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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration is instructing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-park-service\">National Park Service\u003c/a> leaders to review their gift shops for “equity-related” content by Dec. 19, according to a memo obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The memo, signed by National Park Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron in late November and sent out to staff this week, directs national park staff to “review all retail items available for purchase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the memo, the merchandise review complies with January 2025 executive orders from President Donald Trump and the Department of the Interior that address what the White House calls “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” related to DEI and what the administration terms “Gender Ideology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, national park advocacy groups expressed frustration at what they see as the Trump administration’s latest attempt to weaponize the country’s treasured public lands — and to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055659/national-park-service-california-yosemite-muir-woods-trump-executive-order\">rewrite history in favor of their political ideology. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going after gift shops is just one part of the administration’s deeply troubling pattern of silencing science and hiding history in our parks,” said National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director Alan Spears in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066068\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066068\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tourists shopping at the gift shop of the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park, Montana. \u003ccite>(Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Park Service staff should be managing parks, not censorship campaigns,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One park service superintendent, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation and losing their job, said the communication they’ve received from higher-ups clarifies that national park staff will not only have to review, but also carry out the removal of content by the deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to KQED’s questions about the memo, the Interior Department confirmed in an email that it is “conducting a common-sense review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If any items are found to be inconsistent with the Order, they are being removed from sale,” a department spokesperson wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Merchandise now in spotlight\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The memo is the latest issued this year, following a directive over the summer requiring parks to review their signage and bookstores for materials that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055659/national-park-service-california-yosemite-muir-woods-trump-executive-order\">inappropriately disparage Americans past or living\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That order focused on content that casts Americans in a negative light, which resulted in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049405/muir-woods-national-monument-exhibit-removal-trump-executive-order-national-parks-history-under-construction-sticky-notes\">removal of a sign at Muir Woods National Monument\u003c/a> spotlighting the contributions of Indigenous people and women to the park, among others.[aside postID=news_12065737 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty.jpg']The order also targeted \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/15/national-parks-slavery-information-removal/\">slavery-related exhibits\u003c/a> at multiple East Coast parks, and, according to the author of a book on \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/obi.kaufmann/posts/pfbid0dhWpb5Nun9cfhhco31CoyXdmuqRVY9ZuVThLpz8KrwEjeWVFh4VQxAag4LcA3Cp2l\">California’s water crisis\u003c/a>, led to Yosemite National Park halting purchases of their work to sell in the gift shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That widespread effort to review parks’ content is still underway, and the additional merchandise content under review includes anything that highlights diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility or environmental justice, according to the November memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The memo instructed national park staff to notify the groups that run gift shops, often concessionaires or nonprofit partners, of the review requirement and coordinate with them in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff were also instructed not just to review any materials currently on display in park bookstores, but also all merchandise plans, including materials on backorder or currently out of stock, according to the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff do not have to read books for sale in parks in their entirety to perform the review, according to the anonymous superintendent. Instead, they said, staff are directed to scan a book’s title and table of contents for any “equity-related” content.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Guidance without guidance’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>NPS staff are now tasked with completing their own review of materials, which may include removing some items to review them. Any materials found to be “non-compliant” must be removed from sale immediately, according to the memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The superintendent said it has been frustrating to continue receiving this “guidance without guidance,” which leaves determining concepts like “equity-related” up to the interpretation of NPS staff. “It’s not easy, depending on the content of your park,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without further guidance, it’s putting a lot of pressure on, ultimately, the park superintendents to make these decisions about removing,” the superintendent continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A volunteer for the National Park Service welcomes visitors at the Exploration Center in Yosemite Valley, at Yosemite National Park on March 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AFP via Getty)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And book-removing can be, in general, pretty controversial with the public. So, when the public gets mad that something’s removed, the [Department of Interior] can say, ‘Oh, well, the superintendent chose that and they chose the wrong thing. We didn’t tell them they had to do that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, all of the bookstore stock already goes through a review process — one signed annually by the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, obviously, we thought these [books] were good things to have, that made sense in our park,” they said. “My initial reaction is: ‘I don’t have anything to remove because we’ve already vetted everything.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the instructions don’t say staff have to report what they flag or remove to higher-ups, at least one regional office has offered assistance with reviewing content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The superintendent, who said they’ll likely take responsibility for implementing the memo at their park, doesn’t expect that any of their questions about what does or does not qualify as “equity-related” will get answered, based on their previous experiences requesting clarity around these orders.\u003cbr>\n[aside postID=news_12060911 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/NationalParkServiceGetty.jpg']Not least because some of the content parks flagged earlier under the original signage review are still pending, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they plan to consult with their staff who review merchandise and go from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/07/us-national-parks-trump-cuts\">Chronic understaffing\u003c/a> and a hiring freeze at national parks remain challenges, said Jesse Chakrin, executive director of The Fund for People in Parks, not to mention that staff are still catching up after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062476/at-yosemite-youd-barely-know-a-shutdown-was-happening-why-advocates-say-that-matters\">the monthlong government shutdown\u003c/a> that furloughed them and their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This latest directive, the superintendent said, is also making the nonprofit and for-profit groups that run the bookstores nervous about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve invested money in this inventory, and now they can’t sell it,” they said. “So, there’s a financial hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m very curious who decided this was a priority,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrin called the action outlined in the memo “a waste of time, and with goals that seem antithetical to the story of what these parks represent,” built on executive orders that “misrepresent” diversity, accessibility and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrin sees both the original signage review order and this new merchandise directive as “two peas in a pod,” aimed at stories like those of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm\">Buffalo Soldiers\u003c/a>, which are objective facts of history at many parks, but which now may be flagged for removal because of the administration’s agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the staff now tasked with executing it, Chakrin called it a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such an unenviable position to have to try and execute these orders in a way that satisfies the administration and also doesn’t undercut your values and your business relationship with a concessioner and your staff’s morale, which is already in the toilet,” he said. “I just don’t envy the superintendents that have to make these decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump\u003c/a> administration is instructing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-park-service\">National Park Service\u003c/a> leaders to review their gift shops for “equity-related” content by Dec. 19, according to a memo obtained by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The memo, signed by National Park Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron in late November and sent out to staff this week, directs national park staff to “review all retail items available for purchase.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the memo, the merchandise review complies with January 2025 executive orders from President Donald Trump and the Department of the Interior that address what the White House calls “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” related to DEI and what the administration terms “Gender Ideology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, national park advocacy groups expressed frustration at what they see as the Trump administration’s latest attempt to weaponize the country’s treasured public lands — and to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055659/national-park-service-california-yosemite-muir-woods-trump-executive-order\">rewrite history in favor of their political ideology. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going after gift shops is just one part of the administration’s deeply troubling pattern of silencing science and hiding history in our parks,” said National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director Alan Spears in an email to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066068\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066068\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/GlacierGiftShopMontanaGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tourists shopping at the gift shop of the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park, Montana. \u003ccite>(Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Park Service staff should be managing parks, not censorship campaigns,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One park service superintendent, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation and losing their job, said the communication they’ve received from higher-ups clarifies that national park staff will not only have to review, but also carry out the removal of content by the deadline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to KQED’s questions about the memo, the Interior Department confirmed in an email that it is “conducting a common-sense review of retail items to ensure our gift shops remain neutral spaces that serve all visitors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If any items are found to be inconsistent with the Order, they are being removed from sale,” a department spokesperson wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Merchandise now in spotlight\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The memo is the latest issued this year, following a directive over the summer requiring parks to review their signage and bookstores for materials that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12055659/national-park-service-california-yosemite-muir-woods-trump-executive-order\">inappropriately disparage Americans past or living\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That order focused on content that casts Americans in a negative light, which resulted in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049405/muir-woods-national-monument-exhibit-removal-trump-executive-order-national-parks-history-under-construction-sticky-notes\">removal of a sign at Muir Woods National Monument\u003c/a> spotlighting the contributions of Indigenous people and women to the park, among others.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The order also targeted \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/15/national-parks-slavery-information-removal/\">slavery-related exhibits\u003c/a> at multiple East Coast parks, and, according to the author of a book on \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/obi.kaufmann/posts/pfbid0dhWpb5Nun9cfhhco31CoyXdmuqRVY9ZuVThLpz8KrwEjeWVFh4VQxAag4LcA3Cp2l\">California’s water crisis\u003c/a>, led to Yosemite National Park halting purchases of their work to sell in the gift shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That widespread effort to review parks’ content is still underway, and the additional merchandise content under review includes anything that highlights diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility or environmental justice, according to the November memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The memo instructed national park staff to notify the groups that run gift shops, often concessionaires or nonprofit partners, of the review requirement and coordinate with them in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff were also instructed not just to review any materials currently on display in park bookstores, but also all merchandise plans, including materials on backorder or currently out of stock, according to the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff do not have to read books for sale in parks in their entirety to perform the review, according to the anonymous superintendent. Instead, they said, staff are directed to scan a book’s title and table of contents for any “equity-related” content.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Guidance without guidance’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>NPS staff are now tasked with completing their own review of materials, which may include removing some items to review them. Any materials found to be “non-compliant” must be removed from sale immediately, according to the memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The superintendent said it has been frustrating to continue receiving this “guidance without guidance,” which leaves determining concepts like “equity-related” up to the interpretation of NPS staff. “It’s not easy, depending on the content of your park,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without further guidance, it’s putting a lot of pressure on, ultimately, the park superintendents to make these decisions about removing,” the superintendent continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029489\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/CaliforniaPublicLandsGetty1-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A volunteer for the National Park Service welcomes visitors at the Exploration Center in Yosemite Valley, at Yosemite National Park on March 1, 2025. \u003ccite>(Laure Andrillon/AFP via Getty)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And book-removing can be, in general, pretty controversial with the public. So, when the public gets mad that something’s removed, the [Department of Interior] can say, ‘Oh, well, the superintendent chose that and they chose the wrong thing. We didn’t tell them they had to do that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, all of the bookstore stock already goes through a review process — one signed annually by the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, obviously, we thought these [books] were good things to have, that made sense in our park,” they said. “My initial reaction is: ‘I don’t have anything to remove because we’ve already vetted everything.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the instructions don’t say staff have to report what they flag or remove to higher-ups, at least one regional office has offered assistance with reviewing content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The superintendent, who said they’ll likely take responsibility for implementing the memo at their park, doesn’t expect that any of their questions about what does or does not qualify as “equity-related” will get answered, based on their previous experiences requesting clarity around these orders.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Not least because some of the content parks flagged earlier under the original signage review are still pending, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they plan to consult with their staff who review merchandise and go from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/07/us-national-parks-trump-cuts\">Chronic understaffing\u003c/a> and a hiring freeze at national parks remain challenges, said Jesse Chakrin, executive director of The Fund for People in Parks, not to mention that staff are still catching up after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062476/at-yosemite-youd-barely-know-a-shutdown-was-happening-why-advocates-say-that-matters\">the monthlong government shutdown\u003c/a> that furloughed them and their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This latest directive, the superintendent said, is also making the nonprofit and for-profit groups that run the bookstores nervous about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve invested money in this inventory, and now they can’t sell it,” they said. “So, there’s a financial hit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m very curious who decided this was a priority,” they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrin called the action outlined in the memo “a waste of time, and with goals that seem antithetical to the story of what these parks represent,” built on executive orders that “misrepresent” diversity, accessibility and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chakrin sees both the original signage review order and this new merchandise directive as “two peas in a pod,” aimed at stories like those of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm\">Buffalo Soldiers\u003c/a>, which are objective facts of history at many parks, but which now may be flagged for removal because of the administration’s agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the staff now tasked with executing it, Chakrin called it a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s such an unenviable position to have to try and execute these orders in a way that satisfies the administration and also doesn’t undercut your values and your business relationship with a concessioner and your staff’s morale, which is already in the toilet,” he said. “I just don’t envy the superintendents that have to make these decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California at Forefront as Democrats Tap Doctors for High-Stakes House Races",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[This column was reported for Political Breakdown, a bi-monthly newsletter offering analysis and context on Bay Area and California political news. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Democrats look to make health care a defining issue in next year’s midterms, the party and allied groups are recruiting doctors to run against Republicans in some of the nation’s most competitive House districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two California doctors — Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains and Rep. Ami Bera — are running in GOP-held seats seen as key to Democrats’ chances of flipping the House. Their early campaign ads and logos, filled with lab coats, stethoscopes and heart-rate lines, underscore Democrats’ bets that health care will be friendly terrain for the party and that doctors remain trusted voices for most voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That strategy builds on how Democratic leaders in Congress have fought the Trump administration on health care this year — from opposing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997707/how-will-trumps-mega-bill-impact-health-care-in-california\">Medicaid cuts in the GOP budget bill\u003c/a> to grilling Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policies to shutting the government down in an attempt to force an extension of Obamacare subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think health care is going to be one of the number one issues next year,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that works to elect scientists and physicians to public office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naughton founded 314 Action nearly a decade ago with the goal of electing more scientists. This year, the group launched an initiative, Guardians of Public Health, aiming to raise $25 million by 2030 to elect 100 health care professionals to state and federal offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year it became very clear that we needed to have a very strong message directly to physicians that are concerned about what is going on in our country,” Naughton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats with medical backgrounds in battleground districts include Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st District, Tina Shah in New Jersey’s 7th District and Ada Cuellar in Texas’ 15th District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats are buoyed by polling that shows widespread public dissatisfaction with much of the Trump administration’s health care agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization, found 63% of adults \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/medicaid/kff-health-tracking-poll-public-views-on-recent-tax-and-budget-legislation/\">held an unfavorable view\u003c/a> of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which paired an extension of tax cuts with historic reductions to Medicaid, the nation’s health care safety net.[aside postID=news_12033802 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/05/npr.brightspotcdn.jpg']Meanwhile, 78% of adults want Congress to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/despite-budget-concerns-three-quarters-of-public-say-congress-should-extend-the-enhanced-aca-tax-credits-set-to-expire-next-year-including-most-republicans-and-maga-supporters/\">extend enhanced tax credits\u003c/a> for people who buy insurance through the Obamacare marketplace. Democrats failed to win an extension during the shutdown fight, but Republicans are now facing political heat as they near an end-of-year deadline to avert dramatic premium increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the debate over childhood vaccinations, KFF found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/new-kff-washington-post-survey-explores-parents-trust-in-and-confusion-about-childhood-vaccines-as-the-trump-administration-revamps-federal-policies/\">a majority of parents\u003c/a> value childhood vaccination for measles and polio — and distrust vaccine information from Kennedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings reinforce a longstanding Democratic advantage on health care, Ashley Kirzinger, KFF’s director of survey methodology, told me. Crucially, independents share Democrats’ dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s health care moves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And doctors running for office could be well-positioned to drive home the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that doctors and health care providers are the most trusted sources of information,” Kirzinger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, that trust will be put to the test in the gauntlet of a midterm campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California voters approved Proposition 50 to redraw congressional district lines, Bera opted to run in the new 3rd District, currently held by Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kiley is deciding whether to run in his current seat against Bera or in the neighboring 6th District, where another Democratic doctor, former state Sen. Richard Pan, is running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bains launched her campaign for the 22nd District in July after incumbent Rep. David Valadao voted for the budget bill, which stands to hit the Bakersfield district particularly hard: Roughly two-thirds of residents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12048636/snap-and-medicaid-cuts-put-bakersfield-in-political-economic-crosshairs\">rely on Medicaid\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033802/how-cuts-medicaid-republican-gains-california\">most of any seat\u003c/a> in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nowhere else has this much to lose,” Bains said in a campaign video, dressed in a lab coat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bains’ spot in the general election is not assured, as she faces strong competition from Visalia school board member Randy Villegas. Likewise, Pan faces a growing field of Democratic challengers in the Sacramento-based 6th District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both candidates will also have to contend with attacks from Republicans, including arguments that their most relevant jobs aren’t doctor but state legislator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Christian Martinez previewed a potential GOP line of attack: targeting votes by Bains and Pan to extend health coverage to undocumented immigrants through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all have records of voting for extreme, radical policies — for defending and voting for illegal immigrants over the Californians that they’re supposed to represent,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Democrats remain confident that as long as they’re talking about health care, they’re winning. An October \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/10/30/how-americans-see-the-parties-on-key-issues/\">survey\u003c/a> by the Pew Research Center found the largest advantage for Democrats on any issue was health care by a 42%-29% margin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[This column was reported for Political Breakdown, a bi-monthly newsletter offering analysis and context on Bay Area and California political news. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/newsletters/political-breakdown\">Click here to subscribe\u003c/a>.]