How Janitors Banded Together to Fight Rape on the Night Shift
Women janitors ended a hunger strike outside the state capitol this week, and cheered as they learned Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to protect janitors like them from sexual violence and abuse on the job. Host Sasha Khokha reflects on the 18 months she spent interviewing immigrant women janitors, and the impact her team's reporting had on changing California law.
A Year After the Valley Fire, Lake County Residents Rise From the Ashes
When KQED's Sukey Lewis covered last year's devastating Valley Fire, this was more than a radio story ... it was personal. She grew up in Lake County in the mountains north of Napa, where the fire burned through 76,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,200 homes. To mark the one-year anniversary of the fire, Sukey drove back up to Cobb Mountain to check on her hometown's recovery.
Taking a Trip in the Goodyear Blimp Before It Makes Its Final Landing
The majestic blimp is a mainstay of sporting events all across the country, providing that unmistakable birds-eye view. But the fleet of one of the largest operators of blimps -- Goodyear, which has operations in Los Angeles -- is undergoing a major renovation. Their new airships are not -- technically -- blimps at all. From KCRW in L.A., Steve Chiotakis took a ride on a blimp that's set to retire, the "Spirit of Innovation," and he filed this report.
Lost Champions: The California Athletes Who Broke Pro Football's Color Line
The Los Angeles Rams were the first NFL team to sign African-American players. Many people know the role Jackie Robinson played in integrating Major League Baseball in 1947. But Kenny Washington and Woody Strode broke the pro football color line a year earlier, in 1946. San Francisco sportswriter Gretchen Atwood traces this history in her new book, "Lost Champions."
Threee New Releases by Boundary-Bending Bay Area Artists
Every month, The California Report's Suzie Racho and our jazz critic Andrew Gilbert join us to talk about the latest from jazz musicians in the Golden State. Today they're here to tell us about three new albums all focused on the idea of ... reinvention.