Photo: President Donald Trump holds articles as he speaks during a news conference at the White House, Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Washington - AP Photo / Evan Vucci) Once a year, scientists release data about how Lake Tahoe is changing. This year they found the lake lost eight feet of clarity and partly blame it on trillions of tiny shrimps. But researchers have an answer… Dog… read more

At the beginning of July, The Sonoma County Human Rights Commission published a 40-page report titled, “Human Rights Violations in Santa Rosa California - Policing the Black Lives Matter Protests.” The report alleges numerous violations by law enforcement against protesters. KRCB’s Adia White spoke with commission chair D'mitra Smith. Smith describes the tactics used by police and how the commission evaluated them. It’s unclear how the report will be used to investigate these events and hold officers accountable. In part two of this report, KRCB’s Adia White asks Smith what she hopes will happen next. (Image: Black Lives Matter protesters in downtown Santa Rosa. Credit: Adia White) Read… read more