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Democrats look to make health care a defining issue in next year’s midterms, the party and allied groups are recruiting doctors to run against Republicans in some of the nation’s most competitive House districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two California doctors — Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains and Rep. Ami Bera — are running in GOP-held seats seen as key to Democrats’ chances of flipping the House. Their early campaign ads and logos, filled with lab coats, stethoscopes and heart-rate lines, underscore Democrats’ bets that health care will be friendly terrain for the party and that doctors remain trusted voices for most voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That strategy builds on how Democratic leaders in Congress have fought the Trump administration on health care this year — from opposing \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1997707/how-will-trumps-mega-bill-impact-health-care-in-california\">Medicaid cuts in the GOP budget bill\u003c/a> to grilling Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccine policies to shutting the government down in an attempt to force an extension of Obamacare subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think health care is going to be one of the number one issues next year,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that works to elect scientists and physicians to public office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naughton founded 314 Action nearly a decade ago with the goal of electing more scientists. This year, the group launched an initiative, Guardians of Public Health, aiming to raise $25 million by 2030 to elect 100 health care professionals to state and federal offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year it became very clear that we needed to have a very strong message directly to physicians that are concerned about what is going on in our country,” Naughton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the country, Democrats with medical backgrounds in battleground districts include Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st District, Tina Shah in New Jersey’s 7th District and Ada Cuellar in Texas’ 15th District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democrats are buoyed by polling that shows widespread public dissatisfaction with much of the Trump administration’s health care agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization, found 63% of adults \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/medicaid/kff-health-tracking-poll-public-views-on-recent-tax-and-budget-legislation/\">held an unfavorable view\u003c/a> of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which paired an extension of tax cuts with historic reductions to Medicaid, the nation’s health care safety net.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, 78% of adults want Congress to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/despite-budget-concerns-three-quarters-of-public-say-congress-should-extend-the-enhanced-aca-tax-credits-set-to-expire-next-year-including-most-republicans-and-maga-supporters/\">extend enhanced tax credits\u003c/a> for people who buy insurance through the Obamacare marketplace. Democrats failed to win an extension during the shutdown fight, but Republicans are now facing political heat as they near an end-of-year deadline to avert dramatic premium increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the debate over childhood vaccinations, KFF found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/new-kff-washington-post-survey-explores-parents-trust-in-and-confusion-about-childhood-vaccines-as-the-trump-administration-revamps-federal-policies/\">a majority of parents\u003c/a> value childhood vaccination for measles and polio — and distrust vaccine information from Kennedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings reinforce a longstanding Democratic advantage on health care, Ashley Kirzinger, KFF’s director of survey methodology, told me. Crucially, independents share Democrats’ dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s health care moves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And doctors running for office could be well-positioned to drive home the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that doctors and health care providers are the most trusted sources of information,” Kirzinger said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California, that trust will be put to the test in the gauntlet of a midterm campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After California voters approved Proposition 50 to redraw congressional district lines, Bera opted to run in the new 3rd District, currently held by Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kiley is deciding whether to run in his current seat against Bera or in the neighboring 6th District, where another Democratic doctor, former state Sen. Richard Pan, is running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bains launched her campaign for the 22nd District in July after incumbent Rep. David Valadao voted for the budget bill, which stands to hit the Bakersfield district particularly hard: Roughly two-thirds of residents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12048636/snap-and-medicaid-cuts-put-bakersfield-in-political-economic-crosshairs\">rely on Medicaid\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033802/how-cuts-medicaid-republican-gains-california\">most of any seat\u003c/a> in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nowhere else has this much to lose,” Bains said in a campaign video, dressed in a lab coat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bains’ spot in the general election is not assured, as she faces strong competition from Visalia school board member Randy Villegas. Likewise, Pan faces a growing field of Democratic challengers in the Sacramento-based 6th District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both candidates will also have to contend with attacks from Republicans, including arguments that their most relevant jobs aren’t doctor but state legislator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Christian Martinez previewed a potential GOP line of attack: targeting votes by Bains and Pan to extend health coverage to undocumented immigrants through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all have records of voting for extreme, radical policies — for defending and voting for illegal immigrants over the Californians that they’re supposed to represent,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Democrats remain confident that as long as they’re talking about health care, they’re winning. An October \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/10/30/how-americans-see-the-parties-on-key-issues/\">survey\u003c/a> by the Pew Research Center found the largest advantage for Democrats on any issue was health care by a 42%-29% margin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "theres-a-grand-historic-house-hiding-under-the-bay-bridge",
"title": "There’s a Grand Historic House Hiding Under the Bay Bridge",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever driven across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, you’ve passed right over one of the Bay Area’s most historic houses — probably without realizing it. Take the Yerba Buena Island exit and after a few winding turns, you’ll come upon a surprisingly nice group of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The houses in question are multi-storied, perched on a sloping green hillside. It’s a grand scene, a collection of white columns framing stately front porches, windows adorned with delicate lattice work, and sweeping views of the Bay. Although one house stands out from the rest: the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More formally known as Quarters One, the Nimitz House is a relic of the island’s military past. Built in the early 1900s, the home was once the official residence for the top commanding officer on base. Compare old photos with the house today, and you’ll see how much has changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most dramatic shift is the Bay Bridge itself — the rebuilt eastern span towers over the grand home, creating a cacophony of car noise. Years of disuse have also stripped the house of some of its original shine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just such an anomaly there,” said Bay Curious listener Ben Kaiser. “It just does not belong… it [looks] like a toy house placed under a bridge. [It’s] truly visually confusing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060394\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060394\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Windows look out onto the Bay and the Bay Bridge at the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kaiser wants to know nearly everything about the history of this house that led to its surreal placement. Who was Nimitz and why is this house named for him? How did it end up tucked beneath the bridge? And what plans are there for it in the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is Nimitz?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For retired Rear Admiral John Bitoff, a mention of Nimitz takes him straight back to his childhood. Growing up in Brooklyn during World War II, Bitoff was captivated by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, whose leadership in the Pacific made him a household name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My father was a big newspaper junkie,” Bitoff remembered, “there were always these front page photographs of the war in the Pacific and the pictures of Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Spruance. And so I just ate that up.”[aside postID=news_12063643 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251008-GirlintheFishbowl-01-BL.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before World War II, Nimitz taught Naval Science at Berkeley and helped start the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program. He grew fond of the area and later returned to retire. When his health deteriorated, the Navy offered him a home in Quarters One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how he became the occupant of that grand home and lived out his last days,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, Bitoff would live there himself — as part of his own Naval career. “It seemed like it was deemed to happen,” Bitoff said, “that I would find myself living in those very Quarters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was inspired to preserve the Admiral’s legacy. During his time there, Bitoff said he tracked down Nimitz’s old paperboy, hosted the Admiral’s daughter for dinner, and interviewed the last remaining firefighter on the island who remembered Nimitz. Bitoff and his wife, Maureen, even refurbished Nimitz’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We] put it back in the library, in the very same spot where Nimitz had it, where he could look out the window,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060954\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ret. Rear Admiral John Bitoff sits in the living room of his home in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the idyllic chapter was short-lived. In 1991, Bitoff retired and a few years later the base shut down entirely. It was swept up in a nationwide Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effort, meant to reign in military spending after the Cold War. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022479/why-are-there-so-many-abandoned-military-bases-in-the-bay-area\">More than 30 major bases in California closed, including Treasure Island in 1997.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the end of an era for the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Nimitz House in Limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I knew that when the military closes down its bases, it’s not very good about maintaining historical edifices,” Bitoff said. “They basically don’t have the wherewithal to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was worried about what would happen to the house he’d come to love. His wife, Maureen, worked to get the residence listed as a historic site, but the designation offered little practical protection. Most of the former base was turned over to the city of San Francisco, and the newly created Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) took over long-term oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066230\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-2000x666.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Quarters One, also known as the Nimitz House, stands in all its glory. Right: The interior of the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. \u003ccite>(Library of Congress, Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12066231 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-2000x666.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: The interior of the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco shows signs of decay on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. Right: Ret. Rear Admiral John Bitoff holds a photo of the Nimitz House, where he lived with his wife from 1989 to 1992, at his home in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Peter Summerville, a long-time TIDA employee, says the Nimitz House comes with a series of challenges that make reuse difficult. Its exposed location in the middle of the bay means it takes a beating from the weather, and its historic designation makes upgrades difficult. “[There are limits] in terms of how much you can adjust the building,” Summerville said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the city handles basic maintenance, but long-term plans for the house — and the entire district — are still being worked out. Summerville says possibilities include a series of restaurants, an artists colony or an educational space. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023708/surprising-ways-former-bay-area-military-bases-are-transforming-and-why-it-takes-so-long\">Realizing those possibilities, however, could take a long time.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, I share [Bitoff’s] chagrin that maybe something didn’t happen way back when the city first took over to kind of keep the ball rolling with those buildings,” Summerville said. “But again, it’s just sort of an example of the challenge of a public agency maintaining a building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Bridge Becomes a Backdrop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest obstacles to reusing the house for anything productive is the presence of the bridge. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ERvsmnTb6w\">which caused a section of the old upper deck to collapse\u003c/a> — made rebuilding a must.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When planners debated where the new span should land on Yerba Buena Island, conflict quickly ensued. Nearly everyone had something at stake, including the Coast Guard, East Bay MUD, the Port of Oakland, the Navy and the City of San Francisco.[aside postID=news_12062909 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Ocean-Spray_3.jpg']With thousands of commuters still using the old bridge while the new one was being built, the question was: Should the new span connect to the island south of the old bridge or north of it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, the city, and I believe particularly the mayor’s office at the time, put up a strenuous defense of the southern alignment,” Summerville said. This alignment would veer clear of the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city saw this district as a great opportunity for reuse of these historic properties and to sort of bring them back to their original shine,” he said. A handful of state lawmakers and the Navy agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those objections, the more northern alignment won out. Competing interests from other agencies plus Caltrans’ own arguments over earthquake safety sealed the deal. The new span now towers over the Nimitz House, adding a constant buzz of traffic to an otherwise tranquil setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It destroyed much of the ambience, and certainly destroyed the gardens and the buildings surrounding it,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bitoff sees the Nimitz House story as a lesson in forgotten history. The Bay Area was once a major military hub, but as time passed, that connection faded. “I don’t think it was done intentionally, I just think it was just what happens when people forget,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello, hello! I’m Olivia Allen-Price, back in the Bay Curious host’s seat after a 6 month maternity leave. For those who know me – pfew! I have missed this job, and you. And if you’ve started listening while I was gone – welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. Listen at the end for more update on me, but for now on the with show…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Something that I learned recently is every time you cross the Bay Bridge, you’re passing over one of the Bay Area’s most historic houses. We’re talking so close… that if you got out of your car on the bridge – \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">not recommended\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> – you could toss a rock and hit the home’s roof, a few hundred feet below. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even today, the mansion is stunning, even in its slow demise.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Ben Kaiser, this week’s question asker. The house he’s talking about is an odd sight to say the least: a once glorious mansion, tucked right beneath the Bay bridge’s eastern span.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a handful of grand old white houses grouped together in a little neighborhood of sorts. They’re multi-story with white columns framing stately front porches…. windows adorned with delicate lattice work. And the location could be primo… perched on the sloping green hillside of Yerba Buena island….looking out at the East Bay hills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s an impressive scene… although there’s one house that stands out from the rest.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was called Nimitz house. It was called quarters one. It was, it was built in 1900 and played a certain role, I guess, in the naval efforts of World War Two.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While none of these homes are small, this ‘Quarters One’ is notably more imposing than the rest. It’s a stately mansion – complete with multiple bedrooms and baths – and it’s a vestige from the Island’s military past. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These days though, the house tells a different story — one of peeling plaster, water damage, disrepair.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And since 2013, there’s been a new visual addition to the background: the rebuilt eastern span of the Bay Bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s this contrast in old with the house, and new with the bridge, and big with the house, but massive with the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a contrast indicative of an fascinating/captivating/intriguing history, one that Ben wants to know nearly everything about.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I want to know its role in the Navy before it was renamed Nimitz house. I want to know about life after Nimitz passed away. But more than anything, I want to know what the future of it is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week on Bay Curious we’re stepping inside the Nimitz house. (Yes, the same Nimitz with a freeway named after him.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll learn more about the house’s namesake and meet a retired Navy officer who used to live there. Then we’ll turn to the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sponsor Break\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For much of the 20th century, Yerba Buena Island was part of the Navy’s West Coast operations. Quarters one – later known as the Nimitz house – was the official residence for the top/commanding officer on base.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the years, many Naval officers have called the house home. To start our story, Bay Curious reporter Gabriela Glueck met up with one of them – someone who can’t quite let go of the history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Chances are, someone else lived in your house before you did.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you look closely, maybe you can see traces of them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to the Nimitz house, RADM John Bitoff has spent a lot of time thinking about the man who came before him: Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I would find myself\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sitting there and thinking I wonder what happened here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nimitz was a legendary WWII Naval Commander and John’s childhood hero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival war tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Nimitz story is not simply an account of an outstanding Naval officer who rose to a position of greatness and honour. It is also the chronicle of our modern Navy, its coming of age and its greatest triumphs in the epic struggle of the Pacific during World War II.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a kid growing up in Brooklyn at the onset of the War, John watched this ‘epic struggle’ play out in real time. When the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor, drawing the United States into war, John saw the uptick of ships going in and out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival war tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The flames had hardly died before Chester Nimitz was called from a desk in Washington to take command of the Pacific Fleet. It was a dark time and a formidable task. It would take a man of vast experience and vigour to get victory out of wreckage and chaos. It would take a Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the United States officially at war, many Americans turned their focus to Europe. But John was preoccupied with the Pacific front and the Naval commander at its center.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Well, my father was a big newspaper junkie and so there were always these front page photographs of the war in the Pacific and the pictures of Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Spruance. I just ate that up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard to say how exactly we settle on a childhood hero — a mix of context, timing, and awe. But for John it was Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1945, Japan’s formal surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay, the end of World War II.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By then Nimitz was a Fleet Admiral, holding the Navy’s highest rank. After the war, he became Chief of Naval operations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, in 1947, he retired.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And so when he retired, they decided to buy a house in Berkeley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nimitz had taught Naval Sciences there, before the war, and he’d also helped start the school’s ROTC unit. He wanted to spend his golden years there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when it comes to five star admirals, as John puts it, you never really retire from the Navy. So when Nimitz’s health started to deteriorate in his late 70s, the Navy stepped in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we can provide you with a staff, a driver and a house staff, but you must live in public quarters. We cannot do that in a private home. They said, “You can have any set of quarters the Navy has.’ And Nimitz said, “Well, How about quarters one on Yerba Buena? And so they moved him over there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yerba Buena Island had been an important part of the Navy’s West Coast operations since the early 1900s. And during WWII, it fell under the jurisdiction of the Treasure Island Naval Station, serving as headquarters for the 12th Naval District. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quarters one – where Nimitz was headed – was a fitting home for a legendary admiral.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s how he became the occupant of that grand home and lived out his last days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Nimitz passed away in 1966 — four days before his 81st birthday — he was laid to rest at the Golden Gate National Cemetery. If you’d looked to the sky at the end of that service, you’d have seen a 70 plane flyover and heard the military bugle song of Taps floating through the crisp winter air\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of Taps playing\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s no surprise then, that the home he died in took on his name.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, fast forward about 20 years. It’s 1989 now. Many a naval officer have come and gone from the Nimitz house and a new Rear Admiral is about to move in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His name? John Bitoff. No longer a boy from Brooklyn but a Navy man in his own right, at the end of a long career.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As part of his final duty station, *John was assigned to the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And so I was absolutely astonished. It seemed like it was deemed to be. That I would find myself living in those very in those very quarters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, it was a marvelous place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It had a grand porch leading up to the quarters, and it looked out onto a garden, a rose garden in the back that a double door let out, and steps led out to where they held receptions, there was a goldfish pond there. It was just absolutely gorgeous.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With Nimitz history surrounding him, John thought he’d take the opportunity to learn more about the Fleet Admiral. To kick off a sort of oral history project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I had heard that he used to go down to the firehouse on Yerba Buena Island and have a cup of coffee with the firemen, firefighters and and then at Christmas time, he was known to bring down chocolate chip cookies they cooked and he would share with the firefighters. And so I found out that the last remaining firefighter was retiring in a very short period of time. So I met with him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And John and his wife also made efforts to restore the home to the way it was in the Nimitz days to honor the Fleet Admiral’s legacy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They refurbished Nimitz’s desk and — using a photograph as reference — put it back in the library. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the very same spot where Nimitz had it, where he could look out the window\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When John retired in 1991, he moved out of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was replaced by two other admirals. And then the whole Navy establishment was was part of the Base Realignment, and it was closed. All Navy activities were closed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the Cold War winding down, the US was looking to tighten its defense budget. And the base closure process — which ramped up in the 90s — was a big part of that effort.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These series of cuts hit California hard. More than 30 major bases shut down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, the Treasure Island closure in 1997 was particularly worrisome.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I knew that when the military closes down its bases, it’s not very good about maintaining historical edifices, and they basically don’t, don’t, they don’t have the wherewithal to do it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While John’s wife managed to get the residence listed as a *historic site… most of the former base was ultimately turned over to the city of San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was very concerned, because I love that House, and it is such a historic residence. If the walls could speak, they’d be a history lesson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And soon enough, a new agency was created to oversee the base’s reuse and development. It’s called the Treasure Island Development Authority or TIDA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peter Summerville has worked at TIDA for over 20 years and says if he’s got the time, he’ll sometimes take his lunch break on the front porch of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although – he admits – these days with the bridge there, it’s kind of loud.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of loud traffic\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I met up with him at the house to take a tour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Standing on the front porch, the first thing you notice about the place – after the bridge noise – is the many signs of weathering on the old home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think it’s a very challenging site. Exposure wise, definitely, we see that a lot, which is all our public infrastructure, that out here, we’re right in the middle of the bay, and it takes a beating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The old porch ceiling fan is warped, the wooden blades drooping now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck (in scene): \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Should we go inside? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Go inside? And I’m proud of myself. They actually brought the keys. One of my tricks I’m good at is getting places and forgetting my keys.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The slamming sounds you’re hearing now are from the door. After years of little use it’s jammed and Peter has to use all his body weight to open it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of kicking at a door\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s coming. It’s coming. I just don’t have anything to kick them. Oh, my goodness.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Traffic sounds fade away\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you get inside, the air feels… still… save for a few floating spider webs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kiah: \u003c/b>We have beautiful hardwood floors, and then big, kind of big open spaces, big doorways, tall ceilings that really you can hear the echo of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Kiah McCarley, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she works with Peter. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Compared to him, she’s new to the agency and it’s her first time in the house too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s a sight to behold.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: What has happened on the ceiling?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kiah McCarley: Yeah, it looks like we’re having some the paint or plaster come off the ceiling. A little bit of time damage, maybe a little bit of water damage.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are speckles of black mold creeping up some of the walls, but other rooms look to be in pretty good shape. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After everything John’s told me about the house, I have to admit it’s a little bit shocking to see. And when I ask Peter about the city of San Francisco’s plans for the space, he gives me a kind of open-ended answer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The long term plans for the house and for its kind of overall district are still being developed. They’ll ultimately be some sort of that kind of public use, either a collective reuse of the whole district, as, you know, a series of restaurants and bed and breakfasts, or an artists colony, or, you know, a variety of different things, or maybe their individual uses in each of the buildings. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or maybe, he says, they’ll let an educational institution come in and use some leftover military houses for studios or classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But right now, they’re focused on basic repairs. Although Peter says the home’s historic designation complicates things. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All the improvements that you have to make in their systems, architecturally, all of that has to be done very sensitively, and is limited in terms of how much you can adjust the building as well. So even bringing the buildings up to kind of modern standards for practical reuse going forward is a challenge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heading into the main room, I notice pieces of broken glass all over the floor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Turn the corner, and a beautiful, airy, sun room.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Head across the hallway and you’ll see an antique looking elevator next to the staircase.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, this is definitely some can do. Can do Navy engineering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a house full of contrast. Outside, the same is true.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck (in scene):\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s kind of funny right now, out the window, you can see, what would you call that? Like, the legs of the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This window is really just like a portrait of the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back when John lived here, the window was mostly a portrait of the Bay. The Bay Bridge existed, true, but it used to touch down on another point of the island.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, what happened?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On Tuesday, October 17 1989 at 17:04 Pacific Daylight Time, a strong motion earthquake emanated from a location south southeast of San Francisco, near Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz mountain range.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 6.9 magnitude quake was the strongest shock to hit the area since the 1906 earthquake\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">63 people were killed, and thousands more injured.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of emergency response radio and crackling\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drivers on the Bay Bridge watched as a section of the upper deck collapsed, falling onto the lower deck, trapping many and ultimately killing one motorist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After that, as the years went on Caltrans, which owns the bridge. Caltrans and the state toll bridge authority determined that the Eastern span of the Bay Bridge needed to be replaced.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were plenty of opinions about what the new span should look like. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Oakland Tribune commented:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice Over reading newspaper clipping: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let’s make this a splendid front door to the East Bay….the bridges spanning San Francisco Bay are a world-class attraction that have made our Bay Area a living postcard. Let’s keep them picture perfect.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But one of the fiercest debates wasn’t about design at all. It was about location. Thousands of commuters were still using the old bridge, while the new one was being built. So the question was, where should the new bridge connect to Yerba Buena Island? Should it land south of the old bridge, or north of it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question became known as the alignment debate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly everyone felt they had something at stake. The Coast Guard, the East Bay MUD, the Port of Oakland, the Navy, the City of San Francisco, just to name a few.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the city, and I believe, particularly the mayor’s office at the time, put up a strenuous defense of, you know, the southern alignment. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the one that would have steered clear of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The city saw this district as sort of a great opportunity for reuse of these historic properties and to sort of bring them back to their, you know, original shine.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A handful of state lawmakers and the Navy agreed\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But despite those objections the northern alignment won out. Competing interests from other agencies plus Caltrans own arguments over earthquake safety sealed the deal. Even the grand promise of the Nimitz house couldn’t tip the scales.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And that’s sort of the alignment that we have today. The new bridge is up. You know, it just sort of is what it is in our world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bridge construction project dragged on for decades. And by the time the new eastern span opened in 2013, it cost billions more than the original estimate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the Nimitz house, the Bridge’s impact was just as dramatic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Much of the ambience, and certainly destroyed the gardens and the buildings surrounding it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was once a stately home with sweeping views now sits in the shadow of concrete columns surrounded by the constant drone of traffic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I really don’t like going over there because the area is so changed. I was very saddened by it, and I didn’t want to go back again. The last time I went down to the quarters\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the house was in a terrible state of disrepair, and I made up my mind I didn’t want to go back there again, because it was ruining my memory.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, visiting the house now stirs up this very particular kind of feeling. It’s like driving by your childhood home — a place that’s meant so much to you — except it’s not yours anymore. The porch is different, the tree out front is gone, the lawn is overgrown. It’s your old house but not really.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s precisely how I felt. You know, they say you can never go home, that’s the old saying, you can never go home. Well, that’s true in this case.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One thing is for sure, if the once grand Nimitz house is ever going to have a new future as an artist colony, a history museum, or anything else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of traffic on the bridge\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soundproofing is going to be a must.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Car horn squeals\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> That was reporter and producer Gabriela Glueck. Who, I want to give a special shout out to. Gabi filled in as producer on Bay Curious for the six months while I was out and did an incredible job. The team will miss her creativity, impeccable taste in music and infectious passion about whatever story she was working on. Luckily, she’ll continue to report for Bay Curious, so stay tuned for more from Gabi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also gotta give some flowers to Katrina Schwartz, who has been editing and hosting these past six months. It is truly a gift to be able to walk away from something you love as much as I love this show and know that it’s in the very best hands. Thank you Katrina – and I’m so happy to be working alongside you – and audio engineer extraordinaire, Christopher Beale – every day again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baby sounds…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me introduce you all to Clark, who was born in May. We call him our smiley guy because he cannot help but smile at you whenever you make eye contact. It was so special to get to spend these early months of his life with him, day in and day out. It’s a time of my life I know I’ll remember forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. If you’re not a member, join us! Whether with a one-time donation or a monthly membership – it all helps. KQED.org/donate is the place to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Gabriela Glueck and me, Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Extra Support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien,Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on team KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. See ya next week!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Hidden under the eastern span of the Bay Bridge on Yerba Buena Island is a historic mansion with links to the San Francisco Bay Area’s military past.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever driven across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, you’ve passed right over one of the Bay Area’s most historic houses — probably without realizing it. Take the Yerba Buena Island exit and after a few winding turns, you’ll come upon a surprisingly nice group of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The houses in question are multi-storied, perched on a sloping green hillside. It’s a grand scene, a collection of white columns framing stately front porches, windows adorned with delicate lattice work, and sweeping views of the Bay. Although one house stands out from the rest: the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More formally known as Quarters One, the Nimitz House is a relic of the island’s military past. Built in the early 1900s, the home was once the official residence for the top commanding officer on base. Compare old photos with the house today, and you’ll see how much has changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most dramatic shift is the Bay Bridge itself — the rebuilt eastern span towers over the grand home, creating a cacophony of car noise. Years of disuse have also stripped the house of some of its original shine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just such an anomaly there,” said Bay Curious listener Ben Kaiser. “It just does not belong… it [looks] like a toy house placed under a bridge. [It’s] truly visually confusing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060394\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060394\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Windows look out onto the Bay and the Bay Bridge at the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kaiser wants to know nearly everything about the history of this house that led to its surreal placement. Who was Nimitz and why is this house named for him? How did it end up tucked beneath the bridge? And what plans are there for it in the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is Nimitz?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For retired Rear Admiral John Bitoff, a mention of Nimitz takes him straight back to his childhood. Growing up in Brooklyn during World War II, Bitoff was captivated by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, whose leadership in the Pacific made him a household name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My father was a big newspaper junkie,” Bitoff remembered, “there were always these front page photographs of the war in the Pacific and the pictures of Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Spruance. And so I just ate that up.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before World War II, Nimitz taught Naval Science at Berkeley and helped start the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program. He grew fond of the area and later returned to retire. When his health deteriorated, the Navy offered him a home in Quarters One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s how he became the occupant of that grand home and lived out his last days,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, Bitoff would live there himself — as part of his own Naval career. “It seemed like it was deemed to happen,” Bitoff said, “that I would find myself living in those very Quarters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was inspired to preserve the Admiral’s legacy. During his time there, Bitoff said he tracked down Nimitz’s old paperboy, hosted the Admiral’s daughter for dinner, and interviewed the last remaining firefighter on the island who remembered Nimitz. Bitoff and his wife, Maureen, even refurbished Nimitz’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We] put it back in the library, in the very same spot where Nimitz had it, where he could look out the window,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12060954\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12060954\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251021-NIMITZHOUSE-10-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ret. Rear Admiral John Bitoff sits in the living room of his home in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the idyllic chapter was short-lived. In 1991, Bitoff retired and a few years later the base shut down entirely. It was swept up in a nationwide Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) effort, meant to reign in military spending after the Cold War. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022479/why-are-there-so-many-abandoned-military-bases-in-the-bay-area\">More than 30 major bases in California closed, including Treasure Island in 1997.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the end of an era for the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Nimitz House in Limbo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“I knew that when the military closes down its bases, it’s not very good about maintaining historical edifices,” Bitoff said. “They basically don’t have the wherewithal to do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was worried about what would happen to the house he’d come to love. His wife, Maureen, worked to get the residence listed as a historic site, but the designation offered little practical protection. Most of the former base was turned over to the city of San Francisco, and the newly created Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) took over long-term oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12066230\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-2000x666.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-4-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Quarters One, also known as the Nimitz House, stands in all its glory. Right: The interior of the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. \u003ccite>(Library of Congress, Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12066231\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12066231 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-2000x666.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/Side-by-side-Downpage-3-2048x682.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: The interior of the Nimitz House on Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco shows signs of decay on Oct. 16, 2025. Built around 1900 as part of the Naval Training Station, the home later served as the residence of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz during the final years of his life. Right: Ret. Rear Admiral John Bitoff holds a photo of the Nimitz House, where he lived with his wife from 1989 to 1992, at his home in San Francisco on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>Peter Summerville, a long-time TIDA employee, says the Nimitz House comes with a series of challenges that make reuse difficult. Its exposed location in the middle of the bay means it takes a beating from the weather, and its historic designation makes upgrades difficult. “[There are limits] in terms of how much you can adjust the building,” Summerville said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, the city handles basic maintenance, but long-term plans for the house — and the entire district — are still being worked out. Summerville says possibilities include a series of restaurants, an artists colony or an educational space. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023708/surprising-ways-former-bay-area-military-bases-are-transforming-and-why-it-takes-so-long\">Realizing those possibilities, however, could take a long time.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, I share [Bitoff’s] chagrin that maybe something didn’t happen way back when the city first took over to kind of keep the ball rolling with those buildings,” Summerville said. “But again, it’s just sort of an example of the challenge of a public agency maintaining a building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Bridge Becomes a Backdrop\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest obstacles to reusing the house for anything productive is the presence of the bridge. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake — \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ERvsmnTb6w\">which caused a section of the old upper deck to collapse\u003c/a> — made rebuilding a must.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When planners debated where the new span should land on Yerba Buena Island, conflict quickly ensued. Nearly everyone had something at stake, including the Coast Guard, East Bay MUD, the Port of Oakland, the Navy and the City of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>With thousands of commuters still using the old bridge while the new one was being built, the question was: Should the new span connect to the island south of the old bridge or north of it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, the city, and I believe particularly the mayor’s office at the time, put up a strenuous defense of the southern alignment,” Summerville said. This alignment would veer clear of the Nimitz House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The city saw this district as a great opportunity for reuse of these historic properties and to sort of bring them back to their original shine,” he said. A handful of state lawmakers and the Navy agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite those objections, the more northern alignment won out. Competing interests from other agencies plus Caltrans’ own arguments over earthquake safety sealed the deal. The new span now towers over the Nimitz House, adding a constant buzz of traffic to an otherwise tranquil setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It destroyed much of the ambience, and certainly destroyed the gardens and the buildings surrounding it,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bitoff sees the Nimitz House story as a lesson in forgotten history. The Bay Area was once a major military hub, but as time passed, that connection faded. “I don’t think it was done intentionally, I just think it was just what happens when people forget,” Bitoff said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Hello, hello! I’m Olivia Allen-Price, back in the Bay Curious host’s seat after a 6 month maternity leave. For those who know me – pfew! I have missed this job, and you. And if you’ve started listening while I was gone – welcome! I’m so glad you’re here. Listen at the end for more update on me, but for now on the with show…\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Something that I learned recently is every time you cross the Bay Bridge, you’re passing over one of the Bay Area’s most historic houses. We’re talking so close… that if you got out of your car on the bridge – \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">not recommended\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> – you could toss a rock and hit the home’s roof, a few hundred feet below. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even today, the mansion is stunning, even in its slow demise.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Ben Kaiser, this week’s question asker. The house he’s talking about is an odd sight to say the least: a once glorious mansion, tucked right beneath the Bay bridge’s eastern span.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are a handful of grand old white houses grouped together in a little neighborhood of sorts. They’re multi-story with white columns framing stately front porches…. windows adorned with delicate lattice work. And the location could be primo… perched on the sloping green hillside of Yerba Buena island….looking out at the East Bay hills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s an impressive scene… although there’s one house that stands out from the rest.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It was called Nimitz house. It was called quarters one. It was, it was built in 1900 and played a certain role, I guess, in the naval efforts of World War Two.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While none of these homes are small, this ‘Quarters One’ is notably more imposing than the rest. It’s a stately mansion – complete with multiple bedrooms and baths – and it’s a vestige from the Island’s military past. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These days though, the house tells a different story — one of peeling plaster, water damage, disrepair.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And since 2013, there’s been a new visual addition to the background: the rebuilt eastern span of the Bay Bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s this contrast in old with the house, and new with the bridge, and big with the house, but massive with the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a contrast indicative of an fascinating/captivating/intriguing history, one that Ben wants to know nearly everything about.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ben Kaiser:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I want to know its role in the Navy before it was renamed Nimitz house. I want to know about life after Nimitz passed away. But more than anything, I want to know what the future of it is.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This week on Bay Curious we’re stepping inside the Nimitz house. (Yes, the same Nimitz with a freeway named after him.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’ll learn more about the house’s namesake and meet a retired Navy officer who used to live there. Then we’ll turn to the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sponsor Break\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For much of the 20th century, Yerba Buena Island was part of the Navy’s West Coast operations. Quarters one – later known as the Nimitz house – was the official residence for the top/commanding officer on base.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the years, many Naval officers have called the house home. To start our story, Bay Curious reporter Gabriela Glueck met up with one of them – someone who can’t quite let go of the history.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Chances are, someone else lived in your house before you did.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you look closely, maybe you can see traces of them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When it comes to the Nimitz house, RADM John Bitoff has spent a lot of time thinking about the man who came before him: Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I would find myself\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">sitting there and thinking I wonder what happened here.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nimitz was a legendary WWII Naval Commander and John’s childhood hero.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival war tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Nimitz story is not simply an account of an outstanding Naval officer who rose to a position of greatness and honour. It is also the chronicle of our modern Navy, its coming of age and its greatest triumphs in the epic struggle of the Pacific during World War II.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a kid growing up in Brooklyn at the onset of the War, John watched this ‘epic struggle’ play out in real time. When the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor, drawing the United States into war, John saw the uptick of ships going in and out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival war tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The flames had hardly died before Chester Nimitz was called from a desk in Washington to take command of the Pacific Fleet. It was a dark time and a formidable task. It would take a man of vast experience and vigour to get victory out of wreckage and chaos. It would take a Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the United States officially at war, many Americans turned their focus to Europe. But John was preoccupied with the Pacific front and the Naval commander at its center.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Well, my father was a big newspaper junkie and so there were always these front page photographs of the war in the Pacific and the pictures of Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Spruance. I just ate that up. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s hard to say how exactly we settle on a childhood hero — a mix of context, timing, and awe. But for John it was Nimitz.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 1945, Japan’s formal surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay, the end of World War II.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">By then Nimitz was a Fleet Admiral, holding the Navy’s highest rank. After the war, he became Chief of Naval operations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then, in 1947, he retired.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And so when he retired, they decided to buy a house in Berkeley.