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"slug": "environmental-case-against-west-oakland-scrap-yard-is-dropped-by-new-da",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 5:04 p.m. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates and former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price are not happy with prosecutors’ decision to drop charges against a West Oakland scrap metal processing plant that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957894/smelly-smoke-from-oakland-metal-recycler-fire-prompts-health-concerns\">caught fire two years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Radius Recycling, formerly Schnitzer Steel, had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031593/california-falls-short-enforcing-regulations-for-metal-shredding-industry\">a history of environmental violations\u003c/a> before the 2023 blaze that Price’s office said spewed toxic smoke across the East Bay. The company and two of its managers will no longer face criminal charges and millions of dollars in fines after Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson’s office quietly dismissed the case on Friday, citing a lack of proof for criminal liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t a question of us standing with polluters — we’re not. But we can only proceed where we can proceed,” said Casey Bates, an assistant district attorney in Jones Dickson’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said, however, that the decision does not preclude the district attorney from seeking criminal charges against the company and its employees in the future, or from pursuing a civil case against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that comes as cold comfort to advocates who backed the high-profile prosecution that Price launched last year. Calling the action “historic,” Price in July announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996994/west-oakland-steel-recycler-charged-with-10-crimes-after-toxic-fire-last-summer\">a 10-count grand jury indictment\u003c/a> against the company for its “terrible legacy of environmental racism and poison in Alameda County that has had a deleterious impact on West Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031603\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">6231 Schnitzer Steel workers use cranes to pull metal out of the smoky mound after a fire started deep in a pile of scrap on Aug. 9, 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014858/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-concedes-recall-defeat-after-long-holdout\">recalled Price\u003c/a> several months later, and Jones Dickson was appointed in January by the county Board of Supervisors to complete her term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price called her successor’s decision to dismiss the case “outrageous” and disconcerting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was grounded in the evidence and the experience of the residents of West Oakland, of the firefighters who were called to fight this very dangerous and toxic fire and who risked their lives to protect the community,” she said. ”And for the district attorney to step back from enforcing the rights of the people and holding this corporation and its corporate managers accountable is absolutely disgraceful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision is further evidence that the district attorney’s office is no longer “concerned or accountable to the community,” she noted, suggesting that Jones Dickson was beholden to corporate interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Margaret Gordon, who’s lived near the West Oakland facility for three decades and founded the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, accused Jones Dickson’s office of failing to reach out to her community about its decision to dismiss the charges against a company that she said has a long history of air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been informed that she was doing that,” Gordon said. “We should have some kind of communication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates have long called for the facility to leave Oakland, citing harmful smoke from frequent fires, including large blazes in 2009, 2010, 2018 and 2020.[aside postID=news_11957894 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230809-altenberg-port-fire-3-KQED-1020x681.jpg']West Oakland residents, who live near a major highway, the port, and industrial facilities, have some of the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-03/capp_consultation_group_march_2018_alameda_county_health_presentation.pdf\">highest rates of asthma\u003c/a> and other respiratory diseases in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who represents West Oakland and the surrounding areas, decried the district attorney’s decision to drop the case against the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Serial polluters shouldn’t be allowed to fill our lungs with hazardous waste, including lead, and get away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that the company — which is located within a mile of 18 day care centers, 10 parks, eight schools and two hospitals — has been hit with 13 notices of violation from local air regulators since 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The repeated fires from this facility threaten the well-being of the entire Bay Area, particularly the surrounding community in Oakland,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Past investigations by the Alameda County district attorney’s office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that the facility released particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc. The investigations were cited in a 2021 settlement between Schnitzer and the state Department of Justice over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland Estuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The DA’s office had a long history of negotiating settlements with Schnitzer and then not enforcing the settlements,” Price said, noting that Radius was shocked when her office set out to hold the company accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson speaks during a press conference at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The charges \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996994/west-oakland-steel-recycler-charged-with-10-crimes-after-toxic-fire-last-summer\">filed last year\u003c/a> by Price’s office alleged that Radius Steel as well as Daniel Woltman and Dane Morales, the heads of the West Oakland facility, recklessly managed hazardous materials, elevating the risk of fire, and later destroyed evidence by cleaning up the 40-ton charred “tin pile” before prosecutors could inspect it to help build their case against the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company and the two men were also charged with violating local air quality regulations and state toxic substance control laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges, which carried a penalty of up to $33 million in criminal fines and up to three years in county jail, were the first ever filed by an Alameda County district attorney for environmental crimes allegedly committed by a corporation, Price said at a press conference in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price’s office first announced the investigation against the Oregon-based company days after the August 2023 blaze at its Oakland facility, which burned for more than 24 hours, shrouding the region in a gray smoky haze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire started in a pile of scrap metal and was likely caused by a lithium battery, according to the Oakland Fire Department, whose crews were unable to reach the source of the blaze for hours due to the sheer size of the pile. County and city officials advised residents near the Port of Oakland to avoid Jack London Square and to keep their windows closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The West Oakland facility, which shreds cars and other large appliances, is one of at least four operated by Radius Recycling in California.[aside postID=news_12041689 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_5-1020x765.jpg'] The company, which rebranded in 2023, bills itself as one of North America’s largest manufacturers and exporters of recycled metal products, with 100 operations centers and over 50 recycling facilities in the U.S. and Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the beginning, we have been confident that a full and fair review of the facts would confirm that our actions were responsible, transparent, and fully compliant with the law,” Eric Potashner, a Radius spokesperson, said in an email to KQED. “We are proud of how our team responded in the aftermath of the 2023 fire—prioritizing safety, collaborating closely with regulators, and maintaining our commitment to environmental responsibility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement issued last year after charges were filed, Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Radius, said that the company does not treat or store hazardous waste and that it did not hide or destroy any evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are fully confident that the company’s actions will be proven to have prioritized public safety and compliance with the law,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s attorneys at the time argued that the case was politically motivated because Price was facing a recall election and wanted to secure a high-profile win. They also denied destroying any evidence from the fire, saying that officials were allowed to inspect the debris and collect samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Scott Patton removed four prosecutors from the case over their ongoing contention that the company had ignored orders not to clean up the burn pile in its alleged effort to destroy evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his recusal order, Patton dismissed the prosecution’s argument as negligent and “disingenuous,” insisting that they should have done more to “act immediately” to find any evidence of toxic chemicals in the wreckage. Not cleaning up the burn pile for days, he wrote, would have also “created an unacceptable public health hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price staunchly defended the team of prosecutors she picked to pursue the charges against Radius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are folks who were trained and experienced in prosecuting this type of case,” Price said. “And they went to the grand jury, which was a collective body of residents of Alameda County, everyday people, looked at that evidence, and they made a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011912\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Black woman in a suit jacket speaks at a podium, with a 'Alameda County District Attorney's Office banner behind her.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price speaks to reporters during a briefing in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She called it dumbfounding for the district attorney’s office to argue that it could not meet the burden of proof for criminal liability, and she criticized prosecutors for dismissing the case without attempting to secure a plea deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The investigation of the case and preparation of the case took many months, and then it went to the grand jury, and then the indictment was approved by a judge,” Price said. “And so why they don’t know how to use that evidence is beside me, other than these folks are not really experienced in doing this kind of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case, she added, was a critical step in working to hold the company accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the danger of allowing corporate criminals to violate environmental laws with impunity is obviously something that undermines public safety for all of us,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from KQED’s Sara Hossaini and Annelise Finney.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Advocates and former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price are not happy after prosecutors quietly dismissed criminal charges linked to a 2023 fire at the Schnitzer Steel plant. \r\n",
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"title": "Environmental Case Against West Oakland Scrap Yard Is Dropped by New DA | KQED",
"description": "Advocates and former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price are not happy after prosecutors quietly dismissed criminal charges linked to a 2023 fire at the Schnitzer Steel plant. \r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 5:04 p.m. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates and former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price are not happy with prosecutors’ decision to drop charges against a West Oakland scrap metal processing plant that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11957894/smelly-smoke-from-oakland-metal-recycler-fire-prompts-health-concerns\">caught fire two years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Radius Recycling, formerly Schnitzer Steel, had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031593/california-falls-short-enforcing-regulations-for-metal-shredding-industry\">a history of environmental violations\u003c/a> before the 2023 blaze that Price’s office said spewed toxic smoke across the East Bay. The company and two of its managers will no longer face criminal charges and millions of dollars in fines after Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson’s office quietly dismissed the case on Friday, citing a lack of proof for criminal liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t a question of us standing with polluters — we’re not. But we can only proceed where we can proceed,” said Casey Bates, an assistant district attorney in Jones Dickson’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said, however, that the decision does not preclude the district attorney from seeking criminal charges against the company and its employees in the future, or from pursuing a civil case against them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that comes as cold comfort to advocates who backed the high-profile prosecution that Price launched last year. Calling the action “historic,” Price in July announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996994/west-oakland-steel-recycler-charged-with-10-crimes-after-toxic-fire-last-summer\">a 10-count grand jury indictment\u003c/a> against the company for its “terrible legacy of environmental racism and poison in Alameda County that has had a deleterious impact on West Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031603\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031603\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/PHW-Photo-3-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">6231 Schnitzer Steel workers use cranes to pull metal out of the smoky mound after a fire started deep in a pile of scrap on Aug. 9, 2023. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014858/alameda-county-da-pamela-price-concedes-recall-defeat-after-long-holdout\">recalled Price\u003c/a> several months later, and Jones Dickson was appointed in January by the county Board of Supervisors to complete her term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price called her successor’s decision to dismiss the case “outrageous” and disconcerting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was grounded in the evidence and the experience of the residents of West Oakland, of the firefighters who were called to fight this very dangerous and toxic fire and who risked their lives to protect the community,” she said. ”And for the district attorney to step back from enforcing the rights of the people and holding this corporation and its corporate managers accountable is absolutely disgraceful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision is further evidence that the district attorney’s office is no longer “concerned or accountable to the community,” she noted, suggesting that Jones Dickson was beholden to corporate interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Margaret Gordon, who’s lived near the West Oakland facility for three decades and founded the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, accused Jones Dickson’s office of failing to reach out to her community about its decision to dismiss the charges against a company that she said has a long history of air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been informed that she was doing that,” Gordon said. “We should have some kind of communication.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates have long called for the facility to leave Oakland, citing harmful smoke from frequent fires, including large blazes in 2009, 2010, 2018 and 2020.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>West Oakland residents, who live near a major highway, the port, and industrial facilities, have some of the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2018-03/capp_consultation_group_march_2018_alameda_county_health_presentation.pdf\">highest rates of asthma\u003c/a> and other respiratory diseases in the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who represents West Oakland and the surrounding areas, decried the district attorney’s decision to drop the case against the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Serial polluters shouldn’t be allowed to fill our lungs with hazardous waste, including lead, and get away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She noted that the company — which is located within a mile of 18 day care centers, 10 parks, eight schools and two hospitals — has been hit with 13 notices of violation from local air regulators since 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The repeated fires from this facility threaten the well-being of the entire Bay Area, particularly the surrounding community in Oakland,” Bonta said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Past investigations by the Alameda County district attorney’s office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that the facility released particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc. The investigations were cited in a 2021 settlement between Schnitzer and the state Department of Justice over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland Estuary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The DA’s office had a long history of negotiating settlements with Schnitzer and then not enforcing the settlements,” Price said, noting that Radius was shocked when her office set out to hold the company accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-AlCoDASwornIn-07-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson speaks during a press conference at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The charges \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996994/west-oakland-steel-recycler-charged-with-10-crimes-after-toxic-fire-last-summer\">filed last year\u003c/a> by Price’s office alleged that Radius Steel as well as Daniel Woltman and Dane Morales, the heads of the West Oakland facility, recklessly managed hazardous materials, elevating the risk of fire, and later destroyed evidence by cleaning up the 40-ton charred “tin pile” before prosecutors could inspect it to help build their case against the company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company and the two men were also charged with violating local air quality regulations and state toxic substance control laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges, which carried a penalty of up to $33 million in criminal fines and up to three years in county jail, were the first ever filed by an Alameda County district attorney for environmental crimes allegedly committed by a corporation, Price said at a press conference in July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price’s office first announced the investigation against the Oregon-based company days after the August 2023 blaze at its Oakland facility, which burned for more than 24 hours, shrouding the region in a gray smoky haze.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire started in a pile of scrap metal and was likely caused by a lithium battery, according to the Oakland Fire Department, whose crews were unable to reach the source of the blaze for hours due to the sheer size of the pile. County and city officials advised residents near the Port of Oakland to avoid Jack London Square and to keep their windows closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The West Oakland facility, which shreds cars and other large appliances, is one of at least four operated by Radius Recycling in California.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> The company, which rebranded in 2023, bills itself as one of North America’s largest manufacturers and exporters of recycled metal products, with 100 operations centers and over 50 recycling facilities in the U.S. and Canada.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the beginning, we have been confident that a full and fair review of the facts would confirm that our actions were responsible, transparent, and fully compliant with the law,” Eric Potashner, a Radius spokesperson, said in an email to KQED. “We are proud of how our team responded in the aftermath of the 2023 fire—prioritizing safety, collaborating closely with regulators, and maintaining our commitment to environmental responsibility.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement issued last year after charges were filed, Aaron Dyer, an attorney for Radius, said that the company does not treat or store hazardous waste and that it did not hide or destroy any evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are fully confident that the company’s actions will be proven to have prioritized public safety and compliance with the law,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company’s attorneys at the time argued that the case was politically motivated because Price was facing a recall election and wanted to secure a high-profile win. They also denied destroying any evidence from the fire, saying that officials were allowed to inspect the debris and collect samples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Scott Patton removed four prosecutors from the case over their ongoing contention that the company had ignored orders not to clean up the burn pile in its alleged effort to destroy evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his recusal order, Patton dismissed the prosecution’s argument as negligent and “disingenuous,” insisting that they should have done more to “act immediately” to find any evidence of toxic chemicals in the wreckage. Not cleaning up the burn pile for days, he wrote, would have also “created an unacceptable public health hazard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price staunchly defended the team of prosecutors she picked to pursue the charges against Radius.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are folks who were trained and experienced in prosecuting this type of case,” Price said. “And they went to the grand jury, which was a collective body of residents of Alameda County, everyday people, looked at that evidence, and they made a decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12011912\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12011912\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"A middle-aged Black woman in a suit jacket speaks at a podium, with a 'Alameda County District Attorney's Office banner behind her.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241021-OaklandPDDrunkDriving-06-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price speaks to reporters during a briefing in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She called it dumbfounding for the district attorney’s office to argue that it could not meet the burden of proof for criminal liability, and she criticized prosecutors for dismissing the case without attempting to secure a plea deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The investigation of the case and preparation of the case took many months, and then it went to the grand jury, and then the indictment was approved by a judge,” Price said. “And so why they don’t know how to use that evidence is beside me, other than these folks are not really experienced in doing this kind of work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The case, she added, was a critical step in working to hold the company accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the danger of allowing corporate criminals to violate environmental laws with impunity is obviously something that undermines public safety for all of us,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting from KQED’s Sara Hossaini and Annelise Finney.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For a vessel that’s spent decades cleaning up trash in the ocean, this is perhaps the cruelest of fates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kaisei, a large double-masted sailing ship whose mission has long been to raise awareness about the ever-mounting volume of marine garbage and the ecological threat it poses, is now the latest large piece of debris needing to be pulled from the water after it sank into the Oakland Estuary over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 99-foot sailing ship, which had been docked in Alameda behind the Nob Hill Foods grocery store, near the Park Street Bridge, began sinking into the murky waters on Sunday evening for reasons that are still unknown, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody was on board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Coast Guard received a report (at 6:14 p.m.) from the Alameda police dispatch of a vessel that was taking on water and sinking quickly near the public dock,” said Ensign John Thompson, a spokesperson for the agency. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We do not know about the cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within hours, the Alameda Fire Department \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/alamedacityfire/status/1926834891385143571\">posted on the social media platform X\u003c/a> that its fireboat crew had deployed a floating boom to prevent the spread of leaked oil from the ship and was working to protect surrounding vessels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday night, only the ship’s masts and part of its hull were still visible above water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041696\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041696\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On Monday afternoon, a floating boom surrounded a large two-masted sailing vessel that sank over the weekend at its Alameda dock in the Oakland Estuary. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Alameda Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The truth is, we don’t know a whole lot,” said Ryan Yerkey, chief of operations at Ocean Voyages Institute, the Sausalito-based sailing education and environmental nonprofit that owns the ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yerkey said his organization was contacted by a Coast Guard official on Sunday who reported that the Kaisei was likely struck by a large object in the water and sank fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There had been people on board the boat the day before and that morning, so we know it was just a really quick, unfortunate tragedy,” he said. “We don’t know what hit it, but it was super high tide and the water moves very quickly through the channel, with all sorts of debris, logs, trees, things like that. So something came through, smacked into it and made a hole, is what it sounds like.”