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The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1457771/dl\">report\u003c/a> released Thursday, investigators said they found an “unbroken pattern” of staff sexual assault dating back over 20 years at California’s two women’s prisons. The department concluded that prison officials knew women faced a substantial risk of sexual abuse but failed to adequately protect them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Investigators pointed to gaps in surveillance camera coverage, a lack of confidential reporting options, inadequate investigations and failures to hold staff accountable — systemic problems the DOJ said amount to “deliberate indifference” and violate incarcerated women’s constitutional rights.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of this should be surprising to CDCR [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation], none of it should be surprising to the Legislature,” said Amika Mota, executive director of the prison advocacy organization Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition. Survivors have spent years speaking out at “hearings, in town halls, in reports,” she said, trying to get officials to address sexual abuse by prison staff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>State prison officials say they have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault by staff, and that they have taken steps to improve reporting options and expand the use of cameras. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Young said those reforms have not fixed the underlying problems. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Women were not being protected,” Young said in an interview with KQED. “It was the cycle that’s continuing to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the prison in Chowchilla, federal investigators found blind spots around its Plant Operations area and in prison kitchens. Women at both prisons told investigators that kitchen storage rooms without cameras are known as “sugar rooms,” because sugar is stored there and because sexual activity can occur there without detection. Investigators also found abandoned buildings where abuse had occurred.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090738\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Officers lead an incarcerated woman through a Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Things like that were extremely concerning,” Young said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report also found correctional officers failed to properly use body-worn cameras, at times turning them off in violation of prison policy. The report pointed out that only correctional officers are required to wear body cameras, despite confirmed cases of sexual misconduct by other staff, including a cook, mental health counselor and work-program staff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report details several cases where the state confirmed allegations of sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022075/former-guard-california-womens-prison-found-guilty-59-counts-sexual-abuse\">accused of sexually abusing\u003c/a> dozens of women at CCWF over a decade. California’s corrections department substantiated allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with 21 incarcerated women. Federal investigators said they became aware of more than 65 alleged victims of Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some women reported that Rodriguez assaulted them in a parole hearing room that did not have cameras. In 2023, the Madera County district attorney charged Rodriguez with 97 criminal counts involving 13 women. He was convicted last year on 64 counts and sentenced to 224 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the California Institution for Women, the report points to cases dating back more than a decade, including correctional officers who were convicted or disciplined for sexually abusing incarcerated women.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The hundreds of allegations reviewed by federal investigators likely capture only a portion of the abuse, according to Mota. While she said reporting increased in recent years as more survivors began speaking out, many cases still go unreported for fear of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090742\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Officers escort an incarcerated woman through a yard at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026, the largest women’s correctional facility in the state. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report underscored those fears, finding that the system meant to allow incarcerated women to report sexual assault was not truly confidential. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Written grievances, known as 602s, are scanned into an online system accessible to staff at the prisons. In one case, CDCR found that an officer improperly accessed the files of 11 incarcerated women. Nine had accused him of sexual misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Women described officers issuing disciplinary violations, searching their cells, taking their property and restricting privileges after complaints were made. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some women said they waited until they were released, transferred to another prison or retained an attorney before reporting alleged abuse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The federal report also concluded that an August 2024 mass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004368/like-a-war-zone-prison-officers-used-unprecedented-force-in-august-attack-incarcerated-women-say\">use-of-force incident\u003c/a> at CCWF was retaliation for women reporting staff sexual abuse. Young said DOJ investigators spent significant time interviewing women and reviewing files related to the incident, which resulted in injuries ranging from seizures to blindness. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>CDCR reached a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077737/california-agrees-to-1-9m-settlement-in-prison-use-of-force-case\">$1.9 million settlement \u003c/a>in April with 13 women injured during the incident. Its investigators imposed termination, retraining and other corrective actions after concluding that 41 employees violated department policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal investigators found cases in which potential DNA evidence wasn’t tested, accused staff or witnesses weren’t interviewed, and investigations stretched on for months or even years. In one case, the investigation took so long that CDCR missed its one-year deadline to discipline the officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090737\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And the state’s Office of the Inspector General of prisons found that 86% of CDCR disciplinary and criminal investigations reviewed during the first half of 2025 were either “inadequate” or “needs improvement,” according to the report. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Young said investigators found that, even when women made credible allegations of sexual abuse, investigations could stall for over a year and sometimes ended without substantiation of the allegations, even when parts of their accounts were corroborated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a written statement, CDCR said it takes “every allegation seriously” and “remains dedicated to ensuring accountability, strengthening protections, and maintaining institutions that ensure the personal safety of all individuals.” The department also cited audits under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which found both prisons met all 45 standards evaluated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Justice Department is requiring California to better protect prisoners from staff sexual abuse by expanding camera coverage, requiring broader use of body-worn cameras, establishing confidential reporting options independent of the agency, and strengthening investigations and protections against retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The state must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said in a statement. “This report should serve as a turning point.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090741\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An officer speaks with an incarcerated woman in a wheelchair at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026, the largest women’s correctional facility in the state. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>CDCR said in a statement the agency looks forward to working with the DOJ “regarding their recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The DOJ also called for penalties, including possible termination, for staff who improperly share information about grievances, and meaningful consequences for staff found to have retaliated against people who report sexual abuse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department said the U.S. attorney general could sue the state in 49 days if California fails to act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Antoinette Yancey, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility, said she hopes the federal findings lead to real accountability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Some of us are in here for far less than what has been done to us, doing life sentences and decades’ worth of time, while we’re also being preyed upon,” Yancey said. “And it’s just not fair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was possible in part by funding from the Poynter Institute.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-civil-rights-investigation-correctional-staff-sexual-abuse-two\">began\u003c/a> investigating the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino nearly two years ago after hundreds of incarcerated women \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003230/feds-investigate-california-prisons-where-women-say-culture-of-impunity-surrounded-abuse\">filed legal claims\u003c/a> alleging sexual exploitation by staff and an officer was \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2022/12/28/cdcr-refers-internal-investigation-into-former-correctional-officer-to-district-attorney-for-charges-of-sexual-misconduct-of-incarcerated-women/\">arrested\u003c/a> for sexually abusing at least 22 women. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“None of this should be surprising to CDCR [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation], none of it should be surprising to the Legislature,” said Amika Mota, executive director of the prison advocacy organization Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition. Survivors have spent years speaking out at “hearings, in town halls, in reports,” she said, trying to get officials to address sexual abuse by prison staff.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State prison officials say they have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault by staff, and that they have taken steps to improve reporting options and expand the use of cameras. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Young said those reforms have not fixed the underlying problems. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Women were not being protected,” Young said in an interview with KQED. “It was the cycle that’s continuing to happen.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the prison in Chowchilla, federal investigators found blind spots around its Plant Operations area and in prison kitchens. Women at both prisons told investigators that kitchen storage rooms without cameras are known as “sugar rooms,” because sugar is stored there and because sexual activity can occur there without detection. Investigators also found abandoned buildings where abuse had occurred.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Things like that were extremely concerning,” Young said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The report also found correctional officers failed to properly use body-worn cameras, at times turning them off in violation of prison policy. The report pointed out that only correctional officers are required to wear body cameras, despite confirmed cases of sexual misconduct by other staff, including a cook, mental health counselor and work-program staff.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The report details several cases where the state confirmed allegations of sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022075/former-guard-california-womens-prison-found-guilty-59-counts-sexual-abuse\">accused of sexually abusing\u003c/a> dozens of women at CCWF over a decade. California’s corrections department substantiated allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with 21 incarcerated women. Federal investigators said they became aware of more than 65 alleged victims of Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022075/former-guard-california-womens-prison-found-guilty-59-counts-sexual-abuse\">accused of sexually abusing\u003c/a> dozens of women at CCWF over a decade. California’s corrections department substantiated allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with 21 incarcerated women. Federal investigators said they became aware of more than 65 alleged victims of Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some women reported that Rodriguez assaulted them in a parole hearing room that did not have cameras. In 2023, the Madera County district attorney charged Rodriguez with 97 criminal counts involving 13 women. He was convicted last year on 64 counts and sentenced to 224 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Some women reported that Rodriguez assaulted them in a parole hearing room that did not have cameras. In 2023, the Madera County district attorney charged Rodriguez with 97 criminal counts involving 13 women. He was convicted last year on 64 counts and sentenced to 224 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the California Institution for Women, the report points to cases dating back more than a decade, including correctional officers who were convicted or disciplined for sexually abusing incarcerated women.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The hundreds of allegations reviewed by federal investigators likely capture only a portion of the abuse, according to Mota. While she said reporting increased in recent years as more survivors began speaking out, many cases still go unreported for fear of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The report underscored those fears, finding that the system meant to allow incarcerated women to report sexual assault was not truly confidential. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Written grievances, known as 602s, are scanned into an online system accessible to staff at the prisons. In one case, CDCR found that an officer improperly accessed the files of 11 incarcerated women. Nine had accused him of sexual misconduct.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Written grievances, known as 602s, are scanned into an online system accessible to staff at the prisons. In one case, CDCR found that an officer improperly accessed the files of 11 incarcerated women. Nine had accused him of sexual misconduct.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Women described officers issuing disciplinary violations, searching their cells, taking their property and restricting privileges after complaints were made. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Some women said they waited until they were released, transferred to another prison or retained an attorney before reporting alleged abuse. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The federal report also concluded that an August 2024 mass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004368/like-a-war-zone-prison-officers-used-unprecedented-force-in-august-attack-incarcerated-women-say\">use-of-force incident\u003c/a> at CCWF was retaliation for women reporting staff sexual abuse. Young said DOJ investigators spent significant time interviewing women and reviewing files related to the incident, which resulted in injuries ranging from seizures to blindness. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>CDCR reached a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077737/california-agrees-to-1-9m-settlement-in-prison-use-of-force-case\">$1.9 million settlement \u003c/a>in April with 13 women injured during the incident. Its investigators imposed termination, retraining and other corrective actions after concluding that 41 employees violated department policy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>CDCR reached a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077737/california-agrees-to-1-9m-settlement-in-prison-use-of-force-case\">$1.9 million settlement \u003c/a>in April with 13 women injured during the incident. Its investigators imposed termination, retraining and other corrective actions after concluding that 41 employees violated department policy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Federal investigators found cases in which potential DNA evidence wasn’t tested, accused staff or witnesses weren’t interviewed, and investigations stretched on for months or even years. In one case, the investigation took so long that CDCR missed its one-year deadline to discipline the officer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Federal investigators found cases in which potential DNA evidence wasn’t tested, accused staff or witnesses weren’t interviewed, and investigations stretched on for months or even years. In one case, the investigation took so long that CDCR missed its one-year deadline to discipline the officer. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090737\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Young said investigators found that, even when women made credible allegations of sexual abuse, investigations could stall for over a year and sometimes ended without substantiation of the allegations, even when parts of their accounts were corroborated.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a written statement, CDCR said it takes “every allegation seriously” and “remains dedicated to ensuring accountability, strengthening protections, and maintaining institutions that ensure the personal safety of all individuals.” The department also cited audits under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which found both prisons met all 45 standards evaluated.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Justice Department is requiring California to better protect prisoners from staff sexual abuse by expanding camera coverage, requiring broader use of body-worn cameras, establishing confidential reporting options independent of the agency, and strengthening investigations and protections against retaliation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The state must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said in a statement. “This report should serve as a turning point.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090741\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An officer speaks with an incarcerated woman in a wheelchair at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026, the largest women’s correctional facility in the state.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>CDCR said in a statement the agency looks forward to working with the DOJ “regarding their recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The DOJ also called for penalties, including possible termination, for staff who improperly share information about grievances, and meaningful consequences for staff found to have retaliated against people who report sexual abuse.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The department said the U.S. attorney general could sue the state in 49 days if California fails to act.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Antoinette Yancey, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility, said she hopes the federal findings lead to real accountability.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Some of us are in here for far less than what has been done to us, doing life sentences and decades’ worth of time, while we’re also being preyed upon,” Yancey said. “And it’s just not fair.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was possible in part by funding from the Poynter Institute.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A two-year federal investigation found decades of staff sexual abuse against incarcerated women at the state’s correctional facilities.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12079668/i-thought-i-was-going-to-die-video-shows-mass-force-at-california-womens-prison\">California prison officials\u003c/a> have failed to protect incarcerated women from sexual abuse and harassment by staff for years, the U.S. Department of Justice \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-california-womens-prisons-violate-constitution-failing-protect\">said\u003c/a> in a new report.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Justice Department \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-civil-rights-investigation-correctional-staff-sexual-abuse-two\">began\u003c/a> investigating the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino nearly two years ago after hundreds of incarcerated women \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003230/feds-investigate-california-prisons-where-women-say-culture-of-impunity-surrounded-abuse\">filed legal claims\u003c/a> alleging sexual exploitation by staff and an officer was \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/news/2022/12/28/cdcr-refers-internal-investigation-into-former-correctional-officer-to-district-attorney-for-charges-of-sexual-misconduct-of-incarcerated-women/\">arrested\u003c/a> for sexually abusing at least 22 women. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department reviewed 350 allegations of sexual misconduct, interviewed prisoners and looked at body-worn camera footage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-31-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090739\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-31-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-31-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-31-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1457771/dl\">report\u003c/a> released Thursday, investigators said they found an “unbroken pattern” of staff sexual assault dating back over 20 years at California’s two women’s prisons. The department concluded that prison officials knew women faced a substantial risk of sexual abuse but failed to adequately protect them. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Investigators pointed to gaps in surveillance camera coverage, a lack of confidential reporting options, inadequate investigations and failures to hold staff accountable — systemic problems the DOJ said amount to “deliberate indifference” and violate incarcerated women’s constitutional rights.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of this should be surprising to CDCR [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation], none of it should be surprising to the Legislature,” said Amika Mota, executive director of the prison advocacy organization Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition. Survivors have spent years speaking out at “hearings, in town halls, in reports,” she said, trying to get officials to address sexual abuse by prison staff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>State prison officials say they have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault by staff, and that they have taken steps to improve reporting options and expand the use of cameras. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Young said those reforms have not fixed the underlying problems. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Women were not being protected,” Young said in an interview with KQED. “It was the cycle that’s continuing to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the prison in Chowchilla, federal investigators found blind spots around its Plant Operations area and in prison kitchens. Women at both prisons told investigators that kitchen storage rooms without cameras are known as “sugar rooms,” because sugar is stored there and because sexual activity can occur there without detection. Investigators also found abandoned buildings where abuse had occurred.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090738\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-23-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Officers lead an incarcerated woman through a Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Things like that were extremely concerning,” Young said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report also found correctional officers failed to properly use body-worn cameras, at times turning them off in violation of prison policy. The report pointed out that only correctional officers are required to wear body cameras, despite confirmed cases of sexual misconduct by other staff, including a cook, mental health counselor and work-program staff.