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In California and beyond, the right-to-repair movement picks up speed

Feb 9, 2024
Fixit Clinics and other groups have formed communities devoted to reducing waste and costs by fixing broken devices.
A Fixit Clinic coach works on a tape player at a California library. Fixit Clinics' aim is to reduce costs for appliance owners and reduce waste for society.
Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED

How California plans to solve its large budget deficit

Jan 12, 2024
It's not the only state with a problem.
Earlier this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a plan to offset a nearly $38 billion budget deficit.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How California's expansion of health coverage is affecting low-income undocumented immigrants

Jan 8, 2024
The eligibility expansion benefits the immigrants but may also bring savings to the entire system.
In California, all low-income undocumented immigrants are now eligible for coverage under the state’s version of Medicaid. Some of that expansion expense may bring savings elsewhere.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

If reparations aren't politically viable, what's the next best thing?

Jan 5, 2024
Scholars say local action directed at improving access to housing, health care and education are more likely to pass than cash payments.
Many Black families were excluded from suburbs that were rapidly growing in the '50s and '60s.
Illustration: Dylan Miettinen/Marketplace | Photo: Courtesy USC Libraries. “Dick” Whittington Photography Collection

California debates who should be eligible for reparations for slavery

Jan 4, 2024
Recommendations start "with those folks who are clearly descendants of 250 years of wage theft in this country," says Sen. Steven Bradford.
Illustration: Dylan Miettinen/Marketplace | Photos: filo and JasonDoiy/Getty Images

2024 will be a big year for the reparations debate in California

Jan 3, 2024
After a state task force issued a nearly 1,100-page report in 2023, lawmakers are starting to look at reparations policy options.
California State Sen. Steven Bradford is one of nine task force members who issued a report on reparations last year.
Illustration: Dylan Miettinen/Marketplace | Photo: Courtesy California State Senate

EVs have made big inroads in California. But why do most car buyers go with gas?

Nov 2, 2023
Wealthier drivers are more open to electric vehicles, but low-income people are hesitant due to purchase cost and a lack of charging stations.
Joey Gil, a Tesla driver, said reducing carbon emissions was a key reason to switch to electric.
Caleigh Wells

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How this California business puts animals to work preventing wildfires

Oct 25, 2023
Shepherdess Land & Livestock offers prescribed grazing services with sheep and goats.
“We use our animals in a very special, targeted type of manner, very different to traditional ranching with grazing animals,” says Cole Bush, owner and operator of Shepherdess Land & Livestock in California’s Ojai Valley.
Paul Mirah Collins

In California, one county is forcing restaurants to pay wage theft claims or risk losing their permits

Sep 7, 2023
Santa Clara County is helping regulators deal with businesses that cheat workers out of wages but fail to settle that debt.
Melissa Sanchez with the Fair Workplace Collaborative speaks with a restaurant manager. Sanchez is part of an outreach effort to inform small businesses about Santa Clara County’s food permit enforcement program.
Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED

Checking in on the path of pandemic homebuying

Aug 10, 2023
Three real estate agents explain how their communities have changed.
The flow of out-of-state buyers into rural communities has not stopped, according to one Montana real estate agent.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images