[aside postID=news_12040941 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BeniciaRefinery-30-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']A steel-hulled brigantine built in Poland in 1987, the Kaisei — which means “Sea Star” or “Ocean Planet” in Japanese — is a replica of the galleons of yore, serving for years as a sailing training vessel in Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since acquiring the ship around 2001, Ocean Voyages has taken it on three separate expeditions in 2009, 2011 and 2012 to monitor and report on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In that vast and growing vortex of trash, located in the \u003ca href=\"https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/garbage-patches\">North Pacific Gyre\u003c/a> between Hawaii and California, clockwise currents collect an unusually large amount of human-produced, mostly plastic, debris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the exact size of the loose accumulation of the garbage patch is unknown, some estimates put it as high as 617,000 square miles, about twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepatch.html#:~:text=We%20did%20some%20quick%\">By one calculation\u003c/a>, it would take 67 ships one year to clean up just 1% of that entire area, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All three of the ship’s voyages to the garbage patch have been geared toward scientific sampling and data collection to identify the specific types of marine debris — including floating plastics, microplastics and ghost nets — and develop possible solutions for removing it,\u003ca href=\"https://projectkaisei.org/about-project-kaisei/#projectkaisei\"> according to the organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041694\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At approximately 6:13 p.m. on May 26, 2025, the Alameda Fire Department responded to the report of a large vessel taking on water and sinking along the estuary on Blanding Avenue in Alameda, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Alameda Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ocean Voyages is working with the Coast Guard and local agencies to recover the Kaisei, and has hired a team to monitor it 24 hours a day for any oil leaks, Yerkely said. The ship has about 400 gallons of diesel fuel on board, which divers will try to empty out Tuesday, he added, noting that only a minimal amount of oil has so far been known to have leaked into the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re doing everything that can be done, and we’re on top of it,” he said. “And luckily, everybody has been so supportive and so helpful, and been able to make a tragic situation as good as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once all environmental concerns are addressed, Yerkey added, the organization will begin figuring out how to salvage the vessel. He noted that, although unfortunate, this kind of incident is not all that unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a bunch of boats that are currently sunk in the Bay Area that I guess nobody reports on,” he said. “It’s something that unfortunately happens. And it’s not through lack of diligence or whatever. Unfortunate situations happen that are outside of our control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the sinking of a ship of this size is uncommon, smaller vessels in the Bay Area “sink all the time,” noted Thompson, from the Coast Guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say that on average, the sector responds to anywhere from two to five calls a week for a vessel taking on water or a vessel sinking,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Kaisei has been on three separate expeditions to monitor and report on the vast and growing vortex of trash known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The cause of its sinking is still unclear.",
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"title": "Ocean Research Vessel Used to Monitor Marine Debris Sinks in Oakland Estuary | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For a vessel that’s spent decades cleaning up trash in the ocean, this is perhaps the cruelest of fates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Kaisei, a large double-masted sailing ship whose mission has long been to raise awareness about the ever-mounting volume of marine garbage and the ecological threat it poses, is now the latest large piece of debris needing to be pulled from the water after it sank into the Oakland Estuary over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 99-foot sailing ship, which had been docked in Alameda behind the Nob Hill Foods grocery store, near the Park Street Bridge, began sinking into the murky waters on Sunday evening for reasons that are still unknown, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nobody was on board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Coast Guard received a report (at 6:14 p.m.) from the Alameda police dispatch of a vessel that was taking on water and sinking quickly near the public dock,” said Ensign John Thompson, a spokesperson for the agency. \u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We do not know about the cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within hours, the Alameda Fire Department \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/alamedacityfire/status/1926834891385143571\">posted on the social media platform X\u003c/a> that its fireboat crew had deployed a floating boom to prevent the spread of leaked oil from the ship and was working to protect surrounding vessels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday night, only the ship’s masts and part of its hull were still visible above water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041696\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041696\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_2-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">On Monday afternoon, a floating boom surrounded a large two-masted sailing vessel that sank over the weekend at its Alameda dock in the Oakland Estuary. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Alameda Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The truth is, we don’t know a whole lot,” said Ryan Yerkey, chief of operations at Ocean Voyages Institute, the Sausalito-based sailing education and environmental nonprofit that owns the ship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yerkey said his organization was contacted by a Coast Guard official on Sunday who reported that the Kaisei was likely struck by a large object in the water and sank fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There had been people on board the boat the day before and that morning, so we know it was just a really quick, unfortunate tragedy,” he said. “We don’t know what hit it, but it was super high tide and the water moves very quickly through the channel, with all sorts of debris, logs, trees, things like that. So something came through, smacked into it and made a hole, is what it sounds like.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A steel-hulled brigantine built in Poland in 1987, the Kaisei — which means “Sea Star” or “Ocean Planet” in Japanese — is a replica of the galleons of yore, serving for years as a sailing training vessel in Japan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since acquiring the ship around 2001, Ocean Voyages has taken it on three separate expeditions in 2009, 2011 and 2012 to monitor and report on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In that vast and growing vortex of trash, located in the \u003ca href=\"https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/garbage-patches\">North Pacific Gyre\u003c/a> between Hawaii and California, clockwise currents collect an unusually large amount of human-produced, mostly plastic, debris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the exact size of the loose accumulation of the garbage patch is unknown, some estimates put it as high as 617,000 square miles, about twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june14/mw126-garbagepatch.html#:~:text=We%20did%20some%20quick%\">By one calculation\u003c/a>, it would take 67 ships one year to clean up just 1% of that entire area, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All three of the ship’s voyages to the garbage patch have been geared toward scientific sampling and data collection to identify the specific types of marine debris — including floating plastics, microplastics and ghost nets — and develop possible solutions for removing it,\u003ca href=\"https://projectkaisei.org/about-project-kaisei/#projectkaisei\"> according to the organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041694\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1440px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041694\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Alameda-Fire_4-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At approximately 6:13 p.m. on May 26, 2025, the Alameda Fire Department responded to the report of a large vessel taking on water and sinking along the estuary on Blanding Avenue in Alameda, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Alameda Fire Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ocean Voyages is working with the Coast Guard and local agencies to recover the Kaisei, and has hired a team to monitor it 24 hours a day for any oil leaks, Yerkely said. The ship has about 400 gallons of diesel fuel on board, which divers will try to empty out Tuesday, he added, noting that only a minimal amount of oil has so far been known to have leaked into the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re doing everything that can be done, and we’re on top of it,” he said. “And luckily, everybody has been so supportive and so helpful, and been able to make a tragic situation as good as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once all environmental concerns are addressed, Yerkey added, the organization will begin figuring out how to salvage the vessel. He noted that, although unfortunate, this kind of incident is not all that unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a bunch of boats that are currently sunk in the Bay Area that I guess nobody reports on,” he said. “It’s something that unfortunately happens. And it’s not through lack of diligence or whatever. Unfortunate situations happen that are outside of our control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the sinking of a ship of this size is uncommon, smaller vessels in the Bay Area “sink all the time,” noted Thompson, from the Coast Guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say that on average, the sector responds to anywhere from two to five calls a week for a vessel taking on water or a vessel sinking,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "in-the-bay-area-community-gardens-can-help-you-make-the-most-of-spring",
"title": "In the Bay Area, Community Gardens Can Help You Make the Most of Spring",
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"headTitle": "In the Bay Area, Community Gardens Can Help You Make the Most of Spring | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Bay Area’s weather and soil make for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909836/summer-gardening-tomatoes-zucchini-and-climate-change\">excellent growing\u003c/a>. It’s part of why we have ample access to fresh fruits and vegetables at local grocery stores and farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if you’re tempted to try your hand at growing your own, for many people, having your own garden at home just isn’t possible — you may not have the space, the tools or the knowledge to get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the Bay Area is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/96790/uc-berkeleys-student-run-garden-offers-urban-oasis-to-students-and-community\">full of community gardens\u003c/a>: shared spaces offering all those things, plus a group of gardeners eager to share in the oftentimes literal fruits of their labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the good news is: Even though summer is around the corner, there’s still time to get planting in time for a full harvest this year — or to just dip your toes in the hobby for your first season. Plus, with grocery store \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035438/higher-prices-may-be-slow-to-come-down-even-if-tariffs-go-away-economists-say\">prices sky-high due to inflation and tariffs\u003c/a>, supplementing your pantry with homegrown vegetables may give your budget a break, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for our guide to local community gardens, plus recommendations from experts themselves on what to plant this season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040980\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1409062723-scaled-e1747930284962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040980\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1409062723-scaled-e1747930284962.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danielle Williams holds her 9-month-old son Liam, after she tended to the rooftop tenant garden at the Sansom Broadway Apartments, part of the Chinatown Community Development Center, in San Francisco on Monday, Oct.12, 2015. \u003ccite>(Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WherecanIfindaplotinacommunitygarden?\">Where can I find a plot in a community garden?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Thewaitlistforacommunitygardenplotissolong.Whataremyotheroptions?\">The waitlist for a community garden plot is so long. What are my other options?\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatcanIgetoutofacommunitygarden(besidestheproduce)?\">What can I get out of a community garden (besides the produce)\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#What(beginnerfriendly)veggiestoplantinspring/summerintheBayArea?\">What (beginner-friendly) veggies to plant in spring/summer in the Bay Area\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How can I find a plot in a \u003ca id=\"WherecanIfindaplotinacommunitygarden?\">\u003c/a>community garden?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The odds are good that your city, town or neighborhood has a community garden with plots for the public or gardening work days you can join, where anyone can participate in planting, weeding, watering and harvesting shared plots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of San Francisco alone has \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1403/Community-Gardens\">42 community gardens\u003c/a> in almost \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1406/Community-Gardens-Interactive-Map\">every neighborhood of the city\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/bcgc/\">there’s a wealth of gardens\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/community-gardening\">in the East Bay\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://incredibleediblemidpeninsula.org/community-gardens/community-gardens-san-mateo-county/\">on the peninsula\u003c/a> as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t just limit your search to city-run sites: Local nonprofits, churches, universities and community colleges often have their own gardens. In San Francisco, there are also gardens managed by other agencies like the \u003ca href=\"https://presidio.gov/explore/attractions/presidio-nursery\">Presidio Trust\u003c/a> in the Presidio, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/places/000/fort-mason-community-garden.htm\">Golden Gate National Recreation Area\u003c/a> in Fort Mason and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpuc.gov/learning/come-visit/college-hill-learning-garden#:~:text=It%20is%20open%20for%20field,all%20available%20dates%20and%20times.\">San Francisco Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a> in Bernal Heights. Most gardens charge a low (around $30 or so) yearly fee that funds equipment costs or maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12040892 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/best-hikes-bay-area-memorial-day-1020x679.png']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while there may be an abundance of community gardens in the Bay Area, demand for plots is also extremely high — and spots are limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how popular the idea of sustaining yourself locally is and knowing how your food is grown,” said Corinne Haskins, coordinator of \u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/bcgc/\">Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative\u003c/a>. Her group supports local community gardens and advocates for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/food-insecurity\">food security\u003c/a> across the Berkeley community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re committed to having your own plot, go ahead and join the waitlist at your local garden now, Haskins said. But remember: Having a plot of your own means you have to take care of it, so ask about the size of the plot before you commit — and what kind of rules you might have to abide by if you’re lucky enough to snag one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KarlLinnGarden/\">Karl Linn Garden\u003c/a> in Berkeley, new gardeners are given a half plot to start — but “we insist that gardeners keep their plots up, that they plant their summer vegetables and their winter vegetables,” said Mary Ross Lynch, garden co-coordinator. “We have evaluations twice a year to make sure that they’re fulfilling all the rules like ‘no weeds’ and ‘no shading of other plots’ and keeping their gardens planted and harvested — because there’s so many people waiting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The waitlist for a community \u003ca id=\"Thewaitlistforacommunitygardenplotissolong.Whataremyotheroptions?\">\u003c/a>garden plot is so long. What are my other options?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t despair. Ross Lynch and Haskins both suggest asking around among neighbors and friends to see if anyone has extra space in their backyard that you could use, or if they’d be willing to split a larger plot somewhere with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or, if you’re not quite ready for an entire plot of your own, they also recommend looking for spaces like \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacifica-gardens.org/\">Pacifica Gardens\u003c/a>, where all the plots are shared and anyone can participate in a harvest, which is then donated to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacresourcecenter.org/\">Pacifica Resource Center\u003c/a> food bank each week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you’re on a waitlist — or still deciding if having your own plot \u003cem>is \u003c/em>for you — one way to get involved is by volunteering at your local community garden and quite literally getting your hands dirty, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson Daniel Montes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040977\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025GardenFortheEnvironmentSWright.jpg2_-scaled-e1747932409283.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040977\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025GardenFortheEnvironmentSWright.jpg2_-scaled-e1747932409283.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Herbs like sage, chamomile and thyme thrive at Garden for the Environment, an educational garden in San Francisco’s Sunset District, on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As well as individual plots, many community gardens also have common areas offering “an associate membership,” Montes said: “meaning people can also drop in and help out in the communal area without the responsibility of maintaining a plot.” The parks department also hosts occasional \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1404/Urban-Agriculture-Resources\">garden resource days\u003c/a> where they give out materials and advice to gardeners, and some city library branches also offer \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/locations/potrero/potrero-branch-seed-lending-library\">seed libraries\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most gardens have similar events, work days, seed swaps or need a helping hand once in a while — offering you some of the fun of working on a plot with far less of the commitment that comes with it. You may even get to take home some of the harvest or ready it for donation. The Karl Linn Garden, for example, hosts monthly work parties to take care of common areas in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, it doesn’t hurt to be a regular at your community garden while you’re on the waitlist, Haskins said, so garden leaders know that once you get a plot, you’re sure to maintain it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something really nice about learning skills with other people,” said Maggie Marks, director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/\">Garden for the Environment\u003c/a>, an educational garden nestled below Mt. Sutro in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco.[aside postID=arts_13976437 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/05/GettyImages-1298780633-1536x1108.jpg']Garden for the Environment is open to the public every day, and offers volunteer work hours twice a week and classes for schools another two days. You can also pay to sign up for workshops on topics like composting, food growing, beekeeping, bird watching, native plants and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Master Gardener Program is also there to help, said Maggie Mah, the spokesperson for their \u003ca href=\"https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-mateo-san-francisco-counties\">San Mateo-San Francisco branch\u003c/a>. The program, an extension of the University of California system, trains volunteers to work with local community gardens and at-home gardeners and teaches them proper gardening techniques.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every county has a Master Gardener Program, and Mah said its volunteers host classes, workshops and other events, making themselves available to gardeners of all skill levels. Her branch even has a \u003ca href=\"https://ucanr.edu/site/master-gardeners-san-mateo-san-francisco-counties/gardening-education-center-gec\">gardening education center in San Mateo.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, our role is to educate people on how to be successful with producing things,” Mah said. “We try to reach as many people as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can I get out of a community garden (besides \u003ca id=\"WhatcanIgetoutofacommunitygarden(besidestheproduce)?\">\u003c/a>the produce)?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Communal gardening provides benefits beyond the food itself, Haskins said. It’s a great way to get outside, share resources and knowledge with your neighbors and cut down on grocery costs, too. \u003ca href=\"https://cejce.berkeley.edu/centers/multicultural-community-center/programs/mcc-healing-and-learning-garden\">Some community gardens also act as a shared space\u003c/a> to explore cultural practices, \u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/article/an-indigenous-garden-takes-root/\">including Indigenous agricultural methods.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just because you don’t have a plot doesn’t mean you can’t share in the bounty. Some gardens, like Bancroft Garden in Berkeley, leave their harvest out in exchange for donations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just works to the benefit of everyone,” Haskins said. “There’s lots of support to encourage people to have the ability to eat healthy, feed themselves and reduce their grocery bill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the garden offers personal and community connection, unlike anywhere else — although it wasn’t always so competitive to get a plot, said Loren Jones, a San Francisco native and composer who’s been gardening at the \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/facilities/facility/details/Clipper-Community-Garden-298\">Clipper Terrace Garden\u003c/a> since the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones said he stumbled upon the garden, which was established in the ’70s, when two brothers donated the land from their family dairy farm — after noticing a giant bush of blackberries on the side of the road. “One day, I just made the time to stop in, and I couldn’t believe it,” Jones said. “It’s one of the best blackberry patches in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040978\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025ClipperCommunityGardenSWright.jpg.jpg3_-scaled-e1747932359620.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040978\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025ClipperCommunityGardenSWright.jpg.jpg3_-scaled-e1747932359620.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plot at Clipper Terrace Community Garden, one of San Francisco’s oldest community gardens, in bloom with lettuces, onions and more on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Clipper Terrace had a few other hard-to-believe attributes, like its stunning view of the city skyline, hard-to-grow Gravenstein apple tree (since cut down) and tough-as-nails manager, a firefighter named Sarah who Jones fondly remembers having to call upwards of 15 times to convince her to give him a plot.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What Bay Area produce should a beginner plant in \u003ca id=\"What(beginnerfriendly)veggiestoplantinspring/summerintheBayArea?\">\u003c/a>spring and summer?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of Jones’s recommendations to get you started in a Bay Area garden:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Zucchini\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Potatoes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Chard\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fava beans\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Lettuce (although these fast growers need to be harvested regularly)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbaygardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SFBayPlantingCalendar1.1.pdf\">This Bay Area-oriented planting calendar may also help you brainstorm\u003c/a> what to sow, keeping in mind if your plot tends to get more sun or fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that pretty much anything grows in the Bay Area, but be sure to ask the other gardeners at your community garden for their own location-specific tips or tricks.[aside postID=news_12040242 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/HENRY-COE-6-KQED-1020x765.jpg']For example, tomatoes don’t grow well outdoors at Clipper Terrace because it’s often cold and windy on this Diamond Heights hillside, Jones said. Instead, tomatoes must be grown in their greenhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has two growing seasons — winter and summer — which vastly expands the opportunities for what types of produce to grow, Ross Lynch explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is great because you have these multi-climates. But the further inland you are, the more things that you can grow that you would grow in the heartland,” Haskins said, including melons, which are her favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Ross Lynch, she just planted tomatoes, carrots and peppers, and plans to put in parsley and basil seeds soon —and she’s still harvesting her winter crop of leeks and beets from the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I give stuff to my friends, I give stuff to other gardeners in the community garden,” Ross Lynch said. “So it all gets given away or eaten.“\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t be disappointed if sometimes your crops fail. It still happens to even longtime gardeners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not a gardener if you’ve never learned to garden,” Marks said. “People have this idea that gardening is something that you either have a skill for or don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just have to learn it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The waitlists to join a community garden in the Bay Area may be long, but getting a personal plot isn’t the only way to start growing your own food.\r\n",