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nimitz had taught Naval Sciences there, before the war, and he’d also helped start the school’s ROTC unit. He wanted to spend his golden years there.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when it comes to five star admirals, as John puts it, you never really retire from the Navy. So when Nimitz’s health started to deteriorate in his late 70s, the Navy stepped in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> So we can provide you with a staff, a driver and a house staff, but you must live in public quarters. We cannot do that in a private home. They said, “You can have any set of quarters the Navy has.’ And Nimitz said, “Well, How about quarters one on Yerba Buena? And so they moved him over there. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yerba Buena Island had been an important part of the Navy’s West Coast operations since the early 1900s. And during WWII, it fell under the jurisdiction of the Treasure Island Naval Station, serving as headquarters for the 12th Naval District. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quarters one – where Nimitz was headed – was a fitting home for a legendary admiral.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s how he became the occupant of that grand home and lived out his last days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When Nimitz passed away in 1966 — four days before his 81st birthday — he was laid to rest at the Golden Gate National Cemetery. If you’d looked to the sky at the end of that service, you’d have seen a 70 plane flyover and heard the military bugle song of Taps floating through the crisp winter air\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of Taps playing\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s no surprise then, that the home he died in took on his name.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ok, fast forward about 20 years. It’s 1989 now. Many a naval officer have come and gone from the Nimitz house and a new Rear Admiral is about to move in.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His name? John Bitoff. No longer a boy from Brooklyn but a Navy man in his own right, at the end of a long career.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As part of his final duty station, *John was assigned to the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And so I was absolutely astonished. It seemed like it was deemed to be. That I would find myself living in those very in those very quarters.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, it was a marvelous place to live.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It had a grand porch leading up to the quarters, and it looked out onto a garden, a rose garden in the back that a double door let out, and steps led out to where they held receptions, there was a goldfish pond there. It was just absolutely gorgeous.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With Nimitz history surrounding him, John thought he’d take the opportunity to learn more about the Fleet Admiral. To kick off a sort of oral history project.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I had heard that he used to go down to the firehouse on Yerba Buena Island and have a cup of coffee with the firemen, firefighters and and then at Christmas time, he was known to bring down chocolate chip cookies they cooked and he would share with the firefighters. And so I found out that the last remaining firefighter was retiring in a very short period of time. So I met with him.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And John and his wife also made efforts to restore the home to the way it was in the Nimitz days to honor the Fleet Admiral’s legacy. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They refurbished Nimitz’s desk and — using a photograph as reference — put it back in the library. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In the very same spot where Nimitz had it, where he could look out the window\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When John retired in 1991, he moved out of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was replaced by two other admirals. And then the whole Navy establishment was was part of the Base Realignment, and it was closed. All Navy activities were closed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the Cold War winding down, the US was looking to tighten its defense budget. And the base closure process — which ramped up in the 90s — was a big part of that effort.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These series of cuts hit California hard. More than 30 major bases shut down.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, the Treasure Island closure in 1997 was particularly worrisome.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I knew that when the military closes down its bases, it’s not very good about maintaining historical edifices, and they basically don’t, don’t, they don’t have the wherewithal to do it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While John’s wife managed to get the residence listed as a *historic site… most of the former base was ultimately turned over to the city of San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I was very concerned, because I love that House, and it is such a historic residence. If the walls could speak, they’d be a history lesson.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And soon enough, a new agency was created to oversee the base’s reuse and development. It’s called the Treasure Island Development Authority or TIDA.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peter Summerville has worked at TIDA for over 20 years and says if he’s got the time, he’ll sometimes take his lunch break on the front porch of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although – he admits – these days with the bridge there, it’s kind of loud.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of loud traffic\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I met up with him at the house to take a tour.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Standing on the front porch, the first thing you notice about the place – after the bridge noise – is the many signs of weathering on the old home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I think it’s a very challenging site. Exposure wise, definitely, we see that a lot, which is all our public infrastructure, that out here, we’re right in the middle of the bay, and it takes a beating.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The old porch ceiling fan is warped, the wooden blades drooping now.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck (in scene): \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Should we go inside? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Go inside? And I’m proud of myself. They actually brought the keys. One of my tricks I’m good at is getting places and forgetting my keys.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The slamming sounds you’re hearing now are from the door. After years of little use it’s jammed and Peter has to use all his body weight to open it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of kicking at a door\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s coming. It’s coming. I just don’t have anything to kick them. Oh, my goodness.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Traffic sounds fade away\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When you get inside, the air feels… still… save for a few floating spider webs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kiah: \u003c/b>We have beautiful hardwood floors, and then big, kind of big open spaces, big doorways, tall ceilings that really you can hear the echo of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s Kiah McCarley, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she works with Peter. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Compared to him, she’s new to the agency and it’s her first time in the house too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s a sight to behold.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: What has happened on the ceiling?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Kiah McCarley: Yeah, it looks like we’re having some the paint or plaster come off the ceiling. A little bit of time damage, maybe a little bit of water damage.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are speckles of black mold creeping up some of the walls, but other rooms look to be in pretty good shape. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After everything John’s told me about the house, I have to admit it’s a little bit shocking to see. And when I ask Peter about the city of San Francisco’s plans for the space, he gives me a kind of open-ended answer.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The long term plans for the house and for its kind of overall district are still being developed. They’ll ultimately be some sort of that kind of public use, either a collective reuse of the whole district, as, you know, a series of restaurants and bed and breakfasts, or an artists colony, or, you know, a variety of different things, or maybe their individual uses in each of the buildings. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Or maybe, he says, they’ll let an educational institution come in and use some leftover military houses for studios or classrooms.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But right now, they’re focused on basic repairs. Although Peter says the home’s historic designation complicates things. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> All the improvements that you have to make in their systems, architecturally, all of that has to be done very sensitively, and is limited in terms of how much you can adjust the building as well. So even bringing the buildings up to kind of modern standards for practical reuse going forward is a challenge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Heading into the main room, I notice pieces of broken glass all over the floor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Turn the corner, and a beautiful, airy, sun room.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Head across the hallway and you’ll see an antique looking elevator next to the staircase.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Yeah, this is definitely some can do. Can do Navy engineering.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a house full of contrast. Outside, the same is true.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck (in scene):\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> It’s kind of funny right now, out the window, you can see, what would you call that? Like, the legs of the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> This window is really just like a portrait of the bridge.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back when John lived here, the window was mostly a portrait of the Bay. The Bay Bridge existed, true, but it used to touch down on another point of the island.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So, what happened?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On Tuesday, October 17 1989 at 17:04 Pacific Daylight Time, a strong motion earthquake emanated from a location south southeast of San Francisco, near Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz mountain range.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 6.9 magnitude quake was the strongest shock to hit the area since the 1906 earthquake\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">63 people were killed, and thousands more injured.\u003c/span>\u003cb> \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of emergency response radio and crackling\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drivers on the Bay Bridge watched as a section of the upper deck collapsed, falling onto the lower deck, trapping many and ultimately killing one motorist.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> After that, as the years went on Caltrans, which owns the bridge. Caltrans and the state toll bridge authority determined that the Eastern span of the Bay Bridge needed to be replaced.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were plenty of opinions about what the new span should look like. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Oakland Tribune commented:\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice Over reading newspaper clipping: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let’s make this a splendid front door to the East Bay….the bridges spanning San Francisco Bay are a world-class attraction that have made our Bay Area a living postcard. Let’s keep them picture perfect.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But one of the fiercest debates wasn’t about design at all. It was about location. Thousands of commuters were still using the old bridge, while the new one was being built. So the question was, where should the new bridge connect to Yerba Buena Island? Should it land south of the old bridge, or north of it?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The question became known as the alignment debate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nearly everyone felt they had something at stake. The Coast Guard, the East Bay MUD, the Port of Oakland, the Navy, the City of San Francisco, just to name a few.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">So the city, and I believe, particularly the mayor’s office at the time, put up a strenuous defense of, you know, the southern alignment. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That’s the one that would have steered clear of the Nimitz house.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The city saw this district as sort of a great opportunity for reuse of these historic properties and to sort of bring them back to their, you know, original shine.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A handful of state lawmakers and the Navy agreed\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But despite those objections the northern alignment won out. Competing interests from other agencies plus Caltrans own arguments over earthquake safety sealed the deal. Even the grand promise of the Nimitz house couldn’t tip the scales.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Peter Summerville:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> And that’s sort of the alignment that we have today. The new bridge is up. You know, it just sort of is what it is in our world.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bridge construction project dragged on for decades. And by the time the new eastern span opened in 2013, it cost billions more than the original estimate.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For the Nimitz house, the Bridge’s impact was just as dramatic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Much of the ambience, and certainly destroyed the gardens and the buildings surrounding it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was once a stately home with sweeping views now sits in the shadow of concrete columns surrounded by the constant drone of traffic.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I really don’t like going over there because the area is so changed. I was very saddened by it, and I didn’t want to go back again. The last time I went down to the quarters\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the house was in a terrible state of disrepair, and I made up my mind I didn’t want to go back there again, because it was ruining my memory.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For John, visiting the house now stirs up this very particular kind of feeling. It’s like driving by your childhood home — a place that’s meant so much to you — except it’s not yours anymore. The porch is different, the tree out front is gone, the lawn is overgrown. It’s your old house but not really.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>John Bitoff:\u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That’s precisely how I felt. You know, they say you can never go home, that’s the old saying, you can never go home. Well, that’s true in this case.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One thing is for sure, if the once grand Nimitz house is ever going to have a new future as an artist colony, a history museum, or anything else.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sounds of traffic on the bridge\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gabriela Glueck: \u003c/b>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soundproofing is going to be a must.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Car horn squeals\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/b> That was reporter and producer Gabriela Glueck. Who, I want to give a special shout out to. Gabi filled in as producer on Bay Curious for the six months while I was out and did an incredible job. The team will miss her creativity, impeccable taste in music and infectious passion about whatever story she was working on. Luckily, she’ll continue to report for Bay Curious, so stay tuned for more from Gabi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I also gotta give some flowers to Katrina Schwartz, who has been editing and hosting these past six months. It is truly a gift to be able to walk away from something you love as much as I love this show and know that it’s in the very best hands. Thank you Katrina – and I’m so happy to be working alongside you – and audio engineer extraordinaire, Christopher Beale – every day again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baby sounds…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me introduce you all to Clark, who was born in May. We call him our smiley guy because he cannot help but smile at you whenever you make eye contact. It was so special to get to spend these early months of his life with him, day in and day out. It’s a time of my life I know I’ll remember forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. If you’re not a member, join us! Whether with a one-time donation or a monthly membership – it all helps. KQED.org/donate is the place to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, Gabriela Glueck and me, Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Extra Support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien,Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on team KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. See ya next week!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "yosemite-national-park-new-fees-international-tourists-foreigners-annual-pass-2026",
"title": "What We Know About Trump’s $100 National Park Fee for International Tourists",
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"content": "\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, visitors to the United States will have to pay $100 each to enter some of the country’s most popular \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-parks\">national parks\u003c/a> — on top of existing entry fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-announces-modernized-more-affordable-national-park-access\">announced\u003c/a> over Thanksgiving week that entry fees for 11 national parks — including Yosemite National Park — are going up for foreign visitors only in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while park entry fees for U.S. residents will remain the same, typically $35 per vehicle or $80 for an annual pass, as of Jan. 1, anyone who can’t prove their U.S. residency with a government-issued ID will have to pay the additional $100 at major national parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement means a steep increase in national park fees for tourists to the U.S., who will also see the cost of buying an annual pass for themselves rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what we know about the new national park fees for 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Howwillfeesforinternationaltravelersbeenforced\">How will fees for international travelers be enforced?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatshouldUSresidentsknowaboutenteringnationalparksin2026\">What should U.S. residents know about entering national parks in 2026? \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>At which national parks do non-U.S. residents have to pay higher fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, 2026, a $100 per-person fee — charged on top of the typical fee of $35 per vehicle — will apply to entry for foreigners ages 16 and older at 11 of the country’s most-visited national parks (see below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior confirmed in an email to KQED that the new fees will apply for the amount of time the entry ticket is valid. For Yosemite, for example, the $100 per-person fee would be valid for seven days of entry to the park, just like the $35 vehicle fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062225\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062225 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors stand at Tunnel View overlook in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, Yosemite National Park and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks will be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere, other national parks where non U.S. residents will have to pay the extra fees are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Acadia National Park, Maine\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Everglades National Park, Florida\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Glacier National Park, Montana\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Zion National Park, Utah\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>To date this year, these 11 parks have seen around a combined 23 million visitors. The National Park Service doesn’t currently track the proportion of visitors coming to parks from outside the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much will an annual pass be for tourists to the U.S.?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Currently,\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm\"> an $80 annual National Park Service pass\u003c/a> is available to all, with no residency requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as of Jan. 1, an annual national parks pass for non U.S. residents, which will allow free entry at any national park, will be $250 per passholder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062211\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors look at a welcome at the entrance to Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Howwillfeesforinternationaltravelersbeenforced\">\u003c/a>How will these fees for international travelers be enforced?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the Department of the Interior, all visitors age 16 and older with annual passes will be asked to present a U.S. government-issued photo ID at the entrance of every national park, such as a passport or state driver’s license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who don’t have a U.S. ID to present “will be asked to upgrade to the nonresident annual pass,” a DOI spokesperson told KQED by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Visitors will confirm their residency by providing a ZIP code when purchasing a pass online and must present a U.S. government-issued photo ID when using it,” the DOI spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatshouldUSresidentsknowaboutenteringnationalparksin2026\">\u003c/a>What should U.S. residents know about changes to national parks entry next year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To enforce annual pass compliance for non-U.S. residents, starting Jan. 1, all visitors age 16 and older with annual passes will be asked to present a U.S. government-issued photo ID to prove their U.S. residency. Currently, a national parks annual pass bears a message requiring the pass to be signed by the passholder, who must be present and provide “Valid Photo ID.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This month’s DOI announcement also included the launch of \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/video/digital-park-passes\">digital annual passes\u003c/a> for national parks, which can be bought and accessed online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062221 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors stand at Tunnel View overlook in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new entry policies will also allow two motorcycles, rather than just one, to enter under a single annual park pass in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lineup of the national parks’ fee-free days has also been altered. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth have been removed from the list of days on which visitors can enter the park for free. Flag Day on June 16, which is also President Trump’s birthday, has been added, as has Constitution Day on Sept. 17. The fee-free days, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm\">listed here\u003c/a>, do not apply to non-U.S. residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year’s annual passes will also feature new graphics on the cards to commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, featuring the faces of former President George Washington and President Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is there any way for international visitors to avoid the higher fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new fees go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. But because annual passes are punched on the date of purchase and are valid for 12 months on a rolling basis, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/NationalPark/comments/1p7ae7x/tourist_if_i_buy_this_pass_as_a_non_resident_now/\">some online are recommending\u003c/a> that non U.S. residents intending to visit any national parks in 2026 purchase a pass now under the current rate system, to save money next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the DOI confirmed to KQED by email that “international visitors with a valid 2025 pass can use that pass until it expires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062224 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A person fishes in the Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In response to the announcement, the Mariposa County Tourism Bureau published \u003ca href=\"https://www.yosemite.com/nonresident-and-international-fees/\">a guide to help foreign travelers navigate the new fee structure\u003c/a>. In it, the organization recommends that most groups of international visitors who plan to visit more than one national park in 2026 purchase the $250 annual pass for non U.S. residents — but that solo travelers or couples who are only planning to visit one park, like Yosemite, should probably swallow the $100 per-person fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elisabeth Barton, founding member and CEO of tour company Echo Adventure Cooperative, which operates guided tours in and around Yosemite and Stanislaus National Forest, said tour groups like hers are still waiting on specifics for how the fee change might affect groups entering the park. However, she’s expecting to know more details later in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said she’s considering adding certain tours, like more of those operating just outside the park’s boundaries, to cater especially to international visitors in an attempt to keep costs down for them. She pointed to a number of rafting and Jeep tour operators who already offer these price-reduced tours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, she even recommended buying the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/fees.htm#pass__4\">$70 annual Yosemite-only pass\u003c/a> as the best current option, “even though it is expensive,” — if only to avoid what she called the “demeaning” exercise of having to produce paperwork when entering and exiting the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have the full picture yet,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why is the U.S. government increasing national park fees for international travelers?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to a DOI spokesperson, the fee increase is a direct response to President Donald Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/making-america-beautiful-again-by-improving-our-national-parks/\">July 3 executive order\u003c/a> that instructed the Interior Secretary to increase park pass rates for nonresidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Revenue from the increased fees is slated to go to park facility upgrades, maintenance and services, according to the Department of the Interior’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-announces-modernized-more-affordable-national-park-access\">press release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/1993381881380061610\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their email to KQED, a DOI spokesperson argued that revenue from passes sold will “help keep our parks beautiful and running well, including for … \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/subjects/infrastructure/deferred-maintenance.htm\">the deferred maintenance backlog\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The nonresident surcharge is a small fraction of total trip costs (airfare, lodging, transport) for foreign tourists,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What concerns are already being raised about levying higher fees for parks on international tourists?