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"content": "\u003cp>Lawmakers and immigrant advocates vow to persist after Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have protected some immigrants from federal authorities if they’re released from prison under state criminal justice reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), the bill’s author, said she was disappointed in Newsom’s decision to veto \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11946255/california-bill-would-protect-immigrants-freed-under-criminal-justice-reforms-from-being-handed-to-ice\">AB 1306, known as the HOME Act\u003c/a>, saying collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amounts to “double punishment” for immigrants who have earned parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was never the intention of the Legislature to exclude immigrants from restorative justice reform policies,” Carrillo said. “I am committed to re-introducing the policy and ending a dual system of justice in California that treats immigrants as less than and unworthy of a second chance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"ICE Out of California Coalition\"]‘The Governor may claim that he supports rehabilitation and second chances. Yet he cannot praise rehabilitation in one breath, but condone the racist targeting of immigrants for detention and deportation in the next.’[/pullquote]The bill would have required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to let noncitizens return to their homes and communities, as U.S. citizens do, if they earn clemency from the governor or resentencing under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11714104/jerry-brown-will-leave-lasting-impact-on-criminal-justice-in-california\">recent laws aimed at rehabilitation and reducing mass incarceration\u003c/a> and racial disparities in sentencing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under current practice, prison officials alert federal authorities and arrange to transfer noncitizen inmates to immigration custody upon their release. Even longtime legal residents with green cards can spend months or years in ICE detention, and many are eventually deported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom vetoed the bill Friday evening and issued a statement explaining the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bill would prevent information sharing and coordination upon a person’s release from CDCR custody for a significant number of people and, as a result, would impede CDCR’s interaction with a federal law enforcement agency charged with assessing public safety risks,” he wrote. “I believe current law strikes the right balance on limiting interaction to support community trust and cooperation between law enforcement and local communities. For this reason, I cannot sign this bill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates called Newsom’s veto a calculated move to protect his presidential aspirations. A statement from the ICE Out of California Coalition reads in part: “We denounce Gov. Newsom’s cruel, callous and cowardly decision to veto this common-sense solution. When policy-making is driven by vanity and crass ambition rather than sound judgment, all Californians suffer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under federal immigration law, even legal permanent residents can lose their lawful status and be deported if they have committed certain crimes. Nothing in the state bill would have prevented ICE from locating those people after they returned home. But it would have restricted the state’s role in cooperating with ICE’s enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The HOME Act is more limited than a different bill last year, the VISION Act, which would have blocked all transfers from prison to ICE. That bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924388/effort-to-block-prison-to-ice-transfers-in-california-fails-in-final-hours-of-legislative-session\">narrowly failed in the state Legislature last August\u003c/a>. But the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960794/a-bill-to-stop-some-prison-to-ice-transfers-heads-to-newsoms-desk\">HOME Act overwhelmingly passed both the state Assembly and Senate this year\u003c/a>. It would have shielded incarcerated people from ICE if they qualified for release under criminal justice reform bills signed by Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Elderly people or those suffering severe medical conditions.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>People whose crimes were committed in their youth and have already served long sentences.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>People whose crimes were a direct result of suffering sexual assault or domestic violence.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Several states, including Oregon, Illinois, plus Washington, D.C., have already enacted legislation to restrict prison-to-ICE transfers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement groups that had opposed the broader VISION Act took no position on the HOME Act, so the bill faced no organized opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, sanctuary laws prevent local police and sheriffs from cooperating in immigration enforcement much of the time. But there’s a broad exemption for prisons. CDCR documents recently obtained under public records laws by the ACLU of Northern California show that in just two months last year California turned over 200 people to ICE after they’d served their time in prison. In addition, the records show, incarcerated people who have been flagged for ICE are barred from many re-entry programs in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Governor may claim that he supports rehabilitation and second chances,” said the ICE Out of California Coalition. “Yet he cannot praise rehabilitation in one breath, but condone the racist targeting of immigrants for detention and deportation in the next.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person who knows the toll of the current policy is Los Angeles resident Sandra Castañeda. She served 19 years of a 40-year murder sentence she received for driving a van out of which a man shot and killed someone. But her conviction was vacated after California reformed a law that had caused people like her to be sentenced for murders they did not commit. In addition, Newsom commuted her sentence, based on her rehabilitation in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11943030,news_11946255]But instead of going home, Castañeda, who’s had a legal green card since she was 9, spent an additional year in ICE detention fighting until her deportation case was dropped by an immigration judge last year. She said she feels devastated for other immigrants who will suffer a similar fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a slap in the face,” she said of the governor’s veto. “He commuted me! We’ve been rehabilitated, and then you want us to get deported? But the fight doesn’t stop here. Hopefully someday somebody will realize that this law should pass.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, another criminal justice bill that was well on its way to the governor’s desk was pulled back at the last minute. Lawmakers carrying the California Mandela Act (AB 280) — a bill to restrict the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons and ICE facilities — decided to make it a two-year bill after indications that Newsom would veto it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill had passed the Assembly and the state Senate but the two houses have yet to concur on amendments. But the Mandela Act faces opposition from law enforcement groups. Supporters of that bill say they will try to establish a productive dialogue with Newsom and move it forward next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under federal immigration law, even legal permanent residents can lose their lawful status and be deported if they have committed certain crimes. Nothing in the state bill would have prevented ICE from locating those people after they returned home. But it would have restricted the state’s role in cooperating with ICE’s enforcement efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The HOME Act is more limited than a different bill last year, the VISION Act, which would have blocked all transfers from prison to ICE. That bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924388/effort-to-block-prison-to-ice-transfers-in-california-fails-in-final-hours-of-legislative-session\">narrowly failed in the state Legislature last August\u003c/a>. But the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11960794/a-bill-to-stop-some-prison-to-ice-transfers-heads-to-newsoms-desk\">HOME Act overwhelmingly passed both the state Assembly and Senate this year\u003c/a>. It would have shielded incarcerated people from ICE if they qualified for release under criminal justice reform bills signed by Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Elderly people or those suffering severe medical conditions.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>People whose crimes were committed in their youth and have already served long sentences.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>People whose crimes were a direct result of suffering sexual assault or domestic violence.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Several states, including Oregon, Illinois, plus Washington, D.C., have already enacted legislation to restrict prison-to-ICE transfers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Law enforcement groups that had opposed the broader VISION Act took no position on the HOME Act, so the bill faced no organized opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, sanctuary laws prevent local police and sheriffs from cooperating in immigration enforcement much of the time. But there’s a broad exemption for prisons. CDCR documents recently obtained under public records laws by the ACLU of Northern California show that in just two months last year California turned over 200 people to ICE after they’d served their time in prison. In addition, the records show, incarcerated people who have been flagged for ICE are barred from many re-entry programs in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Governor may claim that he supports rehabilitation and second chances,” said the ICE Out of California Coalition. “Yet he cannot praise rehabilitation in one breath, but condone the racist targeting of immigrants for detention and deportation in the next.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person who knows the toll of the current policy is Los Angeles resident Sandra Castañeda. She served 19 years of a 40-year murder sentence she received for driving a van out of which a man shot and killed someone. But her conviction was vacated after California reformed a law that had caused people like her to be sentenced for murders they did not commit. In addition, Newsom commuted her sentence, based on her rehabilitation in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But instead of going home, Castañeda, who’s had a legal green card since she was 9, spent an additional year in ICE detention fighting until her deportation case was dropped by an immigration judge last year. She said she feels devastated for other immigrants who will suffer a similar fate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a slap in the face,” she said of the governor’s veto. “He commuted me! We’ve been rehabilitated, and then you want us to get deported? But the fight doesn’t stop here. Hopefully someday somebody will realize that this law should pass.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, another criminal justice bill that was well on its way to the governor’s desk was pulled back at the last minute. Lawmakers carrying the California Mandela Act (AB 280) — a bill to restrict the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons and ICE facilities — decided to make it a two-year bill after indications that Newsom would veto it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill had passed the Assembly and the state Senate but the two houses have yet to concur on amendments. But the Mandela Act faces opposition from law enforcement groups. Supporters of that bill say they will try to establish a productive dialogue with Newsom and move it forward next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>As a social worker connecting residents to public assistance programs in Marin County, Amy Gramajo frequently helps families apply for free or low-cost child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those families typically qualify for subsidized child care, but they wind up waiting for months, or even years before they land an open spot at a child care program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Amy Gramajo, social worker, Marin County\"]‘I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here.’[/pullquote]The shortage of affordable child care in one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area is weighing heavily on Gramajo. A center where she sends her 5- and 8-year-old daughters for child care is at risk of closing after losing its lease last month, putting dozens of working parents like her on edge about whether they’ll be able to find alternative care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five decades, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center has played a vital role in the lives of hundreds of lower-income families who rely on its early education and after-school programs. It’s one of just a few subsidized child care centers in Marin. Parents and students cherish the close-knit community and the fact that it’s located in a county park at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, giving children ample space to play outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re surrounded by all these amazing trees and hiking trails, just being so close to nature is such an important part of any human’s development,” said Vesta Torres, 29, one of several teachers who started coming to the center as babies and who now work there to raise the next generation of kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For single or working parents with school-age kids, the center crucially fills in the gap during the afternoon hours or periods when school is out. Eva Polony said the center helped her get through the pandemic by providing a place for her teenage sons to go. The center also supervised her sons’ online learning while she was at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961419\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961419 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children on mats watch an adult in front of them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annie Hanna teaches a yoga class for children at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They are here for the essential workers and then some,” she said. “They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the center’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Eva Polony, resident, Marin County\"]‘They are here for the essential workers and then some. They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.’[/pullquote]Its aging buildings have structural issues that led the Ross Valley School District, which owns the campus, to terminate the center’s lease on Aug. 31. The school board president, Shelley Hamilton, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mxmguLyVw&t=1457s\">at a recent hearing\u003c/a> that there were no immediate plans to evict the nonprofit organization that runs the center, but by operating without a lease, the group was exposing itself to increased safety and liability risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center was holding out hope that the county Office of Education would buy the property and lease it back to the center. The office scrapped its plan, however, after a building inspection report concluded it might cost at least $14 million to bring the property up to current safety standards — an amount that John Carroll, the superintendent of Marin County schools, said his office doesn’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidi Tomsky, the center’s executive director, disputes the findings of the report. She said inspectors were holding the buildings to more stringent standards reserved for schools, rather than for a licensed child care program like the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961416 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair interacts with two children in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Executive Director Heidi Tomsky works with children on an art project at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center. The center is one of the few to offer low-cost, subsidized child care in Marin County and is facing eviction after losing its lease on Aug. 31. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Under state law, child care centers undergo random inspections by the Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing division to ensure they meet all health and safety requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that the buildings need renovations. I’m not quite sure or convinced yet that they’re unsafe to the standard that some people believe they are,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that closing the center would create a ripple effect for the parents who send their kids there, many of whom are gardeners, house cleaners and restaurant and grocery store workers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Heidi Tomsky, executive director, Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center\"]‘Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security.’[/pullquote]“Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County is already one of the most expensive places to live in California, so the cost of child care is just as high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unitedwaysca.org/realcost/\">A recent report by the United Ways of California\u003c/a> found that nearly a quarter of households in Marin don’t earn enough to meet basic needs, including housing, food, transportation and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last five years, the average price for preschool in Marin has gone up nearly 40% to $2,315 a month, and up to $2,600 per month for infant care, according to Aideen Gaidmore, executive director of the Marin Child Care Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of child care is why more than 900 children are on a waitlist her agency maintains for subsidized child care, Gaidmore said. That means they qualify for low-cost or free child care, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get it because of insufficient funding, staffing or facilities to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961417\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A building and play area with children and adults in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center in the Deer Park area of Fairfax. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased state funding and federal pandemic aid for child care have helped her agency to serve hundreds more families in the last two years, Gaidmore said, but the number of available slots hasn’t kept pace with demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Aideen Gaidmore, executive director, Marin Child Care Council\"]‘There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason.’[/pullquote]There have been attempts locally to boost access to early education for Marin’s underserved children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, a proposal \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">to raise the local sales tax by a \u003c/a>quarter-cent to raise about $12 million per year for the cause received 63% of votes, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass. (A local taxpayer group \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">argued in voters’ pamphlets \u003c/a>that if the measure passed “many will flock to Marin for free child care.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Left with limited resources, local nonprofits such as the Marin Community Foundation instead focused on \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincf.org/buck-family-fund-grants/economic-opportunity/access-to-quality-child-care\">funding $1.5 million each year on financial assistance, particularly for single, working parents and training early educators\u003c/a> in subsidized programs. The philanthropic organization will phase out the program so it can develop and implement a strategic plan to expand access to child care in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on Bay Area Child Care' tag='child-care']Gaidmore said her agency used \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/21/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-funds-provided-a-critical-lifeline-to-200000-child-care-providers-helping-millions-of-families-to-work/\">federal pandemic aid\u003c/a> to help family child care homes get properly licensed to increase the kind of facilities set up for infant care. It’s also administering a guaranteed income program for 21 entry-level early educators, giving them $8,000 in stipends per year over a three-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to focus on teachers who were just coming into the field and how we could encourage them to stay there,” Gaidmore said. “We know that they’re the lowest paid. So it made more sense to bring that in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the nearly 90 families enrolled at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center, Gaidmore said she’s trying to secure funding to minimize potential child care disruption for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is really supporting those families in any way we can, and obviously the teachers and staff of the center,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The shortage of affordable child care in one of the most expensive counties in the Bay Area is weighing heavily on Gramajo. A center where she sends her 5- and 8-year-old daughters for child care is at risk of closing after losing its lease last month, putting dozens of working parents like her on edge about whether they’ll be able to find alternative care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have any close family nearby to help me. If the center closes I don’t think I can maintain a full-time job or continue paying for an apartment here,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For five decades, the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center has played a vital role in the lives of hundreds of lower-income families who rely on its early education and after-school programs. It’s one of just a few subsidized child care centers in Marin. Parents and students cherish the close-knit community and the fact that it’s located in a county park at the foot of Mount Tamalpais, giving children ample space to play outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re surrounded by all these amazing trees and hiking trails, just being so close to nature is such an important part of any human’s development,” said Vesta Torres, 29, one of several teachers who started coming to the center as babies and who now work there to raise the next generation of kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For single or working parents with school-age kids, the center crucially fills in the gap during the afternoon hours or periods when school is out. Eva Polony said the center helped her get through the pandemic by providing a place for her teenage sons to go. The center also supervised her sons’ online learning while she was at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961419\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961419 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children on mats watch an adult in front of them.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-020-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Annie Hanna teaches a yoga class for children at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They are here for the essential workers and then some,” she said. “They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the center’s future is uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘They are here for the essential workers and then some. They’re just the foundation for families to keep working and to be able to feel secure. You know your kids’ needs are gonna be met.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Its aging buildings have structural issues that led the Ross Valley School District, which owns the campus, to terminate the center’s lease on Aug. 31. The school board president, Shelley Hamilton, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2mxmguLyVw&t=1457s\">at a recent hearing\u003c/a> that there were no immediate plans to evict the nonprofit organization that runs the center, but by operating without a lease, the group was exposing itself to increased safety and liability risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The center was holding out hope that the county Office of Education would buy the property and lease it back to the center. The office scrapped its plan, however, after a building inspection report concluded it might cost at least $14 million to bring the property up to current safety standards — an amount that John Carroll, the superintendent of Marin County schools, said his office doesn’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heidi Tomsky, the center’s executive director, disputes the findings of the report. She said inspectors were holding the buildings to more stringent standards reserved for schools, rather than for a licensed child care program like the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961416 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long hair interacts with two children in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-005-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Executive Director Heidi Tomsky works with children on an art project at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center. The center is one of the few to offer low-cost, subsidized child care in Marin County and is facing eviction after losing its lease on Aug. 31. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Under state law, child care centers undergo random inspections by the Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing division to ensure they meet all health and safety requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that the buildings need renovations. I’m not quite sure or convinced yet that they’re unsafe to the standard that some people believe they are,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that closing the center would create a ripple effect for the parents who send their kids there, many of whom are gardeners, house cleaners and restaurant and grocery store workers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Losing child care means likely that a family will lose their job, which will impact their housing, which will impact their food, which will impact their … whole entire economic security,” Tomsky said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin County is already one of the most expensive places to live in California, so the cost of child care is just as high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://unitedwaysca.org/realcost/\">A recent report by the United Ways of California\u003c/a> found that nearly a quarter of households in Marin don’t earn enough to meet basic needs, including housing, food, transportation and child care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last five years, the average price for preschool in Marin has gone up nearly 40% to $2,315 a month, and up to $2,600 per month for infant care, according to Aideen Gaidmore, executive director of the Marin Child Care Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of child care is why more than 900 children are on a waitlist her agency maintains for subsidized child care, Gaidmore said. That means they qualify for low-cost or free child care, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get it because of insufficient funding, staffing or facilities to serve them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961417\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A building and play area with children and adults in it.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230913-ChildCareCenterEviction-011-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at the Fairfax San Anselmo Children’s Center in the Deer Park area of Fairfax. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There are families who are eligible, but will never be pulled off that list for whatever reason,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Increased state funding and federal pandemic aid for child care have helped her agency to serve hundreds more families in the last two years, Gaidmore said, but the number of available slots hasn’t kept pace with demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There have been attempts locally to boost access to early education for Marin’s underserved children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2016, a proposal \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">to raise the local sales tax by a \u003c/a>quarter-cent to raise about $12 million per year for the cause received 63% of votes, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass. (A local taxpayer group \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincounty.org/depts/rv/election-info/past-elections/page-data/tabs-collection/past2016/nov-8/measure/measurea\">argued in voters’ pamphlets \u003c/a>that if the measure passed “many will flock to Marin for free child care.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Left with limited resources, local nonprofits such as the Marin Community Foundation instead focused on \u003ca href=\"https://www.marincf.org/buck-family-fund-grants/economic-opportunity/access-to-quality-child-care\">funding $1.5 million each year on financial assistance, particularly for single, working parents and training early educators\u003c/a> in subsidized programs. The philanthropic organization will phase out the program so it can develop and implement a strategic plan to expand access to child care in Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Gaidmore said her agency used \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/21/fact-sheet-american-rescue-plan-funds-provided-a-critical-lifeline-to-200000-child-care-providers-helping-millions-of-families-to-work/\">federal pandemic aid\u003c/a> to help family child care homes get properly licensed to increase the kind of facilities set up for infant care. It’s also administering a guaranteed income program for 21 entry-level early educators, giving them $8,000 in stipends per year over a three-year period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wanted to focus on teachers who were just coming into the field and how we could encourage them to stay there,” Gaidmore said. “We know that they’re the lowest paid. So it made more sense to bring that in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the nearly 90 families enrolled at the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center, Gaidmore said she’s trying to secure funding to minimize potential child care disruption for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our concern is really supporting those families in any way we can, and obviously the teachers and staff of the center,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Non-Verbal Teen to 'Take on the World' With a Symphony Written in His Head",