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"title": "In the Bay Area, Community Gardens Can Help You Make the Most of Spring | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Bay Area’s weather and soil make for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909836/summer-gardening-tomatoes-zucchini-and-climate-change\">excellent growing\u003c/a>. It’s part of why we have ample access to fresh fruits and vegetables at local grocery stores and farmers markets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if you’re tempted to try your hand at growing your own, for many people, having your own garden at home just isn’t possible — you may not have the space, the tools or the knowledge to get started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily, the Bay Area is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/bayareabites/96790/uc-berkeleys-student-run-garden-offers-urban-oasis-to-students-and-community\">full of community gardens\u003c/a>: shared spaces offering all those things, plus a group of gardeners eager to share in the oftentimes literal fruits of their labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the good news is: Even though summer is around the corner, there’s still time to get planting in time for a full harvest this year — or to just dip your toes in the hobby for your first season. Plus, with grocery store \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035438/higher-prices-may-be-slow-to-come-down-even-if-tariffs-go-away-economists-say\">prices sky-high due to inflation and tariffs\u003c/a>, supplementing your pantry with homegrown vegetables may give your budget a break, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for our guide to local community gardens, plus recommendations from experts themselves on what to plant this season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040980\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1409062723-scaled-e1747930284962.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040980\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1409062723-scaled-e1747930284962.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Danielle Williams holds her 9-month-old son Liam, after she tended to the rooftop tenant garden at the Sansom Broadway Apartments, part of the Chinatown Community Development Center, in San Francisco on Monday, Oct.12, 2015. \u003ccite>(Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WherecanIfindaplotinacommunitygarden?\">Where can I find a plot in a community garden?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Thewaitlistforacommunitygardenplotissolong.Whataremyotheroptions?\">The waitlist for a community garden plot is so long. What are my other options?\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatcanIgetoutofacommunitygarden(besidestheproduce)?\">What can I get out of a community garden (besides the produce)\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#What(beginnerfriendly)veggiestoplantinspring/summerintheBayArea?\">What (beginner-friendly) veggies to plant in spring/summer in the Bay Area\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How can I find a plot in a \u003ca id=\"WherecanIfindaplotinacommunitygarden?\">\u003c/a>community garden?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The odds are good that your city, town or neighborhood has a community garden with plots for the public or gardening work days you can join, where anyone can participate in planting, weeding, watering and harvesting shared plots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of San Francisco alone has \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1403/Community-Gardens\">42 community gardens\u003c/a> in almost \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1406/Community-Gardens-Interactive-Map\">every neighborhood of the city\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/bcgc/\">there’s a wealth of gardens\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/community-gardening\">in the East Bay\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://incredibleediblemidpeninsula.org/community-gardens/community-gardens-san-mateo-county/\">on the peninsula\u003c/a> as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t just limit your search to city-run sites: Local nonprofits, churches, universities and community colleges often have their own gardens. In San Francisco, there are also gardens managed by other agencies like the \u003ca href=\"https://presidio.gov/explore/attractions/presidio-nursery\">Presidio Trust\u003c/a> in the Presidio, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/places/000/fort-mason-community-garden.htm\">Golden Gate National Recreation Area\u003c/a> in Fort Mason and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpuc.gov/learning/come-visit/college-hill-learning-garden#:~:text=It%20is%20open%20for%20field,all%20available%20dates%20and%20times.\">San Francisco Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a> in Bernal Heights. Most gardens charge a low (around $30 or so) yearly fee that funds equipment costs or maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while there may be an abundance of community gardens in the Bay Area, demand for plots is also extremely high — and spots are limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how popular the idea of sustaining yourself locally is and knowing how your food is grown,” said Corinne Haskins, coordinator of \u003ca href=\"https://ecologycenter.org/bcgc/\">Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative\u003c/a>. Her group supports local community gardens and advocates for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/food-insecurity\">food security\u003c/a> across the Berkeley community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re committed to having your own plot, go ahead and join the waitlist at your local garden now, Haskins said. But remember: Having a plot of your own means you have to take care of it, so ask about the size of the plot before you commit — and what kind of rules you might have to abide by if you’re lucky enough to snag one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KarlLinnGarden/\">Karl Linn Garden\u003c/a> in Berkeley, new gardeners are given a half plot to start — but “we insist that gardeners keep their plots up, that they plant their summer vegetables and their winter vegetables,” said Mary Ross Lynch, garden co-coordinator. “We have evaluations twice a year to make sure that they’re fulfilling all the rules like ‘no weeds’ and ‘no shading of other plots’ and keeping their gardens planted and harvested — because there’s so many people waiting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The waitlist for a community \u003ca id=\"Thewaitlistforacommunitygardenplotissolong.Whataremyotheroptions?\">\u003c/a>garden plot is so long. What are my other options?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don’t despair. Ross Lynch and Haskins both suggest asking around among neighbors and friends to see if anyone has extra space in their backyard that you could use, or if they’d be willing to split a larger plot somewhere with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or, if you’re not quite ready for an entire plot of your own, they also recommend looking for spaces like \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacifica-gardens.org/\">Pacifica Gardens\u003c/a>, where all the plots are shared and anyone can participate in a harvest, which is then donated to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pacresourcecenter.org/\">Pacifica Resource Center\u003c/a> food bank each week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While you’re on a waitlist — or still deciding if having your own plot \u003cem>is \u003c/em>for you — one way to get involved is by volunteering at your local community garden and quite literally getting your hands dirty, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson Daniel Montes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040977\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025GardenFortheEnvironmentSWright.jpg2_-scaled-e1747932409283.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040977\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025GardenFortheEnvironmentSWright.jpg2_-scaled-e1747932409283.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Herbs like sage, chamomile and thyme thrive at Garden for the Environment, an educational garden in San Francisco’s Sunset District, on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As well as individual plots, many community gardens also have common areas offering “an associate membership,” Montes said: “meaning people can also drop in and help out in the communal area without the responsibility of maintaining a plot.” The parks department also hosts occasional \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/1404/Urban-Agriculture-Resources\">garden resource days\u003c/a> where they give out materials and advice to gardeners, and some city library branches also offer \u003ca href=\"https://sfpl.org/locations/potrero/potrero-branch-seed-lending-library\">seed libraries\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most gardens have similar events, work days, seed swaps or need a helping hand once in a while — offering you some of the fun of working on a plot with far less of the commitment that comes with it. You may even get to take home some of the harvest or ready it for donation. The Karl Linn Garden, for example, hosts monthly work parties to take care of common areas in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, it doesn’t hurt to be a regular at your community garden while you’re on the waitlist, Haskins said, so garden leaders know that once you get a plot, you’re sure to maintain it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something really nice about learning skills with other people,” said Maggie Marks, director of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/\">Garden for the Environment\u003c/a>, an educational garden nestled below Mt. Sutro in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Garden for the Environment is open to the public every day, and offers volunteer work hours twice a week and classes for schools another two days. You can also pay to sign up for workshops on topics like composting, food growing, beekeeping, bird watching, native plants and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Master Gardener Program is also there to help, said Maggie Mah, the spokesperson for their \u003ca href=\"https://ucanr.edu/site/uc-master-gardeners-san-mateo-san-francisco-counties\">San Mateo-San Francisco branch\u003c/a>. The program, an extension of the University of California system, trains volunteers to work with local community gardens and at-home gardeners and teaches them proper gardening techniques.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every county has a Master Gardener Program, and Mah said its volunteers host classes, workshops and other events, making themselves available to gardeners of all skill levels. Her branch even has a \u003ca href=\"https://ucanr.edu/site/master-gardeners-san-mateo-san-francisco-counties/gardening-education-center-gec\">gardening education center in San Mateo.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Basically, our role is to educate people on how to be successful with producing things,” Mah said. “We try to reach as many people as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can I get out of a community garden (besides \u003ca id=\"WhatcanIgetoutofacommunitygarden(besidestheproduce)?\">\u003c/a>the produce)?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Communal gardening provides benefits beyond the food itself, Haskins said. It’s a great way to get outside, share resources and knowledge with your neighbors and cut down on grocery costs, too. \u003ca href=\"https://cejce.berkeley.edu/centers/multicultural-community-center/programs/mcc-healing-and-learning-garden\">Some community gardens also act as a shared space\u003c/a> to explore cultural practices, \u003ca href=\"https://baynature.org/article/an-indigenous-garden-takes-root/\">including Indigenous agricultural methods.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just because you don’t have a plot doesn’t mean you can’t share in the bounty. Some gardens, like Bancroft Garden in Berkeley, leave their harvest out in exchange for donations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just works to the benefit of everyone,” Haskins said. “There’s lots of support to encourage people to have the ability to eat healthy, feed themselves and reduce their grocery bill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the garden offers personal and community connection, unlike anywhere else — although it wasn’t always so competitive to get a plot, said Loren Jones, a San Francisco native and composer who’s been gardening at the \u003ca href=\"https://sfrecpark.org/facilities/facility/details/Clipper-Community-Garden-298\">Clipper Terrace Garden\u003c/a> since the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones said he stumbled upon the garden, which was established in the ’70s, when two brothers donated the land from their family dairy farm — after noticing a giant bush of blackberries on the side of the road. “One day, I just made the time to stop in, and I couldn’t believe it,” Jones said. “It’s one of the best blackberry patches in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12040978\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025ClipperCommunityGardenSWright.jpg.jpg3_-scaled-e1747932359620.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12040978\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/13May2025ClipperCommunityGardenSWright.jpg.jpg3_-scaled-e1747932359620.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plot at Clipper Terrace Community Garden, one of San Francisco’s oldest community gardens, in bloom with lettuces, onions and more on May 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Clipper Terrace had a few other hard-to-believe attributes, like its stunning view of the city skyline, hard-to-grow Gravenstein apple tree (since cut down) and tough-as-nails manager, a firefighter named Sarah who Jones fondly remembers having to call upwards of 15 times to convince her to give him a plot.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What Bay Area produce should a beginner plant in \u003ca id=\"What(beginnerfriendly)veggiestoplantinspring/summerintheBayArea?\">\u003c/a>spring and summer?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of Jones’s recommendations to get you started in a Bay Area garden:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Zucchini\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Potatoes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Chard\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fava beans\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Lettuce (although these fast growers need to be harvested regularly)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbaygardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/SFBayPlantingCalendar1.1.pdf\">This Bay Area-oriented planting calendar may also help you brainstorm\u003c/a> what to sow, keeping in mind if your plot tends to get more sun or fog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The good news is that pretty much anything grows in the Bay Area, but be sure to ask the other gardeners at your community garden for their own location-specific tips or tricks.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For example, tomatoes don’t grow well outdoors at Clipper Terrace because it’s often cold and windy on this Diamond Heights hillside, Jones said. Instead, tomatoes must be grown in their greenhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California actually has two growing seasons — winter and summer — which vastly expands the opportunities for what types of produce to grow, Ross Lynch explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area is great because you have these multi-climates. But the further inland you are, the more things that you can grow that you would grow in the heartland,” Haskins said, including melons, which are her favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Ross Lynch, she just planted tomatoes, carrots and peppers, and plans to put in parsley and basil seeds soon —and she’s still harvesting her winter crop of leeks and beets from the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I give stuff to my friends, I give stuff to other gardeners in the community garden,” Ross Lynch said. “So it all gets given away or eaten.“\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But don’t be disappointed if sometimes your crops fail. It still happens to even longtime gardeners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not a gardener if you’ve never learned to garden,” Marks said. “People have this idea that gardening is something that you either have a skill for or don’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just have to learn it,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s not your imagination — your allergies may feel worse this spring. And climate change is partially to blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, taking small steps to reduce your exposure and acting quickly to treat allergies can make a huge difference in your day-to-day life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909922/what-are-your-allergy-season-questions\">KQED \u003cem>Forum\u003c/em>\u003c/a> spoke with the following experts about why your allergies might feel different this year, the science behind how you’re feeling and what you can do to find some relief:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sayantani Sindher\u003c/strong>, clinical associate professor of Allergy and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Dr. Maria Garcia-Lloret\u003c/strong>, associate professor of pediatrics and fellowship program director in the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is allergy season really worse this year? And is climate to blame?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sayantani Sindher:\u003c/strong> It definitely feels more severe — stronger, with more people being affected. Every year for the past several years, each year has felt worse than the preceding year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041147\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1241866236-scaled-e1747865276270.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1241866236-scaled-e1747865276270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bee collects pollen from prickly poppies (Argemone munita) blooming in a landscape that burned in the 2020 El Dorado Fire, on July 12, 2022, in the San Gorgonio Wilderness near Angelus Oaks, California. \u003ccite>(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s really hard to track that from year to year. However, there have been some publications that look at it from a much larger perspective, looking at pollen levels, looking at the change in temperature, looking at carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a \u003ca href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/allergy/articles/10.3389/falgy.2022.887672/full\">paper in 2022 published in the journal \u003cem>Frontiers in Allergy\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that tracked oak and ragweed pollen and just how much it’s been going up over time, and they tied it directly to temperature change and an increase in CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Maria Garcia-Lloret:\u003c/strong> There is no doubt that in the last 40 years, there has been a progressive increase in respiratory and food allergies. In some parts of the country, you can grow tomatoes in May, but you can also grow them in December. \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2024/09/09/california-farmers-turn-to-agave-amid-drought-conditions-and-climate-change/\">So the growing season and the pollen season have increased. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Southern California, last year was a particularly tough year because we had relatively unseasonal and strong rains in the month of January that compounded the problem of allergies with a certain degree of mold and pollen exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher: \u003c/strong>In the past several decades, [pollen season] has extended out by about 20 days. So the seasons themselves, the timing of the pollination, is extended, and that is directly tied to the increase in temperature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12040892 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/best-hikes-bay-area-memorial-day-1020x679.png']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34140579/\">We have a physician who has been doing pollen counts since 2002\u003c/a> … We found that over time, he was seeing the same kind of pattern where [the seasons for] tree pollen — as well as some mold and wheat pollen — were extending much more than other allergens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995420/climate-scientists-warn-of-growing-whiplash-effect-on-weather-patterns\">Not only is [wind] distributing the pollen,\u003c/a> the allergies themselves have become more allergenic, so they’re almost stronger than they used to be in the past. If you think of some areas that are in the valley — notably Sacramento and Fresno that are very impacted by allergies, because of their topographical nature — the allergen almost can’t leave. So the winds kind of keep it in there, and they can’t disperse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is it allergies, or am I sick?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968709/cold-flu-or-rsv-how-to-tell-which-virus-you-might-have-from-testing-to-symptoms\">Cold season usually starts in September and peters out by March\u003c/a>, and then … the pollen season overlaps somewhat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allergies can cause body aches, but are usually more associated during flu season with the flu. And then sometimes, [your cold-like symptoms are actually] the therapeutic effect of allergy medicine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961481/after-panel-finds-no-evidence-for-leading-drug-in-cold-meds-doctors-warn-other-remedies-also-lack-proven-effectiveness\">A cold is not going to respond to the standard antihistamine.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also important for people to know that allergies make you more predisposed [to a cold] or make your cold last longer. It’s one of the questions I usually have to ask my allergic patients: “Do you cling to your cold?” Because the allergic inflammation that many times we have year-round makes us \u003cem>more \u003c/em>vulnerable to respiratory infections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, is this a cold or is this an allergy? Many times it’s going to be both.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s the science behind my allergies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> Generally, when we’re allergic to something, it essentially means our body has formed these preformed \u003ca href=\"https://www.aaaai.org/tools-for-the-public/allergy,-asthma-immunology-glossary/immunoglobulin-e-(ige)-defined\">allergen-specific IgE antibodies. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll use grass as an example: That means your body has already created grass-specific IgE antibodies. And so when you come into exposure to the grass pollen, it attaches to those antibodies which are connected to these allergy cells called mast cells, and these contain your histamine, tryptase, all the preformed and mediators that get created that lead to an inflammatory response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11919856\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11919856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tall grass and wildflowers grow in a meadow at Big Basin Redwoods State Park on May 26, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aaaai.org/tools-for-the-public/allergy,-asthma-immunology-glossary/immune-system-defined\">So once your mast cells or basophils get activated\u003c/a>, and it releases all these mediators, they contribute to that inflammatory allergic response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the immediate response: they also recruit more allergy cells to have a much later-stage or longer-lasting course of symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is most at risk from allergies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret: \u003c/strong>Allergy is a disease of the young. You start showing your propensity to develop allergies at a very young age, although the pattern changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early on, your skin allergies are a bit more manifest. You partially outgrow that, and the food allergy comes along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, when you think you’re getting rid of your food allergy, the respiratory allergy catches you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> What I tell my patients is: “Even though we’re focusing on the allergy, it is the whole person.” So if you are sleep deprived, if you have a lot of stress, if you’re not eating well, if there’s a lot going on, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995393/9-unexpected-things-we-learned-about-mental-health-and-our-brains-in-2024\">all symptoms can be much worse than if you take care of yourself. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You need to take care of your body and you in all other arenas, so that as we are treating your food allergy, the symptoms are better managed. There is something to be said for treating the person as a whole, and not just focusing on allergy by itself, but all the other elements that might be that might be stressing out the immune system.