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In response to the announcement, parks advocacy groups, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/11/sierra-club-statement-trump-administration-hike-nps-entrance-fees\">Sierra Club\u003c/a> and the Coalition to Protect National Parks, released statements condemning the coming changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, these groups raised concerns about the burden of checking IDs on already overworked parks staff — as well as the potential that increased fees for foreigners could deter international travel to parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11997996\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11997996\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Upper Yosemite Fall is reflected in the Merced River at Swinging Bridge in Yosemite National Park on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tracy Barbutes/The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If the administration wants to support the National Park System, we urge them to help ensure our national parks are fully funded and fully staffed,” Coalition to Protect National Parks Executive Director Emily Thompson said in an emailed statement to KQED. “That’s the answer rather than focusing on complicated directives that will only increase the workload for park staff already overstretched to keep everything running.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yosemite-based tour guides have also expressed concern that the new policy could create long wait times at park gates while IDs are being checked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John DeGrazio, owner of Yosemite tour provider YExplore, said the rules may put park rangers — and even guiding businesses like his — in the uncomfortable position of asking for identification to determine U.S. residency, calling it “a stripping away of freedoms.”[aside postID=news_12062476 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-93-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg']The policy, fears DeGrazio, “could be a gateway: Are they gonna now position ICE agents at the entrance of national parks?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kind of goes against the whole idea of going out and visiting our national parks,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policies could also put a deeper dent in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040535/canadians-tourists-say-they-are-avoiding-the-united-states-due-to-fear\">already precipitous drop in international tourism \u003c/a>reported this year — with \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/07/03/us-tourism-lose-29-billion-trump-policies/\">estimates as high as $30 billion lost\u003c/a> this year due to fewer international visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeGrazio said he’s worried the parks fee increase will be an even further “inhibitor of visitation” to parks nationwide, shrinking demand for businesses like his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Echo Adventure Cooperative’s Barton said she’d already fielded a cancellation following the announcement, from an international tourist who’d planned to visit Yosemite in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quoting the visitor, she said, “‘The cost is one thing, but just feeling that we get that we’re not wanted in the United States was enough for us to cancel our visit,’” Barton said. “And that broke my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How many foreigners typically visit these U.S. National Parks?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the DOI doesn’t collect statistics on international parks visitorship, a spokesperson told KQED by email that the agency plans to begin doing so next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/media_root/document/NPS_Overseas_Highlights_V1%20%281%29.pdf\">estimates\u003c/a> from the U.S. Travel Association, around 35% of international travelers visited national parks as part of their trips in 2016 — and more than 14 million foreigners visited national parks in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors hike the Mist Trail toward Vernal Falls on Aug. 31, 2025, in the Yosemite National Park, California. \u003ccite>(Apu Gomes/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DeGrazio said the number of international customers his Yosemite tour company sees has been going down steadily, from around 30% “a couple of years ago” to less than 10% this year — and is worried it could decrease even more as a result of the new fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a terrible, short-sighted idea that will damage local businesses in and around the national parks,” he said. “Everyone believes that there is no positive outcome for a move like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said that changes to travel and immigration policies under President Trump had even left one family who had reserved cabins in the Yosemite area through her company with half their group unable to get into the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already seeing these policies affect our gateway communities, and this is just going to take it another step forward,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also fears that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">Trump’s rhetoric around immigration \u003c/a>has fueled what she calls “us versus them” conversations happening in rural communities where these national parks are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What permission does that give folks, and how will that change the visitor experience?” she said. “I think that’s my biggest concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, visitors to the United States will have to pay $100 each to enter some of the country’s most popular \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-parks\">national parks\u003c/a> — on top of existing entry fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-announces-modernized-more-affordable-national-park-access\">announced\u003c/a> over Thanksgiving week that entry fees for 11 national parks — including Yosemite National Park — are going up for foreign visitors only in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while park entry fees for U.S. residents will remain the same, typically $35 per vehicle or $80 for an annual pass, as of Jan. 1, anyone who can’t prove their U.S. residency with a government-issued ID will have to pay the additional $100 at major national parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement means a steep increase in national park fees for tourists to the U.S., who will also see the cost of buying an annual pass for themselves rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what we know about the new national park fees for 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Howwillfeesforinternationaltravelersbeenforced\">How will fees for international travelers be enforced?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#WhatshouldUSresidentsknowaboutenteringnationalparksin2026\">What should U.S. residents know about entering national parks in 2026? \u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>At which national parks do non-U.S. residents have to pay higher fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting Jan. 1, 2026, a $100 per-person fee — charged on top of the typical fee of $35 per vehicle — will apply to entry for foreigners ages 16 and older at 11 of the country’s most-visited national parks (see below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior confirmed in an email to KQED that the new fees will apply for the amount of time the entry ticket is valid. For Yosemite, for example, the $100 per-person fee would be valid for seven days of entry to the park, just like the $35 vehicle fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062225\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062225 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-114-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors stand at Tunnel View overlook in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In California, Yosemite National Park and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks will be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elsewhere, other national parks where non U.S. residents will have to pay the extra fees are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Acadia National Park, Maine\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Everglades National Park, Florida\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Glacier National Park, Montana\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Zion National Park, Utah\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>To date this year, these 11 parks have seen around a combined 23 million visitors. The National Park Service doesn’t currently track the proportion of visitors coming to parks from outside the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much will an annual pass be for tourists to the U.S.?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Currently,\u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm\"> an $80 annual National Park Service pass\u003c/a> is available to all, with no residency requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as of Jan. 1, an annual national parks pass for non U.S. residents, which will allow free entry at any national park, will be $250 per passholder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12062211\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251027-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-18-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors look at a welcome at the entrance to Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Howwillfeesforinternationaltravelersbeenforced\">\u003c/a>How will these fees for international travelers be enforced?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the Department of the Interior, all visitors age 16 and older with annual passes will be asked to present a U.S. government-issued photo ID at the entrance of every national park, such as a passport or state driver’s license.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those who don’t have a U.S. ID to present “will be asked to upgrade to the nonresident annual pass,” a DOI spokesperson told KQED by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Visitors will confirm their residency by providing a ZIP code when purchasing a pass online and must present a U.S. government-issued photo ID when using it,” the DOI spokesperson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"WhatshouldUSresidentsknowaboutenteringnationalparksin2026\">\u003c/a>What should U.S. residents know about changes to national parks entry next year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To enforce annual pass compliance for non-U.S. residents, starting Jan. 1, all visitors age 16 and older with annual passes will be asked to present a U.S. government-issued photo ID to prove their U.S. residency. Currently, a national parks annual pass bears a message requiring the pass to be signed by the passholder, who must be present and provide “Valid Photo ID.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This month’s DOI announcement also included the launch of \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/video/digital-park-passes\">digital annual passes\u003c/a> for national parks, which can be bought and accessed online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062221\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062221 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-61-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors stand at Tunnel View overlook in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new entry policies will also allow two motorcycles, rather than just one, to enter under a single annual park pass in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lineup of the national parks’ fee-free days has also been altered. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth have been removed from the list of days on which visitors can enter the park for free. Flag Day on June 16, which is also President Trump’s birthday, has been added, as has Constitution Day on Sept. 17. The fee-free days, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm\">listed here\u003c/a>, do not apply to non-U.S. residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year’s annual passes will also feature new graphics on the cards to commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, featuring the faces of former President George Washington and President Trump.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is there any way for international visitors to avoid the higher fees?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The new fees go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. But because annual passes are punched on the date of purchase and are valid for 12 months on a rolling basis, \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/NationalPark/comments/1p7ae7x/tourist_if_i_buy_this_pass_as_a_non_resident_now/\">some online are recommending\u003c/a> that non U.S. residents intending to visit any national parks in 2026 purchase a pass now under the current rate system, to save money next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the DOI confirmed to KQED by email that “international visitors with a valid 2025 pass can use that pass until it expires.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12062224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12062224 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251028-YOSEMITESHUTDOWN-112-BL_QED-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A person fishes in the Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Oct. 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In response to the announcement, the Mariposa County Tourism Bureau published \u003ca href=\"https://www.yosemite.com/nonresident-and-international-fees/\">a guide to help foreign travelers navigate the new fee structure\u003c/a>. In it, the organization recommends that most groups of international visitors who plan to visit more than one national park in 2026 purchase the $250 annual pass for non U.S. residents — but that solo travelers or couples who are only planning to visit one park, like Yosemite, should probably swallow the $100 per-person fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elisabeth Barton, founding member and CEO of tour company Echo Adventure Cooperative, which operates guided tours in and around Yosemite and Stanislaus National Forest, said tour groups like hers are still waiting on specifics for how the fee change might affect groups entering the park. However, she’s expecting to know more details later in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said she’s considering adding certain tours, like more of those operating just outside the park’s boundaries, to cater especially to international visitors in an attempt to keep costs down for them. She pointed to a number of rafting and Jeep tour operators who already offer these price-reduced tours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, she even recommended buying the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/fees.htm#pass__4\">$70 annual Yosemite-only pass\u003c/a> as the best current option, “even though it is expensive,” — if only to avoid what she called the “demeaning” exercise of having to produce paperwork when entering and exiting the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have the full picture yet,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why is the U.S. government increasing national park fees for international travelers?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to a DOI spokesperson, the fee increase is a direct response to President Donald Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/making-america-beautiful-again-by-improving-our-national-parks/\">July 3 executive order\u003c/a> that instructed the Interior Secretary to increase park pass rates for nonresidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Revenue from the increased fees is slated to go to park facility upgrades, maintenance and services, according to the Department of the Interior’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/department-interior-announces-modernized-more-affordable-national-park-access\">press release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>In their email to KQED, a DOI spokesperson argued that revenue from passes sold will “help keep our parks beautiful and running well, including for … \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/subjects/infrastructure/deferred-maintenance.htm\">the deferred maintenance backlog\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The nonresident surcharge is a small fraction of total trip costs (airfare, lodging, transport) for foreign tourists,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What concerns are already being raised about levying higher fees for parks on international tourists?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In response to the announcement, parks advocacy groups, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/11/sierra-club-statement-trump-administration-hike-nps-entrance-fees\">Sierra Club\u003c/a> and the Coalition to Protect National Parks, released statements condemning the coming changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, these groups raised concerns about the burden of checking IDs on already overworked parks staff — as well as the potential that increased fees for foreigners could deter international travel to parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11997996\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11997996\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GETTYIMAGES-2021284785-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Upper Yosemite Fall is reflected in the Merced River at Swinging Bridge in Yosemite National Park on June 13, 2023. \u003ccite>(Tracy Barbutes/The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If the administration wants to support the National Park System, we urge them to help ensure our national parks are fully funded and fully staffed,” Coalition to Protect National Parks Executive Director Emily Thompson said in an emailed statement to KQED. “That’s the answer rather than focusing on complicated directives that will only increase the workload for park staff already overstretched to keep everything running.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yosemite-based tour guides have also expressed concern that the new policy could create long wait times at park gates while IDs are being checked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John DeGrazio, owner of Yosemite tour provider YExplore, said the rules may put park rangers — and even guiding businesses like his — in the uncomfortable position of asking for identification to determine U.S. residency, calling it “a stripping away of freedoms.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The policy, fears DeGrazio, “could be a gateway: Are they gonna now position ICE agents at the entrance of national parks?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It kind of goes against the whole idea of going out and visiting our national parks,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policies could also put a deeper dent in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12040535/canadians-tourists-say-they-are-avoiding-the-united-states-due-to-fear\">already precipitous drop in international tourism \u003c/a>reported this year — with \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/07/03/us-tourism-lose-29-billion-trump-policies/\">estimates as high as $30 billion lost\u003c/a> this year due to fewer international visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeGrazio said he’s worried the parks fee increase will be an even further “inhibitor of visitation” to parks nationwide, shrinking demand for businesses like his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Echo Adventure Cooperative’s Barton said she’d already fielded a cancellation following the announcement, from an international tourist who’d planned to visit Yosemite in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Quoting the visitor, she said, “‘The cost is one thing, but just feeling that we get that we’re not wanted in the United States was enough for us to cancel our visit,’” Barton said. “And that broke my heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How many foreigners typically visit these U.S. National Parks?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the DOI doesn’t collect statistics on international parks visitorship, a spokesperson told KQED by email that the agency plans to begin doing so next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/media_root/document/NPS_Overseas_Highlights_V1%20%281%29.pdf\">estimates\u003c/a> from the U.S. Travel Association, around 35% of international travelers visited national parks as part of their trips in 2016 — and more than 14 million foreigners visited national parks in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/YosemiteGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors hike the Mist Trail toward Vernal Falls on Aug. 31, 2025, in the Yosemite National Park, California. \u003ccite>(Apu Gomes/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>DeGrazio said the number of international customers his Yosemite tour company sees has been going down steadily, from around 30% “a couple of years ago” to less than 10% this year — and is worried it could decrease even more as a result of the new fees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a terrible, short-sighted idea that will damage local businesses in and around the national parks,” he said. “Everyone believes that there is no positive outcome for a move like this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barton said that changes to travel and immigration policies under President Trump had even left one family who had reserved cabins in the Yosemite area through her company with half their group unable to get into the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already seeing these policies affect our gateway communities, and this is just going to take it another step forward,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also fears that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">Trump’s rhetoric around immigration \u003c/a>has fueled what she calls “us versus them” conversations happening in rural communities where these national parks are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What permission does that give folks, and how will that change the visitor experience?” she said. “I think that’s my biggest concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "lawsuits-challenge-trump-administrations-radical-homeless-policy-changes",
"title": "Lawsuits Challenge Trump Administration’s Radical Homeless Policy Changes",
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"headTitle": "Lawsuits Challenge Trump Administration’s Radical Homeless Policy Changes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">federal homelessness funds\u003c/a> are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “This is another instance of the Trump administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County and San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/NAEH-v-HUD-25-cv-636-Complaint-with-civil-cover-sheet-and-summons.pdf\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> this week, in conjunction with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/001_Cmplt.pdf\">separate lawsuit\u003c/a> was filed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and a handful of other states. It marked the 47th time California sued the Trump administration in 44 weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, homeless service providers are waiting anxiously to see how the litigation plays out and wondering if the impending legal battle will further delay the money they desperately need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954915\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"A unhoused encampment is seen in Los Angeles. There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment, in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the matter of how long it’s going to take that concerns me,” said Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health, which coordinates the county’s homelessness response. “Because while we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement last month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the changes are aimed at “stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/trump-homeless-funds-cuts/\">changes\u003c/a> the Trump administration made to its funding policy last month. Jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds now can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a significant decrease. Los Angeles County, for example, currently spends more than 80% on permanent housing. Instead, the federal government wants localities to prioritize emergency shelter and temporary housing programs that require participants to be sober or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While shelters offer a temporary respite from the streets, permanent housing can end someone’s homelessness. For years, the federal government has prioritized funding permanent housing using the “housing first” method — a strategy that moves people into housing as quickly as possible, without requiring them to first get sober or agree to addiction treatment. Veering away from both of those principles marks a major policy shift.[aside postID=news_12065708 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250325-ApartmentsonWestside-06-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']Last year, California communities won more than $683 million in federal homelessness funds through what is called the Continuum of Care program. About 90% of that went to permanent housing projects, which currently house tens of thousands of Californians, according to Newsom. The new rule threatens to put those people back out onto the street, he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/11/25/governor-newsom-sues-trump-administration-for-cruel-cuts-to-homeless-housing-funding-that-will-hurt-families/\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy also prohibits the use of federal funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely. And it gives preference for projects in cities, counties and states that ban homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits allege that the Trump administration’s funding changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by defying the rules Congress set out for distributing the funds. Congress authorized a two-year grant cycle in 2024, meaning local jurisdictions wouldn’t have to reapply for funds in 2025. The Trump administration flouted that decision when it suddenly forced jurisdictions to reapply, the lawsuits allege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits also claim the administration didn’t go through proper protocol before enacting the changes to its funding strategy, which would have included giving cities and counties more time to comply with the new rules, and allowing stakeholders to comment on the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Santa Cruz County, Ratner is of two minds about the lawsuits. On one hand, he believes the abrupt way the Trump administration rolled out the funding changes was “very inappropriate.” But he worries a lengthy court battle could tie up funds his county needs to pay people’s rents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Alliance to End Homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/ca-homelessness-funding-population/\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> over similar allegations tied to a smaller, $75 million pot of homelessness funding in September. A judge \u003ca href=\"https://endhomelessness.org/media/court-blocks-trump-vance-administrations-unlawful-housing-grant-restrictions/\">sided with the Alliance\u003c/a>, and temporarily barred the federal government from distributing those funds. But now that money is frozen, unable to help unhoused residents as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“While we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccite>Robert Ratner, director, Housing for Health\u003c/cite>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ratner worries that could happen again in this case. Santa Cruz County is set to start hitting serious financial problems as soon as February, Ratner said. That’s when a $1.2 million supportive housing grant, which currently houses about 50 people in different apartments around the county, is set to expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration doesn’t expect to start awarding Continuum of Care money until May. It’s unclear how the lawsuits will affect that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Ratner and other homeless service providers are trying to remain optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, we don’t know how long the litigation process will take, but we’re hopeful it leads to a more workable path forward,” Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Lisa Bates said in a statement. “Of course, any delay in federal funding would have real impacts on communities across the country, including ours, to operate shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and essential system coordination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/12/homelessness-funding-lawsuits/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Gavin Newsom, Santa Clara County and San Francisco are suing the Trump administration over a huge shift in homelessness policy.\r\n\r\n",