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report details several cases where the state confirmed allegations of sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Former correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022075/former-guard-california-womens-prison-found-guilty-59-counts-sexual-abuse\">accused of sexually abusing\u003c/a> dozens of women at CCWF over a decade. California’s corrections department substantiated allegations that he engaged in sexual acts with 21 incarcerated women. Federal investigators said they became aware of more than 65 alleged victims of Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some women reported that Rodriguez assaulted them in a parole hearing room that did not have cameras. In 2023, the Madera County district attorney charged Rodriguez with 97 criminal counts involving 13 women. He was convicted last year on 64 counts and sentenced to 224 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the California Institution for Women, the report points to cases dating back more than a decade, including correctional officers who were convicted or disciplined for sexually abusing incarcerated women.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The hundreds of allegations reviewed by federal investigators likely capture only a portion of the abuse, according to Mota. While she said reporting increased in recent years as more survivors began speaking out, many cases still go unreported for fear of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090742\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-73-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Officers escort an incarcerated woman through a yard at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026, the largest women’s correctional facility in the state. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The report underscored those fears, finding that the system meant to allow incarcerated women to report sexual assault was not truly confidential. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Written grievances, known as 602s, are scanned into an online system accessible to staff at the prisons. In one case, CDCR found that an officer improperly accessed the files of 11 incarcerated women. Nine had accused him of sexual misconduct.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Women described officers issuing disciplinary violations, searching their cells, taking their property and restricting privileges after complaints were made. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Some women said they waited until they were released, transferred to another prison or retained an attorney before reporting alleged abuse. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The federal report also concluded that an August 2024 mass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12004368/like-a-war-zone-prison-officers-used-unprecedented-force-in-august-attack-incarcerated-women-say\">use-of-force incident\u003c/a> at CCWF was retaliation for women reporting staff sexual abuse. Young said DOJ investigators spent significant time interviewing women and reviewing files related to the incident, which resulted in injuries ranging from seizures to blindness. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>CDCR reached a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12077737/california-agrees-to-1-9m-settlement-in-prison-use-of-force-case\">$1.9 million settlement \u003c/a>in April with 13 women injured during the incident. Its investigators imposed termination, retraining and other corrective actions after concluding that 41 employees violated department policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Federal investigators found cases in which potential DNA evidence wasn’t tested, accused staff or witnesses weren’t interviewed, and investigations stretched on for months or even years. In one case, the investigation took so long that CDCR missed its one-year deadline to discipline the officer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090737\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Receiving and Release (R&R) yard at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026. The prison is the largest women’s correctional facility in California, and the R&R yard is used to process incarcerated people entering and leaving the facility. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And the state’s Office of the Inspector General of prisons found that 86% of CDCR disciplinary and criminal investigations reviewed during the first half of 2025 were either “inadequate” or “needs improvement,” according to the report. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Young said investigators found that, even when women made credible allegations of sexual abuse, investigations could stall for over a year and sometimes ended without substantiation of the allegations, even when parts of their accounts were corroborated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a written statement, CDCR said it takes “every allegation seriously” and “remains dedicated to ensuring accountability, strengthening protections, and maintaining institutions that ensure the personal safety of all individuals.” The department also cited audits under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which found both prisons met all 45 standards evaluated.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Justice Department is requiring California to better protect prisoners from staff sexual abuse by expanding camera coverage, requiring broader use of body-worn cameras, establishing confidential reporting options independent of the agency, and strengthening investigations and protections against retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The state must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said in a statement. “This report should serve as a turning point.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12090741\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/07/260630-CCWFTOUR-60-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An officer speaks with an incarcerated woman in a wheelchair at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on June 30, 2026, the largest women’s correctional facility in the state. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>CDCR said in a statement the agency looks forward to working with the DOJ “regarding their recommendations.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The DOJ also called for penalties, including possible termination, for staff who improperly share information about grievances, and meaningful consequences for staff found to have retaliated against people who report sexual abuse.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The department said the U.S. attorney general could sue the state in 49 days if California fails to act.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Antoinette Yancey, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility, said she hopes the federal findings lead to real accountability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Some of us are in here for far less than what has been done to us, doing life sentences and decades’ worth of time, while we’re also being preyed upon,” Yancey said. “And it’s just not fair.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This reporting was possible in part by funding from the Poynter Institute.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-billionaire-tax-has-strong-support-of-democratic-voters-new-poll-shows",
"title": "California Billionaire Tax Has Strong Support of Democratic Voters, New Poll Shows",
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"headTitle": "California Billionaire Tax Has Strong Support of Democratic Voters, New Poll Shows | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California Democrats are strongly backing a proposal to levy a one-time \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">tax on billionaires\u003c/a> and opposing a measure that would require voters to present ID at the ballot box, according to a new UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Among the overall likely November electorate, the tax measure labeled Proposition 40 holds a narrow lead, 48% to 41%, the survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies found. Opinions about the proposed 5% tax on billionaires’ overall wealth — which would be used to backfill cuts to federal healthcare funding — were highly partisan: 70% of Democrats say they’ll back it, with 80% of Republicans opposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Voters with no party preference were more evenly split, with 50% saying they’ll vote yes and 39% saying they’ll vote no. Overall, 11% of likely voters told IGS pollsters they are still undecided. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A T-shirt with a campaign message is seen before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026. Sanders is seeking the support of California voters for a November ballot initiative of an emergency tax on billionaires to help the state’s healthcare system. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though the poll suggests strong support for the billionaire tax among Democratic voters, the measure has split the party’s political establishment. It narrowly won the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093726/california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom\">endorsement of the California Democratic Party\u003c/a> and is backed by the healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW West, but it is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and some labor unions, in addition to a group of billionaires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>IGS co-director Eric Schickler said the survey indicates that Proposition 40’s backers will need to rely on more liberal voters to succeed in passing the tax.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These results suggest that the billionaires tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state’s traditionally Democratic-leaning voters,” Schickler said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schickler said voter opinions on Proposition 39, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081404/voter-id-initiative-qualifies-for-californias-november-election\">voter ID measure\u003c/a> put on the ballot by state Republicans, are even more partisan and ideological, with 80% of Democrats opposed and 93% of Republicans in favor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure is trailing in the poll, with 51% of likely voters saying they will vote against it and 42% in support. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 39 would require voters to show a government-issued ID if they vote in person, or write the last four digits of an ID on a mail-in ballot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schickler said opponents of that initiative “have already started to solidify making it a more typical Democratic-Republican fight, in which Democrats in California generally hold the advantage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Given Democrats’ strong registration advantage in California, it may be difficult for Republicans to close that gap: Just 7% of likely voters told IGS they don’t yet know how they will vote on the voter ID measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The poll also asked likely voters about two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088883/california-billionaire-tax-november-ballot-measures\">other ballot measures\u003c/a>, authored by a group of billionaires who oppose the wealth tax, that are aimed at nullifying the billionaire tax if it passes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 41 would prohibit new taxes enacted after Jan. 1 of this year — when Proposition 40 would retroactively take effect; Proposition 42 would prohibit both wealth taxes like Proposition 40 and any retroactive taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1322\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. Healthcare workers and allies outlined the next steps in their effort to get California’s Billionaire Tax on the ballot for the November election, with their efforts already exceeding 1,500,000 signatures collected from across the state. The initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both measures were written so they would supersede Proposition 40 if they receive more votes than the billionaire wealth tax. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>IGS found likely voters had no clear consensus around the measures, and that many had never heard of them. That’s in contrast to the proposed billionaire tax, which more than 70% of likely voters are aware of despite the fact that the campaigns for and against it have not yet kicked off in earnest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted online in English and Spanish from Aug. 3 to Aug. 9 among 4,207 registered voters; a sample of 2,310 were considered likely voters in the November general election.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Among the overall likely November electorate, the tax measure labeled Proposition 40 holds a narrow lead, 48% to 41%, the survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies found. Opinions about the proposed 5% tax on billionaires’ overall wealth — which would be used to backfill cuts to federal healthcare funding — were highly partisan: 70% of Democrats say they’ll back it, with 80% of Republicans opposed. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Among the overall likely November electorate, the tax measure labeled Proposition 40 holds a narrow lead, 48% to 41%, the survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies found. Opinions about the proposed 5% tax on billionaires’ overall wealth — which would be used to backfill cuts to federal healthcare funding — were highly partisan: 70% of Democrats say they’ll back it, with 80% of Republicans opposed. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Voters with no party preference were more evenly split, with 50% saying they’ll vote yes and 39% saying they’ll vote no. Overall, 11% of likely voters told IGS pollsters they are still undecided. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Voters with no party preference were more evenly split, with 50% saying they’ll vote yes and 39% saying they’ll vote no. Overall, 11% of likely voters told IGS pollsters they are still undecided. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A T-shirt with a campaign message is seen before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026. Sanders is seeking the support of California voters for a November ballot initiative of an emergency tax on billionaires to help the state’s healthcare system.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093728\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A T-shirt with a campaign message is seen before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026. Sanders is seeking the support of California voters for a November ballot initiative of an emergency tax on billionaires to help the state’s healthcare system.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Though the poll suggests strong support for the billionaire tax among Democratic voters, the measure has split the party’s political establishment. It narrowly won the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093726/california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom\">endorsement of the California Democratic Party\u003c/a> and is backed by the healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW West, but it is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and some labor unions, in addition to a group of billionaires. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Though the poll suggests strong support for the billionaire tax among Democratic voters, the measure has split the party’s political establishment. It narrowly won the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093726/california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom\">endorsement of the California Democratic Party\u003c/a> and is backed by the healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW West, but it is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and some labor unions, in addition to a group of billionaires. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>IGS co-director Eric Schickler said the survey indicates that Proposition 40’s backers will need to rely on more liberal voters to succeed in passing the tax.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“These results suggest that the billionaires tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state’s traditionally Democratic-leaning voters,” Schickler said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“These results suggest that the billionaires tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state’s traditionally Democratic-leaning voters,” Schickler said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Schickler said voter opinions on Proposition 39, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081404/voter-id-initiative-qualifies-for-californias-november-election\">voter ID measure\u003c/a> put on the ballot by state Republicans, are even more partisan and ideological, with 80% of Democrats opposed and 93% of Republicans in favor. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Schickler said voter opinions on Proposition 39, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081404/voter-id-initiative-qualifies-for-californias-november-election\">voter ID measure\u003c/a> put on the ballot by state Republicans, are even more partisan and ideological, with 80% of Democrats opposed and 93% of Republicans in favor. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The measure is trailing in the poll, with 51% of likely voters saying they will vote against it and 42% in support. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The measure is trailing in the poll, with 51% of likely voters saying they will vote against it and 42% in support. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Proposition 39 would require voters to show a government-issued ID if they vote in person, or write the last four digits of an ID on a mail-in ballot. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Schickler said opponents of that initiative “have already started to solidify making it a more typical Democratic-Republican fight, in which Democrats in California generally hold the advantage.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Schickler said opponents of that initiative “have already started to solidify making it a more typical Democratic-Republican fight, in which Democrats in California generally hold the advantage.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Given Democrats’ strong registration advantage in California, it may be difficult for Republicans to close that gap: Just 7% of likely voters told IGS they don’t yet know how they will vote on the voter ID measure. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Given Democrats’ strong registration advantage in California, it may be difficult for Republicans to close that gap: Just 7% of likely voters told IGS they don’t yet know how they will vote on the voter ID measure. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The poll also asked likely voters about two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088883/california-billionaire-tax-november-ballot-measures\">other ballot measures\u003c/a>, authored by a group of billionaires who oppose the wealth tax, that are aimed at nullifying the billionaire tax if it passes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The poll also asked likely voters about two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088883/california-billionaire-tax-november-ballot-measures\">other ballot measures\u003c/a>, authored by a group of billionaires who oppose the wealth tax, that are aimed at nullifying the billionaire tax if it passes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Proposition 41 would prohibit new taxes enacted after Jan. 1 of this year — when Proposition 40 would retroactively take effect; Proposition 42 would prohibit both wealth taxes like Proposition 40 and any retroactive taxes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Proposition 41 would prohibit new taxes enacted after Jan. 1 of this year — when Proposition 40 would retroactively take effect; Proposition 42 would prohibit both wealth taxes like Proposition 40 and any retroactive taxes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-1536x1015.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. Healthcare workers and allies outlined the next steps in their effort to get California’s Billionaire Tax on the ballot for the November election, with their efforts already exceeding 1,500,000 signatures collected from across the state. The initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081506\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. Healthcare workers and allies outlined the next steps in their effort to get California’s Billionaire Tax on the ballot for the November election, with their efforts already exceeding 1,500,000 signatures collected from across the state. The initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Both measures were written so they would supersede Proposition 40 if they receive more votes than the billionaire wealth tax. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>IGS found likely voters had no clear consensus around the measures, and that many had never heard of them. That’s in contrast to the proposed billionaire tax, which more than 70% of likely voters are aware of despite the fact that the campaigns for and against it have not yet kicked off in earnest. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>IGS found likely voters had no clear consensus around the measures, and that many had never heard of them. That’s in contrast to the proposed billionaire tax, which more than 70% of likely voters are aware of despite the fact that the campaigns for and against it have not yet kicked off in earnest. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted online in English and Spanish from Aug. 3 to Aug. 9 among 4,207 registered voters; a sample of 2,310 were considered likely voters in the November general election.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Proposition 40, which would levy a one-time tax on billionaires, holds a narrow lead among likely voters overall. The poll also shows Proposition 39, a voter ID proposal, trailing.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California Democrats are strongly backing a proposal to levy a one-time \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/billionaire-tax\">tax on billionaires\u003c/a> and opposing a measure that would require voters to present ID at the ballot box, according to a new UC Berkeley poll. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Among the overall likely November electorate, the tax measure labeled Proposition 40 holds a narrow lead, 48% to 41%, the survey from the Institute of Governmental Studies found. Opinions about the proposed 5% tax on billionaires’ overall wealth — which would be used to backfill cuts to federal healthcare funding — were highly partisan: 70% of Democrats say they’ll back it, with 80% of Republicans opposed. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Voters with no party preference were more evenly split, with 50% saying they’ll vote yes and 39% saying they’ll vote no. Overall, 11% of likely voters told IGS pollsters they are still undecided. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/CaliforniaBillionairesTaxGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A T-shirt with a campaign message is seen before the start of a rally led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, during the campaign kickoff for the California Billionaire Tax Act at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, 2026. Sanders is seeking the support of California voters for a November ballot initiative of an emergency tax on billionaires to help the state’s healthcare system. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Though the poll suggests strong support for the billionaire tax among Democratic voters, the measure has split the party’s political establishment. It narrowly won the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12093726/california-democratic-party-endorses-billionaire-tax-splitting-with-newsom\">endorsement of the California Democratic Party\u003c/a> and is backed by the healthcare workers union SEIU-UHW West, but it is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and some labor unions, in addition to a group of billionaires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>IGS co-director Eric Schickler said the survey indicates that Proposition 40’s backers will need to rely on more liberal voters to succeed in passing the tax.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These results suggest that the billionaires tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state’s traditionally Democratic-leaning voters,” Schickler said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schickler said voter opinions on Proposition 39, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12081404/voter-id-initiative-qualifies-for-californias-november-election\">voter ID measure\u003c/a> put on the ballot by state Republicans, are even more partisan and ideological, with 80% of Democrats opposed and 93% of Republicans in favor. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The measure is trailing in the poll, with 51% of likely voters saying they will vote against it and 42% in support. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 39 would require voters to show a government-issued ID if they vote in person, or write the last four digits of an ID on a mail-in ballot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schickler said opponents of that initiative “have already started to solidify making it a more typical Democratic-Republican fight, in which Democrats in California generally hold the advantage.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Given Democrats’ strong registration advantage in California, it may be difficult for Republicans to close that gap: Just 7% of likely voters told IGS they don’t yet know how they will vote on the voter ID measure. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The poll also asked likely voters about two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12088883/california-billionaire-tax-november-ballot-measures\">other ballot measures\u003c/a>, authored by a group of billionaires who oppose the wealth tax, that are aimed at nullifying the billionaire tax if it passes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Proposition 41 would prohibit new taxes enacted after Jan. 1 of this year — when Proposition 40 would retroactively take effect; Proposition 42 would prohibit both wealth taxes like Proposition 40 and any retroactive taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1322\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12081506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/04/BillionaireTaxGetty-1536x1015.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. Healthcare workers and allies outlined the next steps in their effort to get California’s Billionaire Tax on the ballot for the November election, with their efforts already exceeding 1,500,000 signatures collected from across the state. The initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Both measures were written so they would supersede Proposition 40 if they receive more votes than the billionaire wealth tax. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>IGS found likely voters had no clear consensus around the measures, and that many had never heard of them. That’s in contrast to the proposed billionaire tax, which more than 70% of likely voters are aware of despite the fact that the campaigns for and against it have not yet kicked off in earnest. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted online in English and Spanish from Aug. 3 to Aug. 9 among 4,207 registered voters; a sample of 2,310 were considered likely voters in the November general election.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-jose-weighs-data-center-benefits-as-residents-raise-environmental-concerns",