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What allergy medicines actually work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> One is just mitigation and reducing your exposure: sitting indoors when possible, limiting activities that might trigger your symptoms. So, for instance, if you’re very grass allergic, maybe don’t mow the lawn yourself in the midst of grass allergy season.[aside postID=news_12040516 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/240526-CarnavalParade-08-BL-1020x680.jpg']If you must be outdoors and your symptoms are very bad, \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7467086/\">you can potentially use an N95 or a KN95. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’re indoors, keep your windows closed, if you can, and run air purifiers. If you have air conditioning, just make sure the filter is also changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are outdoors — which most of my patients are — when you come in, change out your shoes. Change your clothes, take a shower, rinse off as much of that as you can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the earlier you can start your allergy medications, the better your symptoms will be. Don’t wait until your symptoms are unbearable before you start your treatment regimen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Easy over-the-counter ones are \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/allergies/in-depth/allergy-medications/art-20047403\">antihistamines \u003c/a>such as loratadine, Claritin, or Zyrtec, cetirizine, and then Allegra — which is fexofenadine — are excellent choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also use saline rinses or a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/rinsing-your-sinuses-neti-pots-safe\">Neti pot\u003c/a>, and then nasal sprays, which have a very low-dose steroid that can calm down the inflammation and swelling inside your nasal passages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that doesn’t do the trick and you are working with an allergist, they can do allergy shots that can be personalized to the individual’s allergic profile and what they’re allergic to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then for certain allergens, there’s also a sublingual immunotherapy option, and there are \u003ca href=\"https://aafa.org/allergies/allergy-treatments/\">some biologics or medications that are being explored in clinical trials right now.\u003c/a> So, hopefully, more options down the line in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret: \u003c/strong>Just about the only good thing about getting old is that your allergies don’t get worse. In fact, you get better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s not your imagination — your allergies may feel worse this spring. And climate change is partially to blame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, taking small steps to reduce your exposure and acting quickly to treat allergies can make a huge difference in your day-to-day life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909922/what-are-your-allergy-season-questions\">KQED \u003cem>Forum\u003c/em>\u003c/a> spoke with the following experts about why your allergies might feel different this year, the science behind how you’re feeling and what you can do to find some relief:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sayantani Sindher\u003c/strong>, clinical associate professor of Allergy and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Dr. Maria Garcia-Lloret\u003c/strong>, associate professor of pediatrics and fellowship program director in the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is allergy season really worse this year? And is climate to blame?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sayantani Sindher:\u003c/strong> It definitely feels more severe — stronger, with more people being affected. Every year for the past several years, each year has felt worse than the preceding year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12041147\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1241866236-scaled-e1747865276270.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12041147\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/GettyImages-1241866236-scaled-e1747865276270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bee collects pollen from prickly poppies (Argemone munita) blooming in a landscape that burned in the 2020 El Dorado Fire, on July 12, 2022, in the San Gorgonio Wilderness near Angelus Oaks, California. \u003ccite>(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s really hard to track that from year to year. However, there have been some publications that look at it from a much larger perspective, looking at pollen levels, looking at the change in temperature, looking at carbon dioxide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a \u003ca href=\"https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/allergy/articles/10.3389/falgy.2022.887672/full\">paper in 2022 published in the journal \u003cem>Frontiers in Allergy\u003c/em>\u003c/a> that tracked oak and ragweed pollen and just how much it’s been going up over time, and they tied it directly to temperature change and an increase in CO\u003csub>2\u003c/sub> levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Maria Garcia-Lloret:\u003c/strong> There is no doubt that in the last 40 years, there has been a progressive increase in respiratory and food allergies. In some parts of the country, you can grow tomatoes in May, but you can also grow them in December. \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2024/09/09/california-farmers-turn-to-agave-amid-drought-conditions-and-climate-change/\">So the growing season and the pollen season have increased. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Southern California, last year was a particularly tough year because we had relatively unseasonal and strong rains in the month of January that compounded the problem of allergies with a certain degree of mold and pollen exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher: \u003c/strong>In the past several decades, [pollen season] has extended out by about 20 days. So the seasons themselves, the timing of the pollination, is extended, and that is directly tied to the increase in temperature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34140579/\">We have a physician who has been doing pollen counts since 2002\u003c/a> … We found that over time, he was seeing the same kind of pattern where [the seasons for] tree pollen — as well as some mold and wheat pollen — were extending much more than other allergens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995420/climate-scientists-warn-of-growing-whiplash-effect-on-weather-patterns\">Not only is [wind] distributing the pollen,\u003c/a> the allergies themselves have become more allergenic, so they’re almost stronger than they used to be in the past. If you think of some areas that are in the valley — notably Sacramento and Fresno that are very impacted by allergies, because of their topographical nature — the allergen almost can’t leave. So the winds kind of keep it in there, and they can’t disperse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is it allergies, or am I sick?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11968709/cold-flu-or-rsv-how-to-tell-which-virus-you-might-have-from-testing-to-symptoms\">Cold season usually starts in September and peters out by March\u003c/a>, and then … the pollen season overlaps somewhat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allergies can cause body aches, but are usually more associated during flu season with the flu. And then sometimes, [your cold-like symptoms are actually] the therapeutic effect of allergy medicine. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961481/after-panel-finds-no-evidence-for-leading-drug-in-cold-meds-doctors-warn-other-remedies-also-lack-proven-effectiveness\">A cold is not going to respond to the standard antihistamine.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also important for people to know that allergies make you more predisposed [to a cold] or make your cold last longer. It’s one of the questions I usually have to ask my allergic patients: “Do you cling to your cold?” Because the allergic inflammation that many times we have year-round makes us \u003cem>more \u003c/em>vulnerable to respiratory infections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, is this a cold or is this an allergy? Many times it’s going to be both.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s the science behind my allergies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> Generally, when we’re allergic to something, it essentially means our body has formed these preformed \u003ca href=\"https://www.aaaai.org/tools-for-the-public/allergy,-asthma-immunology-glossary/immunoglobulin-e-(ige)-defined\">allergen-specific IgE antibodies. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll use grass as an example: That means your body has already created grass-specific IgE antibodies. And so when you come into exposure to the grass pollen, it attaches to those antibodies which are connected to these allergy cells called mast cells, and these contain your histamine, tryptase, all the preformed and mediators that get created that lead to an inflammatory response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11919856\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11919856\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/RS56366_053_KQED_BigBasinRedwoods_05262022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tall grass and wildflowers grow in a meadow at Big Basin Redwoods State Park on May 26, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.aaaai.org/tools-for-the-public/allergy,-asthma-immunology-glossary/immune-system-defined\">So once your mast cells or basophils get activated\u003c/a>, and it releases all these mediators, they contribute to that inflammatory allergic response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just the immediate response: they also recruit more allergy cells to have a much later-stage or longer-lasting course of symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is most at risk from allergies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret: \u003c/strong>Allergy is a disease of the young. You start showing your propensity to develop allergies at a very young age, although the pattern changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early on, your skin allergies are a bit more manifest. You partially outgrow that, and the food allergy comes along.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, when you think you’re getting rid of your food allergy, the respiratory allergy catches you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> What I tell my patients is: “Even though we’re focusing on the allergy, it is the whole person.” So if you are sleep deprived, if you have a lot of stress, if you’re not eating well, if there’s a lot going on, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995393/9-unexpected-things-we-learned-about-mental-health-and-our-brains-in-2024\">all symptoms can be much worse than if you take care of yourself. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You need to take care of your body and you in all other arenas, so that as we are treating your food allergy, the symptoms are better managed. There is something to be said for treating the person as a whole, and not just focusing on allergy by itself, but all the other elements that might be that might be stressing out the immune system.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What allergy medicines actually work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Sindher:\u003c/strong> One is just mitigation and reducing your exposure: sitting indoors when possible, limiting activities that might trigger your symptoms. So, for instance, if you’re very grass allergic, maybe don’t mow the lawn yourself in the midst of grass allergy season.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If you must be outdoors and your symptoms are very bad, \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7467086/\">you can potentially use an N95 or a KN95. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’re indoors, keep your windows closed, if you can, and run air purifiers. If you have air conditioning, just make sure the filter is also changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are outdoors — which most of my patients are — when you come in, change out your shoes. Change your clothes, take a shower, rinse off as much of that as you can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the earlier you can start your allergy medications, the better your symptoms will be. Don’t wait until your symptoms are unbearable before you start your treatment regimen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Easy over-the-counter ones are \u003ca href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/allergies/in-depth/allergy-medications/art-20047403\">antihistamines \u003c/a>such as loratadine, Claritin, or Zyrtec, cetirizine, and then Allegra — which is fexofenadine — are excellent choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also use saline rinses or a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/rinsing-your-sinuses-neti-pots-safe\">Neti pot\u003c/a>, and then nasal sprays, which have a very low-dose steroid that can calm down the inflammation and swelling inside your nasal passages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that doesn’t do the trick and you are working with an allergist, they can do allergy shots that can be personalized to the individual’s allergic profile and what they’re allergic to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then for certain allergens, there’s also a sublingual immunotherapy option, and there are \u003ca href=\"https://aafa.org/allergies/allergy-treatments/\">some biologics or medications that are being explored in clinical trials right now.\u003c/a> So, hopefully, more options down the line in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Garcia-Lloret: \u003c/strong>Just about the only good thing about getting old is that your allergies don’t get worse. In fact, you get better.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCeDp_MY_h4G6VWj_-VPl-BJlQ3Uya2H0vxRZZd_47BpXwVA/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11:55 a.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia city leaders are taking initial steps to prepare for the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037668/potential-valero-refinery-closure-leaves-benicia-state-officials-scrambling-to-pick-up-pieces\"> likely closure of the Valero refinery\u003c/a>, a month after the oil giant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036242/oil-giant-valero-announces-plans-to-shutter-troubled-benicia-refinery\">announced plans\u003c/a> to cease operations at its sprawling Solano County facility within a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the mayor’s proposal to \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3344895/Staff_Report_-_ACT_Task_Force_Groups.pdf\">create four economic and community-focused task forces\u003c/a> to “understand potential economic impacts, develop strategies to mitigate those impacts and plan for the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The groups are intended to ready the small North Bay city for the potentially seismic fallout if Valero makes good on its intent to cease operations at the refinery by April 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero is Benicia’s largest employer and accounts for almost 20% of its tax base.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we are taking some serious steps trying to address as many of the known and unknown facts that we have,” said Mayor Steve Young, who tapped specific council members to head each of the groups, and said no one attending the meeting voiced any opposition to the plan. “We’re basically trying to utilize the respective strengths of the council members, all of whom have significant things that they can bring to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benicia Mayor Steve Young sits in the City Hall offices in Benicia on May 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That includes a group to address economic recovery options for the city as it braces for a massive budget shortfall, and another to collaborate with nonprofits, schools and local sports leagues that have long relied on Valero’s donations, and now face losing their primary funding source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a situation where we’re going to have $10 [million] to $12 million less than last year,” Young said. “The hit on the community is going to be severe. My main job is to ease that transition as much as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third group would map out next steps for the city’s port and the many businesses in its industrial park that for decades have supplied equipment and services to Valero, while a fourth would tackle plans to redevelop the 930 acres of land the company owns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based Signature Development Group recently announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/valero-benicia-refinery-signature-development-group-consulted-site-future/\">in talks with Valero\u003c/a> to redevelop the land on the eastern side of the city into housing and commercial property.[aside postID=news_12039505 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-52-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Doing so, however, would require a costly remediation effort — one Valero is legally required to undertake— that would likely take a decade to complete before any development takes place. During that time, the city would receive no revenue, Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero has taken the land off the market, which implies that it’s given Signature the exclusive right to negotiate for it, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So [Signature’s] got a year to sort of do their due diligence, look at redeveloping options and then at the end of that year presumably buy the site and then move forward with who knows what kind of development options,” Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted, however, “there are so many unknowns that probably things will pivot a month from now, three months from now. Six months from now, we might be doing something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Terry Scott, whom Young asked to help lead the redevelopment group, said his priority is to focus on the 400 acres of the Valero property that haven’t been used for manufacturing and processing operations. That land wouldn’t require the same degree of remediation, and could potentially be turned into housing and other uses within several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the refinery property, he said, the city would need to court industries that could operate on land that will remain fairly contaminated, even after the remediation process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Air-District-Valero-Benicia-e1746467055636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fire at the Valero Oil Refinery in Benicia, California. The fire comes just weeks after Valero executives announced they were considering closing the sprawling refinery by next April. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Bay Area Air District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s gonna be some pretty bad brown spots there,” said Scott, who is hoping to attract less-polluting industries to replace the refinery. “This will not be growing gardens, and having front lawns and having kids running across it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036242/oil-giant-valero-announces-plans-to-shutter-troubled-benicia-refinery\">Valero’s announcement in mid-April\u003c/a> to “idle, restructure or cease” operations at the refinery that it’s operated since 2000, caught Young and other city officials completely off guard. The company cited California’s tough “regulatory and enforcement environment” as the main driver behind its move to consider closing the sixth-largest refinery in the state, which makes up about 9% of the state’s total crude oil capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news dropped less than two weeks after the City Council unanimously approved modest rules to increase their oversight of the refinery, and some six months since regional and state air regulators fined the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011785/bay-area-air-district-hits-valeros-benicia-refinery-with-historic-82-million-fine\">a record $82 million\u003c/a> for secretly exceeding toxic emissions standards for more than 15 years.[aside postID=forum_2010101909783 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/05/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-02_qed-1020x680.jpg']Although that money is reserved for future public health initiatives, Young said he is pressing regulators to consider “a lenient and liberal” interpretation of what they mean by public health, so that Benicia leaders may use those funds “to offset some of the losses that the city’s going to see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young also hopes he can help broker a deal with Valero and state officials to convince the company to continue operating the refinery for at least a few more years. He additionally intends to make the case that closing the facility next year could pose a serious national security threat, as it’s currently the sole provider of roughly 50 million gallons of jet fuel to nearby Travis Air Force Base, which it delivers via a direct pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The threat of no jet fuel for Travis potentially puts the future of the whole base at risk,” he said. “If we could get three years instead of one year, that certainly eases the transition period for the city and gives us a little bit of breathing room to try to stabilize the financial hit that we’re going to see, and at the same time, plan for the eventual closure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young said members of the City Council and community leaders have so far been generally supportive of the proposal to form task forces as part of the city’s abrupt effort to begin processing and planning for an uncertain future. People, he said, are glad to see that the city is at least trying to create a blueprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though a lot of it is out of our hands, we are addressing it to the best of our ability so far,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott called Valero’s announcement last month “a warning shot” that he hopes will galvanize the community into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot let weeks or months go by without really looking at the future and saying, what are the things that we can do?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11:55 a.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benicia city leaders are taking initial steps to prepare for the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037668/potential-valero-refinery-closure-leaves-benicia-state-officials-scrambling-to-pick-up-pieces\"> likely closure of the Valero refinery\u003c/a>, a month after the oil giant \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036242/oil-giant-valero-announces-plans-to-shutter-troubled-benicia-refinery\">announced plans\u003c/a> to cease operations at its sprawling Solano County facility within a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the mayor’s proposal to \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3344895/Staff_Report_-_ACT_Task_Force_Groups.pdf\">create four economic and community-focused task forces\u003c/a> to “understand potential economic impacts, develop strategies to mitigate those impacts and plan for the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The groups are intended to ready the small North Bay city for the potentially seismic fallout if Valero makes good on its intent to cease operations at the refinery by April 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero is Benicia’s largest employer and accounts for almost 20% of its tax base.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we are taking some serious steps trying to address as many of the known and unknown facts that we have,” said Mayor Steve Young, who tapped specific council members to head each of the groups, and said no one attending the meeting voiced any opposition to the plan. “We’re basically trying to utilize the respective strengths of the council members, all of whom have significant things that they can bring to the table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039648\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039648\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250509-BENICIAREFINERY-56-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benicia Mayor Steve Young sits in the City Hall offices in Benicia on May 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That includes a group to address economic recovery options for the city as it braces for a massive budget shortfall, and another to collaborate with nonprofits, schools and local sports leagues that have long relied on Valero’s donations, and now face losing their primary funding source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a situation where we’re going to have $10 [million] to $12 million less than last year,” Young said. “The hit on the community is going to be severe. My main job is to ease that transition as much as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third group would map out next steps for the city’s port and the many businesses in its industrial park that for decades have supplied equipment and services to Valero, while a fourth would tackle plans to redevelop the 930 acres of land the company owns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based Signature Development Group recently announced it was \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/valero-benicia-refinery-signature-development-group-consulted-site-future/\">in talks with Valero\u003c/a> to redevelop the land on the eastern side of the city into housing and commercial property.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Doing so, however, would require a costly remediation effort — one Valero is legally required to undertake— that would likely take a decade to complete before any development takes place. During that time, the city would receive no revenue, Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero has taken the land off the market, which implies that it’s given Signature the exclusive right to negotiate for it, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So [Signature’s] got a year to sort of do their due diligence, look at redeveloping options and then at the end of that year presumably buy the site and then move forward with who knows what kind of development options,” Young said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted, however, “there are so many unknowns that probably things will pivot a month from now, three months from now. Six months from now, we might be doing something different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Terry Scott, whom Young asked to help lead the redevelopment group, said his priority is to focus on the 400 acres of the Valero property that haven’t been used for manufacturing and processing operations. That land wouldn’t require the same degree of remediation, and could potentially be turned into housing and other uses within several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the refinery property, he said, the city would need to court industries that could operate on land that will remain fairly contaminated, even after the remediation process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/Air-District-Valero-Benicia-e1746467055636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fire at the Valero Oil Refinery in Benicia, California. The fire comes just weeks after Valero executives announced they were considering closing the sprawling refinery by next April. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Bay Area Air District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s gonna be some pretty bad brown spots there,” said Scott, who is hoping to attract less-polluting industries to replace the refinery. “This will not be growing gardens, and having front lawns and having kids running across it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036242/oil-giant-valero-announces-plans-to-shutter-troubled-benicia-refinery\">Valero’s announcement in mid-April\u003c/a> to “idle, restructure or cease” operations at the refinery that it’s operated since 2000, caught Young and other city officials completely off guard. The company cited California’s tough “regulatory and enforcement environment” as the main driver behind its move to consider closing the sixth-largest refinery in the state, which makes up about 9% of the state’s total crude oil capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news dropped less than two weeks after the City Council unanimously approved modest rules to increase their oversight of the refinery, and some six months since regional and state air regulators fined the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011785/bay-area-air-district-hits-valeros-benicia-refinery-with-historic-82-million-fine\">a record $82 million\u003c/a> for secretly exceeding toxic emissions standards for more than 15 years.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Although that money is reserved for future public health initiatives, Young said he is pressing regulators to consider “a lenient and liberal” interpretation of what they mean by public health, so that Benicia leaders may use those funds “to offset some of the losses that the city’s going to see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young also hopes he can help broker a deal with Valero and state officials to convince the company to continue operating the refinery for at least a few more years. He additionally intends to make the case that closing the facility next year could pose a serious national security threat, as it’s currently the sole provider of roughly 50 million gallons of jet fuel to nearby Travis Air Force Base, which it delivers via a direct pipeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The threat of no jet fuel for Travis potentially puts the future of the whole base at risk,” he said. “If we could get three years instead of one year, that certainly eases the transition period for the city and gives us a little bit of breathing room to try to stabilize the financial hit that we’re going to see, and at the same time, plan for the eventual closure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young said members of the City Council and community leaders have so far been generally supportive of the proposal to form task forces as part of the city’s abrupt effort to begin processing and planning for an uncertain future. People, he said, are glad to see that the city is at least trying to create a blueprint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though a lot of it is out of our hands, we are addressing it to the best of our ability so far,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scott called Valero’s announcement last month “a warning shot” that he hopes will galvanize the community into action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We cannot let weeks or months go by without really looking at the future and saying, what are the things that we can do?” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>National Weather Service officials have \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=sto&issuedby=STO&product=AFD\">upgraded an alert on fire conditions\u003c/a> in a portion of the North Bay starting Sunday morning to a Red Flag Warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change signals increased confidence from forecasters that the area — which covers a large swath of the Central Valley and much of Solano County — will see gusty winds and low humidity, weather conditions that increase the risk of fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12040528 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/240204-Storm-08-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty confident that the red flag conditions are going to come to pass beginning 8 a.m. Sunday morning and continue through at least 8 p.m., Monday evening,” said Jeffery Wood, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning area spans from Modesto to Redding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In high-terrain areas in the North Bay and the East Bay, the Weather Service also warned of an elevated risk of grass fires through the weekend into Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wood and the Weather Service said residents should follow key safety steps to minimize the risk of igniting a fire: avoid outdoor burns, properly dispose of cigarette butts instead of throwing them on the ground or in grass and drivers are encouraged to check under their cars for dragging objects whose sparks could cause a roadside fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you haven’t cleaned up areas around your house, if you’ve got dead grass clippings or leaves in the yard, it would be a good time to start cleaning those out,” Wood said. “Give your house a defensible position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty confident that the red flag conditions are going to come to pass beginning 8 a.m. Sunday morning and continue through at least 8 p.m., Monday evening,” said Jeffery Wood, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning area spans from Modesto to Redding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In high-terrain areas in the North Bay and the East Bay, the Weather Service also warned of an elevated risk of grass fires through the weekend into Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wood and the Weather Service said residents should follow key safety steps to minimize the risk of igniting a fire: avoid outdoor burns, properly dispose of cigarette butts instead of throwing them on the ground or in grass and drivers are encouraged to check under their cars for dragging objects whose sparks could cause a roadside fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you haven’t cleaned up areas around your house, if you’ve got dead grass clippings or leaves in the yard, it would be a good time to start cleaning those out,” Wood said. “Give your house a defensible position.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>While driving home from work one day, Kevin Alison spotted a rare flower off the side of the road. From the window of his company’s white pick-up truck, he noticed a large, beautiful purple flower that’s known as a Phacelia — an endangered species of wildflower that grows off \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-coast\">California’s coastal bluffs and islands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a plant ecologist, Alison knew he had to get a sample of the flower. But when he returned to the same spot, a week later, he discovered the flower was gone. He assumed the flower would still be there. The Los Angeles County Fire Department had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021125/la-fires-renew-debate-over-prescribed-burns-and-fire-preparedness-in-california\">recently cleared all the brush\u003c/a>. Alison would later join the department as a volunteer, not to put out fires, but so that he could potentially save another rare plant or flower from being swept up by accident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alison lives in the city of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. It’s an hour-long ferry ride from the Port of Long Beach, right off the coast of L.A. County. The island is known for its scenic hiking trails, campsites, beaches and for being a popular tourist destination for cruise ships. But it’s also known for its biodiversity — the island is home to more than 60 different native plants and animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forests, trees and rolling hills cover more than 88% of the island, which the Catalina Island Conservancy manages. As the Conservancy’s native plant manager, Alison’s job is to care for all the island’s plants, though he has an affinity for the rare ones. He spends his time in a lab deep inside Catalina’s interior with no cell service, where he clones plant tissue and propagates them. But his favorite part of the job is spending time amongst the groves of rare plants on the island. He compares his enthusiasm to that of a dog who is excited to play with a new toy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how I feel whenever I show people the species that I love,” Alison told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039299\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Clockwise from top left) Island Rush-rose, Common Yarrow, Mission Manzanita and Catalina Island Mountain Mahogany grow at the James H. Ackerman Plant Nursery on Catalina Island on May 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But cloning plant tissue can’t save the rare plants currently growing on the island. While walking through the Conservancy’s botanical garden, Alison pointed out the island’s native cherry tree, the Catalina Cherry. The leaves on top of the tree grow freely, but the bottom half appears snipped straight across. The marking, Alison said, is the browse line from the invasive mule deer who’ve been eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deer were brought over in the 1930s to boost hunting tourism. Without a natural predator, the number of deer grew over time and has indiscriminately munched on both the native and nonnative plants. As of 2023, the Conservancy said there were up to 1,800 deer on the island.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/us/santa-catalina-island-california.html\">an interview\u003c/a> with the New York Times, Lauren Denhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy, said the result of invasive species on the island “has eroded soil, depleted the food supply for other animals and, most alarming, allowed flammable shrubs and grasses to proliferate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12035344 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250408-CAL-TECH-TESTING-113-ZS-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The growth of these nonnative plants, she said, could create conditions akin to those that fueled the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979610/after-the-fires-a-maui-community-creates-a-land-trust-to-keep-homes-in-local-hands\"> recent catastrophic fire\u003c/a> in Maui.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the summer of 2023, the Conservancy proposed to remove the deer from the island using sharpshooters via helicopters. Although the Conservancy said this was the most humane way to address the invasive deer issue, locals were upset and started a campaign to save the island’s deer population. The Avalon residents won — a year later, the county’s Fish and Wildlife Commission rejected the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement, the Conservancy wrote, “a healthy native plant ecosystem is the best defense against climate change and wildfire risk” and “invasive species, including mule deer, continue to harm Catalina and the rare plants and animals found only on this unique island. We are focused on finding lasting solutions to manage invasive species by working with agency partners, scientific experts and the broader community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization has been having conversations with the community and hearing a range of perspectives, including strong support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are prone to care about something with eyes and a species that’s adorable, and I couldn’t agree more,” said Alison, about the controversy. He understands it’s much easier for people to have empathy for animals than for plants. But for Alison, the timing has made saving the island’s native plants more urgent than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039293\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plant Ecologist Kevin Alison in his lab at the James H. Ackerman Plant Nursery on Catalina Island on May 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the plants he studied that helped him get the job with the Conservancy was the Catalina Mountain Mahogany. A rare tree that has the appearance of a shrub, there are only about seven left in existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been evolving for thousands of years, and that’s literally going extinct in front of my eyes,” Alison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Conservancy’s herbarium archive keeps samples of rare plants grown on the island. It’s a room filled with filing cabinets where plant stems and seeds are stored inside folders with a description. Plant ecologists like Alison can use these “plant pressings” to trace back a plant’s DNA, almost like a 23andMe kit. If a plant were to ever go extinct, scientists could possibly use these plant pressings to clone it in a lab or, at the very least, keep a record of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s Alison’s hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I may not be here down the road, but if I can help a species that I thought was so cool to thrive into the future for other people to enjoy, that’s a life well lived,” he said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Steven Rascón is a journalist and a radio producer from Northeast Los Angeles. He’s an associate producer for the podcast and radio show Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>While driving home from work one day, Kevin Alison spotted a rare flower off the side of the road. From the window of his company’s white pick-up truck, he noticed a large, beautiful purple flower that’s known as a Phacelia — an endangered species of wildflower that grows off \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-coast\">California’s coastal bluffs and islands\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a plant ecologist, Alison knew he had to get a sample of the flower. But when he returned to the same spot, a week later, he discovered the flower was gone. He assumed the flower would still be there. The Los Angeles County Fire Department had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12021125/la-fires-renew-debate-over-prescribed-burns-and-fire-preparedness-in-california\">recently cleared all the brush\u003c/a>. Alison would later join the department as a volunteer, not to put out fires, but so that he could potentially save another rare plant or flower from being swept up by accident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alison lives in the city of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. It’s an hour-long ferry ride from the Port of Long Beach, right off the coast of L.A. County. The island is known for its scenic hiking trails, campsites, beaches and for being a popular tourist destination for cruise ships. But it’s also known for its biodiversity — the island is home to more than 60 different native plants and animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forests, trees and rolling hills cover more than 88% of the island, which the Catalina Island Conservancy manages. As the Conservancy’s native plant manager, Alison’s job is to care for all the island’s plants, though he has an affinity for the rare ones. He spends his time in a lab deep inside Catalina’s interior with no cell service, where he clones plant tissue and propagates them. But his favorite part of the job is spending time amongst the groves of rare plants on the island. He compares his enthusiasm to that of a dog who is excited to play with a new toy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how I feel whenever I show people the species that I love,” Alison told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039299\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-QUAD-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Clockwise from top left) Island Rush-rose, Common Yarrow, Mission Manzanita and Catalina Island Mountain Mahogany grow at the James H. Ackerman Plant Nursery on Catalina Island on May 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But cloning plant tissue can’t save the rare plants currently growing on the island. While walking through the Conservancy’s botanical garden, Alison pointed out the island’s native cherry tree, the Catalina Cherry. The leaves on top of the tree grow freely, but the bottom half appears snipped straight across. The marking, Alison said, is the browse line from the invasive mule deer who’ve been eating it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deer were brought over in the 1930s to boost hunting tourism. Without a natural predator, the number of deer grew over time and has indiscriminately munched on both the native and nonnative plants. As of 2023, the Conservancy said there were up to 1,800 deer on the island.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/us/santa-catalina-island-california.html\">an interview\u003c/a> with the New York Times, Lauren Denhardt, senior director of conservation for the Catalina Island Conservancy, said the result of invasive species on the island “has eroded soil, depleted the food supply for other animals and, most alarming, allowed flammable shrubs and grasses to proliferate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The growth of these nonnative plants, she said, could create conditions akin to those that fueled the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979610/after-the-fires-a-maui-community-creates-a-land-trust-to-keep-homes-in-local-hands\"> recent catastrophic fire\u003c/a> in Maui.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the summer of 2023, the Conservancy proposed to remove the deer from the island using sharpshooters via helicopters. Although the Conservancy said this was the most humane way to address the invasive deer issue, locals were upset and started a campaign to save the island’s deer population. The Avalon residents won — a year later, the county’s Fish and Wildlife Commission rejected the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement, the Conservancy wrote, “a healthy native plant ecosystem is the best defense against climate change and wildfire risk” and “invasive species, including mule deer, continue to harm Catalina and the rare plants and animals found only on this unique island. We are focused on finding lasting solutions to manage invasive species by working with agency partners, scientific experts and the broader community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organization has been having conversations with the community and hearing a range of perspectives, including strong support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are prone to care about something with eyes and a species that’s adorable, and I couldn’t agree more,” said Alison, about the controversy. He understands it’s much easier for people to have empathy for animals than for plants. But for Alison, the timing has made saving the island’s native plants more urgent than ever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12039293\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250507-CATALINA-PLANT-ECOLOGIST-NM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plant Ecologist Kevin Alison in his lab at the James H. Ackerman Plant Nursery on Catalina Island on May 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the plants he studied that helped him get the job with the Conservancy was the Catalina Mountain Mahogany. A rare tree that has the appearance of a shrub, there are only about seven left in existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been evolving for thousands of years, and that’s literally going extinct in front of my eyes,” Alison said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Conservancy’s herbarium archive keeps samples of rare plants grown on the island. It’s a room filled with filing cabinets where plant stems and seeds are stored inside folders with a description. Plant ecologists like Alison can use these “plant pressings” to trace back a plant’s DNA, almost like a 23andMe kit. If a plant were to ever go extinct, scientists could possibly use these plant pressings to clone it in a lab or, at the very least, keep a record of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s Alison’s hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I may not be here down the road, but if I can help a species that I thought was so cool to thrive into the future for other people to enjoy, that’s a life well lived,” he said.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Steven Rascón is a journalist and a radio producer from Northeast Los Angeles. He’s an associate producer for the podcast and radio show Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains references to eating disorders and self-harm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzy Degazon moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11832103/the-forgotten-occupation-of-catalina-island\">Santa Catalina Island\u003c/a> because she wanted to be a fish. Most days, you can indeed find her in the ocean near Dive Park, either going for a morning swim at the surface or giving scuba diving tours of the kelp forest below. Often she does both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Degazon’s Instagram is overflowing with open water joy, but there was a time when she was too sick to walk, much less swim. To make it to Catalina, she first had to overcome a life-threatening eating disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon grew up in the English countryside, helping her parents manage a small hotel. She liked cooking with her mom, and she was good at it. When she was eight years old, she won a contest for a cake she made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just always going to be a pastry chef,” Degazon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she got sick. It started gradually when she was fifteen. She describes herself as a “wild child.” In school, teachers said she didn’t listen or pay attention. As a teenager, she went to AC/DC and Motörhead concerts. Degazon felt like she’d lost control of her life, so she began to avoid eating because it was the one thing she could control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038760\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suzy Degazón at the Catalina Island Swim Club on Catalina Island on May 5, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>None of this stopped her passion for baking. She went to pastry school and then moved to London. She worked in the noisy, fast-paced kitchen of a five-star hotel, making strawberry tartlets, chocolate eclairs, crème brûlées — if it had pastry in it, she made it. But she didn’t eat it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she didn’t even feel hungry. “When you get dangerously thin with anorexia, you don’t know it,” Degazon said. “You’re in denial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, the police stopped her on the street and put her in a hospital for her own safety. She weighed 58 pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t even stand up,” Degazon said. “I was really frail. I was on bed rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon had to stay in the hospital for a number of weeks. If the nurses gave her food, she’d hide it and flush it down the toilet. She had a sink in her room, and they replaced the drain pipe with a bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to leave, Degazon had to put on weight, which Degazon said didn’t work long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just eat, you get [to 80 pounds], you get out, and back you go,” Degazon said. “You have to fix up your noggin to get any help, really.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon cycled in and out of the hospital so many times that eventually a doctor told her family she would probably die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One time, when she was in a hospital in York, she turned on the TV and saw people running a marathon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember telling the nurse, I want to be like that one day. I’m going to do a marathon,” Degazon recalled. “And the nurse turned around to me and said, ‘You can’t even run to the toilet.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ten years, Degazon and her family needed a new solution to help her get better. Her grandfather suggested she go backpacking in Southeast Asia, like her brother had. Maybe that would help her break the cycle. So Degazon got her weight up to 80 pounds — enough to leave the hospital — and bought a ticket to Bangkok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12035436 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230401-Brittianna-Robinson-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked like a walking stick insect,” Degazon said. “But I was going to see the world. And I did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The freedom suited Degazon. No one called her names or nagged her about whether she was eating enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she traveled, little things started to change. For example, in Singapore, she was with a group of people who were all buying doughnuts. Previously, Degazon would have avoided buying a doughnut or thrown the doughnut away as soon as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, Degazon did something different. “We’re in [the doughnut shop] and I’m like, ‘I want to be normal. I’m going to eat a doughnut!’” She starts to nibble the doughnut, but it’s too much for her to eat it all at once, so she puts it in her pocket. She said it took her a whole week to eat it. “I didn’t throw it away. It was pretty stale at the end, but I ate that whole donut,” Degazon said. “I felt proud that I did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon kept traveling. In the Maldives, she learned to scuba dive. On her first time down, the instructor told her to squeeze her hand when she wanted to go back up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzy never squeezed the instructor’s hand. “I just wanted to stay down there forever,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the clear water of the Maldives, she saw turtles and tropical fish. She was captivated and also empowered. Visiting unfamiliar countries and underwater habitats gave her that control, that responsibility for herself, that she craved. She also fell in love with the ocean and decided to visit the Caribbean Islands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1171\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-800x468.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1020x597.