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"title": "Lawsuits Challenge Trump Administration’s Radical Homeless Policy Changes | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/housing\">federal homelessness funds\u003c/a> are distributed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “This is another instance of the Trump administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santa Clara County and San Francisco \u003ca href=\"https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/NAEH-v-HUD-25-cv-636-Complaint-with-civil-cover-sheet-and-summons.pdf\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> this week, in conjunction with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/001_Cmplt.pdf\">separate lawsuit\u003c/a> was filed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and a handful of other states. It marked the 47th time California sued the Trump administration in 44 weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, homeless service providers are waiting anxiously to see how the litigation plays out and wondering if the impending legal battle will further delay the money they desperately need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954915\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"A unhoused encampment is seen in Los Angeles. There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment, in Los Angeles on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s just the matter of how long it’s going to take that concerns me,” said Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health, which coordinates the county’s homelessness response. “Because while we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement last month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the changes are aimed at “stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At issue are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletter/trump-homeless-funds-cuts/\">changes\u003c/a> the Trump administration made to its funding policy last month. Jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds now can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a significant decrease. Los Angeles County, for example, currently spends more than 80% on permanent housing. Instead, the federal government wants localities to prioritize emergency shelter and temporary housing programs that require participants to be sober or participate in treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While shelters offer a temporary respite from the streets, permanent housing can end someone’s homelessness. For years, the federal government has prioritized funding permanent housing using the “housing first” method — a strategy that moves people into housing as quickly as possible, without requiring them to first get sober or agree to addiction treatment. Veering away from both of those principles marks a major policy shift.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last year, California communities won more than $683 million in federal homelessness funds through what is called the Continuum of Care program. About 90% of that went to permanent housing projects, which currently house tens of thousands of Californians, according to Newsom. The new rule threatens to put those people back out onto the street, he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/11/25/governor-newsom-sues-trump-administration-for-cruel-cuts-to-homeless-housing-funding-that-will-hurt-families/\">news release\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new policy also prohibits the use of federal funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely. And it gives preference for projects in cities, counties and states that ban homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits allege that the Trump administration’s funding changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by defying the rules Congress set out for distributing the funds. Congress authorized a two-year grant cycle in 2024, meaning local jurisdictions wouldn’t have to reapply for funds in 2025. The Trump administration flouted that decision when it suddenly forced jurisdictions to reapply, the lawsuits allege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits also claim the administration didn’t go through proper protocol before enacting the changes to its funding strategy, which would have included giving cities and counties more time to comply with the new rules, and allowing stakeholders to comment on the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Santa Cruz County, Ratner is of two minds about the lawsuits. On one hand, he believes the abrupt way the Trump administration rolled out the funding changes was “very inappropriate.” But he worries a lengthy court battle could tie up funds his county needs to pay people’s rents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Alliance to End Homelessness \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/09/ca-homelessness-funding-population/\">sued the Trump administration\u003c/a> over similar allegations tied to a smaller, $75 million pot of homelessness funding in September. A judge \u003ca href=\"https://endhomelessness.org/media/court-blocks-trump-vance-administrations-unlawful-housing-grant-restrictions/\">sided with the Alliance\u003c/a>, and temporarily barred the federal government from distributing those funds. But now that money is frozen, unable to help unhoused residents as the case moves forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“While we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccite>Robert Ratner, director, Housing for Health\u003c/cite>\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ratner worries that could happen again in this case. Santa Cruz County is set to start hitting serious financial problems as soon as February, Ratner said. That’s when a $1.2 million supportive housing grant, which currently houses about 50 people in different apartments around the county, is set to expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration doesn’t expect to start awarding Continuum of Care money until May. It’s unclear how the lawsuits will affect that timeline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Ratner and other homeless service providers are trying to remain optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, we don’t know how long the litigation process will take, but we’re hopeful it leads to a more workable path forward,” Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Lisa Bates said in a statement. “Of course, any delay in federal funding would have real impacts on communities across the country, including ours, to operate shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and essential system coordination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/12/homelessness-funding-lawsuits/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-bay-bridge-nearing-age-90-gets-a-physical",
"title": "The Bay Bridge, Nearing Age 90, Gets a Physical",
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"headTitle": "The Bay Bridge, Nearing Age 90, Gets a Physical | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>For most of the past year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/caltrans\">Caltrans\u003c/a> contractors have conducted a far-from-routine physical on an 89-year-old patient: the monumental western span of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-bridge\">San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a process completed in September, engineers opened up the massive main cables that support the bridge’s double-deck roadway between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco’s Rincon Hill to check on conditions inside. The results from that exam are due by early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time crews looked inside the cables was in 2003, during a major seismic upgrade project. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission said this year’s checkup was the first systematic \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/news/bay-bridge-work-focuses-suspension-cables\">investigation \u003c/a>of the 25-inch diameter cables since the Bay Bridge was completed in 1936.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Bart Ney, the chief spokesperson for the Caltrans office that covers the Bay Area, the Bay Bridge is one of the engineering wonders of the world. During a late-night visit to the bridge earlier this year, he recited some of the features that make the bridge unique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re standing on a very special bridge,” Ney said, during a stop on the upper deck. He pointed out that the western side of the bridge is actually \u003cem>two \u003c/em>spans, each of which ties into a humongous center anchorage that, he noted, “has more concrete in it than the Empire State Building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers opened the main cables on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to inspect the more than 17,000 individual wires that make up each of the main cables for the first time since the bridge was built 90 years ago. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1403px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1403\" height=\"865\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg 1403w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-160x99.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1403px) 100vw, 1403px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(left) Hand-wrapping the south cable span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, circa September 1936. (right) The south cable saddle during construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, circa November 1935. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beginning last fall, ironworkers and engineers moved along the main cables, removing the outer housing at select locations to expose the tightly packed bundles of galvanized steel wire inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re doing out here is we’re taking a look at the main cables that actually hold the deck up that you drive on,” Ney said. “And so, at 10 different locations, we’re going inside the cable, we’re opening it up, and we’re testing the steel inside of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each cable consists of more than 17,000 wires that were spun into place, bound together, tightly compressed and painted with a special protective paste before the outer housing was installed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The suspension cables of the Bay Bridge on the bridge’s western span on Dec. 19, 2024. Crews work to open the suspension cables to assess the condition of thousands of thin steel strands inside. This work is part of an effort to ensure the bridge’s long-term safety and durability, as the steel cables are inspected for corrosion and other issues. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At each of the 10 testing locations, workers used hammers and mallets to drive large wedges into the tightly packed bundle of wires. Engineers gave the wire a visual inspection, snipped out short sections for laboratory testing and then spliced those cut strands back together. The inspection also studied how air moves through the interior of the cables — a concern given the bridge’s constant exposure to humidity and salt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans and the Bay Area Toll Authority, the regional agency that oversees the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges, will use that information to decide whether to install a dehumidifying system to help protect the cables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of this project, crews also replaced a half dozen of the vertical suspender ropes that help support the western spans’ road decks. Ney said the ropes to be replaced were identified by engineers with Caltrans’ structural maintenance inspection team as part of an evaluation conducted every two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Caltrans crews opened up the main suspension cables on bridge's western span to see how they've stood up to decades of high humidity and salt air. \r\n",
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"title": "The Bay Bridge, Nearing Age 90, Gets a Physical | KQED",
"description": "Caltrans crews opened up the main suspension cables on bridge's western span to see how they've stood up to decades of high humidity and salt air. \r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For most of the past year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/caltrans\">Caltrans\u003c/a> contractors have conducted a far-from-routine physical on an 89-year-old patient: the monumental western span of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-bridge\">San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a process completed in September, engineers opened up the massive main cables that support the bridge’s double-deck roadway between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco’s Rincon Hill to check on conditions inside. The results from that exam are due by early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last time crews looked inside the cables was in 2003, during a major seismic upgrade project. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission said this year’s checkup was the first systematic \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/news/bay-bridge-work-focuses-suspension-cables\">investigation \u003c/a>of the 25-inch diameter cables since the Bay Bridge was completed in 1936.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Bart Ney, the chief spokesperson for the Caltrans office that covers the Bay Area, the Bay Bridge is one of the engineering wonders of the world. During a late-night visit to the bridge earlier this year, he recited some of the features that make the bridge unique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re standing on a very special bridge,” Ney said, during a stop on the upper deck. He pointed out that the western side of the bridge is actually \u003cem>two \u003c/em>spans, each of which ties into a humongous center anchorage that, he noted, “has more concrete in it than the Empire State Building.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12064387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12064387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251117-Bay-Bridge-Cables-03-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers opened the main cables on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to inspect the more than 17,000 individual wires that make up each of the main cables for the first time since the bridge was built 90 years ago. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025258\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1403px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025258\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1403\" height=\"865\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo.jpg 1403w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-1020x629.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/I0035379A_duo-160x99.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1403px) 100vw, 1403px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(left) Hand-wrapping the south cable span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, circa September 1936. (right) The south cable saddle during construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, circa November 1935. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Beginning last fall, ironworkers and engineers moved along the main cables, removing the outer housing at select locations to expose the tightly packed bundles of galvanized steel wire inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re doing out here is we’re taking a look at the main cables that actually hold the deck up that you drive on,” Ney said. “And so, at 10 different locations, we’re going inside the cable, we’re opening it up, and we’re testing the steel inside of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each cable consists of more than 17,000 wires that were spun into place, bound together, tightly compressed and painted with a special protective paste before the outer housing was installed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241219-BayBridgeCables-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The suspension cables of the Bay Bridge on the bridge’s western span on Dec. 19, 2024. Crews work to open the suspension cables to assess the condition of thousands of thin steel strands inside. This work is part of an effort to ensure the bridge’s long-term safety and durability, as the steel cables are inspected for corrosion and other issues. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At each of the 10 testing locations, workers used hammers and mallets to drive large wedges into the tightly packed bundle of wires. Engineers gave the wire a visual inspection, snipped out short sections for laboratory testing and then spliced those cut strands back together. The inspection also studied how air moves through the interior of the cables — a concern given the bridge’s constant exposure to humidity and salt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans and the Bay Area Toll Authority, the regional agency that oversees the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges, will use that information to decide whether to install a dehumidifying system to help protect the cables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of this project, crews also replaced a half dozen of the vertical suspender ropes that help support the western spans’ road decks. Ney said the ropes to be replaced were identified by engineers with Caltrans’ structural maintenance inspection team as part of an evaluation conducted every two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-fear-of-trumps-immigration-blitz-is-changing-life-in-california-farm-towns",
"title": "How Fear of Trump’s Immigration Blitz Is Changing Life in California Farm Towns",
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"headTitle": "How Fear of Trump’s Immigration Blitz Is Changing Life in California Farm Towns | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trailing in the shade of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/farming\">tractor-pulled harvester\u003c/a>, a small huddle of people in broad hats trawl the ochre rows of a green field. Every six or so feet, someone squats down and pulls into the morning sunlight a bright, spotted watermelon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walking a dozen yards behind this crew of pickers is their supervisor, Raul. He has done this for 21 years, since he was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He, better than anybody, knows that perfectly ripe watermelons aren’t just pulled off the vine, they’re chosen. And the choosing still relies, as it ever has, on workers who are delicate with the fruit and severe with the choice. The job requires years of repetition: seeing the right melon, bending to heft it, cutting its root and placing it carefully on the harvester bed or a bag hanging off the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rookies have trouble. They pick a melon before it’s ready, or they fumble the blades and cut themselves, or their bodies simply inform them after a day or a week of bending and lifting and bending and lifting that they will not be getting out of bed that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-44-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A back view of a person in work clothes and a hat walking through a field of watermelons as workers harvest in the background on a tractor.\">\u003cfigcaption>A farmworker walks through a field where melons are harvested at a farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raul knows this land. He raised his kids in the farmland around the town of Firebaugh, 38 miles west of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/fresno\">Fresno\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to a grove of full-grown almond trees near the Del Bosque melon farm where he works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were putting in those trees when they were young, my first year,” Raul said in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the last two decades, Raul would drive north when the melon harvest ends to work in the vineyards and then the apple and cherry orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year is different, and Raul, who didn’t want his last name used in this story because he is in the country illegally, is not sure how much longer he can stay in the United States.[aside postID=news_12055072 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/20250903_FARMLABORCRISIS_GC-20-KQED.jpg']As this year’s harvest ends, the small Central Valley towns that rely on migrant or undocumented labor to survive are themselves forced to imagine the end of a way of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The worry here is the workers might not return next year, at least not in the numbers that sustain local economies and power the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov/wordpress/?p=29277\">$60 billion agricultural industry\u003c/a>, which grows three-fourths of the fruits and nuts consumed in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump administration \u003c/a>has pledged to carry out the largest deportation program in American history. They have, so far, mostly left the agricultural industry alone. But Trump and his advisers \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/08/trump-teased-a-solution-for-farmers-its-likely-not-coming-soon-00498932\">have wavered\u003c/a> on whether to protect farms from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">immigration raids,\u003c/a> so the seasonal workers and their employers will have to wait and see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, what connects tiny truck stop towns and big cities of this part of the valley \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/03/immigration-raids-rumors/\">is fear\u003c/a>: of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/04/california-farmers-groundwater-probation-kings-county/\">tightened water allocations\u003c/a>, of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/08/california-european-wines-tariffs/\">market turbulence\u003c/a> and, this year, of immigration agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small farm towns in the Central Valley are similar in their seasonal economics to a beach town on the East Coast: Both swell in summer with a population boom, then dig in for a slow winter. Firebaugh City Manager Ben Gallegos said the town of 4,000 grows to 8,000 people in the summer, then empties out after the harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story plays out in the numbers, but already this year’s numbers tell a different tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-04-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of three watermelons growing on a vine in the middle of a field with the sun rising in the background, as workers pick in the far distance, just out of focus.\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-13-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A person holds up a watermelon after picking it from a field to put it on a conveyor belt while working in a watermelon field. The person has a slight shadow over their face to not show their identity.\">\u003c/figure>\u003cfigcaption>\u003cstrong>First: \u003c/strong>Melons in a field at a melon farm outside of Firebaugh. \u003cstrong>Last:\u003c/strong> A farmworker picks up a melon while harvesting at a melon farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photos by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the second quarter of the year, which runs from April 1 to June 30, total taxable transactions in Firebaugh were down 29% from the same quarter last year, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. In nearby Chowchilla, total taxable receipts are down 21% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People don’t want to shop or go out to eat, Gallegos said. The city of Firebaugh is staring down cuts to its police force, its parks and its senior center. In September, the appearance of county probation officers dressed in green fatigues caused waves of panicked Whatsapp texts. Some people went into hiding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food bank in Firebaugh used to serve about 50 families. Today, at weekly distributions behind city hall, that number is up to 150. When it’s over, volunteers take the remaining food boxes to families who are too afraid to leave their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need those individuals to drive our community,” Gallegos said. “They’re the ones that eat at our local restaurants, they’re the ones that shop at our local stores. Without them, what do we do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-06-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side view of field workers picking watermelons in a green field filled with vines behind a tractor pulling a conveyor belt. In the background are more green fields and a view of a semi-truck driving on a highway.\">\u003cfigcaption>Farmworkers harvest melons behind a tractor on a melon farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re scared to come out \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/la-immigration-sweeps-supreme-court/\">because of the color of their skin\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raul and his crew of six pickers will have to choose, too. Will they come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Borrowed time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“My clients say this country’s not for them anymore,” said Fresno immigration attorney Jesus Ibañez, who works with farmworkers. “They feel like they’re on borrowed time here. That sentiment is not one I heard a lot one year ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The choices to stay or self-deport come down to money, but also the futures those farmworkers want for their children born in the United States, Ibañez said.[aside postID=news_12065240 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/IMG_4486-1020x765.jpeg']Sometimes the choice is more complicated – the U.S. isn’t as safe for them as it was, but its school districts still offer things like mental health care and physical therapy that migrant workers fear they won’t get in their home countries. Balanced against that is the possibility of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/10/caregiver-deportation-california/\">one or both parents being deported\u003c/a>, leaving the children with no legal guardians in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statistically, it’s difficult to even know the number of farmworkers employed today, let alone how much the fear of deportation is affecting employment in the industry. In late October, Ag Alert, a publication of the California Farm Bureau, \u003ca href=\"https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/october-22-2025/farmworkers-set-fear-aside-to-pick-california-bounty/\">broke the news\u003c/a> that both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Labor canceled annual farmworker labor surveys. That means that, for the first time since the late 1980s, there is no federal documentation of farmworker hours, wages or demographics. Historically, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=63466\">about 40% of farmworkers\u003c/a> in the last decade were undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that more immigrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/21/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/?mod=ANLink\">left the country or were deported\u003c/a> this year than the number who arrived. If the trend holds until the end of the year, 2025 will be the first year since the 1960s that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/08/immigrant-population-declines/\">the population of immigrants in the U.S. falls\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Raul, the question of returning is simple. He will need to earn money so he can support his kids, so he plans on coming back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Que quisiera un padre? Raul said. “Quiere que sea lo mejor para los hijos.