"headTitle": "Non-Verbal Teen to ‘Take on the World’ With a Symphony Written in His Head | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was updated on Wednesday, Sept. 27 to reference the ongoing debate in the autism community over “facilitated communication,” and to include the perspective of Jacob Rock’s neurologist on his ability to type independently.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first glance, the Rock family’s house on top of a hill in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood looks much like the others on the block, except that it’s painted a deep blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you walk down the driveway, however, it’s clear music lovers live here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a professional stage and tables set up for backyard concerts followed by a home music studio that houses a giant record collection. A variety of musical instruments are scattered around the space. Jacob Rock, 19, loves to bang on whatever is nearby: congas, wind chimes, the piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. As he grew older, he would often flail his arms and hit, pinch, or punch himself to the point of breaking skin. He could verbalize only two words: “yes” and “eat.” He didn’t have the motor skills to point to the right answers in school. Some of his teachers told his parents that he probably had a very low IQ because he couldn’t speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, one of Jacob’s neurologists, disagreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She thought Jacob could learn to type and unlock his ability to communicate. It was a journey that took seven long years. During shelter-in-place in 2020, Jacob finally made a breakthrough, pecking out letters with one finger on an iPad. He was 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11960141 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person uses an ipad to type a sentence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacob Rock uses an iPad to communicate at the family’s home music studio in Los Angeles on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. His neurologist confirms that even though his father holds the device for him, Jacob types independently. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bauman has been working with Jacob since he was 5 years old. Based on her observations of him, she confirmed that he’s now capable of typing and communicating independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s serious, ongoing debate in the autism community about whether kids like Jacob are actually typing on their own, or whether their communication is being facilitated by parents or other caregivers who are manipulating their devices or guiding them as they type. But Bauman says she has seen no evidence of that happening with Jacob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the controversy about facilitated communication,” Bauman said. “I do not see this as facilitated communication. [Jacob] has a means of communicating what his thoughts are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He started really expressing himself and typing in full sentences,” Paul said. “Everything was spelled correctly.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jacob Rock, composer, 'Unforgettable Sunrise'\"]‘It was damn, damn satisfying that I could claim my terrific identity and show everyone my intelligence.’[/pullquote]“It was damn, damn satisfying that I could claim my terrific identity and show everyone my intelligence,” typed Jacob, when asked about what it felt like to finally be able to communicate in words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first things he told his parents on his text-to-speech app was: “My name is Jacob. Not Jake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just wanted to say, ‘Look, I’m here,’” Paul said. “‘And you’ve been underestimating me the whole time. But I’ve been watching and listening.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, Jacob started writing poetry, which Paul would post on Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>Your Assumptions Are Wrong\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>By Jacob Rock \u003c/em>\u003cem>🌿\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Everything I read is digested in my brain and locked away.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I am a prisoner in my body but breaking out in style.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I love my dad for rescuing me from the sadness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I make great noise every time I lay my mouth on my ipad.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mind over Matter will save my life.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>No matter what you think of me and my noises, I am listening and learning.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>My sadness is gone and I am tremendously ready to take on the world.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003ch2>Becoming a composer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Six months after learning to type, Jacob surprised his parents again. He told them he had a 70-minute symphony in his head. Composer and musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.roblaufermusic.com/\">Rob Laufer\u003c/a> helped Jacob translate that music to a score on the page. It’s called \u003cem>Unforgettable Sunrise\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The title reflects his sunrise out of silence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxq7-laLFos/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The orchestra from USC’s Thornton School of Music \u003ca href=\"https://alextheatre.org/event/wild-honey-presents-unforgettable-sunrise\">premieres Jacob’s work \u003c/a>on Sept. 30 at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, conducted by \u003ca href=\"https://www.danielnewmanlessler.com/bio\">Daniel Newman-Lessler.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the symphony is joyous, it also chronicles the physical and mental distress Jacob has endured. He suffers from severe digestion issues and often has terrible stomach pain — something he couldn’t tell his parents about before he learned to type.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960142\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960142\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with short hair and glasses sits at a piano.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Musician Rob Laufer is pictured at the Rock family’s home studio in Los Angeles. Rob Laufer has been working with Jacob Rock for about 2 years to translate Jacob’s vision into a musical score. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s why his music has a bittersweet quality to it — pain and joy are always intertwined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob’s parents weren’t surprised that music became a way for him to channel his emotions. As a baby, Jacob always calmed down in the car when they played music really loud, and he would bang on instruments like drums and piano. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Rob Laufer, musician and composer\"]‘Everything he would say made sense, because it was coherent to his soul, to the story he wanted to tell.’’[/pullquote]At 18 months old, he started dancing in time to one of the Beach Boys’ most complex and avant-garde songs, “Cabinessence.” And, as a 10-year-old, he would go out on the porch in the middle of the night and play the wind chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would wake up and our front door would be wide open at three in the morning,” Paul said. “So I knew he was serious about music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob also grew up around music. His dad has spent years organizing concerts for charity through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/WIldhoneyfoundation/\">Wild Honey Foundation\u003c/a>, including a string of sold-out, all-star autism benefit shows featuring the music of bands like The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Buffalo Springfield and The Lovin’ Spoonful. Sometimes, those concerts happened in the Rocks’ backyard. Sometimes, in larger venues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961440\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961440 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two standing people talk with two seated peopl in an indoor setting filled with people and musical instruments.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Rock and his son Jacob visit with the musicians during the first rehearsal of Jacob and Rob Laufer’s symphonic collaboration, ‘Unforgettable Sunrise,’ with a 54-person orchestra at University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laufer, the composer and musician, and Paul have collaborated on many projects over the years, including Wild Honey ensembles. Laufer also worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Johnny Cash, Fiona Apple and other musicians. But when Paul called and asked him to translate Jacob’s musical vision to the page, he was daunted by the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was fascinated and intrigued,” Laufer said. “But it seemed like this [was] going to be a wild, long ride. And I do not know what it’s going to be. It was a complete mystery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob can’t sing or read music. His iPad can only express his voice in words. But he could describe the music he was hearing in his head in terms of mood, instruments and emotion. He sent Laufer an outline with detailed instructions for six movements, each with a title and carefully delineated sections with specific time codes. Here’s an example:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>ACT 4: Laughing in my Sleep\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4a Scary Laughing (2 min)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>flutes open with 2 minutes of scary laughing. At the 30-second mark, they are joined by congas and drums. Chimes join at the 45-second mark. At the one-minute mark, tuba joins the mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4b Drown Out (45 sec)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2-minute mark, they are drowned out by waves of violins and piano for 45 seconds. Fast and choppy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Harp 30 seconds)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4c Violins and piano takeover (30 sec) ***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The violins and piano take over for another 30 seconds.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, the instructions were more poetic:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The violins are demanding sleep and the horns are demanding pain,” Jacob wrote. “They battle for 3 minutes of call and response until the horns realize that they are defeated (Every manic horn met by soaring violin).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laufer was amazed at the precision of Jacob’s vision for the symphony. His directions were exacting, but always made the piece better. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jacob Rock, composer, 'Unforgettable Sunrise'\"]‘I was unbelievably damn-floored by Rob’s ability to tap into my emotions. I can only say that he is my great collaborator and he reads my musical mind. He always can feel what I want and turn it into amazing notes.’[/pullquote]“Everything he would say made sense, because it was coherent to his soul, to the story he wanted to tell,” Laufer said. “Here’s a guy who was able to communicate his entire life of feelings,” he continued. “So I was getting this fresh fire to handle. I trusted it completely for what it was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob grew to trust Laufer as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was unbelievably damn-floored by Rob’s ability to tap into my emotions,” Jacob typed. “I can only say that he is my great collaborator and he reads my musical mind. He always can feel what I want and turn it into amazing notes.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>Paul said Jacob is elated that his music will be performed in front of an audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961441 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of four people talk and laugh in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rob Laufer (left) jokes with Jacob during the first rehearsal of Jacob and Rob’s symphonic collaboration, ‘Unforgettable Sunrise,’ at University of Southern California. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He tells me all the time how much happier he is now,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob is already working on a new project — a Mozart-influenced opera. He said being autistic has been a gift, allowing him to tap into the power of music.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Paul Rock, Jacob Rock's dad\"]‘He tells me all the time how much happier he is now.’[/pullquote]“I am staying out of wanting to have really damn, damn feelings on my failures,” he said through his iPad. “But I would tell people that I believe that I am gifted with having strong emotions about even the smallest notes in my work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For his part, Paul is astounded at Jacob’s resilience. After years of self-harming, he’s not lingering in a negative space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think most people would be totally shattered, being ignored and being downplayed,” Paul said. “But to him, it was like water off his back. He still has amazing compassion and humor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Jacob Rock is autistic and couldn’t speak for many years. Once he learned to type, he wrote a 70-minute symphony debuting at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Los Angeles County, on Sept. 30. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was updated on Wednesday, Sept. 27 to reference the ongoing debate in the autism community over “facilitated communication,” and to include the perspective of Jacob Rock’s neurologist on his ability to type independently.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first glance, the Rock family’s house on top of a hill in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood looks much like the others on the block, except that it’s painted a deep blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once you walk down the driveway, however, it’s clear music lovers live here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a professional stage and tables set up for backyard concerts followed by a home music studio that houses a giant record collection. A variety of musical instruments are scattered around the space. Jacob Rock, 19, loves to bang on whatever is nearby: congas, wind chimes, the piano.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. As he grew older, he would often flail his arms and hit, pinch, or punch himself to the point of breaking skin. He could verbalize only two words: “yes” and “eat.” He didn’t have the motor skills to point to the right answers in school. Some of his teachers told his parents that he probably had a very low IQ because he couldn’t speak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, one of Jacob’s neurologists, disagreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She thought Jacob could learn to type and unlock his ability to communicate. It was a journey that took seven long years. During shelter-in-place in 2020, Jacob finally made a breakthrough, pecking out letters with one finger on an iPad. He was 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960141\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11960141 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person uses an ipad to type a sentence.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacob Rock uses an iPad to communicate at the family’s home music studio in Los Angeles on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. His neurologist confirms that even though his father holds the device for him, Jacob types independently. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bauman has been working with Jacob since he was 5 years old. Based on her observations of him, she confirmed that he’s now capable of typing and communicating independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s serious, ongoing debate in the autism community about whether kids like Jacob are actually typing on their own, or whether their communication is being facilitated by parents or other caregivers who are manipulating their devices or guiding them as they type. But Bauman says she has seen no evidence of that happening with Jacob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the controversy about facilitated communication,” Bauman said. “I do not see this as facilitated communication. [Jacob] has a means of communicating what his thoughts are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He started really expressing himself and typing in full sentences,” Paul said. “Everything was spelled correctly.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It was damn, damn satisfying that I could claim my terrific identity and show everyone my intelligence,” typed Jacob, when asked about what it felt like to finally be able to communicate in words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first things he told his parents on his text-to-speech app was: “My name is Jacob. Not Jake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just wanted to say, ‘Look, I’m here,’” Paul said. “‘And you’ve been underestimating me the whole time. But I’ve been watching and listening.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon, Jacob started writing poetry, which Paul would post on Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\u003cem>Your Assumptions Are Wrong\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>By Jacob Rock \u003c/em>\u003cem>🌿\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Everything I read is digested in my brain and locked away.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I am a prisoner in my body but breaking out in style.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I love my dad for rescuing me from the sadness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I make great noise every time I lay my mouth on my ipad.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mind over Matter will save my life.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>No matter what you think of me and my noises, I am listening and learning.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>My sadness is gone and I am tremendously ready to take on the world.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003ch2>Becoming a composer\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Six months after learning to type, Jacob surprised his parents again. He told them he had a 70-minute symphony in his head. Composer and musician \u003ca href=\"https://www.roblaufermusic.com/\">Rob Laufer\u003c/a> helped Jacob translate that music to a score on the page. It’s called \u003cem>Unforgettable Sunrise\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The title reflects his sunrise out of silence.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The orchestra from USC’s Thornton School of Music \u003ca href=\"https://alextheatre.org/event/wild-honey-presents-unforgettable-sunrise\">premieres Jacob’s work \u003c/a>on Sept. 30 at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, conducted by \u003ca href=\"https://www.danielnewmanlessler.com/bio\">Daniel Newman-Lessler.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the symphony is joyous, it also chronicles the physical and mental distress Jacob has endured. He suffers from severe digestion issues and often has terrible stomach pain — something he couldn’t tell his parents about before he learned to type.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11960142\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11960142\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person with short hair and glasses sits at a piano.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230901_Symphony_17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Musician Rob Laufer is pictured at the Rock family’s home studio in Los Angeles. Rob Laufer has been working with Jacob Rock for about 2 years to translate Jacob’s vision into a musical score. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s why his music has a bittersweet quality to it — pain and joy are always intertwined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob’s parents weren’t surprised that music became a way for him to channel his emotions. As a baby, Jacob always calmed down in the car when they played music really loud, and he would bang on instruments like drums and piano. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At 18 months old, he started dancing in time to one of the Beach Boys’ most complex and avant-garde songs, “Cabinessence.” And, as a 10-year-old, he would go out on the porch in the middle of the night and play the wind chimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would wake up and our front door would be wide open at three in the morning,” Paul said. “So I knew he was serious about music.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob also grew up around music. His dad has spent years organizing concerts for charity through the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/groups/WIldhoneyfoundation/\">Wild Honey Foundation\u003c/a>, including a string of sold-out, all-star autism benefit shows featuring the music of bands like The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Buffalo Springfield and The Lovin’ Spoonful. Sometimes, those concerts happened in the Rocks’ backyard. Sometimes, in larger venues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961440\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961440 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two standing people talk with two seated peopl in an indoor setting filled with people and musical instruments.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_25-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Paul Rock and his son Jacob visit with the musicians during the first rehearsal of Jacob and Rob Laufer’s symphonic collaboration, ‘Unforgettable Sunrise,’ with a 54-person orchestra at University of Southern California in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Laufer, the composer and musician, and Paul have collaborated on many projects over the years, including Wild Honey ensembles. Laufer also worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Johnny Cash, Fiona Apple and other musicians. But when Paul called and asked him to translate Jacob’s musical vision to the page, he was daunted by the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was fascinated and intrigued,” Laufer said. “But it seemed like this [was] going to be a wild, long ride. And I do not know what it’s going to be. It was a complete mystery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob can’t sing or read music. His iPad can only express his voice in words. But he could describe the music he was hearing in his head in terms of mood, instruments and emotion. He sent Laufer an outline with detailed instructions for six movements, each with a title and carefully delineated sections with specific time codes. Here’s an example:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>ACT 4: Laughing in my Sleep\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4a Scary Laughing (2 min)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>flutes open with 2 minutes of scary laughing. At the 30-second mark, they are joined by congas and drums. Chimes join at the 45-second mark. At the one-minute mark, tuba joins the mix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4b Drown Out (45 sec)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2-minute mark, they are drowned out by waves of violins and piano for 45 seconds. Fast and choppy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(Harp 30 seconds)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>4c Violins and piano takeover (30 sec) ***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The violins and piano take over for another 30 seconds.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, the instructions were more poetic:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The violins are demanding sleep and the horns are demanding pain,” Jacob wrote. “They battle for 3 minutes of call and response until the horns realize that they are defeated (Every manic horn met by soaring violin).”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laufer was amazed at the precision of Jacob’s vision for the symphony. His directions were exacting, but always made the piece better. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Everything he would say made sense, because it was coherent to his soul, to the story he wanted to tell,” Laufer said. “Here’s a guy who was able to communicate his entire life of feelings,” he continued. “So I was getting this fresh fire to handle. I trusted it completely for what it was.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob grew to trust Laufer as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was unbelievably damn-floored by Rob’s ability to tap into my emotions,” Jacob typed. “I can only say that he is my great collaborator and he reads my musical mind. He always can feel what I want and turn it into amazing notes.”\u003cbr>\n\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>Paul said Jacob is elated that his music will be performed in front of an audience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961441\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961441 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A group of four people talk and laugh in an indoor setting.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230910_Symphony_28-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rob Laufer (left) jokes with Jacob during the first rehearsal of Jacob and Rob’s symphonic collaboration, ‘Unforgettable Sunrise,’ at University of Southern California. \u003ccite>(Alisha Jucevic for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He tells me all the time how much happier he is now,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jacob is already working on a new project — a Mozart-influenced opera. He said being autistic has been a gift, allowing him to tap into the power of music.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I am staying out of wanting to have really damn, damn feelings on my failures,” he said through his iPad. “But I would tell people that I believe that I am gifted with having strong emotions about even the smallest notes in my work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For his part, Paul is astounded at Jacob’s resilience. After years of self-harming, he’s not lingering in a negative space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think most people would be totally shattered, being ignored and being downplayed,” Paul said. “But to him, it was like water off his back. He still has amazing compassion and humor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Alameda's Pacific Pinball Museum Used To Operate Like 'a Little Speakeasy'",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003cem>Black Mirror\u003c/em> screenwriter Charlie Brooker created San Junipero, a fictional California coastal town, he used a few tricks to clue viewers into the era: the cars were old, there was a billboard advertising the movie \u003cem>The Witches of Eastwick\u003c/em>, and when Yorkie, the young and awkward protagonist walked into a bar, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/AsbSoNEjpow?feature=shared\">she went straight to the arcade machines\u003c/a>.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Simon Pyle, visitor, Pacific Pinball Museum\"]‘I’ve been a pinball fan since I was a kid, so it’s really cool to get my fix. And then, also to bring my kids here. My dad always brought me to play pinball, so it’s cool to pass that along, too.’[/pullquote]To say that arcades were the hallmark of entertainment in the ’80s is probably an overstatement, but they did represent a certain cultural moment in American history. A central component of any arcade is the pinball machine. Those can be hard to find these days unless one visits the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/\">Pacific Pinball Museum\u003c/a>, where nostalgia reigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonprofit interactive museum in Alameda has nine different rooms and over 100 pinball machines, spanning the history of this game from its early ancestor, bagatelle, through modern times. \u003ca href=\"https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661662/\">President Lincoln even played bagatelle\u003c/a>, one of many times when Americans would go through a pinball craze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been a pinball fan since I was a kid, so it’s really cool to get my fix,” said Simon Pyle, a visitor to the museum. “And then, also to bring my kids here. My dad always brought me to play pinball, so it’s cool to pass that along, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962029\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11962029 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man at his workstation hammers nails into a bagatelle board. This was a very popular board game played with marbles and the precursor of the universal pinball machines found in amusement arcades all over the world.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1570\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-800x628.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1020x801.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-160x126.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1536x1206.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1920x1507.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An archival photograph of a man assembling a child’s Corinthian Bagatelle Board at the Coronation company works in East London. \u003ccite>(Leslie Cardew/Daily Herald Archive via SSPL/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gambling or just for fun?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Visit today and it’s all family fun, but pinball was once considered a game of chance and was illegal in some places. That’s because the early pinball machines didn’t have bumpers or flippers. There was also no way for a player to control the ball’s trajectory. Flippers weren’t introduced until 1947.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 1940s, politicians across the United States took a stance against pinball because of its supposed ties to gambling. Most notably, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia made a big show of confiscating and dumping thousands of pinball machines as part of his campaign against organized crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of those laws banning pinball stayed on the books for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I first opened, that was 2002, and it was illegal to have an arcade in Alameda,” said Michael Schiess, executive director and founder of the Pacific Pinball Museum. “And so, it basically became a little speakeasy and people just would come in through the back door.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Michael Schiess, executive director and founder, Pacific Pinball Museum\"]‘When I first opened, that was 2002, and it was illegal to have an arcade in Alameda. … it basically became a little speakeasy and people just would come in through the back door.’[/pullquote] Schiess bought his first pinball machine with the intention of taking it apart and making kinetic art out of it. But once he started playing, he got hooked and started buying more and more machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get around the ban and operate legally, Schiess removed the coin slots in the machines and displayed his collection as a nonprofit museum, where people pay an admission fee and can play as long as they want. In 2014, Alameda changed its law banning pinball, but by then the museum was already established.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pinball art through the ages\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Art is also an important part of pinball nostalgia. Pinball artists \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/roy-parker\">Roy Parker\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/george-molentin\">George Molentin\u003c/a> were among the most well-known. The art on the first pinball machine with flippers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinballartusa.com/product-page/humpty-dumpty-1947-gottlieb-1\">Humpty Dumpty\u003c/a>, was done by Roy Parker. In it, a king sits on a throne surrounded by beautiful women; high scores are displayed on the tower and rampart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961873\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961873 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The lighted up display of a vintage pinball machine.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parts of a vintage pinball machine are seen at the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the mid-1960s, pinball art took a turn toward the contemporary. Known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/exhibition/pointy-people\">Pointy People\u003c/a>,” this new art style is characterized by angular strokes and pointy articulations. A prime example is the 1965 pinball machine \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/pot-o-gold\">Pot ‘O’ Gold\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housed in the \u003cem>Pointy People\u003c/em> exhibition room at the museum, it depicts a pot of lost treasure buried under the sea. It was the very first artwork from pinball artist Jerry K. Kelley, who developed this style. [aside label='More on Arts and Culture' tag='arts'] “[The museum] wasn’t ever supposed to be an amusement arcade,” Schiess said. “It was supposed to be a place where you learn about art and about technology and about history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A history lesson may be Schiess’ intention, but the thrill of playing is what draws most visitors here. Many linger in the \u003cem>Modern Room\u003c/em>, where the newest additions to pinball history proudly display their blockbuster-licensed themes: \u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Iron Man\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Indiana Jones\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what’s modern now will soon be relegated to history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, as with many pinball machines that came before, it’s comforting to know these relics of our culture will be preserved on a slanted surface that lights up and dings forevermore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/\">\u003cem>Pacific Pinball Museum\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 1510 Webster St., in Alameda. Open daily except Mondays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>To say that arcades were the hallmark of entertainment in the ’80s is probably an overstatement, but they did represent a certain cultural moment in American history. A central component of any arcade is the pinball machine. Those can be hard to find these days unless one visits the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/\">Pacific Pinball Museum\u003c/a>, where nostalgia reigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonprofit interactive museum in Alameda has nine different rooms and over 100 pinball machines, spanning the history of this game from its early ancestor, bagatelle, through modern times. \u003ca href=\"https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661662/\">President Lincoln even played bagatelle\u003c/a>, one of many times when Americans would go through a pinball craze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been a pinball fan since I was a kid, so it’s really cool to get my fix,” said Simon Pyle, a visitor to the museum. “And then, also to bring my kids here. My dad always brought me to play pinball, so it’s cool to pass that along, too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962029\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11962029 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man at his workstation hammers nails into a bagatelle board. This was a very popular board game played with marbles and the precursor of the universal pinball machines found in amusement arcades all over the world.