"title": "San José Weighs Data Center Benefits as Residents Raise Environmental Concerns",
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"headTitle": "San José Weighs Data Center Benefits as Residents Raise Environmental Concerns | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San José wants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/data-centers\">data center developers\u003c/a> to pay for something beyond the buildings themselves: parks, job training, affordable housing, home solar and clean energy programs in the neighborhoods that end up living next to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A City Council committee voted Wednesday to direct city staff to \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15752905&GUID=11893A51-FCE0-417A-8951-EC5579F2384E&G=920296E4-80BE-4CA2-A78F-32C5EFCF78AF\">fold community benefits\u003c/a> into their ongoing drafting of standards for data centers, and to study whether a share of the tax revenue those facilities generate could be reinvested in a defined area around each site.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen framed it as filling a hole in work already underway. The city has been drafting \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15547954&GUID=A36CDEFA-BA9E-4B3B-BD22-1A00AB49745A\">environmental standards\u003c/a> since June, and he said the authors realized they should stipulate what residents might get in return.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision reflects a growing challenge as Silicon Valley leaders try to square the economic benefits of a growing data center industry with mounting concerns from residents who live near the projects. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx\">Gallup\u003c/a> poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half who are strongly opposed. About a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12049894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a July 25, 2025, press conference in North San José about a partnership with PG&E intended to attract more data center development to the city. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Compared to other Bay Area cities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076074/oakley-drops-data-center-plans-approves-massive-industrial-project\">Oakley, which have restricted\u003c/a> data center construction, San José has historically been more open to tech-related development and is already home to about 25 data centers as of last summer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city struck a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">partnership with PG&E\u003c/a> that guaranteed power for 10 large projects and stopped the city’s plans to build its own utility. PG&E committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/pge\">investing $2.6 billion \u003c/a>in South Bay infrastructure between 2026 and 2035. City officials estimated then that each data center could generate $3.4 million to $6.8 million a year for the city in utility and property taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José is now reviewing 11 more Data Center projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Downtown, developers want to stack them vertically alongside housing. A proposal at 180 Park Ave. would put an 11-story data center next to a 28-story residential tower and an expansion of The Tech Interactive science museum. Another project, at 300 S. First St., pairs a seven-story data center with three 30-story towers holding 1,164 apartments. A third, at 323 Terraine St., offers the city a choice between a residential building alone or a version that adds a seven-story data center beneath 345 units.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Developers have also pitched standalone data center projects in North and South San José, with the substations, water tanks and generator yards visible from the street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A project at 2549 Orchard Parkway would put two four-story buildings totaling 630,000 square feet on 22 acres, with three water-storage tanks, its own substation and a PG&E switching station. One on West Trimble Boulevard would remove 224 trees for a building with 21 generators and a private substation. Three more are pending in the south, near Highway 85 and Silver Creek, including a 516,000-square-foot facility on Silver Creek Valley Road and a 444,436-square-foot building proposed for Great Oaks Parkway.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/data-center-and-other-large-energy-use-projects#!/\">city’s list shows eight data center\u003c/a> applications under review and three approved. Several of the largest — approved and pending alike — are capped at 99 megawatts. Data centers are often sized that way to stay \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">under the 100-megawatt threshold\u003c/a> that triggers stricter state oversight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A-Message-from-Mayor-Matt.html?soid=1140225190588&aid=MQ9jlS7apXw\">July newsletter\u003c/a> to residents, San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that data centers generate stable revenue for the general fund and that a large facility should produce millions annually for police, firefighters, parks, libraries and roads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But revenue cannot be a permission slip to ignore quality of life or harm the environment,” Mahan wrote. “A project that creates economic value while shifting environmental or other costs to nearby families is not a good deal.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Wednesday evening meeting, Lena Drape, speaking for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, asked the committee to go beyond the memo and stop accepting and processing new applications until the standards are approved. Compared with pausing, Drape said, it is more expensive for the city to continue taking proposals with the intention of revisiting them later.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12075969\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pedestrians walk past City Hall in San José, California, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This would also address what is clearly an unintended reverse incentive for rushed applications to be submitted now before sound regulations are in place,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José resident Evan Brooks told the committee that a rezoning effort tied to the marketing of a site for a data center is scheduled for council action Aug. 18 — one day before the city’s first community listening session on the standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If entitlements move first, projects filed in the interim escape rules the council has already determined are necessary,” Brooks said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Christopher Burton, the city’s planning director, said a special use permit takes longer than six months to move through review, and that anything filed now would not reach a hearing before February or March. Cohen added that a new data center requires its own environmental impact report, pushing the timeline out at least a year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many residents who addressed the committee said the timeline was beside the point. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12037773\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flags at City Hall in San José, California, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The trade-off you’re asking us to accept is in exchange for some tax investment for our community to shoulder the health burdens imposed by AI data centers,” Dash Leeds, the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, said, arguing that infrasound and generator emissions cannot be mitigated away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jasmine Jordan, a design student at San José State University, told the committee the buildings will cost her generation more than they deliver. She said the artificial intelligence economy has shrunk the entry-level job market she and her classmates are graduating into, and “the building of data centers in San José will destroy our environment further than it already has been.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More than a \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15763923&GUID=3FBB3136-EB6C-4004-B29F-CF0885D0B501\">dozen letters \u003c/a>came in ahead of the meeting. Mani Bekele, writing for the city’s Climate Advisory Commission in July, urged the council to publish a live public dashboard of every existing, approved and proposed project, listing megawatt demand, water use, backup-generator capacity, revenue to date and permanent jobs created. The commission asked for numerical thresholds, rather than what it called “aspirational language,” and for a rule barring city staff, councilmembers and the mayor from signing nondisclosure agreements with developers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Manuel Pineda, a deputy city manager overseeing energy projects, laid out an engagement plan that has been running since late July, involving small meetings already held with groups including the Sierra Club, Mothers Out Front and the local chapters of two building trades. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officials said they hope to replicate past partnerships that they say have brought benefit to the community. For example, in 2021, after four years of negotiations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069836/googles-once-grand-vision-for-downtown-west-in-san-jose-still-on-hold-apparently\">Google’s Downtown West campus\u003c/a>, the city announced a $200 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868310/google-san-jose-development-deal-includes-200-million-in-housing-funds\">community benefits package\u003c/a>, including $150 million for preserving affordable housing, fighting homelessness and preventing displacement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The campus was set to bring 4,000 homes, 600 of them affordable and 15 acres of open space. City officials had approved a $110 million sale of public land to Google in 2018, and housing advocates spent the subsequent years organizing over what the project would do to a city already struggling with affordability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the time, Maria Noel Fernandez, then-campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising, heralded the deal as endowing grassroots leaders in neighborhoods at risk of displacement with money and real decision-making power. She said it set a new model for how tech development could keep families housed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjeconomy.com/how-we-help/programs-and-services/why-data-centers-in-san-jose/data-centers-and-large-energy-project-uniform-standards\">first public listening session\u003c/a> around data center community benefits is Aug. 19 from 6-8 p.m. in the City Hall wing rooms, followed by working sessions, a developer roundtable and a Stanford University polling effort through September. Staff will offer small-group meetings to anyone who signs up and will bring a summary of every comment received when the standards return to the council in December.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José City Councilmember Domingo Candelas said he plans to hold his own meetings in his district.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t the final opportunity to review, supplement or modify,” he said. “But I think it’s important that we have an opportunity to engage our residents.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A City Council committee voted Wednesday to direct city staff to \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15752905&GUID=11893A51-FCE0-417A-8951-EC5579F2384E&G=920296E4-80BE-4CA2-A78F-32C5EFCF78AF\">fold community benefits\u003c/a> into their ongoing drafting of standards for data centers, and to study whether a share of the tax revenue those facilities generate could be reinvested in a defined area around each site.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen framed it as filling a hole in work already underway. The city has been drafting \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15547954&GUID=A36CDEFA-BA9E-4B3B-BD22-1A00AB49745A\">environmental standards\u003c/a> since June, and he said the authors realized they should stipulate what residents might get in return.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen framed it as filling a hole in work already underway. The city has been drafting \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15547954&GUID=A36CDEFA-BA9E-4B3B-BD22-1A00AB49745A\">environmental standards\u003c/a> since June, and he said the authors realized they should stipulate what residents might get in return.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The decision reflects a growing challenge as Silicon Valley leaders try to square the economic benefits of a growing data center industry with mounting concerns from residents who live near the projects. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx\">Gallup\u003c/a> poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half who are strongly opposed. About a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The decision reflects a growing challenge as Silicon Valley leaders try to square the economic benefits of a growing data center industry with mounting concerns from residents who live near the projects. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx\">Gallup\u003c/a> poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half who are strongly opposed. About a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12049894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a July 25, 2025, press conference in North San José about a partnership with PG&E intended to attract more data center development to the city. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Compared to other Bay Area cities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076074/oakley-drops-data-center-plans-approves-massive-industrial-project\">Oakley, which have restricted\u003c/a> data center construction, San José has historically been more open to tech-related development and is already home to about 25 data centers as of last summer. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The city struck a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">partnership with PG&E\u003c/a> that guaranteed power for 10 large projects and stopped the city’s plans to build its own utility. PG&E committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/pge\">investing $2.6 billion \u003c/a>in South Bay infrastructure between 2026 and 2035. City officials estimated then that each data center could generate $3.4 million to $6.8 million a year for the city in utility and property taxes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The city struck a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">partnership with PG&E\u003c/a> that guaranteed power for 10 large projects and stopped the city’s plans to build its own utility. PG&E committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/pge\">investing $2.6 billion \u003c/a>in South Bay infrastructure between 2026 and 2035. City officials estimated then that each data center could generate $3.4 million to $6.8 million a year for the city in utility and property taxes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Downtown, developers want to stack them vertically alongside housing. A proposal at 180 Park Ave. would put an 11-story data center next to a 28-story residential tower and an expansion of The Tech Interactive science museum. Another project, at 300 S. First St., pairs a seven-story data center with three 30-story towers holding 1,164 apartments. A third, at 323 Terraine St., offers the city a choice between a residential building alone or a version that adds a seven-story data center beneath 345 units.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A project at 2549 Orchard Parkway would put two four-story buildings totaling 630,000 square feet on 22 acres, with three water-storage tanks, its own substation and a PG&E switching station. One on West Trimble Boulevard would remove 224 trees for a building with 21 generators and a private substation. Three more are pending in the south, near Highway 85 and Silver Creek, including a 516,000-square-foot facility on Silver Creek Valley Road and a 444,436-square-foot building proposed for Great Oaks Parkway.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A project at 2549 Orchard Parkway would put two four-story buildings totaling 630,000 square feet on 22 acres, with three water-storage tanks, its own substation and a PG&E switching station. One on West Trimble Boulevard would remove 224 trees for a building with 21 generators and a private substation. Three more are pending in the south, near Highway 85 and Silver Creek, including a 516,000-square-foot facility on Silver Creek Valley Road and a 444,436-square-foot building proposed for Great Oaks Parkway.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/data-center-and-other-large-energy-use-projects#!/\">city’s list shows eight data center\u003c/a> applications under review and three approved. Several of the largest — approved and pending alike — are capped at 99 megawatts. Data centers are often sized that way to stay \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">under the 100-megawatt threshold\u003c/a> that triggers stricter state oversight.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A-Message-from-Mayor-Matt.html?soid=1140225190588&aid=MQ9jlS7apXw\">July newsletter\u003c/a> to residents, San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that data centers generate stable revenue for the general fund and that a large facility should produce millions annually for police, firefighters, parks, libraries and roads.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A-Message-from-Mayor-Matt.html?soid=1140225190588&aid=MQ9jlS7apXw\">July newsletter\u003c/a> to residents, San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that data centers generate stable revenue for the general fund and that a large facility should produce millions annually for police, firefighters, parks, libraries and roads.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“But revenue cannot be a permission slip to ignore quality of life or harm the environment,” Mahan wrote. “A project that creates economic value while shifting environmental or other costs to nearby families is not a good deal.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“But revenue cannot be a permission slip to ignore quality of life or harm the environment,” Mahan wrote. “A project that creates economic value while shifting environmental or other costs to nearby families is not a good deal.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the Wednesday evening meeting, Lena Drape, speaking for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, asked the committee to go beyond the memo and stop accepting and processing new applications until the standards are approved. Compared with pausing, Drape said, it is more expensive for the city to continue taking proposals with the intention of revisiting them later.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the Wednesday evening meeting, Lena Drape, speaking for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, asked the committee to go beyond the memo and stop accepting and processing new applications until the standards are approved. Compared with pausing, Drape said, it is more expensive for the city to continue taking proposals with the intention of revisiting them later.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This would also address what is clearly an unintended reverse incentive for rushed applications to be submitted now before sound regulations are in place,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This would also address what is clearly an unintended reverse incentive for rushed applications to be submitted now before sound regulations are in place,” she said.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San José resident Evan Brooks told the committee that a rezoning effort tied to the marketing of a site for a data center is scheduled for council action Aug. 18 — one day before the city’s first community listening session on the standards.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San José resident Evan Brooks told the committee that a rezoning effort tied to the marketing of a site for a data center is scheduled for council action Aug. 18 — one day before the city’s first community listening session on the standards.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“If entitlements move first, projects filed in the interim escape rules the council has already determined are necessary,” Brooks said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Christopher Burton, the city’s planning director, said a special use permit takes longer than six months to move through review, and that anything filed now would not reach a hearing before February or March. Cohen added that a new data center requires its own environmental impact report, pushing the timeline out at least a year.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Christopher Burton, the city’s planning director, said a special use permit takes longer than six months to move through review, and that anything filed now would not reach a hearing before February or March. Cohen added that a new data center requires its own environmental impact report, pushing the timeline out at least a year.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12037773\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flags at City Hall in San José, California, on Aug. 1, 2023.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The trade-off you’re asking us to accept is in exchange for some tax investment for our community to shoulder the health burdens imposed by AI data centers,” Dash Leeds, the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, said, arguing that infrasound and generator emissions cannot be mitigated away.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The trade-off you’re asking us to accept is in exchange for some tax investment for our community to shoulder the health burdens imposed by AI data centers,” Dash Leeds, the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, said, arguing that infrasound and generator emissions cannot be mitigated away.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jasmine Jordan, a design student at San José State University, told the committee the buildings will cost her generation more than they deliver. She said the artificial intelligence economy has shrunk the entry-level job market she and her classmates are graduating into, and “the building of data centers in San José will destroy our environment further than it already has been.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jasmine Jordan, a design student at San José State University, told the committee the buildings will cost her generation more than they deliver. She said the artificial intelligence economy has shrunk the entry-level job market she and her classmates are graduating into, and “the building of data centers in San José will destroy our environment further than it already has been.