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What would a father want? He wants what’s best for his children.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A town shaped by a river\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The road into Firebaugh rolls up and over a wash, next to the spot where Andrew Firebaugh founded a ferry across the San Joaquin River that became an important stop on stagecoach routes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river has always been what kept this town alive, first as an obstacle around which they built a settlement and later as the lifeblood of its farms and fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-38-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A water tower that reads “Firebaugh” on its side over a street in a small town, with vehicles driving by between local businesses.\">\u003cfigcaption>The water tower in Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just outside of town, the pavement has fractured and buckled. The street signs are tiny and faded on the broad grid of roads bounded by fields that push right up to the street. You orient yourself with both cardinal directions and crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Prunus amygdalus\u003c/em>, also called almond trees, look like they’re raising their arms. \u003cem>Pistacia vera\u003c/em>, the pistachio tree, look like they’re shrugging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uncovered truck bed bins spill ripe red tomatoes on tight turns. Tractors with their tillers raised trundle slowly down the highway. On the side of the road bobs of lettuce heads peek out of the ground, followed by a massive pile of unhulled almonds, and then a series of palm trees, some very tall and some a little squat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425-Melon-Farm-Day-2-LV-13-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of two rows of trees growing crops in an agricultural field on a cloudy morning.\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425_Melon-Farm-Day-2_LV_CM_08-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A semi-truck carrying crops drives down the street during an early morning illuminated by the soft orange light of the sunrise.\">\u003c/figure>\u003cfigcaption>\u003cstrong>First:\u003c/strong> Rows of trees in an orchard outside of Firebaugh.\u003cstrong> Last:\u003c/strong> A truck carrying crops drives through farmland outside of Firebaugh in Fresno County on Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the corner of one of these roads, just before it meets the interstate, is the melon farm owned by Joe Del Bosque, Raul’s employer of 21 years. And the first thing people inclined to these kinds of questions will ask Del Bosque is why he hires undocumented labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He begins explaining his trouble hiring people on the federal H-2A visa, which permits employers to hire foreign seasonal workers. It’s not just that he has to pay them $3 more per hour, Del Bosque said. It’s that he must also pay for their transportation to and from the farm every day. He must pay for the rooms where they sleep and the food they eat. It is, he said, economically impossible to rely on the visa program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next suggestion is hiring local people. Del Bosque laughed and said he tried that. The locals made it a week, at the most, and then found some other way to make money that didn’t leave them sore all over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knows that one day soon, he’ll likely have to turn over operations to the only family member active in the business, his son-in-law. But that’s only if there’s still a farm to hand over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have a lot of confidence that the future of our farm and a lot of farms is looking very good right now,” Del Bosque said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-30.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of a man dressed in a cowboy hat and a button-down shirt standing in a watermelon field. The vines from the field are visible in the lower portion of the frame, with a part of a mountain range peaking out in the background and a blue sky as the backdrop.\">\u003cfigcaption>Joe Del Bosque, owner of Del Bosque Farms, stands in one of his melon fields as they are being harvested outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Labor is already sounding the alarm on losing farmworkers and the threat that poses to the nation’s food supply in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/02/2025-19365/adverse-effect-wage-rate-methodology-for-the-temporary-employment-of-h-2a-nonimmigrants-in-non-range\">notice in the Federal Register in October.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers,” the department said in a rule-making proposal that would allow employers to pay H-2A workers less than they are paying now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” the notice said, citing the likelihood of enhanced immigration enforcement under the budget bill Trump signed earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those longer-term consequences in the labor market won’t be felt evenly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>This is Trump country\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fresno County and the rest of the Central Valley went for Trump in the 2024 election. Del Bosque calls himself a conservative, though he \u003ca href=\"https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=joe+del+bosque\">donates to both parties\u003c/a> – Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former President \u003ca href=\"https://obamaoralhistory.columbia.edu/interviews/joe-del-bosque\">Barack Obama\u003c/a> have both made public visits to his acreage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next to his farm – right up on the property line where everyone will see it – is a massive Trump 2024 sign, erected by his neighbor. No one driving to the Del Bosque Farm will miss it. Del Bosque laughs about it, but it’s also a reflection of how their differing crops help define their politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-34-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A banner on a sign that reads “2024 TRUMP END THIS HELL SAVE AMERICA NOW” on the side of a country road next to a fence. In the background is a red barn on a ranch and a mountain range.\">\u003cfigcaption>A Trump sign posted on a neighboring property of Del Bosque Farms outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Del Bosque grows melons, which are labor intensive and require lots of people to work long hours. He supports an easier path to employment for undocumented workers. Next door, his neighbor grows almonds. They only require one person to drive a “shaker” to get the nuts out of the trees and another to operate the basket that catches them as they fall. His neighbor, whom CalMatters was unable to contact, doesn’t require much labor at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here’s the thing, not all farms are the same, not all farmers are the same,” Del Bosque said. “I’m concerned about these people. (The neighbor) is not concerned about that, because he has almonds. He manages his almonds with just him and one or two more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He can do his whole farm with two, three people. So this immigration (enforcement) does not affect him at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Author and Central Valley farmer David Mas Masumoto wrote about neighborly tension in his 1995 “Epitaph for a Peach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We depend on labor from Mexico, part of a seasonal flow of men and families. Many come here for the summer, return to Mexico during the slow winter months, and return the following year. They’re predominantly young men with the faces of boys. We’re dependent on their strong backs and quick hands. And they are hungry for work.…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This September, farmers drive down the road staring straight ahead, steering clear of a chance meeting with a competitor who was once a neighbor. Eyes avoid eyes, hands hesitate and refrain from waving. It’s an ugly September.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politics out here can make it a whole ugly season.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Big and rapid change’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What if they don’t come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a precedent for trying to understand that major of a disruption to our state’s economy and demographics,” said Liz Carlisle, an associate professor in the Environmental Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425-Melon-Farm-Day-2-LV-12-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A view of field workers walking in a line between rows of trees in an agricultural field and a country road. The workers are walking along power poles near the field as the sun rises in the background, casting a golden haze across the sky.\">\u003cfigcaption>Farmworkers walk past rows of trees on an orchard outside of Firebaugh in Fresno County on Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Something is changing in one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060895/visiting-a-vineyard-to-see-how-the-bays-wine-industry-is-doing\">Wine grapes are going unharvested\u003c/a>, rotting in the fields, as exports to Canada collapsed under new tariffs and younger consumers started shying away from alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.siliconvalley.com/2025/01/28/california-groundwater-crisis-farms-fail/\">Land values are cratering\u003c/a> in places with limited water, leaving farmers in multi-million dollar debt. Water costs are skyrocketing in part because of a \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/programs/groundwater-management/sgma-groundwater-management\">2014 conservation law\u003c/a> that seeks to regulate years of agricultural over-pumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do think we’re looking at the potential of really big and rapid change to California’s agricultural sector and all of the workers and everything that touches the economy,” Carlisle said. “It’s kind of a perfect storm because you have major shifts in trade policy at the same time as you have major shifts in the workforce at the same time you have major shifts in climate and potential regulatory responses to those climate impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So that’s a lot of huge transformations for people in the agricultural sector to try to manage at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the problems were the usual problems: Five or six big storms clobbered the Central Valley with rain and hail, hitting young crops just as they were approaching maturity. But larger battles loom.[aside postID=news_12063793 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/20251028_IMMIGRANT-MASS-_HERNANDEZ-17-KQED.jpg']During the first Trump administration, the labor market for Central Valley farmers tightened significantly, said California Fresh Fruits Association president Daniel Hartwig, when migration numbers plummeted and farms would lose workers to a neighboring operation that offered an extra 25 cents per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During this second go-round with Trump as president, those concerns seem almost archaic. Now, Hartwig said, he’ll spend a couple hours every week running down rumors of immigration enforcement: an unmarked white van in Madera County that turned out to belong to a carpet cleaning business; a cluster of cars outside a health clinic that turned out to be a local police operation; a shaky TikTok of unknown provenance showing men in green fatigues that sent farmworkers rushing back to their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you did let your imagination run wild, especially if you were undocumented, everywhere you look, around the corner, is somebody that you’re fearful is going to try and get you and deport you,” Hartwig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now these towns in the lower basin of the Central Valley hunker down for an anxious winter, on the farms, at the food bank, in Firebaugh’s City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are dependent on so many factors out of their own control. Executive impulses in the White House. Cloud formations and wind speeds. Commodity prices set globally. Water prices set locally. And in the winter there is time to think and there is time to ask questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will the federal government increase immigration enforcement at farms? Will it rain enough early in the season? Will it rain too much when the fruit is in the fields? Could there be a repeat of last year’s heat wave? Or this year’s storms? What if the water gets costlier? What if the commodities get cheaper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a question perhaps more crucial than any other: What if they don’t come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: Author David Mas Masumoto is a member of the CalMatters board of director\u003c/em>s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/11/immigration-california-farms/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "How Fear of Trump’s Immigration Blitz Is Changing Life in California Farm Towns | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trailing in the shade of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/farming\">tractor-pulled harvester\u003c/a>, a small huddle of people in broad hats trawl the ochre rows of a green field. Every six or so feet, someone squats down and pulls into the morning sunlight a bright, spotted watermelon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walking a dozen yards behind this crew of pickers is their supervisor, Raul. He has done this for 21 years, since he was 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He, better than anybody, knows that perfectly ripe watermelons aren’t just pulled off the vine, they’re chosen. And the choosing still relies, as it ever has, on workers who are delicate with the fruit and severe with the choice. The job requires years of repetition: seeing the right melon, bending to heft it, cutting its root and placing it carefully on the harvester bed or a bag hanging off the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rookies have trouble. They pick a melon before it’s ready, or they fumble the blades and cut themselves, or their bodies simply inform them after a day or a week of bending and lifting and bending and lifting that they will not be getting out of bed that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-44-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A back view of a person in work clothes and a hat walking through a field of watermelons as workers harvest in the background on a tractor.\">\u003cfigcaption>A farmworker walks through a field where melons are harvested at a farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raul knows this land. He raised his kids in the farmland around the town of Firebaugh, 38 miles west of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/fresno\">Fresno\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He points to a grove of full-grown almond trees near the Del Bosque melon farm where he works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were putting in those trees when they were young, my first year,” Raul said in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the last two decades, Raul would drive north when the melon harvest ends to work in the vineyards and then the apple and cherry orchards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year is different, and Raul, who didn’t want his last name used in this story because he is in the country illegally, is not sure how much longer he can stay in the United States.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As this year’s harvest ends, the small Central Valley towns that rely on migrant or undocumented labor to survive are themselves forced to imagine the end of a way of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The worry here is the workers might not return next year, at least not in the numbers that sustain local economies and power the state’s \u003ca href=\"https://plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov/wordpress/?p=29277\">$60 billion agricultural industry\u003c/a>, which grows three-fourths of the fruits and nuts consumed in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump administration \u003c/a>has pledged to carry out the largest deportation program in American history. They have, so far, mostly left the agricultural industry alone. But Trump and his advisers \u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/08/trump-teased-a-solution-for-farmers-its-likely-not-coming-soon-00498932\">have wavered\u003c/a> on whether to protect farms from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/immigration\">immigration raids,\u003c/a> so the seasonal workers and their employers will have to wait and see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, what connects tiny truck stop towns and big cities of this part of the valley \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/03/immigration-raids-rumors/\">is fear\u003c/a>: of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/04/california-farmers-groundwater-probation-kings-county/\">tightened water allocations\u003c/a>, of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/08/california-european-wines-tariffs/\">market turbulence\u003c/a> and, this year, of immigration agents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Small farm towns in the Central Valley are similar in their seasonal economics to a beach town on the East Coast: Both swell in summer with a population boom, then dig in for a slow winter. Firebaugh City Manager Ben Gallegos said the town of 4,000 grows to 8,000 people in the summer, then empties out after the harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story plays out in the numbers, but already this year’s numbers tell a different tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-04-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of three watermelons growing on a vine in the middle of a field with the sun rising in the background, as workers pick in the far distance, just out of focus.\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-13-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A person holds up a watermelon after picking it from a field to put it on a conveyor belt while working in a watermelon field. The person has a slight shadow over their face to not show their identity.\">\u003c/figure>\u003cfigcaption>\u003cstrong>First: \u003c/strong>Melons in a field at a melon farm outside of Firebaugh. \u003cstrong>Last:\u003c/strong> A farmworker picks up a melon while harvesting at a melon farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photos by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the second quarter of the year, which runs from April 1 to June 30, total taxable transactions in Firebaugh were down 29% from the same quarter last year, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. In nearby Chowchilla, total taxable receipts are down 21% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People don’t want to shop or go out to eat, Gallegos said. The city of Firebaugh is staring down cuts to its police force, its parks and its senior center. In September, the appearance of county probation officers dressed in green fatigues caused waves of panicked Whatsapp texts. Some people went into hiding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The food bank in Firebaugh used to serve about 50 families. Today, at weekly distributions behind city hall, that number is up to 150. When it’s over, volunteers take the remaining food boxes to families who are too afraid to leave their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need those individuals to drive our community,” Gallegos said. “They’re the ones that eat at our local restaurants, they’re the ones that shop at our local stores. Without them, what do we do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-06-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A side view of field workers picking watermelons in a green field filled with vines behind a tractor pulling a conveyor belt. In the background are more green fields and a view of a semi-truck driving on a highway.\">\u003cfigcaption>Farmworkers harvest melons behind a tractor on a melon farm outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“They’re scared to come out \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/09/la-immigration-sweeps-supreme-court/\">because of the color of their skin\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raul and his crew of six pickers will have to choose, too. Will they come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Borrowed time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“My clients say this country’s not for them anymore,” said Fresno immigration attorney Jesus Ibañez, who works with farmworkers. “They feel like they’re on borrowed time here. That sentiment is not one I heard a lot one year ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The choices to stay or self-deport come down to money, but also the futures those farmworkers want for their children born in the United States, Ibañez said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Sometimes the choice is more complicated – the U.S. isn’t as safe for them as it was, but its school districts still offer things like mental health care and physical therapy that migrant workers fear they won’t get in their home countries. Balanced against that is the possibility of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/10/caregiver-deportation-california/\">one or both parents being deported\u003c/a>, leaving the children with no legal guardians in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statistically, it’s difficult to even know the number of farmworkers employed today, let alone how much the fear of deportation is affecting employment in the industry. In late October, Ag Alert, a publication of the California Farm Bureau, \u003ca href=\"https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/october-22-2025/farmworkers-set-fear-aside-to-pick-california-bounty/\">broke the news\u003c/a> that both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Labor canceled annual farmworker labor surveys. That means that, for the first time since the late 1980s, there is no federal documentation of farmworker hours, wages or demographics. Historically, \u003ca href=\"http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=63466\">about 40% of farmworkers\u003c/a> in the last decade were undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that more immigrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/08/21/key-findings-about-us-immigrants/?mod=ANLink\">left the country or were deported\u003c/a> this year than the number who arrived. If the trend holds until the end of the year, 2025 will be the first year since the 1960s that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/08/immigrant-population-declines/\">the population of immigrants in the U.S. falls\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Raul, the question of returning is simple. He will need to earn money so he can support his kids, so he plans on coming back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Que quisiera un padre? Raul said. “Quiere que sea lo mejor para los hijos.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>What would a father want? He wants what’s best for his children.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A town shaped by a river\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The road into Firebaugh rolls up and over a wash, next to the spot where Andrew Firebaugh founded a ferry across the San Joaquin River that became an important stop on stagecoach routes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river has always been what kept this town alive, first as an obstacle around which they built a settlement and later as the lifeblood of its farms and fields.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-38-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A water tower that reads “Firebaugh” on its side over a street in a small town, with vehicles driving by between local businesses.\">\u003cfigcaption>The water tower in Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Just outside of town, the pavement has fractured and buckled. The street signs are tiny and faded on the broad grid of roads bounded by fields that push right up to the street. You orient yourself with both cardinal directions and crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Prunus amygdalus\u003c/em>, also called almond trees, look like they’re raising their arms. \u003cem>Pistacia vera\u003c/em>, the pistachio tree, look like they’re shrugging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uncovered truck bed bins spill ripe red tomatoes on tight turns. Tractors with their tillers raised trundle slowly down the highway. On the side of the road bobs of lettuce heads peek out of the ground, followed by a massive pile of unhulled almonds, and then a series of palm trees, some very tall and some a little squat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425-Melon-Farm-Day-2-LV-13-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of two rows of trees growing crops in an agricultural field on a cloudy morning.\">\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425_Melon-Farm-Day-2_LV_CM_08-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A semi-truck carrying crops drives down the street during an early morning illuminated by the soft orange light of the sunrise.\">\u003c/figure>\u003cfigcaption>\u003cstrong>First:\u003c/strong> Rows of trees in an orchard outside of Firebaugh.\u003cstrong> Last:\u003c/strong> A truck carrying crops drives through farmland outside of Firebaugh in Fresno County on Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the corner of one of these roads, just before it meets the interstate, is the melon farm owned by Joe Del Bosque, Raul’s employer of 21 years. And the first thing people inclined to these kinds of questions will ask Del Bosque is why he hires undocumented labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He begins explaining his trouble hiring people on the federal H-2A visa, which permits employers to hire foreign seasonal workers. It’s not just that he has to pay them $3 more per hour, Del Bosque said. It’s that he must also pay for their transportation to and from the farm every day. He must pay for the rooms where they sleep and the food they eat. It is, he said, economically impossible to rely on the visa program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next suggestion is hiring local people. Del Bosque laughed and said he tried that. The locals made it a week, at the most, and then found some other way to make money that didn’t leave them sore all over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He knows that one day soon, he’ll likely have to turn over operations to the only family member active in the business, his son-in-law. But that’s only if there’s still a farm to hand over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have a lot of confidence that the future of our farm and a lot of farms is looking very good right now,” Del Bosque said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-30.jpg\" alt=\"A ground-level view of a man dressed in a cowboy hat and a button-down shirt standing in a watermelon field. The vines from the field are visible in the lower portion of the frame, with a part of a mountain range peaking out in the background and a blue sky as the backdrop.\">\u003cfigcaption>Joe Del Bosque, owner of Del Bosque Farms, stands in one of his melon fields as they are being harvested outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Labor is already sounding the alarm on losing farmworkers and the threat that poses to the nation’s food supply in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/02/2025-19365/adverse-effect-wage-rate-methodology-for-the-temporary-employment-of-h-2a-nonimmigrants-in-non-range\">notice in the Federal Register in October.