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1570\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-800x628.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1020x801.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-160x126.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1536x1206.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230921-BAGATELLE-Getty-KQED-1920x1507.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An archival photograph of a man assembling a child’s Corinthian Bagatelle Board at the Coronation company works in East London. \u003ccite>(Leslie Cardew/Daily Herald Archive via SSPL/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gambling or just for fun?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Visit today and it’s all family fun, but pinball was once considered a game of chance and was illegal in some places. That’s because the early pinball machines didn’t have bumpers or flippers. There was also no way for a player to control the ball’s trajectory. Flippers weren’t introduced until 1947.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the early 1940s, politicians across the United States took a stance against pinball because of its supposed ties to gambling. Most notably, New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia made a big show of confiscating and dumping thousands of pinball machines as part of his campaign against organized crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Schiess bought his first pinball machine with the intention of taking it apart and making kinetic art out of it. But once he started playing, he got hooked and started buying more and more machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get around the ban and operate legally, Schiess removed the coin slots in the machines and displayed his collection as a nonprofit museum, where people pay an admission fee and can play as long as they want. In 2014, Alameda changed its law banning pinball, but by then the museum was already established.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Pinball art through the ages\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Art is also an important part of pinball nostalgia. Pinball artists \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/roy-parker\">Roy Parker\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/george-molentin\">George Molentin\u003c/a> were among the most well-known. The art on the first pinball machine with flippers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.pinballartusa.com/product-page/humpty-dumpty-1947-gottlieb-1\">Humpty Dumpty\u003c/a>, was done by Roy Parker. In it, a king sits on a throne surrounded by beautiful women; high scores are displayed on the tower and rampart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961873\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11961873 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"The lighted up display of a vintage pinball machine.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/20230917-PacificPinball-20-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Parts of a vintage pinball machine are seen at the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the mid-1960s, pinball art took a turn toward the contemporary. Known as “\u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/exhibition/pointy-people\">Pointy People\u003c/a>,” this new art style is characterized by angular strokes and pointy articulations. A prime example is the 1965 pinball machine \u003ca href=\"https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/pot-o-gold\">Pot ‘O’ Gold\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Housed in the \u003cem>Pointy People\u003c/em> exhibition room at the museum, it depicts a pot of lost treasure buried under the sea. It was the very first artwork from pinball artist Jerry K. Kelley, who developed this style. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “[The museum] wasn’t ever supposed to be an amusement arcade,” Schiess said. “It was supposed to be a place where you learn about art and about technology and about history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A history lesson may be Schiess’ intention, but the thrill of playing is what draws most visitors here. Many linger in the \u003cem>Modern Room\u003c/em>, where the newest additions to pinball history proudly display their blockbuster-licensed themes: \u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Iron Man\u003c/em>, \u003cem>Indiana Jones\u003c/em> and \u003cem>The Addams Family\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what’s modern now will soon be relegated to history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, as with many pinball machines that came before, it’s comforting to know these relics of our culture will be preserved on a slanted surface that lights up and dings forevermore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pacificpinball.org/\">\u003cem>Pacific Pinball Museum\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, 1510 Webster St., in Alameda. Open daily except Mondays.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "cashing-in-on-californias-broken-bottle-deposit-system",
"title": "Cashing In on the Future of California's Bottle Deposit System",
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"headTitle": "Cashing In on the Future of California’s Bottle Deposit System | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>Read a transcript of this episode\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Paul Beach was a kid growing up in Maine, he remembers going to a recycling center that was part of a grocery store. He watched people walk into this large space with garbage bags full of bottles and cans. And when he noticed they were walking out with cash, he wanted in on the hustle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have like $50 in cans. It took me a while to get that much, but it was pretty good income for, like, a 10-year-old,” Beach said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maine and California are two states with \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/current-and-proposed-laws/usa/california\">a Bottle Bill\u003c/a>, a law that encourages recycling for money. When Beach moved to California, where he’s lived for the past 25 years, he looked up the closest redemption center to him in Oakland and discovered it was 5 miles away. A place called Cash for Cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Beach, it’s not worth storing several bags of containers in his apartment for a single trip. Instead, he puts his recyclables in the blue bin on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This experience had him wondering: Where does the money go for bottle-and-can redemption if residents don’t turn them into a recycling center? And why is it so hard to recycle them in the first place?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Bottle Bill\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The money Beach is talking about is the California Redemption Value, or CRV — and it’s not exactly free. Whenever someone buys a drink from the store with the letters CRV printed on the label, they’re paying a 5-to-10-cent deposit at the checkout line. To get that deposit back, they have to recycle those containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This applies mostly to beverages that come in aluminum cans and plastic bottles. The whole point is to encourage recycling and reduce litter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1986, the state passed the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, also known as the Bottle Bill. The law created the recycling deposit system many use today. California is also one of 10 states in the country with a Bottle Bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan V. Collins, president of the Container Recycling Institute in Culver City, calls Bottle Bills “the rock stars of recycling” because of the financial incentive behind them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]“People either hold onto their bottle and turn it in for the 5 cents, or if they do litter it, someone else picks it up and takes it in for recycling,” Collins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since passing its Bottle Bill, California has had a good track record with the number of recycled and redeemed containers. One out of five beverage containers recycled in the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/current-and-proposed-laws/usa/california\">are recycled in California\u003c/a>, according to the Container Recycling Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But recycling containers isn’t the same as redeeming them for cash. As redemption centers closed across the state, Californians were left with fewer options to redeem their bottles and cans. According to CRI, the state’s redemption rates have fallen from 74% to 60% in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962004\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/09/21/cashing-in-on-californias-broken-bottle-deposit-system/bottles-ready-to-be-recycled-at-the-recycling-center-at-church-on-market-streets-in-san-francisco-calif-on-friday-august-9-2013-safeway-is-going-to-shut-down-its-recyling-center-here-by-septemb/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11962004\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962004\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two bins of glass bottles and cans\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bottles ready to be recycled at the recycling center at Church and Market streets in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Redemption center deserts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the Bottle Bill was passed in the 1980s it depended on California’s current recycling center infrastructure. Recycling centers were now obligated to give people back their money for bottles and cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these businesses created partnerships with grocery stores to establish convenience for consumers looking for a place to recycle. They set up shop in the parking lots of a store much like the one from Beach’s childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when revenue started to plummet at these locations because of the falling price of scrap material, many shuttered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2013, more than 40% of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/cash-in-the-can-californias-recycling-run-around/2055057/\">these recycling centers\u003c/a> have closed across the state. Collins said the Bay Area is the epicenter of these closures affecting a majority of people who depend on these centers for extra income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts,” Collins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the ’90s, San Francisco once had about 35 redemption centers scattered throughout the city. Today, there are only two and both are located in the Bayview District. CalRecycle \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/RecyclingCenters/\">lists about 1,200 redemption centers\u003c/a> left in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Abandoned deposits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When bottles and cans end up in landfills and not redeemed, those deposits are considered “unclaimed” by the state. This unclaimed money sits in the Beverage Container Fund, which is managed by CalRecycle. About 400 people in the state agency who work in the beverage container program are paid out of unclaimed deposits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money is supposed to be used to subsidize the state’s recycling infrastructure to help people get their money back. But for the most part, it stays untouched in the beverage container fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Susan V. Collins, president, Container Recycling Institute\"]‘California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts.’[/pullquote]Some of the unclaimed deposits are paid out to redemption centers, but not a whole lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, where many rely on blue recycling bins, waste hauling companies get to cash in on the CRV money attached to those bottles and cans thrown out. Collins said only a small percentage of those recyclables are redeemed because waste haulers don’t always do a perfect job of sorting through the recycling. Inevitably, a lot of it ends up in landfill. Last year, only 13% were redeemed for CRV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins said, as of last summer, the beverage container fund accumulated $672 million. She indicated that the high balance was a partial failure on behalf of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocates argue that redemption center closures and allowing waste haulers to take residents’ CRV is hurting consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s turned into a tax because we don’t have any place to take those bottles and cans to get those dimes and nickels back. That’s the fundamental problem,” said Liza Tucker, consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that working-class communities who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11714223/when-recycling-pays-and-when-it-doesnt\">depend on recycling to pay bills\u003c/a> are hurting the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They actually need cash. They need to fill their tanks with gas. They need to buy food,” Tucker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The in-lieu-fee loophole\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Under the Bottle Bill, retailers that sell beverages are required to recycle those beverages if there’s no recycling center nearby. The law was designed for the sake of convenience. But California’s Bottle Bill gives stores the option of paying out of their responsibility to recycle and redeem drink containers. This is known as the “in-lieu fee,” a penalty in lieu of redeeming empty containers — a $100 fee for each day the store is not taking back recyclables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, stores \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/10/business/cvs-3-6-million-fine-california-recycling-trnd/index.html#:~:text=California%20is%20slapping%20CVS%20with,its%20residents%2C%20the%20state%20said\">try to get away with not paying the in-lieu fees at all\u003c/a>. In response, CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner said, “It’s incredibly hard to ensure that retailers who say they are taking back in store or are paying the in-lieu fee, are doing exactly what they’re saying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962006\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/09/21/cashing-in-on-californias-broken-bottle-deposit-system/customers-line-up-to-have-bottles-and-cans-weighed-before-they-receive-a-cash-payment-at-the-our-planet-recycling-collection-center-on-bayshore-boulevard-in-san-francisco-calif-on-thursday-aug-3-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11962006\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962006\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"people lined up outside a recycling center with trash bags full of recyclable bottles and cans\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1536x1033.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-2048x1377.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1920x1291.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers line up to have bottles and cans weighed before they receive a cash payment at the Our Planet Recycling collection center on Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco in 2017. Independent recycling centers are struggling to stay open saying the state subsidies aren’t enough to keep them in business. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Lawmakers know the system isn’t working\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the state put aside $5 million to pilot new ways to recycle and redeem our bottles and cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those pilot programs is called \u003ca href=\"https://sfbottlebank.org/\">BottleBank\u003c/a> in San Francisco. After downloading the app, consumers drop off their containers to any BottleBank mobile drop-off location and then their recyclables get taken to an offsite recycling center for sorting. The CRV is tallied up and the money is electronically delivered to the person’s bank account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ultimate goal for CRV is to rapidly increase how many people are redeeming. … getting more money back into people’s pockets,” said Charles Sheehan, chief policy and public affairs officer with San Francisco’s Department of the Environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the program kicked off last year, Sheehan said the department recycled more than 3 million bottles and cans and paid out about $190,000 in CRV as of this summer. There are currently \u003ca href=\"https://sfbottlebank.org/locations/\">20 BottleBank sites\u003c/a> set up around the city with many found parked outside Safeway, Whole Foods and Grocery Outlet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousbug]Consumer advocates, however, aren’t happy with the program, saying the pilot is benefiting supermarkets more than consumers. CalRecycle lists the BottleBank sites on its website as certified recycling centers. Under the Bottle Bill, grocery stores within a certain mile radius of a recycling center don’t have to pay in-lieu fees or take back in store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the minute that they approved this particular pilot, 400 stores got off the hook,” Tucker of Consumer Watchdog said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer Watchdog added that BottleBank is not recycling enough, because the sites are only open one day out of the week for several hours a day and the program is costing taxpayers too much to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After analyzing BottleBank’s expenses, Consumer Watchdog asked the state’s Department of Finance to no longer fund the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is costing 79 cents to return a nickel to consumers. And it will never be sustainable,” it said in \u003ca href=\"https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LtrBottleBankStephenshaw6-19-23.pdf\">a statement (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In defense of the program, Sheehan stressed that it’s still in the pilot phase, which means making improvements while incurring costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re growing, and as we grow we will continue to kind of bring in more revenues and bring our revenues in line with our costs,” Sheehan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BottleBank’s costs include renting the grocery store parking lot space for its operations, plus labor, marketing materials and transportation for the bottles and cans to the recycling facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to CalRecycle, the state awarded the program $500,000 to expand their services to last until the end of the year. Sheehan said the goal is to get a total of 30 locations running with longer operating hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A new law could change it all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other Bottle Bill states like Oregon have a higher redemption rate of 85%. The state has multiple ways to redeem items using reverse vending machines, bag drop programs and in-store take back. The state also utilizes the same app-based technology as BottleBank for consumers to receive their CRV electronically. They can also get a voucher to use at their local grocery store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in 2025, it’s possible that California can start looking more like Oregon. SB 1013 passed last year and it will require grocery stores with no nearby recycling centers to be responsible for taking back empty beverage containers starting in January 2025. It also removes the optional $100-a-day in-lieu fee and adds wine and spirits to the list of redemption items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s considered one of the biggest improvements to the Bottle Bill ever. CalRecycle’s Director, Rachel Wagoner, added that the machinery to build this infrastructure will not be cheap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So if the state’s gonna purchase it, we wanna make sure that that is a long-term investment that we’re making in the recycling system,” Wagoner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalRecycle is giving out more than $70 million in grant money to large grocery store chains to create this infrastructure. The agency is currently having public workshops with retailers to answer questions about the grant process. The idea is to create large-scale redemption centers with multiple ways to recycle items, while increasing the state’s redemption rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Wagoner is optimistic that the new law will make a real difference in the number of redeemed containers. And she’s hopeful for 100% redemption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even if I don’t hit 100%, let’s see how close we can get,” Wagoner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins said her organization, the Container Recycling Institute, first advocated for these changes in 2009. She added that if everything goes according to plan California could have a good system in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Collins is skeptical about how fast those changes will come. She pointed out that multiple spending programs, and an additional budget bill, passed along with the new law may exceed the resources in the Beverage Container Fund to create the redemption infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.container-recycling.org/images/2023/CRI_CalRecycle_budget_questions_Sen_06132023.pdf\">In a letter (PDF)\u003c/a> asking the state’s Senate Budget Committee to reconsider how they spend the money, Collins wrote, “The complete implementation of AB 179 and SB 1013 over 6 years will cost the beverage container fund and other accounts roughly $1.3 billion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t have money going outta the fund to pay for things that are not bottles and cans when that money is needed to give people their nickels and dimes back,” said Collins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When Paul Beach was a kid growing up in Maine, he would go to this recycling center that was part of a grocery store. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Beach:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was a pretty big space in the grocery store. And you just bring your bottles and cans in. and they sorted them, like green bottles went here, white bottles went there, brown bottles went here.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Paul noticed that people would walk into the recycling center with a bag of … well, garbage, essentially. And they would walk out with \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cash\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. He wanted in on the hustle.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I would have, like $50 in cans. It took me a while to get that much, but it was pretty good income for like a 10 year old.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That experience taught Paul the literal value of recycling. Every bottle or can was worth up to fifteen cents in Maine because of the state’s\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bottle bill\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s a law designed to encourage recycling. When Paul moved to California, where we \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">also\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have a bottle bill, he thought things would work about the same…but his nearest redemption center was far, so he never went … Now, he puts his items on the curb where they’re whisked away by a waste hauling company.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am pretty sure that the company that I pay to take the recycling fishes through and gets all the cans and they get the money for the cans and bottles. // like, you’re getting paid on both sides. It’s like, this just doesn’t seem fair.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This has all left him wondering about a few things…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Where does the money go for bottle and can redemption if we don’t bring the bottles and cans back?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And why is it so hard to find a place to recycle them in the first place?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Music change\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In today’s episode of Bay Curious we dig into how this recycling system works and why some argue it’s seriously broken. Plus: Who’s pocketing the CRV money from California’s unclaimed bottles and cans? I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This is Bay Curious. We’ll be right back.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>SPONSOR MESSAGE\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To answer Paul’s questions about bottle and can redemption in California … KQED’s Steven Rascón has been following the money. Hey Steven!\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascón:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey Olivia.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So Paul’s question is all about CRV. Can you explain what exactly that is?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sure. CRV stands for California Redemption Value. And it applies to certain bottled and canned drinks you buy from the store. Anytime you buy one of these beverages with the letters CRV engraved on the lid or printed on the label, you’re paying 5-10 cents extra at the checkout line. Paying this extra charge is supposed to work like a deposit. Because once we’re done with that drink, we’re supposed to recycle it and get back those 10 cents.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And this applies specifically to store-bought beverages… so containers of juice, coffee, water, soda …?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exactly. This recycling system is part of a law that’s colloquially known as the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bottle Bill\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. We are one of ten states in the country with a Bottle Bill. Beverage containers specifically, continue to make up roughly half of roadside litter across the country. And so in the 80’s, environmentalists and lawmakers decided to do something about it in California… and pass the Bottle Bill. And recycling experts say this system works.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan Collins:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We know that bottle bills on average, reduce beverage container litter by 50%. So we can keep some of those plastics outta the ocean if we have bottle bills in place. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s Susan Collins, she’s the head of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Container Recycling Institute\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Culver City California. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The whole reason bottle bills work like magic, why I call them the rock stars of recycling, is because of the incentive that’s attached to it. because people either hold onto their bottle and turn it in for the 5 cents, or if they do litter it, someone else picks it up and takes it in for recycling.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Since California passed its Bottle Bill, the number of recycled containers has shot up. The Container Recycling Institute says one out of five beverage containers recycled in the US are being recycled in California. But…not all of those bottles and cans are getting redeemed for cash. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when that happens…that money just stays in what’s called the beverage container fund. A fund that’s owned by the state.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the unclaimed money in that fund used for? \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So the unclaimed deposits from those containers, the money \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that no one’s getting\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> belongs to the state. CalRecycle is the state agency that manages the fund and the program. Susan says there’s a lot of work that goes into it that we don’t see. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cal Recycle has about 400 people who work on this program, and those people are paid out of the unclaimed deposits. That money is also supposed to be used to create more ways for recycling our items. CalRecycle gives some of that money to recycling centers who redeem our bottles and cans. Some of it goes to waste hauling companies who pick up our blue bins of recyclables.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I know a lot of people, like our question asker Paul and myself, put our bottles and cans in the blue bin on the curb. But who gets the money for those items? Because I know it’s not me! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to CalRecycle, the waste hauling companies that pick up our recycling like Recology get to cash in on the bottles and cans we put in them. We’re actually the only state with a Bottle Bill where this is the case. So Paul’s right when he says waste haulers are getting paid twice. Consumer advocates, by the way, are not happy with this arrangement…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another issue with the blue bin….is waste haulers don’t do a perfect job of sorting all the recycling. Oftentimes, food and trash will mix with the bottles and cans…and those containers that don’t get redeemed inevitably end up in the landfill.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Container Recycling Institute says only 13 percent of those bottles and cans being recycled are being redeemed for cash.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So to recap, we’re not getting the money we throw out in blue bins and not all of it is even being recycled. It sounds like everything would be better if took things to the redemption center?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right but \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If only\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it were that easy! Yes, redemption centers are the ideal way to recycle our bottles and cans and get our money back. But good luck finding one…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Bay Area is like the epicenter of redemption center closures, and it’s the area of the state that has the least availability of centers and the more people dependent on each and every center.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the 90’s, San Francisco once had about 35 of these centers scattered throughout the city, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">today there are only two\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…both located in the Bayview District. Since 2013 more than forty percent of these centers have closed across the state. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts. Why they’ve had to close is a whole other story, but in short – prices for recycled materials dropped so much…these businesses couldn’t survive.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Music out\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is all pretty frustrating, and it’s about to get downright infuriating because Californians should, in theory, be able to take our recyclable beverage containers to the grocery store, just like our question asker Paul did when he was growing up in Maine.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right\u003c/span>\u003cb>. \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And technically it’s the law. Under the Bottle Bill supermarkets and retailers that sell beverages \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">are required\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to recycle them and give us back our money. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It should be just as easy to return your bottle or can for redemption as it was to purchase the bottle in the first place. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But the problem is most supermarkets don’t take our bottles and cans. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Only a small handful actually do. And so if a supermarket refuses to take your empty cans…then they have to pay what’s called…an “in lieu fee.” A penalty in lieu of redeeming empty containers. It’s a hundred dollar fine per day. But this \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">penalty\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has become a \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">loophole. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a lot of these stores, $100 a day is a bargain to not have to deal with CRV redemption.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Some stores try \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to get away\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> without paying the in lieu fees at all. I brought this up to CalRecycle and they said “it’s incredibly hard to ensure that retailers who says they are taking back in store or are paying the in lieu fee, are doing exactly what they’re saying.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It sounds like this system is very broken… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s what a lot of people I spoke to have said…And as a result, with fewer ways to redeem our bottles and cans, the pot of nickels and dimes in the state’s fund just keeps growing. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of the end of June last year, the beverage container fund had accumulated 672 million dollars. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Susan says you need some of that money to keep the program going but… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You certainly do not wanna have a fund balance that’s close to 700 million that indicates a program partial failure. \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that …five or ten cents… extra you pay. Consumer advocates say this might not seem like a big deal for some people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The sort of middle class, upper middle class. You know, a lot of them aren’t even aware they’re paying bottle deposits when they go through the line. Um, you know, they’re not even aware.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s Liza Tucker, an advocate \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">with Consumer Watchdog\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who’s written several reports on the state’s recycling and redemption system. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>\u003cbr>\nLiza: \u003c/b>There are a lot of people in the state of California who actually depend on that money. They actually need cash. They need to fill their tanks with gas. They need to buy food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But if we can’t redeem, we lose money.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s called a refundable deposit because that’s what it’s supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be a tax, but it’s turned into a tax because we don’t have any place to take those bottles and cans to get those dimes and nickels back. That’s the fundamental problem. And so we’re looking at a situation where the system. Is imploding.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This sounds like a huge mess. Has anyone tried to fix this?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lawmakers know the system isn’t working like it’s supposed to…So in 2019, the state put aside 5 million dollars to pilot new ways to recycle and redeem our bottles and cans. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> One of those pilots is now operating in San Francisco. It’s called Bottle Bank. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It works through an app on your phone. And you have to have an account in order to recycle with them. The app lists their locations and hours. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I grabbed whatever bottles and cans I could find in my apartment…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sound of collecting of bottles and cans\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven in scene: There’s probably like 35 cents in here. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I went to one of their busiest locations outside a Safeway by the beach…to see how their operation works and if I could get some CRV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: “Hello? Hi. How’s it going? Good. Good…Look at all these bags.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jon Jon: Yeah. Bottles and cans.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: Are these all, all, all from today?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>Jon Jon: Yes. the morning shift already got about 50, 30, 50 bags.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a Bottle Bank attendant, his name is Jon Jon, he’s collecting bags…. But these aren’t just your typical trash bags… these blue colored garbage bags have a QR code on them that connect to your Bottle Bank account on your phone. Jon Jon takes my bottles and cans and throws them into one of these bags. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Jon Jon\u003ci>:\u003c/i>\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then scan every bag\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He scans the QR code on the bag…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sound of machine beeping\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then he scans the app on my phone. The bag of cans is now linked to my Bottle Bank account. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jon Jon: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After this day we bring it to the facility and they will process it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My bag along with the other bags of the day will be taken to an offsite recycling center for sorting. This is Jim, he’s another Bottle Bank attendant.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jim:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It distinguishes the material type as well as the size of the container and its value. When we process the bottles and cans. The money goes electronically into the Bottle Bank account. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And after three days, I had about a dollar in my account…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> San Francisco officials who run the program are proud of it. Here is Charles Sheehan, He’s with San Francisco’s Department of the Environment and head of the program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think it’s kind of brought bottle and canned recycling into the modern age, if you will.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of this past summer, the department said it recycled more than three million bottles and cans and given out about $190,000 in CRV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about what our ultimate goal is for CRV, is like, to rapidly increase how many people are redeeming, you know, who is redeeming, getting more money back into people’s pockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But Liza from Consumer Watchdog says the pilot is not recycling enough because the Bottle Bank sites are only open-one-day-a-week…only several hours a day in select locations. And it’s …costing taxpayers too much to operate. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are advocating strongly not to finance the mobile experiments because they aren’t penciling out.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After analyzing Bottle Bank’s expenses, Consumer Watchdog asked the state’s Department of Finance to no longer fund the program. Saying, quote: “It is costing 79 cents to return a nickel to consumers. And it will never be sustainable.”\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> These costs include renting out the grocery store parking lots where they’re taking bags. Labor, materials, and transporting the bottes to the facility. But Liza says the biggest problem with Bottle Bank is it’s allowing grocery stores in the city \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to refuse\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> people’s empty bottles and cans… benefiting supermarkets more than consumers.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the minute that they approved this particular pilot, 400 stores got off the hook.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s cause under the Bottle Bill…if a grocery store is within a certain mile radius of \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a recycling center then, the store doesn’t have to recycle or redeem any of our bottles and cans…and they don’t have to pay the in lieu fee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because a stipulation behind all of these pilot programs is that when they say yes to a pilot is in an underserved location it automatically absolves all the supermarkets in the area from either having to take back in store because there’s no redemption center or pay that a hundred dollars a day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In defense of the program, Charles Sheehan stresses they’re still in the pilot phase, which means making revisions while incurring costs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re growing. Um, and as we grow, you know, we will continue to kind of bring in more revenues and bring our revenues in line with our costs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> According to CalRecycle, the state just awarded 500 thousand dollars to expand the program. Sheehan says the goal is to get up to 30 locations running with longer operating hours. Meanwhile, Liza says, the tech Bottle Bank is using isn’t new.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s already proven technology. This is not innovation, quote unquote. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of this is about access to redemption. The more convenient it is, the bigger the volume is of what you take in, and then you’re covering costs and making some money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>We’re one of ten states with bottle bills. Are other states having more success with their programs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>Absolutely. According to the Container Recycling Institute…we have a redemption rate of 60 percent. In comparison, Maine and Oregon have redemption rates of 80 to 90 percent. In Oregon there are supermarket sized redemption centers near grocery stores with multiple ways to recycle…seven days a week sometimes 24 hours a day. Here’s Susan Collins again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can take your containers inside and they have banks of RVMs. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">RVMs or reverse vending machines…are kiosks with slots in them for you to drop your items. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or if you have a small number of containers, I think if it’s under 50, you just go straight to the front counter and say, count my containers and give me my money. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can also drop your items off in a bag where they’re counted later…and Oregon uses the same technology as Bottle Bank…so if you want the money delivered electronically on your phone you can do that too or get a voucher and use it towards your groceries.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So that’s why there’s a contrast between what’s going on in San Francisco. San Francisco does not have all of those locations, does not have all of those layers. And does not have locations that are open for a huge number of hours every week.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it’s possible…that we could start looking a little like Oregon. A law passed last year says that starting in 2025…large grocery stores will no longer have $100 a day\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in lieu fee option. So they will \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">truly\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> be responsible for redeeming our bottles and cans. The idea is to create large scale redemption centers with multiple ways to recycle and redeem items.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The retailers have to establish a convenience infrastructure that is equivalent to what it would be if they had, you know, in-store takeback.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CalRecycle is giving out more than 70 million dollars in grant money to large grocery store chains \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to create\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> this infrastructure.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s considered one of the biggest improvements to the Bottle Bill ever, and CalRecycle’s director Rachel Wagoner says this is a serious investment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wagoner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This machinery isn’t inexpensive to buy upfront. Right. So if the state’s gonna purchase it, we wanna make sure that that is a long-term investment that we’re making in the recycling system. In addition to the new infrastructure, the new law will be adding wine and spirits to the list of redemption options for 25 cents a bottle.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Wagoner is optimistic that the new law will make a real difference in the number of redeemed containers, taking our current redemption rate from 60 percent to a hundred.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wagoner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, uh, even if I don’t hit a hundred percent, let’s see how close we can get.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And Susan is also optimistic…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If everything goes according to plan. We could have a really good system in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she is skeptical about how fast the changes will come. She says her organization first advocated for these changes back in 2009.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it happened in 2022. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I also know that if we advocate for something strongly enough and long enough that eventually it will come to pass. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I reached out to Paul, our question asker, and told him how most of the money from unredeemed deposits just sits in the beverage container fund…because most of the redemption centers have closed. We pulled up a map of Oakland and found that the nearest redemption center to his home was more than five miles away. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: I’m curious, I wanna get your thoughts on that. Is that feasible? What do you think?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul: I live in a small condo and for me there’s a headache associated with storing a whole separate bag full of cans, like, I’m not gonna go for like two or three cans.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Paul likes the idea of redeeming bottles and cans at supermarkets… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would go to the grocery store to go shopping where I could return my can. So for me it’s an incentive to go shop at their store. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe someday soon Paul will once again be able to head to the grocery store with a bag of cans, and come home with a little cash in his pocket.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>OUTRO\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was producer and reporter Steven Rascon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Longtime listeners will know this isn’t our first rodeo talking about how recycling works and sometimes doesn’t. Find links to more episodes in our show notes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As you probably know by now, we are in a fundraising period, but I wanted to point something out… \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People ask me all the time how they can get their hands on some Bay Curious swag. And usually the answer is: You have to get on the show and we send you a thank you item for participating. But right now, you can get your hands on one of our thick, luxurious, Bay Curious beanies — which I’ll add are legendary among the question askers who’ve received them. All it takes is becoming a KQED member. Visit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to learn how and stay toasty with us all winter long. Or, if you don’t need a new hat, you can choose from lots of other great gifts at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">/podcasts. Thank you. Seriously! Thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Curious is made by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the entire KQED family. Have a wonderful week.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003cem>Read a transcript of this episode\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Paul Beach was a kid growing up in Maine, he remembers going to a recycling center that was part of a grocery store. He watched people walk into this large space with garbage bags full of bottles and cans. And when he noticed they were walking out with cash, he wanted in on the hustle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have like $50 in cans. It took me a while to get that much, but it was pretty good income for, like, a 10-year-old,” Beach said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maine and California are two states with \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/current-and-proposed-laws/usa/california\">a Bottle Bill\u003c/a>, a law that encourages recycling for money. When Beach moved to California, where he’s lived for the past 25 years, he looked up the closest redemption center to him in Oakland and discovered it was 5 miles away. A place called Cash for Cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Beach, it’s not worth storing several bags of containers in his apartment for a single trip. Instead, he puts his recyclables in the blue bin on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This experience had him wondering: Where does the money go for bottle-and-can redemption if residents don’t turn them into a recycling center? And why is it so hard to recycle them in the first place?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Bottle Bill\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The money Beach is talking about is the California Redemption Value, or CRV — and it’s not exactly free. Whenever someone buys a drink from the store with the letters CRV printed on the label, they’re paying a 5-to-10-cent deposit at the checkout line. To get that deposit back, they have to recycle those containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This applies mostly to beverages that come in aluminum cans and plastic bottles. The whole point is to encourage recycling and reduce litter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1986, the state passed the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, also known as the Bottle Bill. The law created the recycling deposit system many use today. California is also one of 10 states in the country with a Bottle Bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan V. Collins, president of the Container Recycling Institute in Culver City, calls Bottle Bills “the rock stars of recycling” because of the financial incentive behind them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>“People either hold onto their bottle and turn it in for the 5 cents, or if they do litter it, someone else picks it up and takes it in for recycling,” Collins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since passing its Bottle Bill, California has had a good track record with the number of recycled and redeemed containers. One out of five beverage containers recycled in the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/current-and-proposed-laws/usa/california\">are recycled in California\u003c/a>, according to the Container Recycling Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But recycling containers isn’t the same as redeeming them for cash. As redemption centers closed across the state, Californians were left with fewer options to redeem their bottles and cans. According to CRI, the state’s redemption rates have fallen from 74% to 60% in the past decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962004\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/09/21/cashing-in-on-californias-broken-bottle-deposit-system/bottles-ready-to-be-recycled-at-the-recycling-center-at-church-on-market-streets-in-san-francisco-calif-on-friday-august-9-2013-safeway-is-going-to-shut-down-its-recyling-center-here-by-septemb/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11962004\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962004\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"two bins of glass bottles and cans\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1321630841-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bottles ready to be recycled at the recycling center at Church and Market streets in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Redemption center deserts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the Bottle Bill was passed in the 1980s it depended on California’s current recycling center infrastructure. Recycling centers were now obligated to give people back their money for bottles and cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of these businesses created partnerships with grocery stores to establish convenience for consumers looking for a place to recycle. They set up shop in the parking lots of a store much like the one from Beach’s childhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when revenue started to plummet at these locations because of the falling price of scrap material, many shuttered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2013, more than 40% of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/cash-in-the-can-californias-recycling-run-around/2055057/\">these recycling centers\u003c/a> have closed across the state. Collins said the Bay Area is the epicenter of these closures affecting a majority of people who depend on these centers for extra income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts,” Collins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the ’90s, San Francisco once had about 35 redemption centers scattered throughout the city. Today, there are only two and both are located in the Bayview District. CalRecycle \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/RecyclingCenters/\">lists about 1,200 redemption centers\u003c/a> left in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Abandoned deposits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When bottles and cans end up in landfills and not redeemed, those deposits are considered “unclaimed” by the state. This unclaimed money sits in the Beverage Container Fund, which is managed by CalRecycle. About 400 people in the state agency who work in the beverage container program are paid out of unclaimed deposits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money is supposed to be used to subsidize the state’s recycling infrastructure to help people get their money back. But for the most part, it stays untouched in the beverage container fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Some of the unclaimed deposits are paid out to redemption centers, but not a whole lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, where many rely on blue recycling bins, waste hauling companies get to cash in on the CRV money attached to those bottles and cans thrown out. Collins said only a small percentage of those recyclables are redeemed because waste haulers don’t always do a perfect job of sorting through the recycling. Inevitably, a lot of it ends up in landfill. Last year, only 13% were redeemed for CRV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins said, as of last summer, the beverage container fund accumulated $672 million. She indicated that the high balance was a partial failure on behalf of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer advocates argue that redemption center closures and allowing waste haulers to take residents’ CRV is hurting consumers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s turned into a tax because we don’t have any place to take those bottles and cans to get those dimes and nickels back. That’s the fundamental problem,” said Liza Tucker, consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She added that working-class communities who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11714223/when-recycling-pays-and-when-it-doesnt\">depend on recycling to pay bills\u003c/a> are hurting the most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They actually need cash. They need to fill their tanks with gas. They need to buy food,” Tucker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The in-lieu-fee loophole\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Under the Bottle Bill, retailers that sell beverages are required to recycle those beverages if there’s no recycling center nearby. The law was designed for the sake of convenience. But California’s Bottle Bill gives stores the option of paying out of their responsibility to recycle and redeem drink containers. This is known as the “in-lieu fee,” a penalty in lieu of redeeming empty containers — a $100 fee for each day the store is not taking back recyclables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some cases, stores \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/10/business/cvs-3-6-million-fine-california-recycling-trnd/index.html#:~:text=California%20is%20slapping%20CVS%20with,its%20residents%2C%20the%20state%20said\">try to get away with not paying the in-lieu fees at all\u003c/a>. In response, CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner said, “It’s incredibly hard to ensure that retailers who say they are taking back in store or are paying the in-lieu fee, are doing exactly what they’re saying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11962006\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/09/21/cashing-in-on-californias-broken-bottle-deposit-system/customers-line-up-to-have-bottles-and-cans-weighed-before-they-receive-a-cash-payment-at-the-our-planet-recycling-collection-center-on-bayshore-boulevard-in-san-francisco-calif-on-thursday-aug-3-2/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11962006\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11962006\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"people lined up outside a recycling center with trash bags full of recyclable bottles and cans\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1722\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-800x538.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1536x1033.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-2048x1377.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1408767999-1-1920x1291.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Customers line up to have bottles and cans weighed before they receive a cash payment at the Our Planet Recycling collection center on Bayshore Boulevard in San Francisco in 2017. Independent recycling centers are struggling to stay open saying the state subsidies aren’t enough to keep them in business. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Lawmakers know the system isn’t working\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the state put aside $5 million to pilot new ways to recycle and redeem our bottles and cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those pilot programs is called \u003ca href=\"https://sfbottlebank.org/\">BottleBank\u003c/a> in San Francisco. After downloading the app, consumers drop off their containers to any BottleBank mobile drop-off location and then their recyclables get taken to an offsite recycling center for sorting. The CRV is tallied up and the money is electronically delivered to the person’s bank account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ultimate goal for CRV is to rapidly increase how many people are redeeming. … getting more money back into people’s pockets,” said Charles Sheehan, chief policy and public affairs officer with San Francisco’s Department of the Environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the program kicked off last year, Sheehan said the department recycled more than 3 million bottles and cans and paid out about $190,000 in CRV as of this summer. There are currently \u003ca href=\"https://sfbottlebank.org/locations/\">20 BottleBank sites\u003c/a> set up around the city with many found parked outside Safeway, Whole Foods and Grocery Outlet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n What do you wonder about the Bay Area, its culture or people that you want KQED to investigate?\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Ask Bay Curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>Consumer advocates, however, aren’t happy with the program, saying the pilot is benefiting supermarkets more than consumers. CalRecycle lists the BottleBank sites on its website as certified recycling centers. Under the Bottle Bill, grocery stores within a certain mile radius of a recycling center don’t have to pay in-lieu fees or take back in store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the minute that they approved this particular pilot, 400 stores got off the hook,” Tucker of Consumer Watchdog said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumer Watchdog added that BottleBank is not recycling enough, because the sites are only open one day out of the week for several hours a day and the program is costing taxpayers too much to operate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After analyzing BottleBank’s expenses, Consumer Watchdog asked the state’s Department of Finance to no longer fund the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is costing 79 cents to return a nickel to consumers. And it will never be sustainable,” it said in \u003ca href=\"https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LtrBottleBankStephenshaw6-19-23.pdf\">a statement (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In defense of the program, Sheehan stressed that it’s still in the pilot phase, which means making improvements while incurring costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re growing, and as we grow we will continue to kind of bring in more revenues and bring our revenues in line with our costs,” Sheehan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BottleBank’s costs include renting the grocery store parking lot space for its operations, plus labor, marketing materials and transportation for the bottles and cans to the recycling facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to CalRecycle, the state awarded the program $500,000 to expand their services to last until the end of the year. Sheehan said the goal is to get a total of 30 locations running with longer operating hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A new law could change it all\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other Bottle Bill states like Oregon have a higher redemption rate of 85%. The state has multiple ways to redeem items using reverse vending machines, bag drop programs and in-store take back. The state also utilizes the same app-based technology as BottleBank for consumers to receive their CRV electronically. They can also get a voucher to use at their local grocery store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Starting in 2025, it’s possible that California can start looking more like Oregon. SB 1013 passed last year and it will require grocery stores with no nearby recycling centers to be responsible for taking back empty beverage containers starting in January 2025. It also removes the optional $100-a-day in-lieu fee and adds wine and spirits to the list of redemption items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s considered one of the biggest improvements to the Bottle Bill ever. CalRecycle’s Director, Rachel Wagoner, added that the machinery to build this infrastructure will not be cheap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So if the state’s gonna purchase it, we wanna make sure that that is a long-term investment that we’re making in the recycling system,” Wagoner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalRecycle is giving out more than $70 million in grant money to large grocery store chains to create this infrastructure. The agency is currently having public workshops with retailers to answer questions about the grant process. The idea is to create large-scale redemption centers with multiple ways to recycle items, while increasing the state’s redemption rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Wagoner is optimistic that the new law will make a real difference in the number of redeemed containers. And she’s hopeful for 100% redemption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And even if I don’t hit 100%, let’s see how close we can get,” Wagoner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collins said her organization, the Container Recycling Institute, first advocated for these changes in 2009. She added that if everything goes according to plan California could have a good system in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet Collins is skeptical about how fast those changes will come. She pointed out that multiple spending programs, and an additional budget bill, passed along with the new law may exceed the resources in the Beverage Container Fund to create the redemption infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.container-recycling.org/images/2023/CRI_CalRecycle_budget_questions_Sen_06132023.pdf\">In a letter (PDF)\u003c/a> asking the state’s Senate Budget Committee to reconsider how they spend the money, Collins wrote, “The complete implementation of AB 179 and SB 1013 over 6 years will cost the beverage container fund and other accounts roughly $1.3 billion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t have money going outta the fund to pay for things that are not bottles and cans when that money is needed to give people their nickels and dimes back,” said Collins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> When Paul Beach was a kid growing up in Maine, he would go to this recycling center that was part of a grocery store. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul Beach:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was a pretty big space in the grocery store. And you just bring your bottles and cans in. and they sorted them, like green bottles went here, white bottles went there, brown bottles went here.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Paul noticed that people would walk into the recycling center with a bag of … well, garbage, essentially. And they would walk out with \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cash\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. He wanted in on the hustle.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I would have, like $50 in cans. It took me a while to get that much, but it was pretty good income for like a 10 year old.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That experience taught Paul the literal value of recycling. Every bottle or can was worth up to fifteen cents in Maine because of the state’s\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> bottle bill\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. That’s a law designed to encourage recycling. When Paul moved to California, where we \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">also\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> have a bottle bill, he thought things would work about the same…but his nearest redemption center was far, so he never went … Now, he puts his items on the curb where they’re whisked away by a waste hauling company.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am pretty sure that the company that I pay to take the recycling fishes through and gets all the cans and they get the money for the cans and bottles. // like, you’re getting paid on both sides. It’s like, this just doesn’t seem fair.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This has all left him wondering about a few things…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Where does the money go for bottle and can redemption if we don’t bring the bottles and cans back?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And why is it so hard to find a place to recycle them in the first place?\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Music change\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In today’s episode of Bay Curious we dig into how this recycling system works and why some argue it’s seriously broken. Plus: Who’s pocketing the CRV money from California’s unclaimed bottles and cans? I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This is Bay Curious. We’ll be right back.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>SPONSOR MESSAGE\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To answer Paul’s questions about bottle and can redemption in California … KQED’s Steven Rascón has been following the money. Hey Steven!\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascón:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hey Olivia.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So Paul’s question is all about CRV. Can you explain what exactly that is?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sure. CRV stands for California Redemption Value. And it applies to certain bottled and canned drinks you buy from the store. Anytime you buy one of these beverages with the letters CRV engraved on the lid or printed on the label, you’re paying 5-10 cents extra at the checkout line. Paying this extra charge is supposed to work like a deposit. Because once we’re done with that drink, we’re supposed to recycle it and get back those 10 cents.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And this applies specifically to store-bought beverages… so containers of juice, coffee, water, soda …?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Exactly. This recycling system is part of a law that’s colloquially known as the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bottle Bill\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. We are one of ten states in the country with a Bottle Bill. Beverage containers specifically, continue to make up roughly half of roadside litter across the country. And so in the 80’s, environmentalists and lawmakers decided to do something about it in California… and pass the Bottle Bill. And recycling experts say this system works.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan Collins:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> We know that bottle bills on average, reduce beverage container litter by 50%. So we can keep some of those plastics outta the ocean if we have bottle bills in place. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s Susan Collins, she’s the head of the \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Container Recycling Institute\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Culver City California. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The whole reason bottle bills work like magic, why I call them the rock stars of recycling, is because of the incentive that’s attached to it. because people either hold onto their bottle and turn it in for the 5 cents, or if they do litter it, someone else picks it up and takes it in for recycling.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Since California passed its Bottle Bill, the number of recycled containers has shot up. The Container Recycling Institute says one out of five beverage containers recycled in the US are being recycled in California. But…not all of those bottles and cans are getting redeemed for cash. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And when that happens…that money just stays in what’s called the beverage container fund. A fund that’s owned by the state.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the unclaimed money in that fund used for? \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So the unclaimed deposits from those containers, the money \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">that no one’s getting\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> belongs to the state. CalRecycle is the state agency that manages the fund and the program. Susan says there’s a lot of work that goes into it that we don’t see. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cal Recycle has about 400 people who work on this program, and those people are paid out of the unclaimed deposits. That money is also supposed to be used to create more ways for recycling our items. CalRecycle gives some of that money to recycling centers who redeem our bottles and cans. Some of it goes to waste hauling companies who pick up our blue bins of recyclables.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I know a lot of people, like our question asker Paul and myself, put our bottles and cans in the blue bin on the curb. But who gets the money for those items? Because I know it’s not me! \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to CalRecycle, the waste hauling companies that pick up our recycling like Recology get to cash in on the bottles and cans we put in them. We’re actually the only state with a Bottle Bill where this is the case. So Paul’s right when he says waste haulers are getting paid twice. Consumer advocates, by the way, are not happy with this arrangement…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another issue with the blue bin….is waste haulers don’t do a perfect job of sorting all the recycling. Oftentimes, food and trash will mix with the bottles and cans…and those containers that don’t get redeemed inevitably end up in the landfill.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Container Recycling Institute says only 13 percent of those bottles and cans being recycled are being redeemed for cash.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So to recap, we’re not getting the money we throw out in blue bins and not all of it is even being recycled. It sounds like everything would be better if took things to the redemption center?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right but \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If only\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> it were that easy! Yes, redemption centers are the ideal way to recycle our bottles and cans and get our money back. But good luck finding one…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Bay Area is like the epicenter of redemption center closures, and it’s the area of the state that has the least availability of centers and the more people dependent on each and every center.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the 90’s, San Francisco once had about 35 of these centers scattered throughout the city, \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">today there are only two\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">…both located in the Bayview District. Since 2013 more than forty percent of these centers have closed across the state. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">California has the least convenient system in the world right now because of these redemption deserts. Why they’ve had to close is a whole other story, but in short – prices for recycled materials dropped so much…these businesses couldn’t survive.\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Music out\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is all pretty frustrating, and it’s about to get downright infuriating because Californians should, in theory, be able to take our recyclable beverage containers to the grocery store, just like our question asker Paul did when he was growing up in Maine.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Right\u003c/span>\u003cb>. \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And technically it’s the law. Under the Bottle Bill supermarkets and retailers that sell beverages \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">are required\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to recycle them and give us back our money. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It should be just as easy to return your bottle or can for redemption as it was to purchase the bottle in the first place. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">: But the problem is most supermarkets don’t take our bottles and cans. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Only a small handful actually do. And so if a supermarket refuses to take your empty cans…then they have to pay what’s called…an “in lieu fee.” A penalty in lieu of redeeming empty containers. It’s a hundred dollar fine per day. But this \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">penalty\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has become a \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">loophole. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a lot of these stores, $100 a day is a bargain to not have to deal with CRV redemption.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Some stores try \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to get away\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> without paying the in lieu fees at all. I brought this up to CalRecycle and they said “it’s incredibly hard to ensure that retailers who says they are taking back in store or are paying the in lieu fee, are doing exactly what they’re saying.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It sounds like this system is very broken… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s what a lot of people I spoke to have said…And as a result, with fewer ways to redeem our bottles and cans, the pot of nickels and dimes in the state’s fund just keeps growing. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of the end of June last year, the beverage container fund had accumulated 672 million dollars. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Susan says you need some of that money to keep the program going but… \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You certainly do not wanna have a fund balance that’s close to 700 million that indicates a program partial failure. \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And that …five or ten cents… extra you pay. Consumer advocates say this might not seem like a big deal for some people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The sort of middle class, upper middle class. You know, a lot of them aren’t even aware they’re paying bottle deposits when they go through the line. Um, you know, they’re not even aware.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s Liza Tucker, an advocate \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">with Consumer Watchdog\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> who’s written several reports on the state’s recycling and redemption system. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>\u003cbr>\nLiza: \u003c/b>There are a lot of people in the state of California who actually depend on that money. They actually need cash. They need to fill their tanks with gas. They need to buy food. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But if we can’t redeem, we lose money.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s called a refundable deposit because that’s what it’s supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be a tax, but it’s turned into a tax because we don’t have any place to take those bottles and cans to get those dimes and nickels back. That’s the fundamental problem. And so we’re looking at a situation where the system. Is imploding.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This sounds like a huge mess. Has anyone tried to fix this?\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lawmakers know the system isn’t working like it’s supposed to…So in 2019, the state put aside 5 million dollars to pilot new ways to recycle and redeem our bottles and cans. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> One of those pilots is now operating in San Francisco. It’s called Bottle Bank. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It works through an app on your phone. And you have to have an account in order to recycle with them. The app lists their locations and hours. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So I grabbed whatever bottles and cans I could find in my apartment…\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sound of collecting of bottles and cans\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven in scene: There’s probably like 35 cents in here. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And I went to one of their busiest locations outside a Safeway by the beach…to see how their operation works and if I could get some CRV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: “Hello? Hi. How’s it going? Good. Good…Look at all these bags.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jon Jon: Yeah. Bottles and cans.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: Are these all, all, all from today?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>Jon Jon: Yes. the morning shift already got about 50, 30, 50 bags.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s a Bottle Bank attendant, his name is Jon Jon, he’s collecting bags…. But these aren’t just your typical trash bags… these blue colored garbage bags have a QR code on them that connect to your Bottle Bank account on your phone. Jon Jon takes my bottles and cans and throws them into one of these bags. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>Jon Jon\u003ci>:\u003c/i>\u003c/b> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then scan every bag\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> He scans the QR code on the bag…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sound of machine beeping\u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then he scans the app on my phone. The bag of cans is now linked to my Bottle Bank account. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jon Jon: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After this day we bring it to the facility and they will process it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">My bag along with the other bags of the day will be taken to an offsite recycling center for sorting. This is Jim, he’s another Bottle Bank attendant.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jim:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It distinguishes the material type as well as the size of the container and its value. When we process the bottles and cans. The money goes electronically into the Bottle Bank account. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And after three days, I had about a dollar in my account…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> San Francisco officials who run the program are proud of it. Here is Charles Sheehan, He’s with San Francisco’s Department of the Environment and head of the program.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think it’s kind of brought bottle and canned recycling into the modern age, if you will.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As of this past summer, the department said it recycled more than three million bottles and cans and given out about $190,000 in CRV.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we think about what our ultimate goal is for CRV, is like, to rapidly increase how many people are redeeming, you know, who is redeeming, getting more money back into people’s pockets.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But Liza from Consumer Watchdog says the pilot is not recycling enough because the Bottle Bank sites are only open-one-day-a-week…only several hours a day in select locations. And it’s …costing taxpayers too much to operate. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We are advocating strongly not to finance the mobile experiments because they aren’t penciling out.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After analyzing Bottle Bank’s expenses, Consumer Watchdog asked the state’s Department of Finance to no longer fund the program. Saying, quote: “It is costing 79 cents to return a nickel to consumers. And it will never be sustainable.”\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> These costs include renting out the grocery store parking lots where they’re taking bags. Labor, materials, and transporting the bottes to the facility. But Liza says the biggest problem with Bottle Bank is it’s allowing grocery stores in the city \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to refuse\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> people’s empty bottles and cans… benefiting supermarkets more than consumers.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the minute that they approved this particular pilot, 400 stores got off the hook.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s cause under the Bottle Bill…if a grocery store is within a certain mile radius of \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a recycling center then, the store doesn’t have to recycle or redeem any of our bottles and cans…and they don’t have to pay the in lieu fee. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Because a stipulation behind all of these pilot programs is that when they say yes to a pilot is in an underserved location it automatically absolves all the supermarkets in the area from either having to take back in store because there’s no redemption center or pay that a hundred dollars a day.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In defense of the program, Charles Sheehan stresses they’re still in the pilot phase, which means making revisions while incurring costs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Charles: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re growing. Um, and as we grow, you know, we will continue to kind of bring in more revenues and bring our revenues in line with our costs. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> According to CalRecycle, the state just awarded 500 thousand dollars to expand the program. Sheehan says the goal is to get up to 30 locations running with longer operating hours. Meanwhile, Liza says, the tech Bottle Bank is using isn’t new.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>\u003cb>Liza: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s already proven technology. This is not innovation, quote unquote. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All of this is about access to redemption. The more convenient it is, the bigger the volume is of what you take in, and then you’re covering costs and making some money.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>We’re one of ten states with bottle bills. Are other states having more success with their programs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>Absolutely. According to the Container Recycling Institute…we have a redemption rate of 60 percent. In comparison, Maine and Oregon have redemption rates of 80 to 90 percent. In Oregon there are supermarket sized redemption centers near grocery stores with multiple ways to recycle…seven days a week sometimes 24 hours a day. Here’s Susan Collins again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can take your containers inside and they have banks of RVMs. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">RVMs or reverse vending machines…are kiosks with slots in them for you to drop your items. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or if you have a small number of containers, I think if it’s under 50, you just go straight to the front counter and say, count my containers and give me my money. \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can also drop your items off in a bag where they’re counted later…and Oregon uses the same technology as Bottle Bank…so if you want the money delivered electronically on your phone you can do that too or get a voucher and use it towards your groceries.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So that’s why there’s a contrast between what’s going on in San Francisco. San Francisco does not have all of those locations, does not have all of those layers. And does not have locations that are open for a huge number of hours every week.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it’s possible…that we could start looking a little like Oregon. A law passed last year says that starting in 2025…large grocery stores will no longer have $100 a day\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">in lieu fee option. So they will \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">truly\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> be responsible for redeeming our bottles and cans. The idea is to create large scale redemption centers with multiple ways to recycle and redeem items.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The retailers have to establish a convenience infrastructure that is equivalent to what it would be if they had, you know, in-store takeback.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">CalRecycle is giving out more than 70 million dollars in grant money to large grocery store chains \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">to create\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> this infrastructure.\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s considered one of the biggest improvements to the Bottle Bill ever, and CalRecycle’s director Rachel Wagoner says this is a serious investment.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wagoner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This machinery isn’t inexpensive to buy upfront. Right. So if the state’s gonna purchase it, we wanna make sure that that is a long-term investment that we’re making in the recycling system. In addition to the new infrastructure, the new law will be adding wine and spirits to the list of redemption options for 25 cents a bottle.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Wagoner is optimistic that the new law will make a real difference in the number of redeemed containers, taking our current redemption rate from 60 percent to a hundred.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wagoner: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And, uh, even if I don’t hit a hundred percent, let’s see how close we can get.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And Susan is also optimistic…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If everything goes according to plan. We could have a really good system in California.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But she is skeptical about how fast the changes will come. She says her organization first advocated for these changes back in 2009.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Susan: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it happened in 2022. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I also know that if we advocate for something strongly enough and long enough that eventually it will come to pass. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I reached out to Paul, our question asker, and told him how most of the money from unredeemed deposits just sits in the beverage container fund…because most of the redemption centers have closed. We pulled up a map of Oakland and found that the nearest redemption center to his home was more than five miles away. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Steven: I’m curious, I wanna get your thoughts on that. Is that feasible? What do you think?\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul: I live in a small condo and for me there’s a headache associated with storing a whole separate bag full of cans, like, I’m not gonna go for like two or three cans.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Paul likes the idea of redeeming bottles and cans at supermarkets… \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paul: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I would go to the grocery store to go shopping where I could return my can. So for me it’s an incentive to go shop at their store. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maybe someday soon Paul will once again be able to head to the grocery store with a bag of cans, and come home with a little cash in his pocket.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>OUTRO\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That was producer and reporter Steven Rascon.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Longtime listeners will know this isn’t our first rodeo talking about how recycling works and sometimes doesn’t. Find links to more episodes in our show notes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As you probably know by now, we are in a fundraising period, but I wanted to point something out… \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">People ask me all the time how they can get their hands on some Bay Curious swag. And usually the answer is: You have to get on the show and we send you a thank you item for participating. But right now, you can get your hands on one of our thick, luxurious, Bay Curious beanies — which I’ll add are legendary among the question askers who’ve received them. All it takes is becoming a KQED member. Visit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to learn how and stay toasty with us all winter long. Or, if you don’t need a new hat, you can choose from lots of other great gifts at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">donate.kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">/podcasts. Thank you. Seriously! Thank you.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bay Curious is made by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia-Allen Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the entire KQED family. Have a wonderful week.\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "northern-california-tribe-protects-traditions-wildfire-climate-change",
"title": "A Northern California Tribe Protects Traditions Amid Wildfire Challenges",