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>More than a \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15763923&GUID=3FBB3136-EB6C-4004-B29F-CF0885D0B501\">dozen letters \u003c/a>came in ahead of the meeting. Mani Bekele, writing for the city’s Climate Advisory Commission in July, urged the council to publish a live public dashboard of every existing, approved and proposed project, listing megawatt demand, water use, backup-generator capacity, revenue to date and permanent jobs created. The commission asked for numerical thresholds, rather than what it called “aspirational language,” and for a rule barring city staff, councilmembers and the mayor from signing nondisclosure agreements with developers.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>More than a \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15763923&GUID=3FBB3136-EB6C-4004-B29F-CF0885D0B501\">dozen letters \u003c/a>came in ahead of the meeting. Mani Bekele, writing for the city’s Climate Advisory Commission in July, urged the council to publish a live public dashboard of every existing, approved and proposed project, listing megawatt demand, water use, backup-generator capacity, revenue to date and permanent jobs created. The commission asked for numerical thresholds, rather than what it called “aspirational language,” and for a rule barring city staff, councilmembers and the mayor from signing nondisclosure agreements with developers.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Manuel Pineda, a deputy city manager overseeing energy projects, laid out an engagement plan that has been running since late July, involving small meetings already held with groups including the Sierra Club, Mothers Out Front and the local chapters of two building trades. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Officials said they hope to replicate past partnerships that they say have brought benefit to the community. For example, in 2021, after four years of negotiations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069836/googles-once-grand-vision-for-downtown-west-in-san-jose-still-on-hold-apparently\">Google’s Downtown West campus\u003c/a>, the city announced a $200 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868310/google-san-jose-development-deal-includes-200-million-in-housing-funds\">community benefits package\u003c/a>, including $150 million for preserving affordable housing, fighting homelessness and preventing displacement. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Officials said they hope to replicate past partnerships that they say have brought benefit to the community. For example, in 2021, after four years of negotiations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069836/googles-once-grand-vision-for-downtown-west-in-san-jose-still-on-hold-apparently\">Google’s Downtown West campus\u003c/a>, the city announced a $200 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868310/google-san-jose-development-deal-includes-200-million-in-housing-funds\">community benefits package\u003c/a>, including $150 million for preserving affordable housing, fighting homelessness and preventing displacement. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The campus was set to bring 4,000 homes, 600 of them affordable and 15 acres of open space. City officials had approved a $110 million sale of public land to Google in 2018, and housing advocates spent the subsequent years organizing over what the project would do to a city already struggling with affordability.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The campus was set to bring 4,000 homes, 600 of them affordable and 15 acres of open space. City officials had approved a $110 million sale of public land to Google in 2018, and housing advocates spent the subsequent years organizing over what the project would do to a city already struggling with affordability.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At the time, Maria Noel Fernandez, then-campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising, heralded the deal as endowing grassroots leaders in neighborhoods at risk of displacement with money and real decision-making power. She said it set a new model for how tech development could keep families housed.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At the time, Maria Noel Fernandez, then-campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising, heralded the deal as endowing grassroots leaders in neighborhoods at risk of displacement with money and real decision-making power. She said it set a new model for how tech development could keep families housed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjeconomy.com/how-we-help/programs-and-services/why-data-centers-in-san-jose/data-centers-and-large-energy-project-uniform-standards\">first public listening session\u003c/a> around data center community benefits is Aug. 19 from 6-8 p.m. in the City Hall wing rooms, followed by working sessions, a developer roundtable and a Stanford University polling effort through September. Staff will offer small-group meetings to anyone who signs up and will bring a summary of every comment received when the standards return to the council in December.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjeconomy.com/how-we-help/programs-and-services/why-data-centers-in-san-jose/data-centers-and-large-energy-project-uniform-standards\">first public listening session\u003c/a> around data center community benefits is Aug. 19 from 6-8 p.m. in the City Hall wing rooms, followed by working sessions, a developer roundtable and a Stanford University polling effort through September. Staff will offer small-group meetings to anyone who signs up and will bring a summary of every comment received when the standards return to the council in December.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San José City Councilmember Domingo Candelas said he plans to hold his own meetings in his district.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This isn’t the final opportunity to review, supplement or modify,” he said. “But I think it’s important that we have an opportunity to engage our residents.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Without hitting pause on development negotiations, a South Bay city committee voted Wednesday to consider community investments. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San José wants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/data-centers\">data center developers\u003c/a> to pay for something beyond the buildings themselves: parks, job training, affordable housing, home solar and clean energy programs in the neighborhoods that end up living next to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A City Council committee voted Wednesday to direct city staff to \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15752905&GUID=11893A51-FCE0-417A-8951-EC5579F2384E&G=920296E4-80BE-4CA2-A78F-32C5EFCF78AF\">fold community benefits\u003c/a> into their ongoing drafting of standards for data centers, and to study whether a share of the tax revenue those facilities generate could be reinvested in a defined area around each site.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Councilmember David Cohen framed it as filling a hole in work already underway. The city has been drafting \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15547954&GUID=A36CDEFA-BA9E-4B3B-BD22-1A00AB49745A\">environmental standards\u003c/a> since June, and he said the authors realized they should stipulate what residents might get in return.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The decision reflects a growing challenge as Silicon Valley leaders try to square the economic benefits of a growing data center industry with mounting concerns from residents who live near the projects. A recent \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx\">Gallup\u003c/a> poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their local area, including nearly half who are strongly opposed. About a quarter favor these projects, with 7% strongly in favor.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12049894\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250725-SJPOWER-JG-8_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a July 25, 2025, press conference in North San José about a partnership with PG&E intended to attract more data center development to the city. (Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Compared to other Bay Area cities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12076074/oakley-drops-data-center-plans-approves-massive-industrial-project\">Oakley, which have restricted\u003c/a> data center construction, San José has historically been more open to tech-related development and is already home to about 25 data centers as of last summer. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city struck a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">partnership with PG&E\u003c/a> that guaranteed power for 10 large projects and stopped the city’s plans to build its own utility. PG&E committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/tag/pge\">investing $2.6 billion \u003c/a>in South Bay infrastructure between 2026 and 2035. City officials estimated then that each data center could generate $3.4 million to $6.8 million a year for the city in utility and property taxes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José is now reviewing 11 more Data Center projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Downtown, developers want to stack them vertically alongside housing. A proposal at 180 Park Ave. would put an 11-story data center next to a 28-story residential tower and an expansion of The Tech Interactive science museum. Another project, at 300 S. First St., pairs a seven-story data center with three 30-story towers holding 1,164 apartments. A third, at 323 Terraine St., offers the city a choice between a residential building alone or a version that adds a seven-story data center beneath 345 units.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Developers have also pitched standalone data center projects in North and South San José, with the substations, water tanks and generator yards visible from the street.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A project at 2549 Orchard Parkway would put two four-story buildings totaling 630,000 square feet on 22 acres, with three water-storage tanks, its own substation and a PG&E switching station. One on West Trimble Boulevard would remove 224 trees for a building with 21 generators and a private substation. Three more are pending in the south, near Highway 85 and Silver Creek, including a 516,000-square-foot facility on Silver Creek Valley Road and a 444,436-square-foot building proposed for Great Oaks Parkway.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/data-center-and-other-large-energy-use-projects#!/\">city’s list shows eight data center\u003c/a> applications under review and three approved. Several of the largest — approved and pending alike — are capped at 99 megawatts. Data centers are often sized that way to stay \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12049830/san-jose-and-pge-strike-deal-to-attract-data-centers-to-south-bay\">under the 100-megawatt threshold\u003c/a> that triggers stricter state oversight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/A-Message-from-Mayor-Matt.html?soid=1140225190588&aid=MQ9jlS7apXw\">July newsletter\u003c/a> to residents, San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that data centers generate stable revenue for the general fund and that a large facility should produce millions annually for police, firefighters, parks, libraries and roads.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“But revenue cannot be a permission slip to ignore quality of life or harm the environment,” Mahan wrote. “A project that creates economic value while shifting environmental or other costs to nearby families is not a good deal.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the Wednesday evening meeting, Lena Drape, speaking for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, asked the committee to go beyond the memo and stop accepting and processing new applications until the standards are approved. Compared with pausing, Drape said, it is more expensive for the city to continue taking proposals with the intention of revisiting them later.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12075969\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/03/20230801-SJCityHall-21-JY_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pedestrians walk past City Hall in San José, California, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This would also address what is clearly an unintended reverse incentive for rushed applications to be submitted now before sound regulations are in place,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José resident Evan Brooks told the committee that a rezoning effort tied to the marketing of a site for a data center is scheduled for council action Aug. 18 — one day before the city’s first community listening session on the standards.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“If entitlements move first, projects filed in the interim escape rules the council has already determined are necessary,” Brooks said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Christopher Burton, the city’s planning director, said a special use permit takes longer than six months to move through review, and that anything filed now would not reach a hearing before February or March. Cohen added that a new data center requires its own environmental impact report, pushing the timeline out at least a year.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Many residents who addressed the committee said the timeline was beside the point. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12037773\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20230801-SJCityHall-04-JY_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Flags at City Hall in San José, California, on Aug. 1, 2023. (Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The trade-off you’re asking us to accept is in exchange for some tax investment for our community to shoulder the health burdens imposed by AI data centers,” Dash Leeds, the conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, said, arguing that infrasound and generator emissions cannot be mitigated away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jasmine Jordan, a design student at San José State University, told the committee the buildings will cost her generation more than they deliver. She said the artificial intelligence economy has shrunk the entry-level job market she and her classmates are graduating into, and “the building of data centers in San José will destroy our environment further than it already has been.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>More than a \u003ca href=\"https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15763923&GUID=3FBB3136-EB6C-4004-B29F-CF0885D0B501\">dozen letters \u003c/a>came in ahead of the meeting. Mani Bekele, writing for the city’s Climate Advisory Commission in July, urged the council to publish a live public dashboard of every existing, approved and proposed project, listing megawatt demand, water use, backup-generator capacity, revenue to date and permanent jobs created. The commission asked for numerical thresholds, rather than what it called “aspirational language,” and for a rule barring city staff, councilmembers and the mayor from signing nondisclosure agreements with developers.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Manuel Pineda, a deputy city manager overseeing energy projects, laid out an engagement plan that has been running since late July, involving small meetings already held with groups including the Sierra Club, Mothers Out Front and the local chapters of two building trades. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officials said they hope to replicate past partnerships that they say have brought benefit to the community. For example, in 2021, after four years of negotiations on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069836/googles-once-grand-vision-for-downtown-west-in-san-jose-still-on-hold-apparently\">Google’s Downtown West campus\u003c/a>, the city announced a $200 million \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11868310/google-san-jose-development-deal-includes-200-million-in-housing-funds\">community benefits package\u003c/a>, including $150 million for preserving affordable housing, fighting homelessness and preventing displacement. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The campus was set to bring 4,000 homes, 600 of them affordable and 15 acres of open space. City officials had approved a $110 million sale of public land to Google in 2018, and housing advocates spent the subsequent years organizing over what the project would do to a city already struggling with affordability.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the time, Maria Noel Fernandez, then-campaign director for Silicon Valley Rising, heralded the deal as endowing grassroots leaders in neighborhoods at risk of displacement with money and real decision-making power. She said it set a new model for how tech development could keep families housed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjeconomy.com/how-we-help/programs-and-services/why-data-centers-in-san-jose/data-centers-and-large-energy-project-uniform-standards\">first public listening session\u003c/a> around data center community benefits is Aug. 19 from 6-8 p.m. in the City Hall wing rooms, followed by working sessions, a developer roundtable and a Stanford University polling effort through September. Staff will offer small-group meetings to anyone who signs up and will bring a summary of every comment received when the standards return to the council in December.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San José City Councilmember Domingo Candelas said he plans to hold his own meetings in his district.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This isn’t the final opportunity to review, supplement or modify,” he said. “But I think it’s important that we have an opportunity to engage our residents.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Dry Lightning Brews Over California, Increasing Fire Risks",
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"content": "\u003cp>Even as crews battle the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Timber Fire\u003c/a> and other wildfires across California, the state overall is at around just a quarter-million acres burned — making 2026 so far within the lowest 10% of years for acres burned in recent decades. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In the scheme of things, this has been a relatively quiet year in California so far,” climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Daniel Swain said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/wxPHDkC1dIE\">livestream \u003c/a>briefing on Wednesday. “It is getting more active as we speak, and the peak of the season is probably still yet to come.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Swain said that the next few days are expected to bring much of the West isolated lightning storms, some fostering dry lightning, a term reserved for thunderstorms on this side of the Mississippi River that drop 0.10 inch or less of rainfall nearby. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094843\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A firefighter battles with flames as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Forest Service, notes that dry lightning is the \u003ca href=\"https://research.fs.usda.gov/firelab/projects/lightningstrikes\">most common ignition source\u003c/a> for natural wildland fire, meaning tracking dry lightning storms is of interest to land managers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Big Sur could see some additional fire starts, as well as the eastern Sierra, the Tahoe-Reno area and some areas of Southern California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking past this week, forecasts indicate possible widespread dry lightning along northwest California, and into Oregon and Washington, through next week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Because there’s no indication of widespread rain up there between now and then, that could be a problem,” Swain said. “We might actually see an episode of fires break out in far northern California into the Pacific Northwest.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Swain said that there are already evacuation orders for the MP 18 Fire — referring to Mile Post 18 — north of Hoopa in Humboldt County. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During his briefing, Swain highlighted lightning signatures above Big Sur, where the Timber Fire is currently raging. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire could cause enough damage to the watershed along steep slopes in the region that it would trigger mudslides cutting off access along the Pacific Coast Highway this winter. Forecasters expect a very wet, very strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089721/why-this-could-be-an-unpredictable-year-for-fires-in-california\">El Niño winter\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The odds that Highway 1 has big problems this winter were already high, and along this segment they might be even higher now,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“In the scheme of things, this has been a relatively quiet year in California so far,” climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Daniel Swain said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/wxPHDkC1dIE\">livestream \u003c/a>briefing on Wednesday. “It is getting more active as we speak, and the peak of the season is probably still yet to come.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Swain said that the next few days are expected to bring much of the West isolated lightning storms, some fostering dry lightning, a term reserved for thunderstorms on this side of the Mississippi River that drop 0.10 inch or less of rainfall nearby. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Swain said that the next few days are expected to bring much of the West isolated lightning storms, some fostering dry lightning, a term reserved for thunderstorms on this side of the Mississippi River that drop 0.10 inch or less of rainfall nearby. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094843\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A firefighter battles with flames as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, Aug. 10, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094843\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A firefighter battles with flames as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, Aug. 10, 2026. \u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Forest Service, notes that dry lightning is the \u003ca href=\"https://research.fs.usda.gov/firelab/projects/lightningstrikes\">most common ignition source\u003c/a> for natural wildland fire, meaning tracking dry lightning storms is of interest to land managers. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Big Sur could see some additional fire starts, as well as the eastern Sierra, the Tahoe-Reno area and some areas of Southern California. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Looking past this week, forecasts indicate possible widespread dry lightning along northwest California, and into Oregon and Washington, through next week. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Because there’s no indication of widespread rain up there between now and then, that could be a problem,” Swain said. “We might actually see an episode of fires break out in far northern California into the Pacific Northwest.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Swain said that there are already evacuation orders for the MP 18 Fire — referring to Mile Post 18 — north of Hoopa in Humboldt County. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>During his briefing, Swain highlighted lightning signatures above Big Sur, where the Timber Fire is currently raging. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fire could cause enough damage to the watershed along steep slopes in the region that it would trigger mudslides cutting off access along the Pacific Coast Highway this winter. Forecasters expect a very wet, very strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089721/why-this-could-be-an-unpredictable-year-for-fires-in-california\">El Niño winter\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The fire could cause enough damage to the watershed along steep slopes in the region that it would trigger mudslides cutting off access along the Pacific Coast Highway this winter. Forecasters expect a very wet, very strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089721/why-this-could-be-an-unpredictable-year-for-fires-in-california\">El Niño winter\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The odds that Highway 1 has big problems this winter were already high, and along this segment they might be even higher now,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Forecasters warn that a surge of lightning storms expected to hit California and the Pacific Northwest this summer threatens what have been historically low numbers of burned acreage in 2026.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even as crews battle the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Timber Fire\u003c/a> and other wildfires across California, the state overall is at around just a quarter-million acres burned — making 2026 so far within the lowest 10% of years for acres burned in recent decades. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“In the scheme of things, this has been a relatively quiet year in California so far,” climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Daniel Swain said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/wxPHDkC1dIE\">livestream \u003c/a>briefing on Wednesday. “It is getting more active as we speak, and the peak of the season is probably still yet to come.