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers,” the department said in a rule-making proposal that would allow employers to pay H-2A workers less than they are paying now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless the Department acts immediately to provide a source of stable and lawful labor, this threat will grow,” the notice said, citing the likelihood of enhanced immigration enforcement under the budget bill Trump signed earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those longer-term consequences in the labor market won’t be felt evenly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>This is Trump country\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fresno County and the rest of the Central Valley went for Trump in the 2024 election. Del Bosque calls himself a conservative, though he \u003ca href=\"https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=joe+del+bosque\">donates to both parties\u003c/a> – Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former President \u003ca href=\"https://obamaoralhistory.columbia.edu/interviews/joe-del-bosque\">Barack Obama\u003c/a> have both made public visits to his acreage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next to his farm – right up on the property line where everyone will see it – is a massive Trump 2024 sign, erected by his neighbor. No one driving to the Del Bosque Farm will miss it. Del Bosque laughs about it, but it’s also a reflection of how their differing crops help define their politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/091125-Melon-Farm-and-Kerman-LV-34-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A banner on a sign that reads “2024 TRUMP END THIS HELL SAVE AMERICA NOW” on the side of a country road next to a fence. In the background is a red barn on a ranch and a mountain range.\">\u003cfigcaption>A Trump sign posted on a neighboring property of Del Bosque Farms outside of Firebaugh on Sept. 11, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Del Bosque grows melons, which are labor intensive and require lots of people to work long hours. He supports an easier path to employment for undocumented workers. Next door, his neighbor grows almonds. They only require one person to drive a “shaker” to get the nuts out of the trees and another to operate the basket that catches them as they fall. His neighbor, whom CalMatters was unable to contact, doesn’t require much labor at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here’s the thing, not all farms are the same, not all farmers are the same,” Del Bosque said. “I’m concerned about these people. (The neighbor) is not concerned about that, because he has almonds. He manages his almonds with just him and one or two more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He can do his whole farm with two, three people. So this immigration (enforcement) does not affect him at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Author and Central Valley farmer David Mas Masumoto wrote about neighborly tension in his 1995 “Epitaph for a Peach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We depend on labor from Mexico, part of a seasonal flow of men and families. Many come here for the summer, return to Mexico during the slow winter months, and return the following year. They’re predominantly young men with the faces of boys. We’re dependent on their strong backs and quick hands. And they are hungry for work.…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This September, farmers drive down the road staring straight ahead, steering clear of a chance meeting with a competitor who was once a neighbor. Eyes avoid eyes, hands hesitate and refrain from waving. It’s an ugly September.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Politics out here can make it a whole ugly season.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Big and rapid change’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>What if they don’t come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a precedent for trying to understand that major of a disruption to our state’s economy and demographics,” said Liz Carlisle, an associate professor in the Environmental Studies Program at UC Santa Barbara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/092425-Melon-Farm-Day-2-LV-12-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A view of field workers walking in a line between rows of trees in an agricultural field and a country road. The workers are walking along power poles near the field as the sun rises in the background, casting a golden haze across the sky.\">\u003cfigcaption>Farmworkers walk past rows of trees on an orchard outside of Firebaugh in Fresno County on Sept. 24, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Something is changing in one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12060895/visiting-a-vineyard-to-see-how-the-bays-wine-industry-is-doing\">Wine grapes are going unharvested\u003c/a>, rotting in the fields, as exports to Canada collapsed under new tariffs and younger consumers started shying away from alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.siliconvalley.com/2025/01/28/california-groundwater-crisis-farms-fail/\">Land values are cratering\u003c/a> in places with limited water, leaving farmers in multi-million dollar debt. Water costs are skyrocketing in part because of a \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/programs/groundwater-management/sgma-groundwater-management\">2014 conservation law\u003c/a> that seeks to regulate years of agricultural over-pumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do think we’re looking at the potential of really big and rapid change to California’s agricultural sector and all of the workers and everything that touches the economy,” Carlisle said. “It’s kind of a perfect storm because you have major shifts in trade policy at the same time as you have major shifts in the workforce at the same time you have major shifts in climate and potential regulatory responses to those climate impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So that’s a lot of huge transformations for people in the agricultural sector to try to manage at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the problems were the usual problems: Five or six big storms clobbered the Central Valley with rain and hail, hitting young crops just as they were approaching maturity. But larger battles loom.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>During the first Trump administration, the labor market for Central Valley farmers tightened significantly, said California Fresh Fruits Association president Daniel Hartwig, when migration numbers plummeted and farms would lose workers to a neighboring operation that offered an extra 25 cents per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During this second go-round with Trump as president, those concerns seem almost archaic. Now, Hartwig said, he’ll spend a couple hours every week running down rumors of immigration enforcement: an unmarked white van in Madera County that turned out to belong to a carpet cleaning business; a cluster of cars outside a health clinic that turned out to be a local police operation; a shaky TikTok of unknown provenance showing men in green fatigues that sent farmworkers rushing back to their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you did let your imagination run wild, especially if you were undocumented, everywhere you look, around the corner, is somebody that you’re fearful is going to try and get you and deport you,” Hartwig said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now these towns in the lower basin of the Central Valley hunker down for an anxious winter, on the farms, at the food bank, in Firebaugh’s City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are dependent on so many factors out of their own control. Executive impulses in the White House. Cloud formations and wind speeds. Commodity prices set globally. Water prices set locally. And in the winter there is time to think and there is time to ask questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Will the federal government increase immigration enforcement at farms? Will it rain enough early in the season? Will it rain too much when the fruit is in the fields? Could there be a repeat of last year’s heat wave? Or this year’s storms? What if the water gets costlier? What if the commodities get cheaper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a question perhaps more crucial than any other: What if they don’t come back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: Author David Mas Masumoto is a member of the CalMatters board of director\u003c/em>s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/11/immigration-california-farms/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-state-found-red-flags-in-nursing-homes-but-licensed-them-anyway-4-things-to-know",
"title": "The State Found Red Flags in Nursing Homes But Licensed Them Anyway. 4 Things to Know",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065126/he-built-a-nursing-home-empire-despite-state-investigations-now-lawsuits-are-piling-up\">California nursing homes owned by Shlomo Rechnitz\u003c/a> and his companies has faced state scrutiny for years. Now, a series of recent lawsuits is bringing renewed attention to his companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say Rechnitz’ companies are Exhibit A in how regulators at the Department of Public Health are failing some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-oversight-nursing-homes/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> documented that the state Department of Public Health allowed Rechnitz and his companies to operate 18 nursing homes while delaying a decision on granting licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state had kept the license applications in a “pending” status for seven years after he acquired them. Rechnitz and his companies were allowed to continue operating five additional homes even after the state denied licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles entrepreneur Shlomo Rechnitz owns one of California’s largest nursing home chains. Several of the nursing homes are in court over patient allegations of neglect and negligence. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters. Source image: Sacramento Bee photo by Paul Kitagaki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/09/nursing-home-licensing-bill/\">signed a law\u003c/a> meant to address the issue, but state regulators in 2023 granted Rechnitz’ companies the licenses to operate the homes just before the measure took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are key takeaways from CalMatters’ most recent coverage:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newly licensed homes now subjects of patient lawsuits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several homes that received licenses in 2023 are now being sued by patients and their family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2024, a Los Angeles County jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26277158-jury-verdict/\">awarded $2.34 million\u003c/a> to an 84-year-old nursing home resident named Betsy Jentz, finding that Country Villa Wilshire had violated her rights on 132 occasions, at times leading to serious injuries.[aside postID=news_12064768 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/008_KQED_LagunaHondaHospital_01312023_qed.jpg']This coming February, a jury in Shasta County is scheduled to hear a case against Windsor Redding, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21069802-complaint-2/\">accused of negligence\u003c/a> in the 2020 COVID-19 deaths of 24 patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another upcoming case involves 78-year-old Barbara Pendley, who allegedly died after \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276972-pendley-complaint-fac-8-4-23/\">suffering severe dehydration\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284983-northpoint-answer/\">North Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre\u003c/a> in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And trial is scheduled to begin next spring in the case of a 79-year-old dementia patient, referred to as \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284981-answer-to-cheryl-doe/\">Cheryl Doe\u003c/a>, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276978-doe-complaint-2-2-24/\">allegedly raped twice \u003c/a>at Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland; a second case against the same facility alleges that \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276976-williams-complaint-6-26-24/\">excessive sedation\u003c/a> of 64-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284980-williams-defendants-answer-to-plaintiffs-complaint1455624141/\">Alando Williams\u003c/a> led to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rechnitz and his companies have denied allegations in all of these cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is accurate that nursing homes are the target of abusive lawsuits that accomplish nothing but depleting resources for patient care,” said Mark Johnson, an attorney for the facilities and their holding company, Brius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On average, more citations at Rechnitz homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters analysis of data from both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/CalHealthFind/Pages/Home.aspx\">state health department\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/4pq5-n9py\">federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services\u003c/a> found 78 California facilities in which Shlomo Rechnitz or his wife, Tamar, were listed among the owners. On average the facilities fared poorly on several key quality metrics compared to the state overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>In the past three years, these 78 nursing homes received an average of 12.4 citations for facility-reported incidents, compared with 6.1 for all nursing homes statewide.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A higher proportion of the facilities has received a federal fine in the last three years than the state’s overall rate. Two-thirds of these facilities received at least one federal fine in the last three years, compared to half of all facilities across the state.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The facilities have been fined an average of $47,897 during the last three years, compared to an average of $29,573 for all California facilities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Johnson, the attorney for Rechnitz’ facilities, said in his email that a large percentage of these facilities are located in Los Angeles County, which issues deficiencies at a higher rate than any county in California, many of which are overturned on appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said that “Mr. Rechnitz’s facilities self-report at a significantly higher rate than other comparable facilities,” which, in turn, could lead them to have a higher number of deficiencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rechnitz is wealthy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In August 2024, an Alameda County jury found that Alameda Healthcare & Wellness had violated the rights of 71-year-old James Doherty, Sr. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26092434-60650058-08-18-2025-special-verdict-form-1-from-jurors-v3/\">more than 1,400 times\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12064693 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/251115-DEADLY-LUNG-DISEASE-MD-01-KQED-1.jpg']That included seven instances in which staff failed to transport him, causing him to miss chemotherapy treatments, court documents said. Doherty died following the development of a large pressure sore. His family was awarded $7.6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another key revelation from that case: Rechnitz and his wife disclosed their net worth. According to financial documents filed in court, it comes to $786 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Chicotel, a senior staff attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that dollar figure hasn’t been divulged publicly before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least in some of these chains, the money that was meant to go for patient care is being stripped away and sent up top to the ownership,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Advocates say the state is not doing its job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say the state Department of Public Health could push for greater accountability, including withholding licenses from owners they deem to be bad actors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy York, a Sacramento attorney specializing in nursing home abuse, said that watching elderly and disabled residents repeatedly suffer the same types of injuries in these facilities “feels like a broken record. It feels like Groundhog Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are “government agencies who are responsible for their oversight,” York said, but “at the end of the day, it feels like we’re the ones who are doing the enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Public Health spokesman Mark Smith said in an emailed statement that the department “remains committed to transparency and accountability for all providers, and to the health and safety of all nursing home residents in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2025/11/nursing-home-takeaways/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "CalMatters recently reported on a cluster of lawsuits against nursing homes owned by Los Angeles entrepreneur Shlomo Rechnitz. Here are takeaways from our special report.\r\n\r\n",
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"title": "The State Found Red Flags in Nursing Homes But Licensed Them Anyway. 4 Things to Know | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12065126/he-built-a-nursing-home-empire-despite-state-investigations-now-lawsuits-are-piling-up\">California nursing homes owned by Shlomo Rechnitz\u003c/a> and his companies has faced state scrutiny for years. Now, a series of recent lawsuits is bringing renewed attention to his companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say Rechnitz’ companies are Exhibit A in how regulators at the Department of Public Health are failing some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-oversight-nursing-homes/\">CalMatters investigation\u003c/a> documented that the state Department of Public Health allowed Rechnitz and his companies to operate 18 nursing homes while delaying a decision on granting licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state had kept the license applications in a “pending” status for seven years after he acquired them. Rechnitz and his companies were allowed to continue operating five additional homes even after the state denied licenses to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12065130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12065130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/Shlomo-Rechnitz_AH_CM_01-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Angeles entrepreneur Shlomo Rechnitz owns one of California’s largest nursing home chains. Several of the nursing homes are in court over patient allegations of neglect and negligence. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters. Source image: Sacramento Bee photo by Paul Kitagaki)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/09/nursing-home-licensing-bill/\">signed a law\u003c/a> meant to address the issue, but state regulators in 2023 granted Rechnitz’ companies the licenses to operate the homes just before the measure took effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are key takeaways from CalMatters’ most recent coverage:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Newly licensed homes now subjects of patient lawsuits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several homes that received licenses in 2023 are now being sued by patients and their family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In February 2024, a Los Angeles County jury \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26277158-jury-verdict/\">awarded $2.34 million\u003c/a> to an 84-year-old nursing home resident named Betsy Jentz, finding that Country Villa Wilshire had violated her rights on 132 occasions, at times leading to serious injuries.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This coming February, a jury in Shasta County is scheduled to hear a case against Windsor Redding, which is \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21069802-complaint-2/\">accused of negligence\u003c/a> in the 2020 COVID-19 deaths of 24 patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another upcoming case involves 78-year-old Barbara Pendley, who allegedly died after \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276972-pendley-complaint-fac-8-4-23/\">suffering severe dehydration\u003c/a> at \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284983-northpoint-answer/\">North Point Healthcare & Wellness Centre\u003c/a> in Fresno.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And trial is scheduled to begin next spring in the case of a 79-year-old dementia patient, referred to as \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284981-answer-to-cheryl-doe/\">Cheryl Doe\u003c/a>, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276978-doe-complaint-2-2-24/\">allegedly raped twice \u003c/a>at Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland; a second case against the same facility alleges that \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26276976-williams-complaint-6-26-24/\">excessive sedation\u003c/a> of 64-year-old \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26284980-williams-defendants-answer-to-plaintiffs-complaint1455624141/\">Alando Williams\u003c/a> led to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rechnitz and his companies have denied allegations in all of these cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is accurate that nursing homes are the target of abusive lawsuits that accomplish nothing but depleting resources for patient care,” said Mark Johnson, an attorney for the facilities and their holding company, Brius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On average, more citations at Rechnitz homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A CalMatters analysis of data from both the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHCQ/LCP/CalHealthFind/Pages/Home.aspx\">state health department\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/4pq5-n9py\">federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services\u003c/a> found 78 California facilities in which Shlomo Rechnitz or his wife, Tamar, were listed among the owners. On average the facilities fared poorly on several key quality metrics compared to the state overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>In the past three years, these 78 nursing homes received an average of 12.4 citations for facility-reported incidents, compared with 6.1 for all nursing homes statewide.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A higher proportion of the facilities has received a federal fine in the last three years than the state’s overall rate. Two-thirds of these facilities received at least one federal fine in the last three years, compared to half of all facilities across the state.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The facilities have been fined an average of $47,897 during the last three years, compared to an average of $29,573 for all California facilities.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Johnson, the attorney for Rechnitz’ facilities, said in his email that a large percentage of these facilities are located in Los Angeles County, which issues deficiencies at a higher rate than any county in California, many of which are overturned on appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said that “Mr. Rechnitz’s facilities self-report at a significantly higher rate than other comparable facilities,” which, in turn, could lead them to have a higher number of deficiencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Rechnitz is wealthy\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In August 2024, an Alameda County jury found that Alameda Healthcare & Wellness had violated the rights of 71-year-old James Doherty, Sr. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26092434-60650058-08-18-2025-special-verdict-form-1-from-jurors-v3/\">more than 1,400 times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That included seven instances in which staff failed to transport him, causing him to miss chemotherapy treatments, court documents said. Doherty died following the development of a large pressure sore. His family was awarded $7.6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another key revelation from that case: Rechnitz and his wife disclosed their net worth. According to financial documents filed in court, it comes to $786 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Chicotel, a senior staff attorney for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said that dollar figure hasn’t been divulged publicly before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At least in some of these chains, the money that was meant to go for patient care is being stripped away and sent up top to the ownership,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Advocates say the state is not doing its job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elder care advocates say the state Department of Public Health could push for greater accountability, including withholding licenses from owners they deem to be bad actors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy York, a Sacramento attorney specializing in nursing home abuse, said that watching elderly and disabled residents repeatedly suffer the same types of injuries in these facilities “feels like a broken record. It feels like Groundhog Day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are “government agencies who are responsible for their oversight,” York said, but “at the end of the day, it feels like we’re the ones who are doing the enforcement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Public Health spokesman Mark Smith said in an emailed statement that the department “remains committed to transparency and accountability for all providers, and to the health and safety of all nursing home residents in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2025/11/nursing-home-takeaways/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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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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"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.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"info": "Inside Europe, a one-hour weekly news magazine hosted by Helen Seeney and Keith Walker, explores the topical issues shaping the continent. No other part of the globe has experienced such dynamic political and social change in recent years.",
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"live-from-here-highlights": {
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"title": "Live from Here Highlights",
"info": "Chris Thile steps to the mic as the host of Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion), a live public radio variety show. Download Chris’s Song of the Week plus other highlights from the broadcast. Produced by American Public Media.",
"airtime": "SAT 6pm-8pm, SUN 11am-1pm",
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"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/live-from-here-highlights",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/a-prairie-home-companion-highlights/rss/rss"
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 12
},
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"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",
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"our-body-politic": {
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"title": "Our Body Politic",
"info": "Presented by KQED, KCRW and KPCC, and created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they’re impacting those very issues.",
"airtime": "SAT 6pm-7pm, SUN 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Our-Body-Politic-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/our-body-politic",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9feGFQaHMxcw",
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},
"perspectives": {
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"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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