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"headTitle": "A Northern California Tribe Protects Traditions Amid Wildfire Challenges | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Oak Fire, which burned roughly 20,000 acres west of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm\">Yosemite National Park\u003c/a> last summer, was devastating to the area’s Indigenous tribes — including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/\">Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation\u003c/a>. The tribe is headquartered in Mariposa, California, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills close to the national park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really hit our community hard,” said Tara Fouch-Moore, a member of the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s tribal council. “We lost 127 households.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oak Fire destroyed much more than property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These super fires, they burn so hot,” said Jazzmyn Gegere Brochini, the tribe’s cultural resource preservation manager. “The Oak Fire disintegrated absolutely everything in its path.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change brought on by the burning of fossil fuels has exacerbated, in part, the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Such catastrophic fires have decimated culturally significant sites and treasures, raising questions about how to best protect them for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s something the Southern Sierra Miwuk have had to grapple with. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jazzmyn Gegere Brochini, cultural resource preservation manager, Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation\"]‘These super fires, they burn so hot. The Oak Fire disintegrated absolutely everything in its path.’[/pullquote] Gegere Brochini and Fouch-Moore said traditional plants like elderberry, deergrass and sedge used in native cooking, medicine and basket-making were destroyed by the Oak Fire — along with more permanent physical structures, such as the many milling stations carved into the bedrock by ancestors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Miwuk people have used these indentations in the rocks to grind traditional medicines and foods like acorns for thousands of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And to think that something that has withstood the test of time for millennia can be destroyed by one fire sweeping through, is a sign that something is changing, and something devastating is happening,” said Fouch-Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cultural heritage and climate change closely intertwined\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Indigenous communities have long understood cultural heritage encompasses more than historic buildings and museum artifacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also the knowledge of how to find food and how to survive or make art,” said Fouch-Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s how we coexist with the land and manage it,” said Anthony Lerma, the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s stewardship coordinator. “It’s the native way of life.” [aside postID=news_11957413 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/TribalBuyBack01-1020x680.jpg'] The tribe’s firsthand experience of the impact of climate change on cultural traditions has been compounded by displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yosemite Valley used to be populated by Indigenous peoples, including the Southern Sierra Miwuk. “In the middle of the 1800s, as Yosemite started to be ‘discovered’ by settlers, they began to push the Indigenous tribes out,” said Cicely Muldoon, the superintendent of Yosemite National Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government designated the area as a national park in 1890 to protect its \u003cem>natural\u003c/em> treasures. But the \u003cem>cultural\u003c/em> ones didn’t fare so well: Muldoon said the few remaining Indigenous homes were razed in 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the last permanent occupation by the first people of Yosemite still living in their ancestral homelands,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loss of place, loss of culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With the loss of their homelands came the loss of their cultural heritage, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/904600242/managing-wildfire-through-cultural-burning\">long tradition of managing forest fires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the first things the government outlawed was cultural burning,” said the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s Lerma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961890 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A forest is left barren with charred tree trunks amid a gray clouded sky and burned earth.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A forest is left decimated by the Oak Fire near Mariposa, on July 24, 2022. More than 2,000 firefighters backed by 17 helicopters were deployed against the wildfire. \u003ccite>(David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State officials made this tribal practice of igniting small fires illegal in 1850. The years of fire suppression that followed have made wildfires worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘Smokey the Bear’ all over the place,” said Fouch-Moore. “And now our forests are overgrown and in bad health. And they’re like, ‘Oh wait, maybe we should let the Indians do their thing.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the National Park Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) have started to collaborate with Indigenous communities to return \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/902073784/california-teaming-up-with-native-american-tribes-to-prevent-wildfires\">traditional burning\u003c/a> to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of local tribes have helped to set prescribed burns in Yosemite National Park, among other wooded areas. The process involves rubbing pieces of wood together to generate sparks instead of using modern drip torches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/8F5UgpE5szA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tribal representatives help us identify and protect important cultural sites during a wildfire,” said Gregg Bratcher, deputy chief of CAL FIRE’s prescribed fire program. The agency worked with the Southern Sierra Miwuk and other tribes on the cleanup effort after last year’s Oak Fire. “We work with them to ensure these sites are not damaged by fire-fighting or other equipment,” he said. [aside postID=news_11958011 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/CalMattersDelta01-1020x680.jpg'] Bratcher said his agency is trying to build trust with tribal communities. Gegere Brochini with the Miwuk Nation said she is glad the state’s fire department and other agencies are now actively engaging Indigenous people to clean up after wildfires burn through. She was involved in the cleanup effort after the Oak Fire. “I did a cultural resource spot check to make sure the remains of ancient village sites were protected from the dozers,” said Gegere Brochini. “Otherwise they doze everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tara Fouch-Moore said the removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands makes it hard for traditions like cultural burning to thrive because out of context, these practices lose their meaning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, we can share our songs despite climate change, and yes, we can learn how to process acorn,” she said. “But it needs to be whole and within the landscape to really, truly understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation has been working for years with the National Park Service to rebuild \u003ca href=\"https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/wahhoga\">Wahhoga\u003c/a>, a village tribal ancestors once occupied in the Yosemite Valley. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tara Fouch-Moore, member, Southern Sierra Miwuk tribal council\"]‘That’s how you preserve cultural heritage. By making sure people are still living it.’[/pullquote] “We’re building our umachas, which are the bark houses. We are building our roundhouse and we’re going to have that area to do our ceremonies and our cultural events,” said Fouch-Moore. She expects the project to be completed within the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fouch-Moore said Wahhoga will enable her people to tell their own stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how you preserve cultural heritage,” she said. “By making sure people are still living it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "A Northern California Tribe Protects Traditions Amid Wildfire Challenges | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Oak Fire, which burned roughly 20,000 acres west of \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm\">Yosemite National Park\u003c/a> last summer, was devastating to the area’s Indigenous tribes — including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/\">Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation\u003c/a>. The tribe is headquartered in Mariposa, California, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills close to the national park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really hit our community hard,” said Tara Fouch-Moore, a member of the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s tribal council. “We lost 127 households.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oak Fire destroyed much more than property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These super fires, they burn so hot,” said Jazzmyn Gegere Brochini, the tribe’s cultural resource preservation manager. “The Oak Fire disintegrated absolutely everything in its path.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change brought on by the burning of fossil fuels has exacerbated, in part, the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Such catastrophic fires have decimated culturally significant sites and treasures, raising questions about how to best protect them for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s something the Southern Sierra Miwuk have had to grapple with. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Gegere Brochini and Fouch-Moore said traditional plants like elderberry, deergrass and sedge used in native cooking, medicine and basket-making were destroyed by the Oak Fire — along with more permanent physical structures, such as the many milling stations carved into the bedrock by ancestors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Miwuk people have used these indentations in the rocks to grind traditional medicines and foods like acorns for thousands of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And to think that something that has withstood the test of time for millennia can be destroyed by one fire sweeping through, is a sign that something is changing, and something devastating is happening,” said Fouch-Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cultural heritage and climate change closely intertwined\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Indigenous communities have long understood cultural heritage encompasses more than historic buildings and museum artifacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also the knowledge of how to find food and how to survive or make art,” said Fouch-Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s how we coexist with the land and manage it,” said Anthony Lerma, the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s stewardship coordinator. “It’s the native way of life.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The tribe’s firsthand experience of the impact of climate change on cultural traditions has been compounded by displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Yosemite Valley used to be populated by Indigenous peoples, including the Southern Sierra Miwuk. “In the middle of the 1800s, as Yosemite started to be ‘discovered’ by settlers, they began to push the Indigenous tribes out,” said Cicely Muldoon, the superintendent of Yosemite National Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government designated the area as a national park in 1890 to protect its \u003cem>natural\u003c/em> treasures. But the \u003cem>cultural\u003c/em> ones didn’t fare so well: Muldoon said the few remaining Indigenous homes were razed in 1969.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the last permanent occupation by the first people of Yosemite still living in their ancestral homelands,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loss of place, loss of culture\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With the loss of their homelands came the loss of their cultural heritage, such as the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/21/904600242/managing-wildfire-through-cultural-burning\">long tradition of managing forest fires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the first things the government outlawed was cultural burning,” said the Southern Sierra Miwuk’s Lerma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961890\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11961890 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A forest is left barren with charred tree trunks amid a gray clouded sky and burned earth.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/GettyImages-1242099861-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A forest is left decimated by the Oak Fire near Mariposa, on July 24, 2022. More than 2,000 firefighters backed by 17 helicopters were deployed against the wildfire. \u003ccite>(David McNew/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State officials made this tribal practice of igniting small fires illegal in 1850. The years of fire suppression that followed have made wildfires worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘Smokey the Bear’ all over the place,” said Fouch-Moore. “And now our forests are overgrown and in bad health. And they’re like, ‘Oh wait, maybe we should let the Indians do their thing.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the National Park Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) have started to collaborate with Indigenous communities to return \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/08/13/902073784/california-teaming-up-with-native-american-tribes-to-prevent-wildfires\">traditional burning\u003c/a> to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of local tribes have helped to set prescribed burns in Yosemite National Park, among other wooded areas. The process involves rubbing pieces of wood together to generate sparks instead of using modern drip torches.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/8F5UgpE5szA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/8F5UgpE5szA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“Tribal representatives help us identify and protect important cultural sites during a wildfire,” said Gregg Bratcher, deputy chief of CAL FIRE’s prescribed fire program. The agency worked with the Southern Sierra Miwuk and other tribes on the cleanup effort after last year’s Oak Fire. “We work with them to ensure these sites are not damaged by fire-fighting or other equipment,” he said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Bratcher said his agency is trying to build trust with tribal communities. Gegere Brochini with the Miwuk Nation said she is glad the state’s fire department and other agencies are now actively engaging Indigenous people to clean up after wildfires burn through. She was involved in the cleanup effort after the Oak Fire. “I did a cultural resource spot check to make sure the remains of ancient village sites were protected from the dozers,” said Gegere Brochini. “Otherwise they doze everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Tara Fouch-Moore said the removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands makes it hard for traditions like cultural burning to thrive because out of context, these practices lose their meaning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, we can share our songs despite climate change, and yes, we can learn how to process acorn,” she said. “But it needs to be whole and within the landscape to really, truly understand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation has been working for years with the National Park Service to rebuild \u003ca href=\"https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/wahhoga\">Wahhoga\u003c/a>, a village tribal ancestors once occupied in the Yosemite Valley. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “We’re building our umachas, which are the bark houses. We are building our roundhouse and we’re going to have that area to do our ceremonies and our cultural events,” said Fouch-Moore. She expects the project to be completed within the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fouch-Moore said Wahhoga will enable her people to tell their own stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how you preserve cultural heritage,” she said. “By making sure people are still living it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Sacramento DA Sues City Over Failure to Sweep Homeless Encampments",
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"headTitle": "Sacramento DA Sues City Over Failure to Sweep Homeless Encampments | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sacramento’s top prosecutor is suing the city’s leaders over failure to clean up homeless encampments, escalating a monthslong dispute with leaders in the state capital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County District Attorney Thien Ho announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference in Sacramento, noting the homeless population in the city has jumped 250% in the last seven years. A group of residents and business owners also filed a companion lawsuit against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said his office had asked the city to enforce local laws around sidewalk obstruction and to create additional professionally operated camping sites, but that the city did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said the city is seeing a “collapse into chaos” and an “erosion of everyday life.” Courthouse workers have been harassed and assaulted downtown, and residents and businesses have to deal with drug users and property break-ins, while calls for help to city officials went unanswered, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not compassionate to allow unsafe conditions to fester so badly that a 14-year-old boy cannot ride his bike to school or a group of little girls can’t play soccer on a field littered with needles,” the lawsuit said. “It’s not compassionate when someone in a wheelchair cannot use a sidewalk blocked by tents or a small business is forced to close forever due to repeated broken windows and vandalism.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point-in-Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population is unsheltered, and the majority of that group is living on Sacramento streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homeless tent encampments have grown visibly in cities across the U.S. but especially in California, which is home to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homeless-california-study-poverty-high-rent-a2a4bfc9b386cb70fdd14d593f31b68c\">nearly one-third of unhoused people\u003c/a> in the country. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg\"]‘The city needs real partnership from the region’s leaders, not politics and lawsuits.’[/pullquote] Ho \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homelessness-sacramento-district-attorney-mayor-lawsuit-b01d68283afea8a3010fc959180a5a5f\">had threatened in August\u003c/a> to file charges against city officials if they didn’t implement changes within 30 days. In a letter to the city, Ho demanded that Sacramento implement a daytime camping ban where homeless people have to put their belongings in storage between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Ho was politicizing the issue. The city has added 1,200 emergency shelter beds, passed ordinances to protect sidewalks and schools and has created more affordable housing, Steinberg said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is trying to avoid “the futile trap of just moving people endlessly from one block to the next,” Steinberg said. People’s frustrations are “absolutely justified” but Ho’s actions are a “performative distraction,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city needs real partnership from the region’s leaders, not politics and lawsuits,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood’s office has also repeatedly urged Ho to work with the city to address the issue, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sadly appears the DA would rather point fingers and cast blame than partner to achieve meaningful solutions for our community,” Alcala Wood said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho, elected in 2022 after vowing on the campaign trail to address the city’s homelessness crisis, said he’s asked the city to share real-time data about available shelter beds with law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a rare opportunity — a rare opportunity — for us to effectuate meaningful, efficient means of getting the critically, chronically unhoused off the streets,” Ho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said he supports a variety of solutions including enforcing laws and establishing new programs to provide services to people facing addiction or mental health issues. He said he supports a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mental-health-reform-investment-ballot-measure-eaed6702d5dd8e9a7d611029fdb0667c\">statewide bond measure\u003c/a> that would go toward building more treatment facilities. Voters will weigh in on that measure next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute between the district attorney and the city was further complicated by a lawsuit filed by a homeless advocacy group earlier this year that resulted in an order from a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/heat-wave-homeless-sweeps-judge-order-58173a538f07b113557bf89ed8017309\">temporarily banning the city from clearing homeless encampments\u003c/a> during extreme heat. That order is now lifted but the group wants to see it extended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorney for the homeless coalition also filed a complaint with the state bar this month, saying Ho abused his power by pushing the city to clear encampments when the order was in place. [aside label='More Stories on California’s Unhoused Community' tag='homelessness'] Ho’s news conference included testimony from residents who say the city is not providing resources to deal with homelessness. Emily Webb said people living in an encampment near her home have trespassed on her property, blocked her driveway and threatened her family, but city officials have done little to clear the camp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re losing sleep and exhausted from this stress,” she said Tuesday. “We are beyond frustrated and no longer feel comfortable or safe in our home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics have said encampments are unsanitary and lawless, and block children, older residents and disabled people from using public space such as sidewalks. They say allowing people to deteriorate outdoors is neither humane nor compassionate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But advocates for homeless people say they can’t alleviate the crisis without more investment in affordable housing and services, and that camping bans and encampment sweeps unnecessarily traumatize homeless people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sacramento’s top prosecutor is suing the city’s leaders over failure to clean up homeless encampments, escalating a monthslong dispute with leaders in the state capital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County District Attorney Thien Ho announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference in Sacramento, noting the homeless population in the city has jumped 250% in the last seven years. A group of residents and business owners also filed a companion lawsuit against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said his office had asked the city to enforce local laws around sidewalk obstruction and to create additional professionally operated camping sites, but that the city did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said the city is seeing a “collapse into chaos” and an “erosion of everyday life.” Courthouse workers have been harassed and assaulted downtown, and residents and businesses have to deal with drug users and property break-ins, while calls for help to city officials went unanswered, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Ho \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/homelessness-sacramento-district-attorney-mayor-lawsuit-b01d68283afea8a3010fc959180a5a5f\">had threatened in August\u003c/a> to file charges against city officials if they didn’t implement changes within 30 days. In a letter to the city, Ho demanded that Sacramento implement a daytime camping ban where homeless people have to put their belongings in storage between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Ho was politicizing the issue. The city has added 1,200 emergency shelter beds, passed ordinances to protect sidewalks and schools and has created more affordable housing, Steinberg said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city is trying to avoid “the futile trap of just moving people endlessly from one block to the next,” Steinberg said. People’s frustrations are “absolutely justified” but Ho’s actions are a “performative distraction,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city needs real partnership from the region’s leaders, not politics and lawsuits,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood’s office has also repeatedly urged Ho to work with the city to address the issue, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It sadly appears the DA would rather point fingers and cast blame than partner to achieve meaningful solutions for our community,” Alcala Wood said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho, elected in 2022 after vowing on the campaign trail to address the city’s homelessness crisis, said he’s asked the city to share real-time data about available shelter beds with law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a rare opportunity — a rare opportunity — for us to effectuate meaningful, efficient means of getting the critically, chronically unhoused off the streets,” Ho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ho said he supports a variety of solutions including enforcing laws and establishing new programs to provide services to people facing addiction or mental health issues. He said he supports a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mental-health-reform-investment-ballot-measure-eaed6702d5dd8e9a7d611029fdb0667c\">statewide bond measure\u003c/a> that would go toward building more treatment facilities. Voters will weigh in on that measure next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute between the district attorney and the city was further complicated by a lawsuit filed by a homeless advocacy group earlier this year that resulted in an order from a federal judge \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/heat-wave-homeless-sweeps-judge-order-58173a538f07b113557bf89ed8017309\">temporarily banning the city from clearing homeless encampments\u003c/a> during extreme heat. That order is now lifted but the group wants to see it extended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The attorney for the homeless coalition also filed a complaint with the state bar this month, saying Ho abused his power by pushing the city to clear encampments when the order was in place. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Ho’s news conference included testimony from residents who say the city is not providing resources to deal with homelessness. Emily Webb said people living in an encampment near her home have trespassed on her property, blocked her driveway and threatened her family, but city officials have done little to clear the camp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re losing sleep and exhausted from this stress,” she said Tuesday. “We are beyond frustrated and no longer feel comfortable or safe in our home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics have said encampments are unsanitary and lawless, and block children, older residents and disabled people from using public space such as sidewalks. They say allowing people to deteriorate outdoors is neither humane nor compassionate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But advocates for homeless people say they can’t alleviate the crisis without more investment in affordable housing and services, and that camping bans and encampment sweeps unnecessarily traumatize homeless people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Perhaps Jimmie Fails said it best in the 2019 film, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/112325/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco-is-about-who-belongs-in-the-city\">\u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he rides Muni, Fails — an actor who himself is a born-and-raised San Franciscan — overhears a conversation between two other passengers who are listing off their complaints about moving to and living in the city. One of them suggests that they move to Southern California. “The city is dead,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fails interrupts their conversation. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAFI7NYLI5Y\">“You don’t get to hate San Francisco,” he says. “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in the Bay Area is definitely \u003cem>not\u003c/em> always straightforward or easy. Ask anyone working two or even three jobs to afford their rent. Or someone who no longer feels safe parking their car to get groceries after being \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">robbed in a car break-in\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite how complicated it is to live here, the Bay Area still inspires love and community for so many of us who call this place home — and don’t necessarily want the Bay’s story to always be told by national news outlets or online commentators who’ve never lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we want to know: What stories are not being told about the Bay Area? How do \u003cem>you\u003c/em> think the place we call home is misunderstood?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What does the Bay mean to you?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You could share:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Your favorite place in the Bay and what it means to you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An aspect of living here that makes it worth it for you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How you define your feelings for this place (even if they’re complex).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>What you think the rest of the country should know about this place — that they haven’t already heard before.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>You could see your answer featured on KQED.org, KQED’s social media or on KQED Public Radio. We’ll only use your email address to get back in touch with you if we have follow-up questions about what you tell us, or to sign you up for our News Daily email \u003cem>if\u003c/em> you check that box below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"11073\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/11073.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why we’re asking\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The “doom loop” narrative\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco, along with the rest of the Bay Area, has received significant coverage the past few years from national news outlets. And the focus is usually on crime, substance abuse and homelessness in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Fox News, \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6337046185112\">conservative commentators bash San Francisco as a “hellhole”\u003c/a> on the regular. And even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — an aspiring Republican presidential candidate — \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/florida-governor-ron-desantis-san-francisco-gavin-newsom-2024-presidential-election/13408706/\">came to the city to film a campaign ad\u003c/a>, pointing to one littered street corner in the Tenderloin as proof that “the city … really collapsed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even here at home, some folks have developed a pessimistic view of the Bay. Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/29/san-francisco-doom-loop-tour-flop\">a San Francisco city commissioner organized a “doom loop” tour\u003c/a> that would show attendees the “squalor” of the city’s downtown. The event quickly attracted controversy, and less than 24 hours before it was due to take place, the tour was cancelled. The commissioner later resigned. For many residents, this was a sign that even some city leaders have adopted the narrative that San Francisco, and the Bay Area more generally, are on some sort of downward social and economic spiral — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-doom-loop-imprecise-thinkpieces-18106896.php\">the infamous, much-discussed “doom loop.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yes, there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> tough realities we cannot gloss over. Cities across the Bay Area have seen a spike in certain types of crime since 2020, including retail theft and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">car break-ins, popularly known as “bipping.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building affordable housing in the region — necessary to house working- and middle-class families — is still something that eludes political leaders, and many Bay Area cities are struggling to meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/04/governor-newsoms-newly-created-housing-accountability-unit-marks-first-year/#:~:text=Under%20Governor%20Newsom%2C%20for%20the,of%20which%20must%20be%20affordable\">the state’s housing goals\u003c/a>. And the continuation of the fentanyl epidemic is straining the capacity of public health officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894981/how-san-franciscos-street-overdose-response-team-is-trying-to-bring-clinical-care-to-the-streets\">to respond to the needs of those struggling with substance abuse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it would be inaccurate to say that these very real problems are the only things that define the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resilience in community\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As COVID-19 cases were quickly spiking in March 2020, the Bay Area set an example for the rest of the country by being the first metropolitan area to order residents to stay home. Across the region, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11909218/in-2020-mutual-aid-was-in-the-spotlight-how-are-organizers-holding-up-in-2022\">neighbors quickly came together to organize mutual aid efforts\u003c/a> to safely distribute groceries to the elderly and immunocompromised residents. In San Francisco, Oakland and San José, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11860883/trusted-leaders-are-fighting-covid-19-vaccine-fears-in-black-and-latino-communities\">public health officials partnered up with community organizers to design testing and vaccination programs\u003c/a> that would effectively serve the Bay Area’s diverse communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the ownership of the Oakland A’s announced in April that the team would be moving to Las Vegas, fans processed the loss by quickly mobilizing a campaign to push the team owners to sell the team so it stays in Oakland. When the A’s played the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on July 25, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NBCSAuthentic/status/1684032890026467330\">the stadium erupted in “Sell the Team” chants taken up by both A’s and Giants fans alike\u003c/a>. And just last week, Oakland’s USL Championship soccer club, the Oakland Roots, announced that they raised $1 million in six hours \u003ca href=\"https://wefunder.com/oakland\">through a community investment campaign \u003c/a>that invites residents and fans to invest in the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Love for the Bay Area may be a hard-fought love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s one that’s complicated to explain to folks that have never lived here. That’s why we want to better understand the relationship you, as a Bay Area resident, have with your home — that mix of joy, frustration, affection and all. \u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What does the Bay mean to you? \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Perhaps Jimmie Fails said it best in the 2019 film, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/112325/the-last-black-man-in-san-francisco-is-about-who-belongs-in-the-city\">\u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he rides Muni, Fails — an actor who himself is a born-and-raised San Franciscan — overhears a conversation between two other passengers who are listing off their complaints about moving to and living in the city. One of them suggests that they move to Southern California. “The city is dead,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fails interrupts their conversation. \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAFI7NYLI5Y\">“You don’t get to hate San Francisco,” he says. “You don’t get to hate it unless you love it.