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Swain said that the next few days are expected to bring much of the West isolated lightning storms, some fostering dry lightning, a term reserved for thunderstorms on this side of the Mississippi River that drop 0.10 inch or less of rainfall nearby. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094843\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/TimberFireGetty6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A firefighter battles with flames as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, a division of the U.S. Forest Service, notes that dry lightning is the \u003ca href=\"https://research.fs.usda.gov/firelab/projects/lightningstrikes\">most common ignition source\u003c/a> for natural wildland fire, meaning tracking dry lightning storms is of interest to land managers. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Big Sur could see some additional fire starts, as well as the eastern Sierra, the Tahoe-Reno area and some areas of Southern California. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking past this week, forecasts indicate possible widespread dry lightning along northwest California, and into Oregon and Washington, through next week. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Because there’s no indication of widespread rain up there between now and then, that could be a problem,” Swain said. “We might actually see an episode of fires break out in far northern California into the Pacific Northwest.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Swain said that there are already evacuation orders for the MP 18 Fire — referring to Mile Post 18 — north of Hoopa in Humboldt County. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>During his briefing, Swain highlighted lightning signatures above Big Sur, where the Timber Fire is currently raging. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire could cause enough damage to the watershed along steep slopes in the region that it would trigger mudslides cutting off access along the Pacific Coast Highway this winter. Forecasters expect a very wet, very strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089721/why-this-could-be-an-unpredictable-year-for-fires-in-california\">El Niño winter\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The odds that Highway 1 has big problems this winter were already high, and along this segment they might be even higher now,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/earthquakes\">earthquakes\u003c/a> struck the Bay Area on Thursday morning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The first and largest hit at 8:30 a.m., centered about \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417557/executive\">2.4 miles north of San Leandro\u003c/a>, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency initially put it at magnitude 4.1, then revised it down to 3.9 and later to 3.8.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Residents reported feeling strong shaking in the East Bay, with rumblings across the water into San Francisco, according to social media \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/1vne0os/that_was_a_big_earthquake/\">posts\u003c/a> on Reddit. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two smaller quakes followed at 9:07 a.m., four seconds apart. The USGS recorded one at \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417577/executive\">magnitude 3.0\u003c/a> and a \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417582/executive\">second at 2.8\u003c/a>, also centered about 2 miles north of San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BART slowed service systemwide. The agency said trains were running at reduced speeds while crews completed safety track inspections and told riders to expect residual delays of up to 20 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Hayward Fault runs through the area, from San Pablo Bay south to Fremont. The USGS said the initial quake was strong enough to trigger ShakeAlert, the West Coast early warning system, which issued its first message 3.7 seconds after the quake began. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No wireless emergency alerts went out to phones because the system only sends those when a quake is estimated at magnitude 5.0 or higher.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The first and largest hit at 8:30 a.m., centered about \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417557/executive\">2.4 miles north of San Leandro\u003c/a>, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency initially put it at magnitude 4.1, then revised it down to 3.9 and later to 3.8.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Residents reported feeling strong shaking in the East Bay, with rumblings across the water into San Francisco, according to social media \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/1vne0os/that_was_a_big_earthquake/\">posts\u003c/a> on Reddit. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Two smaller quakes followed at 9:07 a.m., four seconds apart. The USGS recorded one at \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417577/executive\">magnitude 3.0\u003c/a> and a \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417582/executive\">second at 2.8\u003c/a>, also centered about 2 miles north of San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>BART slowed service systemwide. The agency said trains were running at reduced speeds while crews completed safety track inspections and told riders to expect residual delays of up to 20 minutes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Hayward Fault runs through the area, from San Pablo Bay south to Fremont. The USGS said the initial quake was strong enough to trigger ShakeAlert, the West Coast early warning system, which issued its first message 3.7 seconds after the quake began. \u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The quake, which struck near San Leandro Thursday morning, was followed by two smaller ones about 37 minutes later. BART slowed trains for track inspections.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A series of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/earthquakes\">earthquakes\u003c/a> struck the Bay Area on Thursday morning.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The first and largest hit at 8:30 a.m., centered about \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417557/executive\">2.4 miles north of San Leandro\u003c/a>, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency initially put it at magnitude 4.1, then revised it down to 3.9 and later to 3.8.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Residents reported feeling strong shaking in the East Bay, with rumblings across the water into San Francisco, according to social media \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/1vne0os/that_was_a_big_earthquake/\">posts\u003c/a> on Reddit. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Two smaller quakes followed at 9:07 a.m., four seconds apart. The USGS recorded one at \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417577/executive\">magnitude 3.0\u003c/a> and a \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75417582/executive\">second at 2.8\u003c/a>, also centered about 2 miles north of San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "the-san-francisco-rock-climbing-spot-known-for-its-shiny-surface",
"title": "The San Francisco Rock Climbing Spot Known For Its Shiny Surface",
"publishDate": 1786615200,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "The San Francisco Rock Climbing Spot Known For Its Shiny Surface | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#transcript\">View the full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Beaver Street is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill toward Corona Heights, a few blocks from the Castro Theater.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tucked into the curve of this tiny street is a narrow park, and inside it, a 60-foot slab of rock that towers over a public playground. The rock is streaked with diagonal bands of red and tan that make it look almost like a slice of bacon — with a surface unlike any rock Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar had seen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar first stumbled across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105733887/beaver-street-wall\">Beaver Street rock wall\u003c/a> during a weekend outing with his daughters, to the Randall Museum of Science in Corona Heights Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Stewart belays Ravi Bhoraskar as he climbs the Beaver Street wall in San Francisco’s Corona Heights Park. (Francesca Fenzi/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He described it as a “shiny, almost slippery-looking surface” with a few sparse holes “that you can potentially use to climb on.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The secluded crag felt like a revelation. He recently started rock climbing, and climbs weekly at his neighborhood gym in the Mission.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was excited to learn that there is at least one [outdoor] climbing spot within the city, easily reachable by bus,” Bhoraskar said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A visible record of Bay Area geology\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar’s first clue to the origins of the Beaver Street rock came from a sign posted at its base. Known as a “slickenside,” the sign explained: “This smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Slickenside is a type of rock that forms along fault lines, like the San Andreas Fault that slashes diagonally across San Francisco. When two rocks on either side of the fault rub against each other, the friction between them can generate heat and super-fine particles of dust. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That dust acts like a lubricant, polishing the rock surface until it becomes glassy and smooth, just like the rock on Beaver Street. The colorful stripes on a slickenside formation even record the direction the rocks were moving, allowing geologists to track the movement of different faults across time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the City of San Francisco’s posted signage, the rock wall on Beaver Street is thought to be one of the largest exposed slickenside formations in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This sign also serves as a reminder of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebsw/\">small municipal battle over access to the rock\u003c/a>. In 2014, the city instituted a permitting process for climbers hoping to scale the slick stone wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco climbers protested and eventually persuaded the city to drop the permits — on the condition that local climbing groups and the signage at Beaver Street emphasized a “leave no trace” policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a Berkeley park changed climbing history\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rock on Beaver Street is one of a handful of outdoor climbing areas in San Francisco proper, but across the bay in the Berkeley Hills sits another city park where climbers have pushed the sport forward for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/indian-rock-park\">Indian Rock Park\u003c/a> encompasses a collection of volcanic boulders in the hills overlooking the UC Berkeley campus. Long a \u003ca href=\"https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/slt_resources/indian-rock/\">place of significance to Ohlone people\u003c/a>, these boulders have also played an outsized role in the Bay Area’s climbing history. John Sherman remembers getting introduced to the sport here in the 1970s, when he was a student at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,” Sherman said. “Some friends and I scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in orange shirt and grey pants wearing a helmet and rock climbing shoes climbs a rock wall.\" class=\"wp-image-12093866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ravi Bhoraskar climbs the Beaver Street wall, his first outdoor climbing experience. (Francesca Fenzi/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>A friend suggested that they take their contraband to Indian Rock Park. While they were sitting on the steps enjoying these illicit beverages, Sherman noticed people scrambling on the rocks nearby, practicing gymnastic moves just a few feet off the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself,” he said. He came back a few days later, blundering his way through the first of many bouldering climbs in what would become his 50-year love affair with rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since,” Sherman said. Bay Area climbers might recognize Sherman by his nickname: Verm, short for Vermin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Verm would go on to become one of the pioneers of a relatively new style of climbing, called bouldering, where climbers perform ambitious, gymnastic moves with no ropes — all while staying relatively close to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just because bouldering involves less consequential falls than those taken by climbers on California’s soaring cliff faces, doesn’t mean falling off a boulder didn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We took a real beating back in those days,” Sherman explained of his early bouldering experiments at Indian Rock. “There weren’t that many people, like myself, who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climbinggold.com/voices/john-sherman\">Sherman is now a climbing legend\u003c/a> within the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was the first person to scale and document hundreds of new routes in a now-esteemed bouldering area in Texas, called \u003ca href=\"https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/hueco-tanks/activities/#rock-climbing\">Hueco Tanks\u003c/a>, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.climbing.com/gear/crash-pads-safety-changed-bouldering-forever/\">helped to invent the “crash pads” that boulderers use to cushion their falls\u003c/a> today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his most recognizable contribution to the Bay Area’s climbing culture is one that Sherman doesn’t like to talk about. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094719\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of the skyline from the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He invented a system to grade the difficulty of bouldering climbs, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://rockclimbingrealms.com/bouldering-grades-explained/\">“V grading system” \u003c/a>— as in, the Vermin grading system. This is a system now widely used by climbing gyms, which rates the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up numerically (V1, V2, V3 and so on) as the difficulty increases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sherman said he dislikes how fixated other climbers have become with his grading system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience,” he said. He described the “nutrition” of the climbing experience as being all the things that make climbing worthwhile: the camaraderie, the “kinesthetic flow of the movement” and a communion with nature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then what happens afterwards?” he said. “Out pops a V grade.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A safer way to fall\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sherman prefers to think of himself as part of a long lineage of Bay Area climbers who have sharpened their skills on the urban rock faces available to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At Indian Rock, for example, a group of Berkeley law students and mountaineers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/12/07/rock-climbing-indian-rock-mortar-rock\">preparing for ascents in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1930s\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Mountain climbing at the time was extraordinarily dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward, and the safety equipment didn’t really work. Climbers used ropes made of hemp — stiff, dry, and prone to snapping if pulled too quickly. Most people assumed a fall on a climbing route was fatal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The rope’s gonna break, and that’s it, you know?” Sherman said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094716\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An anchor chain at the top of the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the Berkeley students climbing at Indian Rock developed a counterintuitive idea to change that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The solution was all in how climbers handled the rope. If a belayer let the rope run through their hands and slowly absorbed the force of a fall, the rope was far less likely to snap — and could actually catch a falling climber without killing them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers began practicing these controlled, “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock, and they carried the life-saving technique with them to Yosemite. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles/\">By the 1940s, nylon was commercially accessible\u003c/a>, and climbers began making stronger, more shock-absorbent ropes from it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer,” Sherman said. “The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Falling was no longer a death sentence, and the sport became more popular as a result. As new tools and techniques made climbing safer, the goals of the sport shifted too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Style was more important than difficulty, and you were more respected if you could walk up to a climb and climb it without falling … just figuring it out,” Sherman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, climbing was no longer just about the summit — it was about finding a creative way up each rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The secret climbs on University of California, Berkeley campus\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers still wanted to test themselves on big routes in Yosemite and Joshua Tree, but the Bay Area’s natural geology was limited, and climbing gyms weren’t yet common. So climbers had to look for training grounds in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jordan Schultz is the kind of climber who sees potential everywhere — even across the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s cataloged hundreds of “buildering” routes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think I listed, like, 300-plus routes just on campus,” Schultz said. “Pretty much every building is climbable, is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left to right, climbers Ace Landauer, Jordan Schultz, Tilly Holtz and Colin Wills hang from cracks in the “penny wall,” a spot on the UC Berkeley campus where rock climbers practice crack climbing techniques required for climbs in Yosemite Valley. ((Courtesy Jordan Schultz))\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schultz documented these routes — and the history behind them — in his guidebook, \u003ca href=\"https://campusingbook.com\">\u003cem>Campusing: A Secret History and Buildering Guide to UC Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>One of the university’s most famous unofficial routes is a crack running up the side of a brick building that houses the chemistry department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it,” Schultz said. “I think that’s the beautiful part about it. You need to open your eyes to it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers have used this crack to practice technique since at least the 1960s, Schultz said, because it mirrors the kind of crack climbing common in Yosemite and other parts of the Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The spot has another name, too: the Penny Wall. According to Schultz, back in the 1960s, climbers practicing at the crack would stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach — a marker and quiet challenge to whoever climbed the crack next.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Sherman honed his own crack-climbing technique on the Penny Wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as much as the Bay Area’s outdoor climbing sites have been the home of real breakthroughs in the sport of climbing, he said their true value is in the community of climbers that are drawn to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbing something like the rock on Beaver Street, tucked into the corner of a busy city, can still feel like being let in on a local secret — passed down by generations of climbers who have left something behind for the next adventurous climber: a penny, a piece of gear, or simply a tip to help newcomers navigate a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you do go to these little areas, and make the effort to meet the locals [climbing there], the experience is so much richer,” Sherman said. “It doesn’t have to be Yosemite to give you a climbing experience and a community to hang out with.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen-Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When I was about six months pregnant with my first child, a friend of a friend passed along a maternity climbing harness … a full body nylon contraption that allows pregnant people to keep rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, I was not a rock climber at the time, but thought — “hey, why not? A lot of other activities I love, like running, have gotten really hard, but my legs are stronger than ever. Let’s climb!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Soon I found myself halfway up a wall in Pinnacles National Park … having a blast, but also hearing the voice of my mother inside my head: \u003cem>“Oh, Olivia. You would.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To be honest, my stint with rock climbing was relatively short, but I was into it long enough to hit up most of the bigger climbing areas in the Bay Area. And I learned you don’t have to drive all the way to Yosemite to feel the thrill of scaling a cliff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are a handful of urban climbing areas you might have walked past without a second look.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar [[boh-RAHS-car]] stumbled across one of those hidden rock walls … tucked into the hills of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It looked to me like a residential street. A bunch of cute houses, \u003cs>uh,\u003c/s> and, like, a little narrow path in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Beaver Street itself is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill towards Corona Heights. The Castro Theater is just a few blocks away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And tucked into the curve of Beaver Street is a narrow park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>And as you come in, you get this giant piece of shiny rock, which is the Beaver Street Wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This big slab of rock towers 60 feet above a kids’ playground. It’s got these diagonal streaks of red and tan rock that honestly make it look almost like a slice of bacon. And it has an unusual texture…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s kind of like a shiny, almost slippery-looking surface, with some holes that you can potentially use to climb on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This interested Ravi because he recently got into rock climbing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Mostly indoors at the climbing gym. I was excited to learn that there is, like, at least one climbing spot right within the city, like, easily reachable by bus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And he wants to know … what is that slippery, striped bacon rock?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>How did it end up there, and why does it look so cool?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And most importantly…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Like, can I climb it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Today we’re going to get answers for Ravi, of course. But we’ll also explore how Bay Area climbers have used city parks to practice their skills for decades — and ultimately push the sport forward. Turns out there’s a lot of rock climbing history anchored right here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED producer Francesca Fenzi headed to Beaver Street with Ravi … to check out this unusual rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Birds singing, slight traffic sounds\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> Ravi and I arrive at Corona Heights Park on a sunny weekend afternoon. We can hear birds singing … and the faint sound of traffic from Market Street carrying up the hill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s a playground, a dense pocket of trees, and then … this glistening rock wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s not wet, but it \u003cem>looks\u003c/em> wet. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The shiny surface is interrupted by a single jagged crack, which runs about six stories high. And at the base of the rock is a sign … which gives us a clue about how it got here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Known as a slickenslide, this smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It’s Slicken SIDE actually. Try saying that three times fast! \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Slickenside forms when two rocks inside a fault rub against each other. Imagine pressing your hands together as hard as you can and then sliding them back and forth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That friction creates heat — and tiny dust particles which act like a fluid — to polish the rock until it looks glassy and smooth. Just like the wall at Beaver Street. The colorful stripes even show the direction the fault was moving when a Slickenside was formed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the sign, this rock is thought to be one of the largest exposed Slickenside formations in the world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Capitals, “Please do not chip holes in the rock face or alter the rock in any way.” And then it’s taped over Um, climbing on these rocks is by permit only. To obtain a permit, call some number.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I looked into getting a permit and it turns out you no longer need one to climb at Beaver Street. So Ravi is going to try to climb it today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And to make sure we don’t damage the rock, we’ve enlisted some help.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Hey, how you doing? I’m Max. Hey, Ravi. Ravi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max Stewart owns a guiding company, called SAANO Adventures. And he’s offered to help us set up an anchor and climbing rope on the Beaver Street wall… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> I’d be happy to. Did you bring some shoes? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I brought some shoes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Yeah? Okay. Cool.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Outdoor rocks don’t come with built-in safety equipment like the climbs in a gym, so we’ll need to secure our rope to something sturdy at the top of the rock wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>There’s a little staircase here. Yep, there it is.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max leads us up and around the back side of the rock, to the top of a windy hill. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I can pick out landmarks like the diagonal slash of Market Street below, the Salesforce tower and the Bay Bridge in the distance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Directly in front of us is a steep drop off. It looks a lot more intimidating from up here! \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Isn’t that wild? So the playground. we met just right down there. There’s the sign that you were reading.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Separating us from the edge of the cliff is a chain link fence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> And then a bunch of heavy duty chains that we’re gonna use.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>These heavy duty chains bolted into the top of the wall are perfect for setting up what’s called a “top rope” climb, where a rope runs from the ground, up to an anchor, and back down to the climber, catching them if they fall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Always a little weird!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max explains that this is the same setup used by climbing gyms … even if it looks a bit different outside.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Oh, man. That was impressive. [to Ravi] Is this what you were expecting? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> No, not at all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>A little different than the climbing gym, huh? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah, definitely.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I’ve climbed outside a bit myself and part of what I love is the sense of possibility. There aren’t any predetermined holds, you can find your own route up to the top. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Every single person is gonna have their own method for solving this. the gyms I think are a really good place to get started, to kinda just learn the ropes, but I really encourage people as soon as, you feel like you can do it, to get outside.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Is this gonna be your first time climbing outside? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Uh, yes. Yes, this will be. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>No way, really? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s so fun.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sound of climbing over chain link fence\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> When was the last time you were hopping [00:07:00] fences to go climbing. Hey. It feels kinda like you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to do, hopping fences and … It’s like good clean fun, but still kind of a throwback, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>No laws were broken in the making of this podcast! But Max is right. Setting up the rope above Beaver Street really does feel like getting away with something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A lot of urban climbs FEEL illicit because it seems kind of unnatural to be doing something we associate with mountains right in our backyards. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But, there’s actually a long history of Bay Area climbers using whatever they can find to ready themselves for those more ambitious, wild ascents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beaver Street is one of the only rocks you can climb outdoors in San Francisco, but just across the bay, in the Berkeley Hills, is another city park where climbers have been pushing the limits of the sport for almost a century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Sherman grew up in Berkeley. And he remembers getting introduced to climbing there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman:\u003c/strong> Well, it’s kind of a funny story. Some friends and I in high school, we scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where \u003cs>we, you know, \u003c/s>we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>So they made their way to Indian Rock park, a collection of volcanic boulders that was once an Ohlone meeting spot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And we were sitting on the steps there drinking this beer we had gotten, and I saw people climbing there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The climbers were just a few feet off the ground … practicing gravity-defying moves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Pretty soon, he was taking the bus to Indian Rock every day after school.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And I would always have my climbing shoes in my book bag along with my textbooks and stuff, and I would stop there on the way home every day, go to Indian Rock and boulder till it got dark and then walk home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He was at the rock so often that his brother started describing himself as an only child.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since. And, you know, it’s been over 50 years now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The type of climbing John was doing is called bouldering. There aren’t any ropes, but people climb closer to the ground, using pads to cushion a fall. At least, they do now. But in the early days…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>We took a real beating and there weren’t that many people like myself who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up like that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John is a bit of a legend. He was the first person to climb a bunch of famous bouldering routes, he helped invent those cushioned pads, AND he created a system for ranking the difficulty of climbs — called the V grading system — that’s widely used today. It starts with the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up from there as the climbing gets harder — V1, V2 and so on. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The V comes from John’s lifelong nickname, given to him by a biology teacher at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>So he called me Sherman the Vermin. Got shortened to Verm and just kind of stuck.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John actually hates how fixated other climbers get on his V grading system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience. After you do a wonderful, you know, boulder problem, and you enjoy the setting that you’re in, the camaraderie of your climbing partners, the kinesthetic flow of the moves and everything, and then what happens afterwards? Out pops a V grade.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Instead, John likes to think of himself as part of a long line of climbers honing their skills at Indian Rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The early history that I know of that’s documented goes back to like the 1930s\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>At that time, a group of Berkeley law students — and mountaineers — had their sights on Yosemite Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And here is a collection of rocks where they could train.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The training part was important. Because at the time mountain climbing was super dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward. The safety equipment didn’t really work.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers were using these flimsy ropes made out of hemp that were stiff and dry and tended to break if they got pulled apart too quickly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John says most people assumed that falling on a climbing route was a death sentence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The rope’s gonna break and that’s it, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>But these Berkeley students, climbing at Indian Rock. They came up with a counterintuitive idea.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> More on their idea and how it revolutionized climbing after this quick break. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley Students climbing at Indian Rock wanted to make climbing safer, and they discovered a technique that would really change the game. Francesca Fenzi takes it from here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> It was all in how you handled the rope… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>If you let it run through your hands and slowly break the fall, that rope might not snap, and you can actually catch the leader if they fall, and they’re not gonna die.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>This was huge. Climbers started practicing these “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock. And they brought these life-saving skills to Yosemite with them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A decade later, in the 1940s, nylon was widely available. And climbers started using the stretchy fiber to make stronger, more shock-absorbant ropes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer. The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Falling on a rock climb was no longer a death sentence and that made the sport a lot more popular.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As new tools and techniques made climbs safer, the goals of climbing changed, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>Style was more important than difficulty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John says by the time he got hooked, rock climbing was no longer just about getting to the top. It was about finding creative ways up a rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers were \u003cem>still \u003c/em>eager to test themselves on the big climbs in places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree. But the Bay Area’s natural geology was limiting. And climbing gyms — with their variety of simulated rock types — weren’t as common as they are today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So for Bay Area climbers to take their skills to the next level … they had to look in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Pretty much every building is climbable is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan Schulz is the kind of climber who looks at it “the right way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s 23 and sees climbing opportunities everywhere. Even the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s showing me one of the university’s most famous climbing “routes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a crack in the side of a brick building that houses the Chemistry department. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>This is the crack we’re looking at right here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It takes me a moment to “see” it the way Jordan does.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>To me, I’m looking at a brick wall with a parking sign on it. Yeah. And there’s a gap in the wall that’s maybe about an inch and a half thick. And it runs from the base of the wall to the the next story up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Yeah. That’s the climb. It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it. And then I think that’s the beautiful part about it, is that you need to open your eyes to it, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says climbers have been using the crack in this building to practice their technique since at least the 1960s\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A lot of the style of climbing in Yosemite and the Sierras features a lot of cracks in the rock. And so, it offers a good training ground to learn some crack climbing technique that would help people climb better in the mountains.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says this spot has another name: the Penny Wall. Back in the 60s, when a climber was practicing at the crack, they’d stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>And so people would see, like, how high was the penny, and every so often it would get higher.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A challenge to the next climber…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A subtle way of communicating you know, who climbed a little higher and moved the penny up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Back at Beaver Street, our question asker Ravi is getting ready to place his own metaphorical penny on the wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: All right, Ravi, let’s get your shoes on- Yep\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s about to climb outside for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene:\u003c/strong> How are you feeling about climbing it? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I’m excited. I’m also, yeah, a li- little nervous. Like, I don’t want to slip, but, no, mostly excited. Mostly feeling excited about climbing this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Your belay is on. And climbing. Okay. Climb on, sir.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area’s outdoor rock walls have been home to major breakthroughs in the sport. But as Max would say, they’re also good clean fun.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What do you think of outdoor climbing versus, uh, in the gym? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> This is great. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Isn’t it so nice?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>And urban climbs like this one — tucked into corners of busy cities — feel like secrets, passed along by other members of this special club. People who’ve contributed a penny, or a pair of chains, or advice about how to get around a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Try and utilize that crack as much as possible. This guy’s got some bragging rights having this be his first outdoor climb, and he’s just absolutely sending it. Okay, I’m gonna lower you nice and slow. Just walk those feet down. Hey, nice work, man. That was amazing. Good job, man. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Thank you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>First outdoor climb. Yeah. What a classic too, man. This is a, uh- That was amazing … that’s no slouch of a climb, man. That was, uh, you worked hard for that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Whether you’re a seasoned mountaineer, or a new climber, like Ravi, a neighborhood rock can feel just as magical as Yosemite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What’d you think of that glass section in the middle there? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> The glass section was definitely interesting. That was wild. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Well, what do you think? Should we, uh, pull these ropes?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds or rope falling from a great height\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Boom. That’s it. That’s the sound of the end of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Classical music plays\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>That song is the perfect soundtrack. Was that your cellphone?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, it was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That story was brought to us by KQED reporter Francesca Fenzi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve got two requests for you on our way out. First, Head to \u003ca href=\"http://baycurious.org\">BayCurious.org\u003c/a> and VOTE in our public voting round to help us decide what story we should tackle next. All it takes is a few seconds and one click.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, consider becoming a member of KQED and supporting Bay Curious. We are relying more on listener donations than we have in the past and every dollar helps us to keep bringing you stories like this one. Head to \u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/a> to get started.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Beaver Street is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill toward Corona Heights, a few blocks from the Castro Theater.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Beaver Street is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill toward Corona Heights, a few blocks from the Castro Theater.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tucked into the curve of this tiny street is a narrow park, and inside it, a 60-foot slab of rock that towers over a public playground. The rock is streaked with diagonal bands of red and tan that make it look almost like a slice of bacon — with a surface unlike any rock Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar had seen.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Tucked into the curve of this tiny street is a narrow park, and inside it, a 60-foot slab of rock that towers over a public playground. The rock is streaked with diagonal bands of red and tan that make it look almost like a slice of bacon — with a surface unlike any rock Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar had seen.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar first stumbled across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105733887/beaver-street-wall\">Beaver Street rock wall\u003c/a> during a weekend outing with his daughters, to the Randall Museum of Science in Corona Heights Park.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar first stumbled across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105733887/beaver-street-wall\">Beaver Street rock wall\u003c/a> during a weekend outing with his daughters, to the Randall Museum of Science in Corona Heights Park.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Stewart belays Ravi Bhoraskar as he climbs the Beaver Street wall in San Francisco’s Corona Heights Park.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093864\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Stewart belays Ravi Bhoraskar as he climbs the Beaver Street wall in San Francisco’s Corona Heights Park.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He described it as a “shiny, almost slippery-looking surface” with a few sparse holes “that you can potentially use to climb on.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He described it as a “shiny, almost slippery-looking surface” with a few sparse holes “that you can potentially use to climb on.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The secluded crag felt like a revelation. He recently started rock climbing, and climbs weekly at his neighborhood gym in the Mission.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The secluded crag felt like a revelation. He recently started rock climbing, and climbs weekly at his neighborhood gym in the Mission.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I was excited to learn that there is at least one [outdoor] climbing spot within the city, easily reachable by bus,” Bhoraskar said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I was excited to learn that there is at least one [outdoor] climbing spot within the city, easily reachable by bus,” Bhoraskar said.\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "A visible record of Bay Area geology",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A visible record of Bay Area geology\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A visible record of Bay Area geology\u003c/h2>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar’s first clue to the origins of the Beaver Street rock came from a sign posted at its base. Known as a “slickenside,” the sign explained: “This smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar’s first clue to the origins of the Beaver Street rock came from a sign posted at its base. Known as a “slickenside,” the sign explained: “This smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.”\u003c/p>\n"
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{
"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Slickenside is a type of rock that forms along fault lines, like the San Andreas Fault that slashes diagonally across San Francisco. When two rocks on either side of the fault rub against each other, the friction between them can generate heat and super-fine particles of dust. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Slickenside is a type of rock that forms along fault lines, like the San Andreas Fault that slashes diagonally across San Francisco. When two rocks on either side of the fault rub against each other, the friction between them can generate heat and super-fine particles of dust. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That dust acts like a lubricant, polishing the rock surface until it becomes glassy and smooth, just like the rock on Beaver Street. The colorful stripes on a slickenside formation even record the direction the rocks were moving, allowing geologists to track the movement of different faults across time. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>That dust acts like a lubricant, polishing the rock surface until it becomes glassy and smooth, just like the rock on Beaver Street. The colorful stripes on a slickenside formation even record the direction the rocks were moving, allowing geologists to track the movement of different faults across time. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094715\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to the City of San Francisco’s posted signage, the rock wall on Beaver Street is thought to be one of the largest exposed slickenside formations in the world.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>According to the City of San Francisco’s posted signage, the rock wall on Beaver Street is thought to be one of the largest exposed slickenside formations in the world.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This sign also serves as a reminder of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebsw/\">small municipal battle over access to the rock\u003c/a>. In 2014, the city instituted a permitting process for climbers hoping to scale the slick stone wall. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This sign also serves as a reminder of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebsw/\">small municipal battle over access to the rock\u003c/a>. In 2014, the city instituted a permitting process for climbers hoping to scale the slick stone wall. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>San Francisco climbers protested and eventually persuaded the city to drop the permits — on the condition that local climbing groups and the signage at Beaver Street emphasized a “leave no trace” policy.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>San Francisco climbers protested and eventually persuaded the city to drop the permits — on the condition that local climbing groups and the signage at Beaver Street emphasized a “leave no trace” policy.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "How a Berkeley park changed climbing history",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a Berkeley park changed climbing history\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a Berkeley park changed climbing history\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The rock on Beaver Street is one of a handful of outdoor climbing areas in San Francisco proper, but across the bay in the Berkeley Hills sits another city park where climbers have pushed the sport forward for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>The rock on Beaver Street is one of a handful of outdoor climbing areas in San Francisco proper, but across the bay in the Berkeley Hills sits another city park where climbers have pushed the sport forward for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/indian-rock-park\">Indian Rock Park\u003c/a> encompasses a collection of volcanic boulders in the hills overlooking the UC Berkeley campus. Long a \u003ca href=\"https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/slt_resources/indian-rock/\">place of significance to Ohlone people\u003c/a>, these boulders have also played an outsized role in the Bay Area’s climbing history. John Sherman remembers getting introduced to the sport here in the 1970s, when he was a student at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/indian-rock-park\">Indian Rock Park\u003c/a> encompasses a collection of volcanic boulders in the hills overlooking the UC Berkeley campus. Long a \u003ca href=\"https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/slt_resources/indian-rock/\">place of significance to Ohlone people\u003c/a>, these boulders have also played an outsized role in the Bay Area’s climbing history. John Sherman remembers getting introduced to the sport here in the 1970s, when he was a student at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,” Sherman said. “Some friends and I scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,” Sherman said. “Some friends and I scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w",