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1536x899.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1920x1124.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suzy Degazón snorkels at the Catalina Island Swim Club on Catalina Island on May 5, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was in Boquerón, Puerto Rico, when her transformation became clear. At first, she’d started running to rebuild her bone density. Soon, she was swimming in the ocean each day with more experienced friends. Then someone lent her a bicycle. “The next thing I know, I’m a triathlete,” Degazon said. “So I did a triple Ironman in France.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The run alone is three marathons in a row. Degazon trained hard, but she also had a secret weapon: she knew how to break something big into little bites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon lived in Puerto Rico for thirteen years, representing the island as an international triathlete and ultraman competitor before many women were even doing Ironmans. In 1994, Suzy competed in the Sonoma Vineman, one of the first Ironmans in California. In 1997, she won 3rd place at Le Défi Mondial de l’Endurance in France. She earned sponsors and was on billboards across Puerto Rico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12030626 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250312_Alicia-Portnoy_JB_00003-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of all, Degazon figured out how to channel her obsessive-compulsive eating habits into a love for sports — sports that taught her to take care of her body, and keep it fueled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But starving herself for ten years also caused irreversible damage to her body, including to her inner ear and auditory nerve. When Degazon applied for a work visa that required a medical exam, she received her first diagnosis of hearing loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a complete surprise. Looking back now, she suspects she’d had hearing loss her whole life. “But,” she added quickly, “I’ve never let that stop me!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon got hearing aids and moved forward. Eventually, she set her sights on California. She moved to LA to marry her soulmate, and then moved to Santa Catalina Island to teach scuba diving. Now she relishes the chance to show visitors the strange and wonderful creatures living in Catalina’s kelp forests, like the bright orange Garibaldi, the official marine state fish of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having anorexia was really bad, and so I always want to be alive,” Degazon said. “I want to live every day like it’s my last day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a clear morning, Degazon barely got out of the water before she started passionately describing what she saw: big sheep crabs and abalone everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, spotting a pod of sea lions swimming close to shore, she jumped back in the water to get a closer look. It was barely 8 a.m., and it was already a good day to be alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains references to eating disorders and self-harm. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzy Degazon moved to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11832103/the-forgotten-occupation-of-catalina-island\">Santa Catalina Island\u003c/a> because she wanted to be a fish. Most days, you can indeed find her in the ocean near Dive Park, either going for a morning swim at the surface or giving scuba diving tours of the kelp forest below. Often she does both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Degazon’s Instagram is overflowing with open water joy, but there was a time when she was too sick to walk, much less swim. To make it to Catalina, she first had to overcome a life-threatening eating disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon grew up in the English countryside, helping her parents manage a small hotel. She liked cooking with her mom, and she was good at it. When she was eight years old, she won a contest for a cake she made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just always going to be a pastry chef,” Degazon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then she got sick. It started gradually when she was fifteen. She describes herself as a “wild child.” In school, teachers said she didn’t listen or pay attention. As a teenager, she went to AC/DC and Motörhead concerts. Degazon felt like she’d lost control of her life, so she began to avoid eating because it was the one thing she could control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038760\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-01-KQED-1024x1536.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suzy Degazón at the Catalina Island Swim Club on Catalina Island on May 5, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>None of this stopped her passion for baking. She went to pastry school and then moved to London. She worked in the noisy, fast-paced kitchen of a five-star hotel, making strawberry tartlets, chocolate eclairs, crème brûlées — if it had pastry in it, she made it. But she didn’t eat it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said she didn’t even feel hungry. “When you get dangerously thin with anorexia, you don’t know it,” Degazon said. “You’re in denial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, the police stopped her on the street and put her in a hospital for her own safety. She weighed 58 pounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t even stand up,” Degazon said. “I was really frail. I was on bed rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon had to stay in the hospital for a number of weeks. If the nurses gave her food, she’d hide it and flush it down the toilet. She had a sink in her room, and they replaced the drain pipe with a bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to leave, Degazon had to put on weight, which Degazon said didn’t work long-term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just eat, you get [to 80 pounds], you get out, and back you go,” Degazon said. “You have to fix up your noggin to get any help, really.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon cycled in and out of the hospital so many times that eventually a doctor told her family she would probably die.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One time, when she was in a hospital in York, she turned on the TV and saw people running a marathon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember telling the nurse, I want to be like that one day. I’m going to do a marathon,” Degazon recalled. “And the nurse turned around to me and said, ‘You can’t even run to the toilet.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ten years, Degazon and her family needed a new solution to help her get better. Her grandfather suggested she go backpacking in Southeast Asia, like her brother had. Maybe that would help her break the cycle. So Degazon got her weight up to 80 pounds — enough to leave the hospital — and bought a ticket to Bangkok.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I looked like a walking stick insect,” Degazon said. “But I was going to see the world. And I did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The freedom suited Degazon. No one called her names or nagged her about whether she was eating enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she traveled, little things started to change. For example, in Singapore, she was with a group of people who were all buying doughnuts. Previously, Degazon would have avoided buying a doughnut or thrown the doughnut away as soon as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This time, Degazon did something different. “We’re in [the doughnut shop] and I’m like, ‘I want to be normal. I’m going to eat a doughnut!’” She starts to nibble the doughnut, but it’s too much for her to eat it all at once, so she puts it in her pocket. She said it took her a whole week to eat it. “I didn’t throw it away. It was pretty stale at the end, but I ate that whole donut,” Degazon said. “I felt proud that I did that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon kept traveling. In the Maldives, she learned to scuba dive. On her first time down, the instructor told her to squeeze her hand when she wanted to go back up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Suzy never squeezed the instructor’s hand. “I just wanted to stay down there forever,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the clear water of the Maldives, she saw turtles and tropical fish. She was captivated and also empowered. Visiting unfamiliar countries and underwater habitats gave her that control, that responsibility for herself, that she craved. She also fell in love with the ocean and decided to visit the Caribbean Islands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1171\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-800x468.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1020x597.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-160x94.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1536x899.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/250505-SUZY-DEGAZON-NM-02-KQED-1920x1124.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Suzy Degazón snorkels at the Catalina Island Swim Club on Catalina Island on May 5, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Morrow for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was in Boquerón, Puerto Rico, when her transformation became clear. At first, she’d started running to rebuild her bone density. Soon, she was swimming in the ocean each day with more experienced friends. Then someone lent her a bicycle. “The next thing I know, I’m a triathlete,” Degazon said. “So I did a triple Ironman in France.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The run alone is three marathons in a row. Degazon trained hard, but she also had a secret weapon: she knew how to break something big into little bites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon lived in Puerto Rico for thirteen years, representing the island as an international triathlete and ultraman competitor before many women were even doing Ironmans. In 1994, Suzy competed in the Sonoma Vineman, one of the first Ironmans in California. In 1997, she won 3rd place at Le Défi Mondial de l’Endurance in France. She earned sponsors and was on billboards across Puerto Rico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of all, Degazon figured out how to channel her obsessive-compulsive eating habits into a love for sports — sports that taught her to take care of her body, and keep it fueled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But starving herself for ten years also caused irreversible damage to her body, including to her inner ear and auditory nerve. When Degazon applied for a work visa that required a medical exam, she received her first diagnosis of hearing loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a complete surprise. Looking back now, she suspects she’d had hearing loss her whole life. “But,” she added quickly, “I’ve never let that stop me!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Degazon got hearing aids and moved forward. Eventually, she set her sights on California. She moved to LA to marry her soulmate, and then moved to Santa Catalina Island to teach scuba diving. Now she relishes the chance to show visitors the strange and wonderful creatures living in Catalina’s kelp forests, like the bright orange Garibaldi, the official marine state fish of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having anorexia was really bad, and so I always want to be alive,” Degazon said. “I want to live every day like it’s my last day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a clear morning, Degazon barely got out of the water before she started passionately describing what she saw: big sheep crabs and abalone everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, spotting a pod of sea lions swimming close to shore, she jumped back in the water to get a closer look. It was barely 8 a.m., and it was already a good day to be alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "An Historic Altadena Church, Lost to the Eaton Fire, Begins the Long Journey to Resurrection",
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"content": "\u003cp>Parishioner Bob Schaper knew what he was looking for had to be there somewhere in Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033286/in-fire-scarred-altadena-these-residents-refused-to-leave\">Altadena \u003c/a>— although there wasn’t much that remained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is what’s left,” Schaper said, as he pointed to a blackened entryway that, since the devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a>, now opened to a charred field of destruction. “The church burned down through the floors to the subsequent [kindergarten] school rooms below. Organ, pews, the beams, roof — everything is just gone, simply gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An elementary school serving some 300 students, renovated just a few years ago, was also immolated, along with a two-story suite of parish offices and a day care center. But none of the destruction deterred Schaper from his mission. Without telling a soul, he zipped up a hazmat suit, slipped on a mask, laced up some heavy boots and got to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was in there with full gear, a sledgehammer and saws, cutting away pipe and chicken wire and finally through a hole about as big as a dinner plate. I look [through it] and there’s the words: ‘To the Glory of God,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s just like, oh! There’s the bell!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church’s brass bell was a gift from the family of Dean Howe, a young parishioner who died from cancer at age 15. For nearly 60 years, it rang out at the start of Sunday services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037127\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037127\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of Saint Mark’s Church, in Altadena, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Matt Wright, another parishioner who helped lift the bell from the ashes, its discovery signaled hope for the church’s uncertain future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bell will make its return when Saint Mark’s makes its return to Altadena Drive,” Wright said. “The bell will be a centerpiece of the new church sanctuary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the second Sunday after the fire, Pastor Carri Grindon was leading the Saint Mark’s congregation at its new temporary home at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles — a roughly 20-minute drive from the Altadena campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s still processing the loss while making sure that everyone in the church community, many if not most of whom either lost homes or were temporarily displaced, is OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12033286 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250312_Stay-Behinds_JB_00010-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve just been in this mode of, do the next thing, just take care of the next person, just plan the next gathering,” she said, speaking on the porch of the Saint Barnabas parish house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A parishioner shared a video of the church engulfed in flames, while the Eaton Fire continued its furious march across the expanse of this tight-knit foothill community. Altadena is known for its hardiness and a wild, feral spirit. But this was too much. Grindon refused to believe her eyes until she arrived on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was something about standing on the site,” she said. “A church is a particular kind of loss because it [represents] all of these big moments in people’s lives. It’s unimaginable to not be able to be there again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altadena lost more than a dozen places of worship in the Eaton Fire, including large campuses like Saint Mark’s and Altadena United Methodist, and storefront churches like Abounding Faith Ministries. Most have publicly expressed determination to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if rebuilding a home is challenging, rebuilding a faith community and its sanctuary is even harder, involving shared commitment, fundraising and a re-evaluation of priorities — all while maintaining a community that’s been scattered like embers blown by Santa Ana winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037122\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037122\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church of Altadena prepares to hold Easter services in their temporary home at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Charlie Cutler has seen it before, as president of ChurchWest, which provides property and other insurance to ministries across California, Nevada and Arizona, including two other churches destroyed in the Eaton Fire. One of those churches — the Altadena Community Church, another historic sanctuary and school — was directly across the street from Saint Mark’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We work with over 4,000 ministries in California, and we have at least one church that is a total loss every year,” he said. “And every single time the church says we want to rebuild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the Altadena churches that ChurchWest covered\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But wanting to rebuild and actually doing it are very different things, he cautioned. Cutler said that before any blueprints are drawn up or any concrete is poured, each church community should ask itself some difficult questions. Is rebuilding really the best idea? Or even possible?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12035344 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250408-CAL-TECH-TESTING-113-ZS-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to a ChurchWest client that lost its sanctuary in the 2018 Camp Fire, which largely destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise. For that church, survival meant not rebuilding at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because there’s no people, because all the people have been displaced, and the members of the congregation had gone to Chico or moved out of the area completely, they saw a decline in attendance,” Cutler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Meanwhile, there was a church down the street with similar beliefs and (the churches) consolidated,” he continued. “I think they created a very healthy church — they are now one congregation that’s come together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The congregation of Saint Mark’s Episcopal is a vibrant mix of ages, income levels and ethnicities. That’s helped by having an elementary school and kindergarten, which attracts young families and new parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 4, some 300 Saint Mark’s Elementary school kids sang the R&B classic “Stand by Me” for hundreds of parents, school officials and elected leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new, temporary teaching space at EF Academy private school in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastor Grindon holds Easter services for the congregation of St. Marks Episcopal Church of Altadena in their temporary home at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new, “Saint Mark’s Village” offers over 2-dozen classrooms, administrative offices, and plenty of outdoor space on the Academy’s 16 acres — all at no cost to Saint Mark’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with such generosity, Pastor Grindon recognizes the immense challenges that lie ahead. Yes, the insurance money is in the bank. But even with that, she estimates a roughly $20 million shortfall and a rebuilding master plan that could span over two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t have the perfect campus,” Grindon said. “It’s beloved, but now that it’s gone, what would we do differently? We know that it’ll cost a lot to rebuild the church and school, and those costs are only going to go up. But we want to get back there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grindon envisions a 20-year reconstruction and a roughly $20 million shortfall. She imagines fundraising over time, in phases. “There’s no way that we, just in a straight capital campaign within the community, are we going to get there,” she said, “unless some major angels show up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12034277 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250328_Zorthian-Ranch_SK_17-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaper, who located Saint Mark’s church bell, said that the arduous process of rebuilding should not consume the spirit of the people who still fill the pews every Sunday at its temporary location in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re at church now, we’re doing church now,” Schaper said. “Saint Mark’s is going to continue to be a church.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, in his retirement years, Schaper doesn’t know if he’ll be around when the new Saint Mark’s rises again. But it’s not something he’s given much thought to, choosing instead to focus on the hard work of keeping his church family’s head up, day by day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We must protect and keep our arms around the people themselves. We must maintain that as number one and then put a building around that,” he said. “We have to keep going because this is going to take longer than anyone thinks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039470 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-800x269.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1020x343.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1536x516.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1920x645.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children from the St. Marks Episcopal Church of Altadena congregation hunt for Easter eggs at their temporary home at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Schaper uncovered the church’s bronze bell, three other parishioners helped him dislodge it. Once free, they attached it to a pair of iron bars to carefully carry it from the ruins, “like Cleopatra” in her chair, parishioner Tom Horner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the bell was carefully washed, the crew lifted it once more. Then, they rang it, for the first time since January 5, the Sunday before the Eaton Fire took almost everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Parishioner Bob Schaper knew what he was looking for had to be there somewhere in Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033286/in-fire-scarred-altadena-these-residents-refused-to-leave\">Altadena \u003c/a>— although there wasn’t much that remained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is what’s left,” Schaper said, as he pointed to a blackened entryway that, since the devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a>, now opened to a charred field of destruction. “The church burned down through the floors to the subsequent [kindergarten] school rooms below. Organ, pews, the beams, roof — everything is just gone, simply gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An elementary school serving some 300 students, renovated just a few years ago, was also immolated, along with a two-story suite of parish offices and a day care center. But none of the destruction deterred Schaper from his mission. Without telling a soul, he zipped up a hazmat suit, slipped on a mask, laced up some heavy boots and got to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was in there with full gear, a sledgehammer and saws, cutting away pipe and chicken wire and finally through a hole about as big as a dinner plate. I look [through it] and there’s the words: ‘To the Glory of God,’” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And it’s just like, oh! There’s the bell!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The church’s brass bell was a gift from the family of Dean Howe, a young parishioner who died from cancer at age 15. For nearly 60 years, it rang out at the start of Sunday services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037127\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037127\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-24-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of Saint Mark’s Church, in Altadena, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Matt Wright, another parishioner who helped lift the bell from the ashes, its discovery signaled hope for the church’s uncertain future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bell will make its return when Saint Mark’s makes its return to Altadena Drive,” Wright said. “The bell will be a centerpiece of the new church sanctuary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the second Sunday after the fire, Pastor Carri Grindon was leading the Saint Mark’s congregation at its new temporary home at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles — a roughly 20-minute drive from the Altadena campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s still processing the loss while making sure that everyone in the church community, many if not most of whom either lost homes or were temporarily displaced, is OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve just been in this mode of, do the next thing, just take care of the next person, just plan the next gathering,” she said, speaking on the porch of the Saint Barnabas parish house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A parishioner shared a video of the church engulfed in flames, while the Eaton Fire continued its furious march across the expanse of this tight-knit foothill community. Altadena is known for its hardiness and a wild, feral spirit. But this was too much. Grindon refused to believe her eyes until she arrived on site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was something about standing on the site,” she said. “A church is a particular kind of loss because it [represents] all of these big moments in people’s lives. It’s unimaginable to not be able to be there again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altadena lost more than a dozen places of worship in the Eaton Fire, including large campuses like Saint Mark’s and Altadena United Methodist, and storefront churches like Abounding Faith Ministries. Most have publicly expressed determination to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if rebuilding a home is challenging, rebuilding a faith community and its sanctuary is even harder, involving shared commitment, fundraising and a re-evaluation of priorities — all while maintaining a community that’s been scattered like embers blown by Santa Ana winds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037122\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037122\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-14-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church of Altadena prepares to hold Easter services in their temporary home at Saint Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Charlie Cutler has seen it before, as president of ChurchWest, which provides property and other insurance to ministries across California, Nevada and Arizona, including two other churches destroyed in the Eaton Fire. One of those churches — the Altadena Community Church, another historic sanctuary and school — was directly across the street from Saint Mark’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We work with over 4,000 ministries in California, and we have at least one church that is a total loss every year,” he said. “And every single time the church says we want to rebuild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the Altadena churches that ChurchWest covered\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But wanting to rebuild and actually doing it are very different things, he cautioned. Cutler said that before any blueprints are drawn up or any concrete is poured, each church community should ask itself some difficult questions. Is rebuilding really the best idea? Or even possible?