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living in the Bay Area is definitely \u003cem>not\u003c/em> always straightforward or easy. Ask anyone working two or even three jobs to afford their rent. Or someone who no longer feels safe parking their car to get groceries after being \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959799/how-to-avoid-a-car-break-in-bay-area\">robbed in a car break-in\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite how complicated it is to live here, the Bay Area still inspires love and community for so many of us who call this place home — and don’t necessarily want the Bay’s story to always be told by national news outlets or online commentators who’ve never lived here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So we want to know: What stories are not being told about the Bay Area? How do \u003cem>you\u003c/em> think the place we call home is misunderstood?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What does the Bay mean to you?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You could share:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Your favorite place in the Bay and what it means to you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An aspect of living here that makes it worth it for you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How you define your feelings for this place (even if they’re complex).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>What you think the rest of the country should know about this place — that they haven’t already heard before.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>You could see your answer featured on KQED.org, KQED’s social media or on KQED Public Radio. We’ll only use your email address to get back in touch with you if we have follow-up questions about what you tell us, or to sign you up for our News Daily email \u003cem>if\u003c/em> you check that box below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why we’re asking\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The “doom loop” narrative\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco, along with the rest of the Bay Area, has received significant coverage the past few years from national news outlets. And the focus is usually on crime, substance abuse and homelessness in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Fox News, \u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6337046185112\">conservative commentators bash San Francisco as a “hellhole”\u003c/a> on the regular. And even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — an aspiring Republican presidential candidate — \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/florida-governor-ron-desantis-san-francisco-gavin-newsom-2024-presidential-election/13408706/\">came to the city to film a campaign ad\u003c/a>, pointing to one littered street corner in the Tenderloin as proof that “the city … really collapsed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even here at home, some folks have developed a pessimistic view of the Bay. Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/29/san-francisco-doom-loop-tour-flop\">a San Francisco city commissioner organized a “doom loop” tour\u003c/a> that would show attendees the “squalor” of the city’s downtown. The event quickly attracted controversy, and less than 24 hours before it was due to take place, the tour was cancelled. The commissioner later resigned. For many residents, this was a sign that even some city leaders have adopted the narrative that San Francisco, and the Bay Area more generally, are on some sort of downward social and economic spiral — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-doom-loop-imprecise-thinkpieces-18106896.php\">the infamous, much-discussed “doom loop.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yes, there \u003cem>are\u003c/em> tough realities we cannot gloss over. Cities across the Bay Area have seen a spike in certain types of crime since 2020, including retail theft and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11959477/car-break-ins-bay-area-glass-repair-what-to-do\">car break-ins, popularly known as “bipping.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building affordable housing in the region — necessary to house working- and middle-class families — is still something that eludes political leaders, and many Bay Area cities are struggling to meet \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/11/04/governor-newsoms-newly-created-housing-accountability-unit-marks-first-year/#:~:text=Under%20Governor%20Newsom%2C%20for%20the,of%20which%20must%20be%20affordable\">the state’s housing goals\u003c/a>. And the continuation of the fentanyl epidemic is straining the capacity of public health officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894981/how-san-franciscos-street-overdose-response-team-is-trying-to-bring-clinical-care-to-the-streets\">to respond to the needs of those struggling with substance abuse\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it would be inaccurate to say that these very real problems are the only things that define the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Resilience in community\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As COVID-19 cases were quickly spiking in March 2020, the Bay Area set an example for the rest of the country by being the first metropolitan area to order residents to stay home. Across the region, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11909218/in-2020-mutual-aid-was-in-the-spotlight-how-are-organizers-holding-up-in-2022\">neighbors quickly came together to organize mutual aid efforts\u003c/a> to safely distribute groceries to the elderly and immunocompromised residents. In San Francisco, Oakland and San José, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11860883/trusted-leaders-are-fighting-covid-19-vaccine-fears-in-black-and-latino-communities\">public health officials partnered up with community organizers to design testing and vaccination programs\u003c/a> that would effectively serve the Bay Area’s diverse communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the ownership of the Oakland A’s announced in April that the team would be moving to Las Vegas, fans processed the loss by quickly mobilizing a campaign to push the team owners to sell the team so it stays in Oakland. When the A’s played the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on July 25, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NBCSAuthentic/status/1684032890026467330\">the stadium erupted in “Sell the Team” chants taken up by both A’s and Giants fans alike\u003c/a>. And just last week, Oakland’s USL Championship soccer club, the Oakland Roots, announced that they raised $1 million in six hours \u003ca href=\"https://wefunder.com/oakland\">through a community investment campaign \u003c/a>that invites residents and fans to invest in the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Love for the Bay Area may be a hard-fought love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s one that’s complicated to explain to folks that have never lived here. That’s why we want to better understand the relationship you, as a Bay Area resident, have with your home — that mix of joy, frustration, affection and all. \u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What does the Bay mean to you? \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Gov. Gavin Newsom Says He Will Sign Climate-Focused Transparency Laws for Big Business",
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"content": "\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday that he plans to sign into law a pair of climate-focused bills intended to force major corporations to be more transparent about greenhouse gas emissions and the financial risks stemming from global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s announcement came during an out-of-state trip to New York’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/protest-climate-change-march-hot-warming-200f35470e1d6f34f238e9c3c3f7f137\">Climate Week\u003c/a>, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts are gathered to seek solutions for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers last week \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-climate-change-emissions-disclosure-reporting-companies-123fe15c840b82f960384cbe04f3d955\">passed legislation\u003c/a> requiring large businesses from oil and gas companies to retail giants to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-california-climate-and-environment-b7ad468c3cf16ef3c80e5a8be688e2e3\">disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such disclosures are a “simple but intensely powerful driver of decarbonization,” said the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t,” Wiener said in a statement Sunday applauding Newsom’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, thousands of public and private businesses that operate in California and make more than $1 billion annually will have to make the emissions disclosures. The goal is to increase transparency and nudge companies to evaluate how they can cut their carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)\"]‘This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t.’[/pullquote]\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-legislature-candy-cannabis-newsom-59761b6865f4c916cb752d3978524a8e\">The second bill\u003c/a> approved last week by the state Assembly requires companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose what financial risks climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address those risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat from Los Angeles who introduced the legislation, said the information would be useful for individuals and lawmakers when making public and private investment decisions. The bill was changed recently to require companies to begin reporting the information in 2026, instead of 2024, and mandate that they report every other year, instead of annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, a Democrat, said he wants California to lead the nation in addressing the climate crisis. “We need to exercise not just our formal authority, but we need to share our moral authority more abundantly,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-oil-gas-california-lawsuit-newsom-212d6d9873352f28094173a1974e3d90\">Newsom’s office announced Saturday\u003c/a> that California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961542/it-is-time-they-pay-california-sues-big-oil-over-decades-of-damage-and-deception\">has filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> against some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco also seeks the creation of a fund — financed by the companies — to pay for recovery efforts following devastating storms and fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday that he plans to sign into law a pair of climate-focused bills intended to force major corporations to be more transparent about greenhouse gas emissions and the financial risks stemming from global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s announcement came during an out-of-state trip to New York’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/protest-climate-change-march-hot-warming-200f35470e1d6f34f238e9c3c3f7f137\">Climate Week\u003c/a>, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts are gathered to seek solutions for climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers last week \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-climate-change-emissions-disclosure-reporting-companies-123fe15c840b82f960384cbe04f3d955\">passed legislation\u003c/a> requiring large businesses from oil and gas companies to retail giants to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-california-climate-and-environment-b7ad468c3cf16ef3c80e5a8be688e2e3\">disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions\u003c/a> as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such disclosures are a “simple but intensely powerful driver of decarbonization,” said the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t,” Wiener said in a statement Sunday applauding Newsom’s decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the law, thousands of public and private businesses that operate in California and make more than $1 billion annually will have to make the emissions disclosures. The goal is to increase transparency and nudge companies to evaluate how they can cut their carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-legislature-candy-cannabis-newsom-59761b6865f4c916cb752d3978524a8e\">The second bill\u003c/a> approved last week by the state Assembly requires companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose what financial risks climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address those risks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat from Los Angeles who introduced the legislation, said the information would be useful for individuals and lawmakers when making public and private investment decisions. The bill was changed recently to require companies to begin reporting the information in 2026, instead of 2024, and mandate that they report every other year, instead of annually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom, a Democrat, said he wants California to lead the nation in addressing the climate crisis. “We need to exercise not just our formal authority, but we need to share our moral authority more abundantly,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-oil-gas-california-lawsuit-newsom-212d6d9873352f28094173a1974e3d90\">Newsom’s office announced Saturday\u003c/a> that California \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961542/it-is-time-they-pay-california-sues-big-oil-over-decades-of-damage-and-deception\">has filed a lawsuit\u003c/a> against some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco also seeks the creation of a fund — financed by the companies — to pay for recovery efforts following devastating storms and fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Gavin Newsom's Mental Health Plan Heads to Voters. Here's What to Know",
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"content": "\u003cp>California voters next spring will get to decide on a ballot measure to create housing and treatment options for unhoused individuals with serious mental illness. If it passes, the measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom would mark the first major overhaul of the state’s community mental health system in 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two-pronged proposition on the March primary election ballot includes a nearly $6.4 billion bond to build 10,000 psychiatric treatment units. It also asks voters to redefine how counties spend money collected from a special “millionaire’s tax” to allocate a share of it for housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and supporters have promoted Proposition 1 as a way to help address the state’s deteriorating homelessness and addiction crises. They contend that increased investment and an update to the state’s Mental Health Services Act are “long overdue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature on Thursday overwhelmingly backed his proposal, with lopsided votes to place it on the 2024 ballot. Newsom still must sign the bills, and he said he would in a written statement after a late-night vote in the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These measures represent a key part of the solution to our homelessness crisis, and improving mental health for kids and families,” Newsom said. “Now, it will be up to voters to ratify the most significant changes to California’s mental health system in more than 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents of the ballot measure say diverting money in the Mental Health Services Act for housing will result in up to $1 billion in cuts to\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\"> current mental health programs\u003c/a> like outpatient care and crisis response. Other advocates criticize the governor for making last-minute changes to the bond, allowing the money to be spent on involuntary treatment institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what exactly are voters being asked to consider? Here’s how the proposal breaks down.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is the Mental Health Services Act?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Mental Health Services Act, which voters passed as a ballot measure in 2004, levies a 1% tax on personal income over $1 million. It passed at a time when the state’s mental health system was severely underfunded. Since then, the tax has generated an estimated $26 billion for county mental health programs. Last year the tax garnered more than $3 billion. It supports roughly one-third of the state’s mental health system. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘These measures represent a key part of the solution to our homelessness crisis, and improving mental health for kids and families.’[/pullquote] The tax is not California’s only source of revenue for mental health programs. The state also receives money from Medi-Cal, and it spends a portion of its general fund on those services. Those sources come with strict spending limitations. For example, Medi-Cal primarily pays for treatment of mental health disorders but will not cover prevention programs. It also will not pay for inpatient treatment at a facility with more than 16 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties have come to rely on the relative flexibility of Mental Health Services Act dollars to pay for core services like outpatient care, outreach and engagement, school-based counseling, youth wellness programs, family resource centers, and crisis response teams.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does Newsom want to do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The most significant change put forth by the governor is a requirement that counties invest 30% of their Mental Health Services Act tax dollars — roughly $1 billion based on last year’s revenue — in housing programs, including rental subsidies and navigation services. Counties would have to spend half this money on people who are chronically homeless or living in encampments. They could also use up to one-quarter of the money to build or purchase housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has been a staunch supporter of Newsom’s proposal. Steinberg was one of the co-authors of the Mental Health Services Act when he was an Assembly member in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To put it plainly, not enough of the Mental Health Services Act dollars are getting out to the people with the most persistent mental illnesses, specifically people who are chronically homeless and living with those underlying conditions,” Steinberg said during a press call in August. “So that’s where you start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ballot measure puts counties on the hook for paying for substance use disorder treatment with Mental Health Services Act money. Counties have historically paid for addiction treatment with other funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, it\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>renames the program as the Behavioral Health Services Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961360\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02.jpeg\" alt=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured with his hands out as he speak to many folks in a warehouse in front of a microphone.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02.jpeg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flanked by state and local politicians, Newsom announced the state’s plan to address homelessness across the state at Cal Expo in Sacramento, on March 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What will the bond measure do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The second half of Newsom’s proposal places a $6.4 billion general obligation bond before voters to dramatically expand the state’s psychiatric and addiction treatment infrastructure. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg\"]‘To put it plainly, not enough of the Mental Health Services Act dollars are getting out to the people with the most persistent mental illnesses, specifically people who are chronically homeless and living with those underlying conditions.’[/pullquote] Nearly $4.4 billion would go toward building inpatient and residential treatment beds and could serve 100,000 people annually, officials said. California faces a shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/CTA2700/CTA2742-1/RAND_CTA2742-1.pdf\">nearly 8,000 adult psychiatric beds (PDF)\u003c/a>, said Nicole Eberhart, senior behavioral health scientist for the RAND Corporation, during testimony to an Assembly budget subcommittee in May. Long waitlists plague the state’s inpatient mental health system, and doctors say there’s nowhere to send stable patients who need long-term treatment focused on recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another $2 billion will go toward building permanent supportive housing, with half set aside for veterans with mental health diagnoses or addiction disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How many people are unhoused in California?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than 170,000 Californians are unhoused, the vast majority of whom live in street encampments. California has the highest homeless rate per 10,000 people, second only to the District of Columbia, and the highest proportion of unsheltered homeless individuals in the country, according to federal data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">landmark study by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\u003c/a> found about two-thirds of unhoused Californians surveyed suffered from a mental health disorder but only 19% had received recent treatment. The driving force behind homelessness, however, was most often income loss, not mental illness or addiction, \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">according to the study\u003c/a>. [aside label='More Around California' tag='california-law']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who are the supporters?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. Susan Talamantes-Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, carried the proposed reform of the Mental Health Services Act in the Legislature. During Thursday’s Senate concurrence vote, Talamantes-Eggman said the way counties spend state mental health funding needs to address changes that have happened in the two decades since the act was first designed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, carried the bond proposal in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayors and county supervisors from eight major regions, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, successfully lobbied to increase funding for the bond measure by $1.5 billion. City leaders were early supporters of the measure with more than two dozen submitting letters of support along with housing and homeless advocates and the National Alliance on Mental Illness California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who are the opponents?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Peer-run and disability organizations have been the staunchest opponents of the changes proposed in the ballot measure. They argue current clients will lose treatment options and accuse Newsom’s administration of using the proposal to fund his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/08/care-court-california-start/\">CARE Court initiative\u003c/a> that passed last year. That law allows a court to place someone with a serious mental illness into an involuntary treatment program. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Paul Simmons, executive director, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance\"]‘This is a really tough time for our communities. Our concern with [the proposition] is massive increases in involuntary and forced treatment.’[/pullquote] Groups representing people of color and LGBTQ+ communities also oppose the measure. They say it will eliminate prevention resources and worsen already stark disparities in access to treatment. Resource centers that target these populations are among the services most likely to get cut, county behavioral health leaders have said in public hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bond measure, which previously faced no opposition, drew fierce criticism from peer and disability advocates after last-minute amendments \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/mental-health-bond-gavin-newsom-amendments/\">allowed the money to be used on involuntary treatment facilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a really tough time for our communities,” said Paul Simmons, executive director of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. “Our concern with [the proposition] is massive increases in involuntary and forced treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children and family advocates withdrew previous opposition after securing significant concessions from the governor requiring 51% of spending on early intervention be targeted toward children and youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California voters next spring will get to decide on a ballot measure to create housing and treatment options for unhoused individuals with serious mental illness. If it passes, the measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom would mark the first major overhaul of the state’s community mental health system in 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two-pronged proposition on the March primary election ballot includes a nearly $6.4 billion bond to build 10,000 psychiatric treatment units. It also asks voters to redefine how counties spend money collected from a special “millionaire’s tax” to allocate a share of it for housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and supporters have promoted Proposition 1 as a way to help address the state’s deteriorating homelessness and addiction crises. They contend that increased investment and an update to the state’s Mental Health Services Act are “long overdue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Legislature on Thursday overwhelmingly backed his proposal, with lopsided votes to place it on the 2024 ballot. Newsom still must sign the bills, and he said he would in a written statement after a late-night vote in the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These measures represent a key part of the solution to our homelessness crisis, and improving mental health for kids and families,” Newsom said. “Now, it will be up to voters to ratify the most significant changes to California’s mental health system in more than 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents of the ballot measure say diverting money in the Mental Health Services Act for housing will result in up to $1 billion in cuts to\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\"> current mental health programs\u003c/a> like outpatient care and crisis response. Other advocates criticize the governor for making last-minute changes to the bond, allowing the money to be spent on involuntary treatment institutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what exactly are voters being asked to consider? Here’s how the proposal breaks down.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is the Mental Health Services Act?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Mental Health Services Act, which voters passed as a ballot measure in 2004, levies a 1% tax on personal income over $1 million. It passed at a time when the state’s mental health system was severely underfunded. Since then, the tax has generated an estimated $26 billion for county mental health programs. Last year the tax garnered more than $3 billion. It supports roughly one-third of the state’s mental health system. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The tax is not California’s only source of revenue for mental health programs. The state also receives money from Medi-Cal, and it spends a portion of its general fund on those services. Those sources come with strict spending limitations. For example, Medi-Cal primarily pays for treatment of mental health disorders but will not cover prevention programs. It also will not pay for inpatient treatment at a facility with more than 16 beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Counties have come to rely on the relative flexibility of Mental Health Services Act dollars to pay for core services like outpatient care, outreach and engagement, school-based counseling, youth wellness programs, family resource centers, and crisis response teams.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does Newsom want to do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The most significant change put forth by the governor is a requirement that counties invest 30% of their Mental Health Services Act tax dollars — roughly $1 billion based on last year’s revenue — in housing programs, including rental subsidies and navigation services. Counties would have to spend half this money on people who are chronically homeless or living in encampments. They could also use up to one-quarter of the money to build or purchase housing units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has been a staunch supporter of Newsom’s proposal. Steinberg was one of the co-authors of the Mental Health Services Act when he was an Assembly member in 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To put it plainly, not enough of the Mental Health Services Act dollars are getting out to the people with the most persistent mental illnesses, specifically people who are chronically homeless and living with those underlying conditions,” Steinberg said during a press call in August. “So that’s where you start.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ballot measure puts counties on the hook for paying for substance use disorder treatment with Mental Health Services Act money. Counties have historically paid for addiction treatment with other funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, it\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>renames the program as the Behavioral Health Services Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961360\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2400px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11961360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02.jpeg\" alt=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom is pictured with his hands out as he speak to many folks in a warehouse in front of a microphone.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02.jpeg 2400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-800x533.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1020x680.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/CMNewsom02-1920x1280.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flanked by state and local politicians, Newsom announced the state’s plan to address homelessness across the state at Cal Expo in Sacramento, on March 16, 2023. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What will the bond measure do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The second half of Newsom’s proposal places a $6.4 billion general obligation bond before voters to dramatically expand the state’s psychiatric and addiction treatment infrastructure. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Nearly $4.4 billion would go toward building inpatient and residential treatment beds and could serve 100,000 people annually, officials said. California faces a shortage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/CTA2700/CTA2742-1/RAND_CTA2742-1.pdf\">nearly 8,000 adult psychiatric beds (PDF)\u003c/a>, said Nicole Eberhart, senior behavioral health scientist for the RAND Corporation, during testimony to an Assembly budget subcommittee in May. Long waitlists plague the state’s inpatient mental health system, and doctors say there’s nowhere to send stable patients who need long-term treatment focused on recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another $2 billion will go toward building permanent supportive housing, with half set aside for veterans with mental health diagnoses or addiction disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How many people are unhoused in California?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than 170,000 Californians are unhoused, the vast majority of whom live in street encampments. California has the highest homeless rate per 10,000 people, second only to the District of Columbia, and the highest proportion of unsheltered homeless individuals in the country, according to federal data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">landmark study by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\u003c/a> found about two-thirds of unhoused Californians surveyed suffered from a mental health disorder but only 19% had received recent treatment. The driving force behind homelessness, however, was most often income loss, not mental illness or addiction, \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness\">according to the study\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who are the supporters?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. Susan Talamantes-Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, carried the proposed reform of the Mental Health Services Act in the Legislature. During Thursday’s Senate concurrence vote, Talamantes-Eggman said the way counties spend state mental health funding needs to address changes that have happened in the two decades since the act was first designed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, carried the bond proposal in the Legislature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayors and county supervisors from eight major regions, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, successfully lobbied to increase funding for the bond measure by $1.5 billion. City leaders were early supporters of the measure with more than two dozen submitting letters of support along with housing and homeless advocates and the National Alliance on Mental Illness California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who are the opponents?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Peer-run and disability organizations have been the staunchest opponents of the changes proposed in the ballot measure. They argue current clients will lose treatment options and accuse Newsom’s administration of using the proposal to fund his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/08/care-court-california-start/\">CARE Court initiative\u003c/a> that passed last year. That law allows a court to place someone with a serious mental illness into an involuntary treatment program. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Groups representing people of color and LGBTQ+ communities also oppose the measure. They say it will eliminate prevention resources and worsen already stark disparities in access to treatment. Resource centers that target these populations are among the services most likely to get cut, county behavioral health leaders have said in public hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bond measure, which previously faced no opposition, drew fierce criticism from peer and disability advocates after last-minute amendments \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/mental-health-bond-gavin-newsom-amendments/\">allowed the money to be used on involuntary treatment facilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a really tough time for our communities,” said Paul Simmons, executive director of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. “Our concern with [the proposition] is massive increases in involuntary and forced treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children and family advocates withdrew previous opposition after securing significant concessions from the governor requiring 51% of spending on early intervention be targeted toward children and youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "At 100, a Bay Area University Makes a Major Pandemic-Era Pivot. Will It Pay Off?",
"headTitle": "At 100, a Bay Area University Makes a Major Pandemic-Era Pivot. Will It Pay Off? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The higher education sector is still reeling from the pandemic as universities and colleges face declining student enrollment and figure out the expansion of online education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many large public universities get state funding, the economic impacts are particularly challenging for small private colleges and universities. In Los Angeles County, Marymount California University closed in summer 2022, and in May, Holy Names University in Oakland also \u003ca href=\"https://hnu.edu/news/holy-names-university-in-oakland-to-close-after-spring-semester-in-may-2023/\">closed\u003c/a>, citing financial challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the pandemic has affected higher education overall, since 2004, more than 850 colleges have closed, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-861-colleges-and-9499-campuses-have-closed-down-since-2004/\">Hechinger Report\u003c/a>, an education news source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the tough forecast, some institutions have been creative in an effort to stay open. Mills College in Oakland — which historically served women — decided last year to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11888178/mills-college-to-merge-with-northeastern-university-after-months-long-court-battle\">merge\u003c/a> with Northeastern University. Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, which turns 100 years old on Sunday, Sept. 17, is banking on a pivot away from undergraduate education — focusing instead on graduate programs and continuing education for non-traditional students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a way, the pandemic had a silver lining,” said Beth Martin, the university’s president. “We have turned to trying to put more of our programs fully online. There are populations that we’ve never been able to reach. So I see it over the next many years being able to expand the mission and being able to reach more students than we ever could before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martin has led this shift since her tenure began in September 2021, just as the 45-acre university had closed its undergraduate programs, and is pursuing a land-sale agreement with Stanford. She talked about all this with KQED’s Brian Watt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: One hundred years is a real milestone. How do you see that in the context of the university’s history, as you look back on how the school has changed over the years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"mindshift_62014,news_11960912\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003cstrong>Beth Martin:\u003c/strong> When the sisters first arrived in 1923 in Belmont, Belmont wasn’t Belmont. It wasn’t incorporated until three years later. And so I see the hundred years as an increasingly large tapestry and the sisters and the educational institutions that they founded — not only a university, but also a high school and an elementary school — have really become inseparable parts of the community and have helped the community itself grow. I believe that their presence in the area has really also heightened the value of education, and over the years now, the university has managed to place so many teachers, so many therapists, and so many business people in our community and in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The university has lately been undergoing some pretty big changes. Tell us a little more about this shift and the impacts you’ve seen so far.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a major pivot. In addition to our graduate programs, we’re expanding our degree-completion programs, serving the post-traditional student, the adult student who has families [and] jobs. There are approximately 70 million people in the United States who have many units towards a bachelor’s degree but have never completed [it]. The mission of the sisters has always been to reach underserved populations. As you can imagine, when you’re a traditional residential facility, there are lots of people you can’t reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tens of millions of people who have unfinished bachelor degrees — that’s a really huge number and strikes me as a real opening for a place like yours.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We see it that way. And we also see that our graduate programs are in high demand. We have clinical psychology that’s been in high demand for many years. And you know that the need right now is extreme. We have wonderful teaching programs. The teaching \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944810/california-sees-increase-in-number-of-credentialed-teachers-bucking-national-trends-but-is-it-enough\">shortage\u003c/a> is very high, especially in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The pivot is still a big change. Did it result in pretty big cuts?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re about 40% of the size that we were because we have a 45-acre campus with 25 major buildings that were primarily geared toward traditional undergraduate students living on campus. And now we don’t need a footprint that large. So there were quite a few cuts and then we had to build back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the other big changes is the sale of Notre Dame de Namur’s campus to Stanford. Can you just talk a little bit more about that and what prompted it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, the board of trustees were trying to figure out the best move forward. At one point, they said, In addition to our pivot, we really need to monetize the value of our campus. So they made the momentous decision to sell the property. They were hoping that it would [be maintained] as an academic site, so they were delighted to find that Stanford had an interest in purchasing it. The agreement is actually an option to purchase. So Stanford has the exclusive option to purchase our campus, but they have until June 2025 to exercise that option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961159\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961159\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-800x1199.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long gray hair smiles at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1199\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-1020x1528.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED.jpg 1335w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Notre Dame de Namur University President Beth Martin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Notre Dame de Namur University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does the exclusive option to purchase mean any immediate influx of money that might actually be much needed for your campus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s an interesting question, and you probably can imagine we have signed many NDAs. The agreement itself is very private.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fair enough. I had to ask. And once the sale is finished, what happens next? Does the university have to find a new physical home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our agreement, Stanford has given us a lease-back option. They would be happy for us to stay a considerable amount of time. Even though we’re probably at least three years out from leaving, we’re already starting to make plans. We would love to stay — and plan to stay — in the community very close by because we’ve been a member of the community for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One consideration is that as we get more sophisticated technologically. We’re in the process now of setting up a center for excellence in teaching and learning with instructional designers to increasingly put programs online. So we’re thinking maybe a small newer building that is super high-tech. But we don’t have to be in any hurry to leave the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Given how higher education has struggled for years now and the pandemic dealt a big blow to universities, do you think Notre Dame de Namur can survive another 100 years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s our plan. And I’ll tell you, it’s interesting, because you probably remember for the last several decades, people have been saying lifelong learning is important. But now it’s very clear that lifelong learning is not only important, it’s necessary. People have switched careers three, four or five times. So people are continually having to relearn skills that didn’t exist five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On our orientation day, I talked to a woman in her sixties who’s coming back to get her degree in clinical psychology. She’s had another career for 40 years. We’re seeing more of those folks. I think we’re going to be a little bit ahead of the game in being able to serve that demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "At 100, a Bay Area University Makes a Major Pandemic-Era Pivot. Will It Pay Off? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The higher education sector is still reeling from the pandemic as universities and colleges face declining student enrollment and figure out the expansion of online education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many large public universities get state funding, the economic impacts are particularly challenging for small private colleges and universities. In Los Angeles County, Marymount California University closed in summer 2022, and in May, Holy Names University in Oakland also \u003ca href=\"https://hnu.edu/news/holy-names-university-in-oakland-to-close-after-spring-semester-in-may-2023/\">closed\u003c/a>, citing financial challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the pandemic has affected higher education overall, since 2004, more than 850 colleges have closed, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-861-colleges-and-9499-campuses-have-closed-down-since-2004/\">Hechinger Report\u003c/a>, an education news source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the tough forecast, some institutions have been creative in an effort to stay open. Mills College in Oakland — which historically served women — decided last year to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11888178/mills-college-to-merge-with-northeastern-university-after-months-long-court-battle\">merge\u003c/a> with Northeastern University. Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, which turns 100 years old on Sunday, Sept. 17, is banking on a pivot away from undergraduate education — focusing instead on graduate programs and continuing education for non-traditional students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a way, the pandemic had a silver lining,” said Beth Martin, the university’s president. “We have turned to trying to put more of our programs fully online. There are populations that we’ve never been able to reach. So I see it over the next many years being able to expand the mission and being able to reach more students than we ever could before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martin has led this shift since her tenure began in September 2021, just as the 45-acre university had closed its undergraduate programs, and is pursuing a land-sale agreement with Stanford. She talked about all this with KQED’s Brian Watt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Watt: One hundred years is a real milestone. How do you see that in the context of the university’s history, as you look back on how the school has changed over the years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Beth Martin:\u003c/strong> When the sisters first arrived in 1923 in Belmont, Belmont wasn’t Belmont. It wasn’t incorporated until three years later. And so I see the hundred years as an increasingly large tapestry and the sisters and the educational institutions that they founded — not only a university, but also a high school and an elementary school — have really become inseparable parts of the community and have helped the community itself grow. I believe that their presence in the area has really also heightened the value of education, and over the years now, the university has managed to place so many teachers, so many therapists, and so many business people in our community and in Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The university has lately been undergoing some pretty big changes. Tell us a little more about this shift and the impacts you’ve seen so far.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a major pivot. In addition to our graduate programs, we’re expanding our degree-completion programs, serving the post-traditional student, the adult student who has families [and] jobs. There are approximately 70 million people in the United States who have many units towards a bachelor’s degree but have never completed [it]. The mission of the sisters has always been to reach underserved populations. As you can imagine, when you’re a traditional residential facility, there are lots of people you can’t reach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tens of millions of people who have unfinished bachelor degrees — that’s a really huge number and strikes me as a real opening for a place like yours.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We see it that way. And we also see that our graduate programs are in high demand. We have clinical psychology that’s been in high demand for many years. And you know that the need right now is extreme. We have wonderful teaching programs. The teaching \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11944810/california-sees-increase-in-number-of-credentialed-teachers-bucking-national-trends-but-is-it-enough\">shortage\u003c/a> is very high, especially in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The pivot is still a big change. Did it result in pretty big cuts?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re about 40% of the size that we were because we have a 45-acre campus with 25 major buildings that were primarily geared toward traditional undergraduate students living on campus. And now we don’t need a footprint that large. So there were quite a few cuts and then we had to build back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>One of the other big changes is the sale of Notre Dame de Namur’s campus to Stanford. Can you just talk a little bit more about that and what prompted it?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, the board of trustees were trying to figure out the best move forward. At one point, they said, In addition to our pivot, we really need to monetize the value of our campus. So they made the momentous decision to sell the property. They were hoping that it would [be maintained] as an academic site, so they were delighted to find that Stanford had an interest in purchasing it. The agreement is actually an option to purchase. So Stanford has the exclusive option to purchase our campus, but they have until June 2025 to exercise that option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961159\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961159\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-800x1199.jpg\" alt=\"A person with long gray hair smiles at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1199\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-1020x1528.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-BETH-MARTIN-1-KQED.jpg 1335w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Notre Dame de Namur University President Beth Martin. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Notre Dame de Namur University)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does the exclusive option to purchase mean any immediate influx of money that might actually be much needed for your campus?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s an interesting question, and you probably can imagine we have signed many NDAs. The agreement itself is very private.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fair enough. I had to ask. And once the sale is finished, what happens next? Does the university have to find a new physical home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our agreement, Stanford has given us a lease-back option. They would be happy for us to stay a considerable amount of time. Even though we’re probably at least three years out from leaving, we’re already starting to make plans. We would love to stay — and plan to stay — in the community very close by because we’ve been a member of the community for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One consideration is that as we get more sophisticated technologically. We’re in the process now of setting up a center for excellence in teaching and learning with instructional designers to increasingly put programs online. So we’re thinking maybe a small newer building that is super high-tech. But we don’t have to be in any hurry to leave the campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Given how higher education has struggled for years now and the pandemic dealt a big blow to universities, do you think Notre Dame de Namur can survive another 100 years?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s our plan. And I’ll tell you, it’s interesting, because you probably remember for the last several decades, people have been saying lifelong learning is important. But now it’s very clear that lifelong learning is not only important, it’s necessary. People have switched careers three, four or five times. So people are continually having to relearn skills that didn’t exist five years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On our orientation day, I talked to a woman in her sixties who’s coming back to get her degree in clinical psychology. She’s had another career for 40 years. We’re seeing more of those folks. I think we’re going to be a little bit ahead of the game in being able to serve that demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-legislature-approves-plan-allow-state-buy-power",
"title": "Power Play: California Legislature Allows State to Buy Massive Amounts of Electricity",
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"headTitle": "Power Play: California Legislature Allows State to Buy Massive Amounts of Electricity | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The California Legislature voted Thursday to give Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration permission to buy massive amounts of electricity, a move aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-941c5a94c7bc7b1f93e1ed4bf6560fd4\">avoiding blackouts\u003c/a> by shoring up the state’s power supply while jumpstarting the West Coast’s fledgling offshore wind industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five companies paid roughly \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-united-states-government-rwe-ag-climate-and-environment-87f602496e34299f5429a3d8a67ae478\">$750 million\u003c/a> last year to lease areas off the California coast to build wind turbines. Collectively, those projects could generate enough electricity to power 3.5 million homes, helping the state avoid blackouts during extreme heat waves that have routinely strained the electrical grid of the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so far, the state’s largest utility companies have not been willing to commit to buying power from projects like those because it would cost too much money and take too long to build. In addition to building the wind turbines, the projects will require improvements at the state’s ports and new power lines to transport the energy from the ocean to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a major, generational series of investments that need to happen, and there’s a real risk [that] it won’t if we can’t provide more certainty,” said Alex Jackson, director of the American Clean Power Association, which represents the companies trying to build the wind projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-blackouts-wind-geothermal-energy-fd6e382afd43c3e88d8a35a8dc22578f\">let the state buy the power\u003c/a>. The money would come from a surcharge imposed on Californians’ electricity bills. State regulators would decide how much this charge would be. Consumers would not pay it until the wind projects are up and running, likely several years from now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California already has among the highest electricity rates in the country. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alex Jackson, director, American Clean Power Association\"]‘This is a major, generational series of investments that need to happen, and there’s a real risk [that] it won’t if we can’t provide more certainty.’[/pullquote] “This legislation … means that every single ratepayer in California, no matter where you live, is going to pay for this,” said Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, who opposes the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters argue the bill will save people money in the long run on their electric bills. California has a law requiring all of its electricity to come from renewable or non-carbon sources by 2045. To do that, supporters say the state will have to invest in offshore wind projects, which typically generate the most power at night when solar energy is not as abundant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say it would be more efficient for these offshore wind projects to sell all of their electricity to the state instead of selling pieces of it to multiple utility companies, helping to control costs and keep rates lower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest threat to us meeting our climate goals between now and 2045 are rate impacts to ratepayers,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist representing various construction trade associations, told lawmakers in a recent public hearing. “[This bill] is the only way to bring down those costs on these large, complex, long lead time projects in order to minimize the rate impacts.” [aside postID=science_1983253 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS42448_GettyImages-94155086-qut-1020x680.jpg'] The bill gives the Department of Water Resources the authority to purchase the power — but not forever. Their authority would expire in 2035. Lawmakers would have to vote again to extend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has moved quickly to end its reliance on fossil fuels in recent years. State regulators have OK’d rules \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-air-resources-board-climate-and-environment-dc75c11280f85a8ab134cf392497be68\">banning the sale\u003c/a> of most new gas-powered cars by 2035. But the state has struggled to maintain its clean energy values amid that transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An extreme heat wave in 2020 overwhelmed the state’s power grid, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes in the dark for a few hours over two days. Similar heat waves in the following summers prompted regulators to ask consumers to use less energy when demand was at its peak in the early evenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and the state Legislature have since spent $3.3 billion to build a “strategic reliability reserve” that included purchasing \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-sacramento-gavin-newsom-power-outages-0c520b790860fac7326cfdcdb4d3a785#:~:text=(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20A%20record%20heat,use%20of%20oil%20and%20gas.\">diesel-powered generators\u003c/a> and extending the life of some gas-fired power plants that were scheduled to retire. [aside label='More on Clean Energy' tag='clean-energy'] “There are things happening right now in energy policy that give me some pause about the efficacy of our strategy,” Democratic state Sen. Henry Stern lamented during a public hearing on the bill last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State law requires utility companies to have enough energy to meet demand. If they don’t, the bill would require those companies to pay a penalty. The Newsom administration has said this will prevent utilities from relying too much on the strategic reliability reserve, which uses gas-powered generators that pollute the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alice Reynolds, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the state has completed more than 100 projects that have added 9,000 megawatts of new clean energy in the past three years. The bill lawmakers approved on Wednesday also includes provisions to fast-track new electric transmission projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to act quickly and we need to really have all hands on deck,” Reynolds said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom can now buy massive amounts of electricity, with a goal to prevent blackouts, and kickstart the West Coast’s fledging offshore wind industry.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The California Legislature voted Thursday to give Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration permission to buy massive amounts of electricity, a move aimed at \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-941c5a94c7bc7b1f93e1ed4bf6560fd4\">avoiding blackouts\u003c/a> by shoring up the state’s power supply while jumpstarting the West Coast’s fledgling offshore wind industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five companies paid roughly \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-california-united-states-government-rwe-ag-climate-and-environment-87f602496e34299f5429a3d8a67ae478\">$750 million\u003c/a> last year to lease areas off the California coast to build wind turbines. Collectively, those projects could generate enough electricity to power 3.5 million homes, helping the state avoid blackouts during extreme heat waves that have routinely strained the electrical grid of the nation’s most populous state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so far, the state’s largest utility companies have not been willing to commit to buying power from projects like those because it would cost too much money and take too long to build. In addition to building the wind turbines, the projects will require improvements at the state’s ports and new power lines to transport the energy from the ocean to the land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “This legislation … means that every single ratepayer in California, no matter where you live, is going to pay for this,” said Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle, who opposes the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters argue the bill will save people money in the long run on their electric bills. California has a law requiring all of its electricity to come from renewable or non-carbon sources by 2045. To do that, supporters say the state will have to invest in offshore wind projects, which typically generate the most power at night when solar energy is not as abundant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters say it would be more efficient for these offshore wind projects to sell all of their electricity to the state instead of selling pieces of it to multiple utility companies, helping to control costs and keep rates lower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest threat to us meeting our climate goals between now and 2045 are rate impacts to ratepayers,” Scott Wetch, a lobbyist representing various construction trade associations, told lawmakers in a recent public hearing. “[This bill] is the only way to bring down those costs on these large, complex, long lead time projects in order to minimize the rate impacts.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The bill gives the Department of Water Resources the authority to purchase the power — but not forever. Their authority would expire in 2035. Lawmakers would have to vote again to extend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has moved quickly to end its reliance on fossil fuels in recent years. State regulators have OK’d rules \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-air-resources-board-climate-and-environment-dc75c11280f85a8ab134cf392497be68\">banning the sale\u003c/a> of most new gas-powered cars by 2035. But the state has struggled to maintain its clean energy values amid that transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An extreme heat wave in 2020 overwhelmed the state’s power grid, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes in the dark for a few hours over two days. Similar heat waves in the following summers prompted regulators to ask consumers to use less energy when demand was at its peak in the early evenings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom and the state Legislature have since spent $3.3 billion to build a “strategic reliability reserve” that included purchasing \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-california-sacramento-gavin-newsom-power-outages-0c520b790860fac7326cfdcdb4d3a785#:~:text=(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20A%20record%20heat,use%20of%20oil%20and%20gas.\">diesel-powered generators\u003c/a> and extending the life of some gas-fired power plants that were scheduled to retire. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “There are things happening right now in energy policy that give me some pause about the efficacy of our strategy,” Democratic state Sen. Henry Stern lamented during a public hearing on the bill last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State law requires utility companies to have enough energy to meet demand. If they don’t, the bill would require those companies to pay a penalty. The Newsom administration has said this will prevent utilities from relying too much on the strategic reliability reserve, which uses gas-powered generators that pollute the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alice Reynolds, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the state has completed more than 100 projects that have added 9,000 megawatts of new clean energy in the past three years. The bill lawmakers approved on Wednesday also includes provisions to fast-track new electric transmission projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to act quickly and we need to really have all hands on deck,” Reynolds said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
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