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pointed to a ChurchWest client that lost its sanctuary in the 2018 Camp Fire, which largely destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise. For that church, survival meant not rebuilding at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because there’s no people, because all the people have been displaced, and the members of the congregation had gone to Chico or moved out of the area completely, they saw a decline in attendance,” Cutler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Meanwhile, there was a church down the street with similar beliefs and (the churches) consolidated,” he continued. “I think they created a very healthy church — they are now one congregation that’s come together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The congregation of Saint Mark’s Episcopal is a vibrant mix of ages, income levels and ethnicities. That’s helped by having an elementary school and kindergarten, which attracts young families and new parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On April 4, some 300 Saint Mark’s Elementary school kids sang the R&B classic “Stand by Me” for hundreds of parents, school officials and elected leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new, temporary teaching space at EF Academy private school in Pasadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12037119\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12037119\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-6-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pastor Grindon holds Easter services for the congregation of St. Marks Episcopal Church of Altadena in their temporary home at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Mette Lampcov for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new, “Saint Mark’s Village” offers over 2-dozen classrooms, administrative offices, and plenty of outdoor space on the Academy’s 16 acres — all at no cost to Saint Mark’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with such generosity, Pastor Grindon recognizes the immense challenges that lie ahead. Yes, the insurance money is in the bank. But even with that, she estimates a roughly $20 million shortfall and a rebuilding master plan that could span over two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We didn’t have the perfect campus,” Grindon said. “It’s beloved, but now that it’s gone, what would we do differently? We know that it’ll cost a lot to rebuild the church and school, and those costs are only going to go up. But we want to get back there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grindon envisions a 20-year reconstruction and a roughly $20 million shortfall. She imagines fundraising over time, in phases. “There’s no way that we, just in a straight capital campaign within the community, are we going to get there,” she said, “unless some major angels show up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schaper, who located Saint Mark’s church bell, said that the arduous process of rebuilding should not consume the spirit of the people who still fill the pews every Sunday at its temporary location in Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re at church now, we’re doing church now,” Schaper said. “Saint Mark’s is going to continue to be a church.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, in his retirement years, Schaper doesn’t know if he’ll be around when the new Saint Mark’s rises again. But it’s not something he’s given much thought to, choosing instead to focus on the hard work of keeping his church family’s head up, day by day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We must protect and keep our arms around the people themselves. We must maintain that as number one and then put a building around that,” he said. “We have to keep going because this is going to take longer than anyone thinks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12039470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12039470 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-800x269.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1020x343.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-160x54.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1536x516.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/METTE.LAMPCOV.CHURCH.BELL-DIPTYCH-KQED-1920x645.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children from the St. Marks Episcopal Church of Altadena congregation hunt for Easter eggs at their temporary home at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Los Angeles on April 20, 2025.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Schaper uncovered the church’s bronze bell, three other parishioners helped him dislodge it. Once free, they attached it to a pair of iron bars to carefully carry it from the ruins, “like Cleopatra” in her chair, parishioner Tom Horner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the bell was carefully washed, the crew lifted it once more. Then, they rang it, for the first time since January 5, the Sunday before the Eaton Fire took almost everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "wolves-roam-california-again-reviving-old-fears-and-new-conflicts-in-ranch-country",
"title": "Wolves Roam California Again, Reviving Old Fears and New Conflicts in Ranch Country",
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"headTitle": "Wolves Roam California Again, Reviving Old Fears and New Conflicts in Ranch Country | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For decades, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gray-wolf\">gray wolves\u003c/a> were thought to have been hunted and poisoned into extinction in California, with the last sighting of the animal in the 1920s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that changed in late 2011, when a wolf wearing a radio collar crossed into the state from Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the years since, California’s gray wolf population has grown into the dozens, with most roaming the \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=229435&inline\">far northern part of the state\u003c/a>. State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say wolfpack activity has been reported in Shasta, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties. But in some of those areas, like Modoc County, the wolf’s reappearance is fueling a backlash — especially among \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/cattle-ranchers\">cattle ranchers\u003c/a>, who see the apex predator as a growing menace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have lost all fear of humans and are coming in and killing livestock in very close proximity to ranch houses that are occupied with families,” said Ned Coe, a Modoc County supervisor and rancher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that more ranchers in the region are losing their cattle to wolf attacks as the predators shift their hunting targets from wild game to livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What would your choice be? A very fast deer or a large, fast elk? Or a beef animal — out in what oftentimes is a very smooth, wide open pasture — that doesn’t run very fast or very far?” he asked. “Easy dinner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To protect their livestock, ranchers use a variety of non-lethal deterrents to keep the wolves away. That includes electric fencing and air horns programmed to emit blasts of sound at random times. Ranchers also use fladry, which are brightly colored strips of plastic or cloth tied to fences, to exploit wolves’ fear of unfamiliar objects and keep them away from herds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038715\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Vigil, manager of Dixie Valley Ranch in Shasta County, has lost cattle to wolf attacks. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Jessica Vigil said wolves are canny predators that quickly adapt to measures used to scare them off. Vigil, manager of the Dixie Valley Ranch, which spans thousands of acres in Shasta County, said wolf attacks are increasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a short span of last fall in a month, we had five depredations confirmed by wolves,” Vigil said. “That is a cattle killed by a wolf. And then, last month, we had a set of twin calves that were born, they were killed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the wolves’ return to the state, no people have been injured or killed by the animals. Experts say that’s rare, but Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy fears that could change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is the absolute fear … that we get a call that somebody’s been attacked by one of these wolves and at that point it’s too late,” he said. “I feel like we haven’t done enough to protect our constituents, our folks, our kids. And that’s why we’re trying to get ahead of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038712\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038712\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cattle graze in a Modoc County pasture. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far, three counties in the state — \u003ca href=\"https://plumassun.org/2025/04/14/emergency-proposal-would-allow-removal-of-wolves/\">Sierra, Plumas and Modoc\u003c/a> — have declared a wolf-related state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But wolves, which are native to California, are protected by both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/initiative/protecting-wildlife/gray-wolf-recovery-news-and-updates\">federal\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">state\u003c/a> endangered species acts. Officials and environmental groups, like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>, want to make sure the animal’s population continues to rebound in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something that was here from the beginning of time is back in California, and that’s amazing,” said Chuck Bonham, the director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. He added that the reappearance is a natural process that should be welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our department didn’t go to Oregon. Our department did not go to Washington State. We did not pick up a wolf and bring it here,” he said. “What happened is nature played out, and she’s super tough and resilient if we give her a chance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038717\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038717\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign outside a Modoc County ranch echoes ranchers’ concerns about the dangers wolves pose. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bonham said the department estimates that there are between 50 and 80 gray wolves in California, which he called an “amazing story, ecologically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have started a number of programs to make sure the wolf’s reappearance doesn’t come at the expense of people and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes placing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-enters-next-phase-of-wolf-conservation-plan-as-states-gray-wolf-population-continues-to-expand\">transmitters on captured wolves\u003c/a> to track their movements and providing financial compensation to ranchers whose livestock have been killed by wolves.[aside postID=news_11862584 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/0-KQED.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critical to determining whether wolves are responsible for livestock deaths is an unusual facility in a Sacramento office park. Filled with DNA testing equipment, it’s the state’s only wildlife forensic laboratory and helps lead investigations into “wildlife conflict,” including wolf attacks on livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very similar to a human forensic lab,” said Erin Meredith, a forensic specialist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The only difference is we work with more than one species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meredith and her colleagues receive DNA samples from investigators in the field and analyze them to determine whether wolves are responsible for specific cattle deaths, instead of bears or mountain lions. The investigations also help determine whether a wolf actually attacked and killed cattle, or merely fed on carcasses that died from other causes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those people in the field, as they’re doing their investigation, they’re going to collect swabs of the wounds, they’re gonna collect swabs of any areas of the animal that might have been fed on, in hopes of trying to obtain DNA from whatever species that was that did the damage to the animal,” she said. “We’re gonna get those swabs in and we’re gonna sample those for the DNA of that species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheriff William “Tex” Dowdy in his office in the Modoc County community of Alturas. Dowdy said he’s concerned about the possible threat of wolves to people, from children living on remote ranches to hikers camping in the backcountry. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back in places like Modoc County, ranchers and local officials want more than DNA testing, radio collars on wolves and \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Grants\">financial compensation\u003c/a> for lost cattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the wolves here,” Dowdy said. “I don’t want the wolves here. I wish we would do more to push them out instead of accept them into California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowdy added he thinks law enforcement should “be able to eliminate that threat when it becomes an imminent threat to public safety.” But wolf defenders say killing even some of the animals would be a tragic replay of what first drove the species to the vanishing point in the state for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say that with additional precautions, such as the state studying the release of an online tool to \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-enters-next-phase-of-wolf-conservation-plan-as-states-gray-wolf-population-continues-to-expand\">track GPS-collared wolves\u003c/a>, it’s possible for people and this predator — a symbol of the American West — to coexist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited with help from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/californianewsroom\">The California Newsroom\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gray wolves are regaining territory in northern regions of the state, with pack activity reported in Shasta, Lassen and Plumas counties. Ranchers say livestock losses are mounting.",
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"title": "Wolves Roam California Again, Reviving Old Fears and New Conflicts in Ranch Country | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For decades, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/gray-wolf\">gray wolves\u003c/a> were thought to have been hunted and poisoned into extinction in California, with the last sighting of the animal in the 1920s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that changed in late 2011, when a wolf wearing a radio collar crossed into the state from Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the years since, California’s gray wolf population has grown into the dozens, with most roaming the \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=229435&inline\">far northern part of the state\u003c/a>. State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say wolfpack activity has been reported in Shasta, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties. But in some of those areas, like Modoc County, the wolf’s reappearance is fueling a backlash — especially among \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/cattle-ranchers\">cattle ranchers\u003c/a>, who see the apex predator as a growing menace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have lost all fear of humans and are coming in and killing livestock in very close proximity to ranch houses that are occupied with families,” said Ned Coe, a Modoc County supervisor and rancher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that more ranchers in the region are losing their cattle to wolf attacks as the predators shift their hunting targets from wild game to livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What would your choice be? A very fast deer or a large, fast elk? Or a beef animal — out in what oftentimes is a very smooth, wide open pasture — that doesn’t run very fast or very far?” he asked. “Easy dinner.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To protect their livestock, ranchers use a variety of non-lethal deterrents to keep the wolves away. That includes electric fencing and air horns programmed to emit blasts of sound at random times. Ranchers also use fladry, which are brightly colored strips of plastic or cloth tied to fences, to exploit wolves’ fear of unfamiliar objects and keep them away from herds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038715\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038715\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/JESSICA-VIGIL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jessica Vigil, manager of Dixie Valley Ranch in Shasta County, has lost cattle to wolf attacks. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Jessica Vigil said wolves are canny predators that quickly adapt to measures used to scare them off. Vigil, manager of the Dixie Valley Ranch, which spans thousands of acres in Shasta County, said wolf attacks are increasing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a short span of last fall in a month, we had five depredations confirmed by wolves,” Vigil said. “That is a cattle killed by a wolf. And then, last month, we had a set of twin calves that were born, they were killed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the wolves’ return to the state, no people have been injured or killed by the animals. Experts say that’s rare, but Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy fears that could change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is the absolute fear … that we get a call that somebody’s been attacked by one of these wolves and at that point it’s too late,” he said. “I feel like we haven’t done enough to protect our constituents, our folks, our kids. And that’s why we’re trying to get ahead of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038712\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038712\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/CATTLE-1-KQED-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cattle graze in a Modoc County pasture. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far, three counties in the state — \u003ca href=\"https://plumassun.org/2025/04/14/emergency-proposal-would-allow-removal-of-wolves/\">Sierra, Plumas and Modoc\u003c/a> — have declared a wolf-related state of emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But wolves, which are native to California, are protected by both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fws.gov/initiative/protecting-wildlife/gray-wolf-recovery-news-and-updates\">federal\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109405&inline\">state\u003c/a> endangered species acts. Officials and environmental groups, like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/\">Center for Biological Diversity\u003c/a>, want to make sure the animal’s population continues to rebound in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something that was here from the beginning of time is back in California, and that’s amazing,” said Chuck Bonham, the director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. He added that the reappearance is a natural process that should be welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our department didn’t go to Oregon. Our department did not go to Washington State. We did not pick up a wolf and bring it here,” he said. “What happened is nature played out, and she’s super tough and resilient if we give her a chance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038717\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038717\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/PROTECT-OUR-LIVESTOCK-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign outside a Modoc County ranch echoes ranchers’ concerns about the dangers wolves pose. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bonham said the department estimates that there are between 50 and 80 gray wolves in California, which he called an “amazing story, ecologically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Fish and Wildlife officials have started a number of programs to make sure the wolf’s reappearance doesn’t come at the expense of people and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That includes placing \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-enters-next-phase-of-wolf-conservation-plan-as-states-gray-wolf-population-continues-to-expand\">transmitters on captured wolves\u003c/a> to track their movements and providing financial compensation to ranchers whose livestock have been killed by wolves.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critical to determining whether wolves are responsible for livestock deaths is an unusual facility in a Sacramento office park. Filled with DNA testing equipment, it’s the state’s only wildlife forensic laboratory and helps lead investigations into “wildlife conflict,” including wolf attacks on livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very similar to a human forensic lab,” said Erin Meredith, a forensic specialist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The only difference is we work with more than one species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meredith and her colleagues receive DNA samples from investigators in the field and analyze them to determine whether wolves are responsible for specific cattle deaths, instead of bears or mountain lions. The investigations also help determine whether a wolf actually attacked and killed cattle, or merely fed on carcasses that died from other causes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those people in the field, as they’re doing their investigation, they’re going to collect swabs of the wounds, they’re gonna collect swabs of any areas of the animal that might have been fed on, in hopes of trying to obtain DNA from whatever species that was that did the damage to the animal,” she said. “We’re gonna get those swabs in and we’re gonna sample those for the DNA of that species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12038718\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12038718\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/SHERIFF-TEX-GOWDY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheriff William “Tex” Dowdy in his office in the Modoc County community of Alturas. Dowdy said he’s concerned about the possible threat of wolves to people, from children living on remote ranches to hikers camping in the backcountry. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back in places like Modoc County, ranchers and local officials want more than DNA testing, radio collars on wolves and \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Grants\">financial compensation\u003c/a> for lost cattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t want the wolves here,” Dowdy said. “I don’t want the wolves here. I wish we would do more to push them out instead of accept them into California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dowdy added he thinks law enforcement should “be able to eliminate that threat when it becomes an imminent threat to public safety.” But wolf defenders say killing even some of the animals would be a tragic replay of what first drove the species to the vanishing point in the state for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They say that with additional precautions, such as the state studying the release of an online tool to \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/california-enters-next-phase-of-wolf-conservation-plan-as-states-gray-wolf-population-continues-to-expand\">track GPS-collared wolves\u003c/a>, it’s possible for people and this predator — a symbol of the American West — to coexist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was edited with help from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/californianewsroom\">The California Newsroom\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Valero Refinery Fire in Benicia Is Under Control After Warnings to Stay Indoors",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:23 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A blaze that ignited Monday morning at Valero’s Benicia refinery was brought under control after \u003ca href=\"https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=38.0188_-122.2059_12&id=Axis-CummingsSkyway\">sending large plumes of black smoke\u003c/a> into the air for over an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire, which firefighters responded to around 8:45 a.m., had been “placed under control” at 10:38 a.m., and shelter-in-place orders for nearby residents and Robert Semple Elementary School were lifted, the Benicia Fire Department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emergency personnel will remain on scene for clean up,” the department said in a Facebook post. “While there is particulate matter present, all other air monitoring is below health hazard levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fairfield, Vallejo and Contra Costa County firefighters also responded to the fire, which was mainly confined to a single structure in the refinery, the department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No injuries had been reported, it said. The cause of the blaze were still unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Valero refinery worker at the site in Benicia on July 25, 2013. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benicia Mayor Steve Young, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909783/benicia-contends-with-valero-refinery-closure\">speaking on KQED’s Forum on Monday\u003c/a> about Valero’s recently announced plans to close the refinery, said safety officials had instructed people who live nearby to stay indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larnie Fox, who lives in Benicia about 3 miles from the refinery, said he was taking a walk around 9:15 a.m. when he first saw smoke “in the wrong place.” The wind was blowing a large black cloud directly toward town, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s about when we got the shelter-in-place order,” he said. “And that’s about when we decided to go have breakfast in Vallejo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fox said some neighbors with allergies or asthma told him their symptoms were kicking up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that stuff’s dangerous,” he said. “I had skin cancer, my wife had breast cancer, so we don’t want to breathe any of that stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air regulators and health officials are investigating the incident and using portable air monitors in the surrounding community to test for air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12037668 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/230921-VALERO-BENICIA-REFINERY-MD-01_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air District issued an air quality advisory for smoke in southern Solano, northern Contra Costa, and northwestern Alameda counties, “specifically communities between I-80 and I-680 bridges (Martinez, Pacheco, Concord and Port Chicago),” the agency said, noting that communities as far south as Oakland could potentially feel the impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Smoke from the fire contains fine particulate matter and other harmful pollutants. Exposure to smoke is unhealthy, even for short periods of time,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although firefighters responded to the blaze within minutes, and the Benicia Fire Department posted a shelter-in-place alert soon thereafter, the county warning system didn’t alert residents until well after the fire had started because of a technical glitch, city officials told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pat Toth, a Benicia resident who lives miles away from the refinery, said she didn’t receive any official text communications about the fire until about 10:30 a.m., more than 90 minutes after it started, even though she subscribes to various emergency alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need much better notifications and information, and especially when it’s happening,” said Toth, who’s lived in the city for 25 years. “Even when I was driving away, I saw people walking outside and I thought, ‘Wow, should I open my window and tell people to run home?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County officials have not responded to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, residents were similarly impacted by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025377/huge-martinez-refinery-fire-renews-neighbors-fear-frustration\">major refinery fire in Martinez\u003c/a>, just across the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa health officials said Monday that they were sending a hazardous materials team to Martinez to monitor for any potential impacts from the Benicia fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia Fire Department said it had also requested drone air monitoring from the Solano County Hazardous Materials Response Team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero said in a statement that emergency crews responded and are monitoring for air quality issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The safety of our workers and community is our priority, and we are coordinating with state and local authorities,” the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire comes just weeks after Valero executives announced they were considering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037668/potential-valero-refinery-closure-leaves-benicia-state-officials-scrambling-to-pick-up-pieces\">closing the sprawling refinery\u003c/a> by next April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refinery, which produces up to 145,000 barrels of crude oil a day, is the sixth largest in California, accounting for \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/californias-petroleum-market/californias-oil-refineries\">about 9%\u003c/a> of the state’s total capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, regional and state air regulators fined the company a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011785/bay-area-air-district-hits-valeros-benicia-refinery-with-historic-82-million-fine\">record $82 million\u003c/a> for secretly exceeding toxic emissions standards for at least 15 years. And in March, Benicia officials voted unanimously to impose moderate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029845/benicia-moves-toward-tougher-oversight-of-valero-refinery\">new safety regulations\u003c/a> on the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Fox, the fire is another reason to be concerned about Valero’s safety record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s acceptable,” Fox said. “I think Valero has tried to portray themselves as being safe, and they’ve proven time and time again that they’re not safe…. They don’t care about our safety. They’re just trying to make money and cut corners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jsmall\">Julie Small\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 4:23 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A blaze that ignited Monday morning at Valero’s Benicia refinery was brought under control after \u003ca href=\"https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=38.0188_-122.2059_12&id=Axis-CummingsSkyway\">sending large plumes of black smoke\u003c/a> into the air for over an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire, which firefighters responded to around 8:45 a.m., had been “placed under control” at 10:38 a.m., and shelter-in-place orders for nearby residents and Robert Semple Elementary School were lifted, the Benicia Fire Department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emergency personnel will remain on scene for clean up,” the department said in a Facebook post. “While there is particulate matter present, all other air monitoring is below health hazard levels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fairfield, Vallejo and Contra Costa County firefighters also responded to the fire, which was mainly confined to a single structure in the refinery, the department said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No injuries had been reported, it said. The cause of the blaze were still unclear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12036334\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1777px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12036334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1777\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed.jpg 1777w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/IMG_1979_qed-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1777px) 100vw, 1777px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Valero refinery worker at the site in Benicia on July 25, 2013. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benicia Mayor Steve Young, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101909783/benicia-contends-with-valero-refinery-closure\">speaking on KQED’s Forum on Monday\u003c/a> about Valero’s recently announced plans to close the refinery, said safety officials had instructed people who live nearby to stay indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larnie Fox, who lives in Benicia about 3 miles from the refinery, said he was taking a walk around 9:15 a.m. when he first saw smoke “in the wrong place.” The wind was blowing a large black cloud directly toward town, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s about when we got the shelter-in-place order,” he said. “And that’s about when we decided to go have breakfast in Vallejo.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fox said some neighbors with allergies or asthma told him their symptoms were kicking up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that stuff’s dangerous,” he said. “I had skin cancer, my wife had breast cancer, so we don’t want to breathe any of that stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air regulators and health officials are investigating the incident and using portable air monitors in the surrounding community to test for air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air District issued an air quality advisory for smoke in southern Solano, northern Contra Costa, and northwestern Alameda counties, “specifically communities between I-80 and I-680 bridges (Martinez, Pacheco, Concord and Port Chicago),” the agency said, noting that communities as far south as Oakland could potentially feel the impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Smoke from the fire contains fine particulate matter and other harmful pollutants. Exposure to smoke is unhealthy, even for short periods of time,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although firefighters responded to the blaze within minutes, and the Benicia Fire Department posted a shelter-in-place alert soon thereafter, the county warning system didn’t alert residents until well after the fire had started because of a technical glitch, city officials told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pat Toth, a Benicia resident who lives miles away from the refinery, said she didn’t receive any official text communications about the fire until about 10:30 a.m., more than 90 minutes after it started, even though she subscribes to various emergency alerts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need much better notifications and information, and especially when it’s happening,” said Toth, who’s lived in the city for 25 years. “Even when I was driving away, I saw people walking outside and I thought, ‘Wow, should I open my window and tell people to run home?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County officials have not responded to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, residents were similarly impacted by a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025377/huge-martinez-refinery-fire-renews-neighbors-fear-frustration\">major refinery fire in Martinez\u003c/a>, just across the Carquinez Strait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa health officials said Monday that they were sending a hazardous materials team to Martinez to monitor for any potential impacts from the Benicia fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia Fire Department said it had also requested drone air monitoring from the Solano County Hazardous Materials Response Team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Valero said in a statement that emergency crews responded and are monitoring for air quality issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The safety of our workers and community is our priority, and we are coordinating with state and local authorities,” the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire comes just weeks after Valero executives announced they were considering \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037668/potential-valero-refinery-closure-leaves-benicia-state-officials-scrambling-to-pick-up-pieces\">closing the sprawling refinery\u003c/a> by next April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The refinery, which produces up to 145,000 barrels of crude oil a day, is the sixth largest in California, accounting for \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/californias-petroleum-market/californias-oil-refineries\">about 9%\u003c/a> of the state’s total capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, regional and state air regulators fined the company a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011785/bay-area-air-district-hits-valeros-benicia-refinery-with-historic-82-million-fine\">record $82 million\u003c/a> for secretly exceeding toxic emissions standards for at least 15 years. And in March, Benicia officials voted unanimously to impose moderate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029845/benicia-moves-toward-tougher-oversight-of-valero-refinery\">new safety regulations\u003c/a> on the facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Fox, the fire is another reason to be concerned about Valero’s safety record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s acceptable,” Fox said. “I think Valero has tried to portray themselves as being safe, and they’ve proven time and time again that they’re not safe…. They don’t care about our safety. They’re just trying to make money and cut corners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jsmall\">Julie Small\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California plans to erase parts of a rule created to clean up the state’s dirty air from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032217/caltrans-launches-long-awaited-study-on-i-580-truck-ban-and-pollution-impact\">truck pollution\u003c/a>. The action comes in response to a lawsuit from the California Trucking Association and strong headwinds from the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-fleets\">Advanced Clean Fleet rule\u003c/a>, adopted in 2023, would have phased out diesel trucks used by large companies, state and local governments, as well as ports and railroad yards. It would have eliminated new gas-fueled truck sales by 2036 and mandated that large trucking fleets go electric or hydrogen-powered by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to the trade group’s lawsuit, the California Air Resources Board plans to propose repealing parts of the rule that applies to trucks serving ports, rail yards and large companies this year. California’s requirements that state and local governments increasingly move towards all-electric vehicles — and that all new truck sales be electric by 2036 — will remain, so long as the federal government approves that policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state adopted the clean truck regulation during the Biden administration, but did not get the necessary green light from the EPA before the Trump Administration took office this year. State officials withdrew their request for federal approval in January, meaning the state was largely unable to enforce the truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARB confirmed the legal updates to KQED and a spokeswoman wrote that the agency “remains committed to protecting public health using new and alternative approaches,” in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pleased to have reached agreement with the Air Resources Board on this stipulation,” Eric Sauer, head of the California Trucking Association, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11930567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11930567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up of a hydrogen fuel cell truck driving on a road. According to the California Air Resources Board, heavy-duty fossil-fuel trucks spew 70% of the state’s smog-forming gases and 80% of carcinogenic diesel pollutants. \u003ccite>(Aranga87/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sam Wilson, who works on clean transportation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the move “disappointing,” but “more of an administrative action than anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The repeal of Advanced Clean Fleets has nothing to do with the rule’s real-world viability, but rather the political climate we find ourselves in today,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the rule would have accelerated the state’s transition to clean vehicles, Wilson is “confident that commercial vehicle electrification will continue, although at a slower pace.” The state can use other incentives to spur electric truck adoption, like requiring warehouses to track pollution and reduce it through electric heavy-duty vehicles, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court order between CARB and the California Trucking Association noted that the state will not require that new truck sales must be electric by 2036 without the approval of the federal government.[aside postID=news_12036063 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/GavinNewsom1AP-1020x680.jpg']Wilson viewed the mention of the 2036 goal positively — a sign CARB officials were not abandoning the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should the state officially remove the entire rule from California’s regulatory code, it would need to entirely rewrite a new version and relaunch a lengthy regulatory process to pursue similar actions in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARB is also resolving litigation from trade groups representing railroads, which would have limited idling times and retired older locomotives, among other things. The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/reducing-rail-emissions-california/locomotive-fact-sheets\">rule\u003c/a> was aimed at reducing pollution from diesel-powered trains, but it also failed to receive EPA approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of planet-warming emissions produced by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">U.S.\u003c/a> come from transportation, and the same is true for \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California was the first state to regulate tailpipe emissions in the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/history#:~:text=In%201966%20California%20established%20the,Air%20Resources%20Board%20was%20established.\">1960s\u003c/a>, as it struggled to bring harmful air pollution under control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law in 1970, giving the EPA the authority to regulate air pollution from cars. The law bars states from enacting their own regulations, except California, given its unique air pollution problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11880116\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks fill the lanes on I-80 near Berkeley on June 28, 2021. A ban against heavy trucks on I-580, another freeway running through Oakland, pushes most diesel truck traffic onto I-880.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cars and trucks fill the lanes on I-80 near Berkeley on June 28, 2021. A ban against heavy trucks on I-580, another freeway running through Oakland, pushes most diesel truck traffic onto I-880. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California’s standards must be at least as strict as federal law and are considered necessary “to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.” While other states can’t set their own standards, they can adopt California’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA has granted California waivers for decades, with only one of its requests being initially denied in 2008 by the George W. Bush administration, then later granted by the Obama administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s EPA first revoked California’s waiver for tailpipe emissions in his first term, but California sued in response. That lawsuit became moot when Biden took office and reinstated the waiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final months of the Biden administration, the EPA approved two of California’s waivers, a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 and a regulation setting stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks. However, the agency did not approve a handful of other waivers, including some applying to heavy-duty trucks and trains, before administrations changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The state withdrew the regulation from federal review in January as Trump was unlikely to support it. Now, California is moving to repeal parts of the directive from the state code. ",
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"title": "California Regulators Move to Roll Back Parts of Controversial Clean Truck Rule | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California plans to erase parts of a rule created to clean up the state’s dirty air from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032217/caltrans-launches-long-awaited-study-on-i-580-truck-ban-and-pollution-impact\">truck pollution\u003c/a>. The action comes in response to a lawsuit from the California Trucking Association and strong headwinds from the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-fleets\">Advanced Clean Fleet rule\u003c/a>, adopted in 2023, would have phased out diesel trucks used by large companies, state and local governments, as well as ports and railroad yards. It would have eliminated new gas-fueled truck sales by 2036 and mandated that large trucking fleets go electric or hydrogen-powered by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to the trade group’s lawsuit, the California Air Resources Board plans to propose repealing parts of the rule that applies to trucks serving ports, rail yards and large companies this year. California’s requirements that state and local governments increasingly move towards all-electric vehicles — and that all new truck sales be electric by 2036 — will remain, so long as the federal government approves that policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state adopted the clean truck regulation during the Biden administration, but did not get the necessary green light from the EPA before the Trump Administration took office this year. State officials withdrew their request for federal approval in January, meaning the state was largely unable to enforce the truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARB confirmed the legal updates to KQED and a spokeswoman wrote that the agency “remains committed to protecting public health using new and alternative approaches,” in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pleased to have reached agreement with the Air Resources Board on this stipulation,” Eric Sauer, head of the California Trucking Association, wrote in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11930567\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11930567\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/GettyImages-1396887368-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up of a hydrogen fuel cell truck driving on a road. According to the California Air Resources Board, heavy-duty fossil-fuel trucks spew 70% of the state’s smog-forming gases and 80% of carcinogenic diesel pollutants. \u003ccite>(Aranga87/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sam Wilson, who works on clean transportation at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the move “disappointing,” but “more of an administrative action than anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The repeal of Advanced Clean Fleets has nothing to do with the rule’s real-world viability, but rather the political climate we find ourselves in today,” Wilson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the rule would have accelerated the state’s transition to clean vehicles, Wilson is “confident that commercial vehicle electrification will continue, although at a slower pace.” The state can use other incentives to spur electric truck adoption, like requiring warehouses to track pollution and reduce it through electric heavy-duty vehicles, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The court order between CARB and the California Trucking Association noted that the state will not require that new truck sales must be electric by 2036 without the approval of the federal government.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Wilson viewed the mention of the 2036 goal positively — a sign CARB officials were not abandoning the idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Should the state officially remove the entire rule from California’s regulatory code, it would need to entirely rewrite a new version and relaunch a lengthy regulatory process to pursue similar actions in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARB is also resolving litigation from trade groups representing railroads, which would have limited idling times and retired older locomotives, among other things. The \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/reducing-rail-emissions-california/locomotive-fact-sheets\">rule\u003c/a> was aimed at reducing pollution from diesel-powered trains, but it also failed to receive EPA approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of planet-warming emissions produced by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions\">U.S.\u003c/a> come from transportation, and the same is true for \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-graphs\">California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California was the first state to regulate tailpipe emissions in the \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/history#:~:text=In%201966%20California%20established%20the,Air%20Resources%20Board%20was%20established.\">1960s\u003c/a>, as it struggled to bring harmful air pollution under control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act into law in 1970, giving the EPA the authority to regulate air pollution from cars. The law bars states from enacting their own regulations, except California, given its unique air pollution problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11880116\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11880116\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880.jpg\" alt=\"Cars and trucks fill the lanes on I-80 near Berkeley on June 28, 2021. A ban against heavy trucks on I-580, another freeway running through Oakland, pushes most diesel truck traffic onto I-880.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/07/trucks-I880-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cars and trucks fill the lanes on I-80 near Berkeley on June 28, 2021. A ban against heavy trucks on I-580, another freeway running through Oakland, pushes most diesel truck traffic onto I-880. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California’s standards must be at least as strict as federal law and are considered necessary “to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.” While other states can’t set their own standards, they can adopt California’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA has granted California waivers for decades, with only one of its requests being initially denied in 2008 by the George W. Bush administration, then later granted by the Obama administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump’s EPA first revoked California’s waiver for tailpipe emissions in his first term, but California sued in response. That lawsuit became moot when Biden took office and reinstated the waiver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final months of the Biden administration, the EPA approved two of California’s waivers, a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 and a regulation setting stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks. However, the agency did not approve a handful of other waivers, including some applying to heavy-duty trucks and trains, before administrations changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"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>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"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?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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