"sizes": "(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in orange shirt and grey pants wearing a helmet and rock climbing shoes climbs a rock wall.\" class=\"wp-image-12093866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ravi Bhoraskar climbs the Beaver Street wall, his first outdoor climbing experience.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in orange shirt and grey pants wearing a helmet and rock climbing shoes climbs a rock wall.\" class=\"wp-image-12093866\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ravi Bhoraskar climbs the Beaver Street wall, his first outdoor climbing experience.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A friend suggested that they take their contraband to Indian Rock Park. While they were sitting on the steps enjoying these illicit beverages, Sherman noticed people scrambling on the rocks nearby, practicing gymnastic moves just a few feet off the ground.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A friend suggested that they take their contraband to Indian Rock Park. While they were sitting on the steps enjoying these illicit beverages, Sherman noticed people scrambling on the rocks nearby, practicing gymnastic moves just a few feet off the ground.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself,” he said. He came back a few days later, blundering his way through the first of many bouldering climbs in what would become his 50-year love affair with rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself,” he said. He came back a few days later, blundering his way through the first of many bouldering climbs in what would become his 50-year love affair with rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since,” Sherman said. Bay Area climbers might recognize Sherman by his nickname: Verm, short for Vermin.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>“I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since,” Sherman said. Bay Area climbers might recognize Sherman by his nickname: Verm, short for Vermin.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Verm would go on to become one of the pioneers of a relatively new style of climbing, called bouldering, where climbers perform ambitious, gymnastic moves with no ropes — all while staying relatively close to the ground.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Verm would go on to become one of the pioneers of a relatively new style of climbing, called bouldering, where climbers perform ambitious, gymnastic moves with no ropes — all while staying relatively close to the ground.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just because bouldering involves less consequential falls than those taken by climbers on California’s soaring cliff faces, doesn’t mean falling off a boulder didn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Just because bouldering involves less consequential falls than those taken by climbers on California’s soaring cliff faces, doesn’t mean falling off a boulder didn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We took a real beating back in those days,” Sherman explained of his early bouldering experiments at Indian Rock. “There weren’t that many people, like myself, who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We took a real beating back in those days,” Sherman explained of his early bouldering experiments at Indian Rock. “There weren’t that many people, like myself, who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climbinggold.com/voices/john-sherman\">Sherman is now a climbing legend\u003c/a> within the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climbinggold.com/voices/john-sherman\">Sherman is now a climbing legend\u003c/a> within the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He was the first person to scale and document hundreds of new routes in a now-esteemed bouldering area in Texas, called \u003ca href=\"https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/hueco-tanks/activities/#rock-climbing\">Hueco Tanks\u003c/a>, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.climbing.com/gear/crash-pads-safety-changed-bouldering-forever/\">helped to invent the “crash pads” that boulderers use to cushion their falls\u003c/a> today.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He was the first person to scale and document hundreds of new routes in a now-esteemed bouldering area in Texas, called \u003ca href=\"https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/hueco-tanks/activities/#rock-climbing\">Hueco Tanks\u003c/a>, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.climbing.com/gear/crash-pads-safety-changed-bouldering-forever/\">helped to invent the “crash pads” that boulderers use to cushion their falls\u003c/a> today.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But his most recognizable contribution to the Bay Area’s climbing culture is one that Sherman doesn’t like to talk about. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But his most recognizable contribution to the Bay Area’s climbing culture is one that Sherman doesn’t like to talk about. \u003c/p>\n"
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"srcset": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094719\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of the skyline from the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094719\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of the skyline from the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>He invented a system to grade the difficulty of bouldering climbs, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://rockclimbingrealms.com/bouldering-grades-explained/\">“V grading system” \u003c/a>— as in, the Vermin grading system. This is a system now widely used by climbing gyms, which rates the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up numerically (V1, V2, V3 and so on) as the difficulty increases.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>He invented a system to grade the difficulty of bouldering climbs, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://rockclimbingrealms.com/bouldering-grades-explained/\">“V grading system” \u003c/a>— as in, the Vermin grading system. This is a system now widely used by climbing gyms, which rates the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up numerically (V1, V2, V3 and so on) as the difficulty increases.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sherman said he dislikes how fixated other climbers have become with his grading system.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Sherman said he dislikes how fixated other climbers have become with his grading system.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience,” he said. He described the “nutrition” of the climbing experience as being all the things that make climbing worthwhile: the camaraderie, the “kinesthetic flow of the movement” and a communion with nature.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience,” he said. He described the “nutrition” of the climbing experience as being all the things that make climbing worthwhile: the camaraderie, the “kinesthetic flow of the movement” and a communion with nature.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And then what happens afterwards?” he said. “Out pops a V grade.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“And then what happens afterwards?” he said. “Out pops a V grade.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": {
"text": "A safer way to fall",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A safer way to fall\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A safer way to fall\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Sherman prefers to think of himself as part of a long lineage of Bay Area climbers who have sharpened their skills on the urban rock faces available to them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At Indian Rock, for example, a group of Berkeley law students and mountaineers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/12/07/rock-climbing-indian-rock-mortar-rock\">preparing for ascents in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1930s\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At Indian Rock, for example, a group of Berkeley law students and mountaineers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/12/07/rock-climbing-indian-rock-mortar-rock\">preparing for ascents in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1930s\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Mountain climbing at the time was extraordinarily dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward, and the safety equipment didn’t really work. Climbers used ropes made of hemp — stiff, dry, and prone to snapping if pulled too quickly. Most people assumed a fall on a climbing route was fatal.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Mountain climbing at the time was extraordinarily dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward, and the safety equipment didn’t really work. Climbers used ropes made of hemp — stiff, dry, and prone to snapping if pulled too quickly. Most people assumed a fall on a climbing route was fatal.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The rope’s gonna break, and that’s it, you know?” Sherman said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094716\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An anchor chain at the top of the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094716\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An anchor chain at the top of the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But the Berkeley students climbing at Indian Rock developed a counterintuitive idea to change that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The solution was all in how climbers handled the rope. If a belayer let the rope run through their hands and slowly absorbed the force of a fall, the rope was far less likely to snap — and could actually catch a falling climber without killing them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The solution was all in how climbers handled the rope. If a belayer let the rope run through their hands and slowly absorbed the force of a fall, the rope was far less likely to snap — and could actually catch a falling climber without killing them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbers began practicing these controlled, “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock, and they carried the life-saving technique with them to Yosemite. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles/\">By the 1940s, nylon was commercially accessible\u003c/a>, and climbers began making stronger, more shock-absorbent ropes from it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Climbers began practicing these controlled, “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock, and they carried the life-saving technique with them to Yosemite. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles/\">By the 1940s, nylon was commercially accessible\u003c/a>, and climbers began making stronger, more shock-absorbent ropes from it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer,” Sherman said. “The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer,” Sherman said. “The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Falling was no longer a death sentence, and the sport became more popular as a result. As new tools and techniques made climbing safer, the goals of the sport shifted too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Falling was no longer a death sentence, and the sport became more popular as a result. As new tools and techniques made climbing safer, the goals of the sport shifted too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Style was more important than difficulty, and you were more respected if you could walk up to a climb and climb it without falling … just figuring it out,” Sherman said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Style was more important than difficulty, and you were more respected if you could walk up to a climb and climb it without falling … just figuring it out,” Sherman said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, climbing was no longer just about the summit — it was about finding a creative way up each rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, climbing was no longer just about the summit — it was about finding a creative way up each rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful. \u003c/p>\n"
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"text": "The secret climbs on University of California, Berkeley campus",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The secret climbs on University of California, Berkeley campus\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbers still wanted to test themselves on big routes in Yosemite and Joshua Tree, but the Bay Area’s natural geology was limited, and climbing gyms weren’t yet common. So climbers had to look for training grounds in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Climbers still wanted to test themselves on big routes in Yosemite and Joshua Tree, but the Bay Area’s natural geology was limited, and climbing gyms weren’t yet common. So climbers had to look for training grounds in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Jordan Schultz is the kind of climber who sees potential everywhere — even across the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s cataloged hundreds of “buildering” routes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Jordan Schultz is the kind of climber who sees potential everywhere — even across the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s cataloged hundreds of “buildering” routes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I think I listed, like, 300-plus routes just on campus,” Schultz said. “Pretty much every building is climbable, is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“I think I listed, like, 300-plus routes just on campus,” Schultz said. “Pretty much every building is climbable, is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left to right, climbers Ace Landauer, Jordan Schultz, Tilly Holtz and Colin Wills hang from cracks in the “penny wall,” a spot on the UC Berkeley campus where rock climbers practice crack climbing techniques required for climbs in Yosemite Valley.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094710\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left to right, climbers Ace Landauer, Jordan Schultz, Tilly Holtz and Colin Wills hang from cracks in the “penny wall,” a spot on the UC Berkeley campus where rock climbers practice crack climbing techniques required for climbs in Yosemite Valley.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Schultz documented these routes — and the history behind them — in his guidebook, \u003ca href=\"https://campusingbook.com\">\u003cem>Campusing: A Secret History and Buildering Guide to UC Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>One of the university’s most famous unofficial routes is a crack running up the side of a brick building that houses the chemistry department.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Schultz documented these routes — and the history behind them — in his guidebook, \u003ca href=\"https://campusingbook.com\">\u003cem>Campusing: A Secret History and Buildering Guide to UC Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>One of the university’s most famous unofficial routes is a crack running up the side of a brick building that houses the chemistry department.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it,” Schultz said. “I think that’s the beautiful part about it. You need to open your eyes to it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it,” Schultz said. “I think that’s the beautiful part about it. You need to open your eyes to it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbers have used this crack to practice technique since at least the 1960s, Schultz said, because it mirrors the kind of crack climbing common in Yosemite and other parts of the Sierra.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Climbers have used this crack to practice technique since at least the 1960s, Schultz said, because it mirrors the kind of crack climbing common in Yosemite and other parts of the Sierra.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The spot has another name, too: the Penny Wall. According to Schultz, back in the 1960s, climbers practicing at the crack would stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach — a marker and quiet challenge to whoever climbed the crack next.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The spot has another name, too: the Penny Wall. According to Schultz, back in the 1960s, climbers practicing at the crack would stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach — a marker and quiet challenge to whoever climbed the crack next.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>John Sherman honed his own crack-climbing technique on the Penny Wall. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>John Sherman honed his own crack-climbing technique on the Penny Wall. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And as much as the Bay Area’s outdoor climbing sites have been the home of real breakthroughs in the sport of climbing, he said their true value is in the community of climbers that are drawn to them.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>And as much as the Bay Area’s outdoor climbing sites have been the home of real breakthroughs in the sport of climbing, he said their true value is in the community of climbers that are drawn to them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbing something like the rock on Beaver Street, tucked into the corner of a busy city, can still feel like being let in on a local secret — passed down by generations of climbers who have left something behind for the next adventurous climber: a penny, a piece of gear, or simply a tip to help newcomers navigate a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Climbing something like the rock on Beaver Street, tucked into the corner of a busy city, can still feel like being let in on a local secret — passed down by generations of climbers who have left something behind for the next adventurous climber: a penny, a piece of gear, or simply a tip to help newcomers navigate a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“When you do go to these little areas, and make the effort to meet the locals [climbing there], the experience is so much richer,” Sherman said. “It doesn’t have to be Yosemite to give you a climbing experience and a community to hang out with.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“When you do go to these little areas, and make the effort to meet the locals [climbing there], the experience is so much richer,” Sherman said. “It doesn’t have to be Yosemite to give you a climbing experience and a community to hang out with.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"\n[baycuriousquestion]\n"
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"text": "Episode transcript",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen-Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen-Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>When I was about six months pregnant with my first child, a friend of a friend passed along a maternity climbing harness … a full body nylon contraption that allows pregnant people to keep rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>When I was about six months pregnant with my first child, a friend of a friend passed along a maternity climbing harness … a full body nylon contraption that allows pregnant people to keep rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Now, I was not a rock climber at the time, but thought — “hey, why not? A lot of other activities I love, like running, have gotten really hard, but my legs are stronger than ever. Let’s climb!”\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Now, I was not a rock climber at the time, but thought — “hey, why not? A lot of other activities I love, like running, have gotten really hard, but my legs are stronger than ever. Let’s climb!”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Soon I found myself halfway up a wall in Pinnacles National Park … having a blast, but also hearing the voice of my mother inside my head: \u003cem>“Oh, Olivia. You would.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Soon I found myself halfway up a wall in Pinnacles National Park … having a blast, but also hearing the voice of my mother inside my head: \u003cem>“Oh, Olivia. You would.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>To be honest, my stint with rock climbing was relatively short, but I was into it long enough to hit up most of the bigger climbing areas in the Bay Area. And I learned you don’t have to drive all the way to Yosemite to feel the thrill of scaling a cliff. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>To be honest, my stint with rock climbing was relatively short, but I was into it long enough to hit up most of the bigger climbing areas in the Bay Area. And I learned you don’t have to drive all the way to Yosemite to feel the thrill of scaling a cliff. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There are a handful of urban climbing areas you might have walked past without a second look.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There are a handful of urban climbing areas you might have walked past without a second look.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar [[boh-RAHS-car]] stumbled across one of those hidden rock walls … tucked into the hills of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar [[boh-RAHS-car]] stumbled across one of those hidden rock walls … tucked into the hills of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It looked to me like a residential street. A bunch of cute houses, \u003cs>uh,\u003c/s> and, like, a little narrow path in the middle.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It looked to me like a residential street. A bunch of cute houses, \u003cs>uh,\u003c/s> and, like, a little narrow path in the middle.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Beaver Street itself is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill towards Corona Heights. The Castro Theater is just a few blocks away.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Beaver Street itself is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill towards Corona Heights. The Castro Theater is just a few blocks away.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And tucked into the curve of Beaver Street is a narrow park.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And tucked into the curve of Beaver Street is a narrow park.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>And as you come in, you get this giant piece of shiny rock, which is the Beaver Street Wall. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>And as you come in, you get this giant piece of shiny rock, which is the Beaver Street Wall. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This big slab of rock towers 60 feet above a kids’ playground. It’s got these diagonal streaks of red and tan rock that honestly make it look almost like a slice of bacon. And it has an unusual texture…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This big slab of rock towers 60 feet above a kids’ playground. It’s got these diagonal streaks of red and tan rock that honestly make it look almost like a slice of bacon. And it has an unusual texture…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s kind of like a shiny, almost slippery-looking surface, with some holes that you can potentially use to climb on.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s kind of like a shiny, almost slippery-looking surface, with some holes that you can potentially use to climb on.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This interested Ravi because he recently got into rock climbing. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This interested Ravi because he recently got into rock climbing. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Mostly indoors at the climbing gym. I was excited to learn that there is, like, at least one climbing spot right within the city, like, easily reachable by bus.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Mostly indoors at the climbing gym. I was excited to learn that there is, like, at least one climbing spot right within the city, like, easily reachable by bus.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And he wants to know … what is that slippery, striped bacon rock?\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And he wants to know … what is that slippery, striped bacon rock?\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>How did it end up there, and why does it look so cool?\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>How did it end up there, and why does it look so cool?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And most importantly…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And most importantly…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Like, can I climb it?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Like, can I climb it?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Today we’re going to get answers for Ravi, of course. But we’ll also explore how Bay Area climbers have used city parks to practice their skills for decades — and ultimately push the sport forward. Turns out there’s a lot of rock climbing history anchored right here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Today we’re going to get answers for Ravi, of course. But we’ll also explore how Bay Area climbers have used city parks to practice their skills for decades — and ultimately push the sport forward. Turns out there’s a lot of rock climbing history anchored right here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>KQED producer Francesca Fenzi headed to Beaver Street with Ravi … to check out this unusual rock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>KQED producer Francesca Fenzi headed to Beaver Street with Ravi … to check out this unusual rock.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Birds singing, slight traffic sounds\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Birds singing, slight traffic sounds\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> Ravi and I arrive at Corona Heights Park on a sunny weekend afternoon. We can hear birds singing … and the faint sound of traffic from Market Street carrying up the hill.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> Ravi and I arrive at Corona Heights Park on a sunny weekend afternoon. We can hear birds singing … and the faint sound of traffic from Market Street carrying up the hill.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>There’s a playground, a dense pocket of trees, and then … this glistening rock wall.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>There’s a playground, a dense pocket of trees, and then … this glistening rock wall.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s not wet, but it \u003cem>looks\u003c/em> wet. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s not wet, but it \u003cem>looks\u003c/em> wet. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The shiny surface is interrupted by a single jagged crack, which runs about six stories high. And at the base of the rock is a sign … which gives us a clue about how it got here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The shiny surface is interrupted by a single jagged crack, which runs about six stories high. And at the base of the rock is a sign … which gives us a clue about how it got here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Known as a slickenslide, this smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Known as a slickenslide, this smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It’s Slicken SIDE actually. Try saying that three times fast! \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It’s Slicken SIDE actually. Try saying that three times fast! \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Slickenside forms when two rocks inside a fault rub against each other. Imagine pressing your hands together as hard as you can and then sliding them back and forth. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Slickenside forms when two rocks inside a fault rub against each other. Imagine pressing your hands together as hard as you can and then sliding them back and forth. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>That friction creates heat — and tiny dust particles which act like a fluid — to polish the rock until it looks glassy and smooth. Just like the wall at Beaver Street. The colorful stripes even show the direction the fault was moving when a Slickenside was formed.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>That friction creates heat — and tiny dust particles which act like a fluid — to polish the rock until it looks glassy and smooth. Just like the wall at Beaver Street. The colorful stripes even show the direction the fault was moving when a Slickenside was formed.\u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to the sign, this rock is thought to be one of the largest exposed Slickenside formations in the world. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>According to the sign, this rock is thought to be one of the largest exposed Slickenside formations in the world. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Capitals, “Please do not chip holes in the rock face or alter the rock in any way.” And then it’s taped over Um, climbing on these rocks is by permit only. To obtain a permit, call some number.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Capitals, “Please do not chip holes in the rock face or alter the rock in any way.” And then it’s taped over Um, climbing on these rocks is by permit only. To obtain a permit, call some number.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I looked into getting a permit and it turns out you no longer need one to climb at Beaver Street. So Ravi is going to try to climb it today.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I looked into getting a permit and it turns out you no longer need one to climb at Beaver Street. So Ravi is going to try to climb it today.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And to make sure we don’t damage the rock, we’ve enlisted some help.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>And to make sure we don’t damage the rock, we’ve enlisted some help.\u003c/p>\n"
],
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Hey, how you doing? I’m Max. Hey, Ravi. Ravi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Hey, how you doing? I’m Max. Hey, Ravi. Ravi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max Stewart owns a guiding company, called SAANO Adventures. And he’s offered to help us set up an anchor and climbing rope on the Beaver Street wall… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max Stewart owns a guiding company, called SAANO Adventures. And he’s offered to help us set up an anchor and climbing rope on the Beaver Street wall… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> I’d be happy to. Did you bring some shoes? \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> I’d be happy to. Did you bring some shoes? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I brought some shoes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I brought some shoes. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Yeah? Okay. Cool.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Yeah? Okay. Cool.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Outdoor rocks don’t come with built-in safety equipment like the climbs in a gym, so we’ll need to secure our rope to something sturdy at the top of the rock wall.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Outdoor rocks don’t come with built-in safety equipment like the climbs in a gym, so we’ll need to secure our rope to something sturdy at the top of the rock wall.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>There’s a little staircase here. Yep, there it is.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>There’s a little staircase here. Yep, there it is.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max leads us up and around the back side of the rock, to the top of a windy hill. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max leads us up and around the back side of the rock, to the top of a windy hill. \u003c/p>\n"
],
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},
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"blockName": "core/paragraph",
"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I can pick out landmarks like the diagonal slash of Market Street below, the Salesforce tower and the Bay Bridge in the distance. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>I can pick out landmarks like the diagonal slash of Market Street below, the Salesforce tower and the Bay Bridge in the distance. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Directly in front of us is a steep drop off. It looks a lot more intimidating from up here! \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Directly in front of us is a steep drop off. It looks a lot more intimidating from up here! \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Isn’t that wild? So the playground. we met just right down there. There’s the sign that you were reading.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Isn’t that wild? So the playground. we met just right down there. There’s the sign that you were reading.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Separating us from the edge of the cliff is a chain link fence. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Separating us from the edge of the cliff is a chain link fence. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> And then a bunch of heavy duty chains that we’re gonna use.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> And then a bunch of heavy duty chains that we’re gonna use.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>These heavy duty chains bolted into the top of the wall are perfect for setting up what’s called a “top rope” climb, where a rope runs from the ground, up to an anchor, and back down to the climber, catching them if they fall.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>These heavy duty chains bolted into the top of the wall are perfect for setting up what’s called a “top rope” climb, where a rope runs from the ground, up to an anchor, and back down to the climber, catching them if they fall.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Always a little weird!\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Always a little weird!\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max explains that this is the same setup used by climbing gyms … even if it looks a bit different outside.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max explains that this is the same setup used by climbing gyms … even if it looks a bit different outside.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Oh, man. That was impressive. [to Ravi] Is this what you were expecting? \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Oh, man. That was impressive. [to Ravi] Is this what you were expecting? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> No, not at all. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> No, not at all. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>A little different than the climbing gym, huh? \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>A little different than the climbing gym, huh? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah, definitely.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah, definitely.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I’ve climbed outside a bit myself and part of what I love is the sense of possibility. There aren’t any predetermined holds, you can find your own route up to the top. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I’ve climbed outside a bit myself and part of what I love is the sense of possibility. There aren’t any predetermined holds, you can find your own route up to the top. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Every single person is gonna have their own method for solving this. the gyms I think are a really good place to get started, to kinda just learn the ropes, but I really encourage people as soon as, you feel like you can do it, to get outside.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Every single person is gonna have their own method for solving this. the gyms I think are a really good place to get started, to kinda just learn the ropes, but I really encourage people as soon as, you feel like you can do it, to get outside.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Is this gonna be your first time climbing outside? \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Is this gonna be your first time climbing outside? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Uh, yes. Yes, this will be. \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Uh, yes. Yes, this will be. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>No way, really? \u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>No way, really? \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s so fun.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s so fun.\u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sound of climbing over chain link fence\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sound of climbing over chain link fence\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> When was the last time you were hopping [00:07:00] fences to go climbing. Hey. It feels kinda like you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to do, hopping fences and … It’s like good clean fun, but still kind of a throwback, you know?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> When was the last time you were hopping [00:07:00] fences to go climbing. Hey. It feels kinda like you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to do, hopping fences and … It’s like good clean fun, but still kind of a throwback, you know?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>No laws were broken in the making of this podcast! But Max is right. Setting up the rope above Beaver Street really does feel like getting away with something.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>No laws were broken in the making of this podcast! But Max is right. Setting up the rope above Beaver Street really does feel like getting away with something.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A lot of urban climbs FEEL illicit because it seems kind of unnatural to be doing something we associate with mountains right in our backyards. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A lot of urban climbs FEEL illicit because it seems kind of unnatural to be doing something we associate with mountains right in our backyards. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>But, there’s actually a long history of Bay Area climbers using whatever they can find to ready themselves for those more ambitious, wild ascents. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>But, there’s actually a long history of Bay Area climbers using whatever they can find to ready themselves for those more ambitious, wild ascents. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Beaver Street is one of the only rocks you can climb outdoors in San Francisco, but just across the bay, in the Berkeley Hills, is another city park where climbers have been pushing the limits of the sport for almost a century.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Beaver Street is one of the only rocks you can climb outdoors in San Francisco, but just across the bay, in the Berkeley Hills, is another city park where climbers have been pushing the limits of the sport for almost a century.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>John Sherman grew up in Berkeley. And he remembers getting introduced to climbing there.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman:\u003c/strong> Well, it’s kind of a funny story. Some friends and I in high school, we scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where \u003cs>we, you know, \u003c/s>we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman:\u003c/strong> Well, it’s kind of a funny story. Some friends and I in high school, we scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where \u003cs>we, you know, \u003c/s>we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>So they made their way to Indian Rock park, a collection of volcanic boulders that was once an Ohlone meeting spot. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>So they made their way to Indian Rock park, a collection of volcanic boulders that was once an Ohlone meeting spot. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And we were sitting on the steps there drinking this beer we had gotten, and I saw people climbing there.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And we were sitting on the steps there drinking this beer we had gotten, and I saw people climbing there.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The climbers were just a few feet off the ground … practicing gravity-defying moves.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The climbers were just a few feet off the ground … practicing gravity-defying moves.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Pretty soon, he was taking the bus to Indian Rock every day after school.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Pretty soon, he was taking the bus to Indian Rock every day after school.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And I would always have my climbing shoes in my book bag along with my textbooks and stuff, and I would stop there on the way home every day, go to Indian Rock and boulder till it got dark and then walk home.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And I would always have my climbing shoes in my book bag along with my textbooks and stuff, and I would stop there on the way home every day, go to Indian Rock and boulder till it got dark and then walk home.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He was at the rock so often that his brother started describing himself as an only child.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He was at the rock so often that his brother started describing himself as an only child.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since. And, you know, it’s been over 50 years now.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since. And, you know, it’s been over 50 years now.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The type of climbing John was doing is called bouldering. There aren’t any ropes, but people climb closer to the ground, using pads to cushion a fall. At least, they do now. But in the early days…\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The type of climbing John was doing is called bouldering. There aren’t any ropes, but people climb closer to the ground, using pads to cushion a fall. At least, they do now. But in the early days…\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>We took a real beating and there weren’t that many people like myself who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up like that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>We took a real beating and there weren’t that many people like myself who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up like that.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John is a bit of a legend. He was the first person to climb a bunch of famous bouldering routes, he helped invent those cushioned pads, AND he created a system for ranking the difficulty of climbs — called the V grading system — that’s widely used today. It starts with the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up from there as the climbing gets harder — V1, V2 and so on. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John is a bit of a legend. He was the first person to climb a bunch of famous bouldering routes, he helped invent those cushioned pads, AND he created a system for ranking the difficulty of climbs — called the V grading system — that’s widely used today. It starts with the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up from there as the climbing gets harder — V1, V2 and so on. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The V comes from John’s lifelong nickname, given to him by a biology teacher at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The V comes from John’s lifelong nickname, given to him by a biology teacher at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>So he called me Sherman the Vermin. Got shortened to Verm and just kind of stuck.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>So he called me Sherman the Vermin. Got shortened to Verm and just kind of stuck.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John actually hates how fixated other climbers get on his V grading system.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John actually hates how fixated other climbers get on his V grading system.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience. After you do a wonderful, you know, boulder problem, and you enjoy the setting that you’re in, the camaraderie of your climbing partners, the kinesthetic flow of the moves and everything, and then what happens afterwards? Out pops a V grade.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience. After you do a wonderful, you know, boulder problem, and you enjoy the setting that you’re in, the camaraderie of your climbing partners, the kinesthetic flow of the moves and everything, and then what happens afterwards? Out pops a V grade.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Instead, John likes to think of himself as part of a long line of climbers honing their skills at Indian Rock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Instead, John likes to think of himself as part of a long line of climbers honing their skills at Indian Rock.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The early history that I know of that’s documented goes back to like the 1930s\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The early history that I know of that’s documented goes back to like the 1930s\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>At that time, a group of Berkeley law students — and mountaineers — had their sights on Yosemite Valley.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>At that time, a group of Berkeley law students — and mountaineers — had their sights on Yosemite Valley.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And here is a collection of rocks where they could train.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And here is a collection of rocks where they could train.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The training part was important. Because at the time mountain climbing was super dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward. The safety equipment didn’t really work.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The training part was important. Because at the time mountain climbing was super dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward. The safety equipment didn’t really work.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbers were using these flimsy ropes made out of hemp that were stiff and dry and tended to break if they got pulled apart too quickly.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Climbers were using these flimsy ropes made out of hemp that were stiff and dry and tended to break if they got pulled apart too quickly.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>John says most people assumed that falling on a climbing route was a death sentence.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>John says most people assumed that falling on a climbing route was a death sentence.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The rope’s gonna break and that’s it, you know?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The rope’s gonna break and that’s it, you know?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>But these Berkeley students, climbing at Indian Rock. They came up with a counterintuitive idea.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> More on their idea and how it revolutionized climbing after this quick break. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>But these Berkeley students, climbing at Indian Rock. They came up with a counterintuitive idea.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> More on their idea and how it revolutionized climbing after this quick break. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley Students climbing at Indian Rock wanted to make climbing safer, and they discovered a technique that would really change the game. Francesca Fenzi takes it from here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley Students climbing at Indian Rock wanted to make climbing safer, and they discovered a technique that would really change the game. Francesca Fenzi takes it from here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> It was all in how you handled the rope… \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> It was all in how you handled the rope… \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>If you let it run through your hands and slowly break the fall, that rope might not snap, and you can actually catch the leader if they fall, and they’re not gonna die.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>If you let it run through your hands and slowly break the fall, that rope might not snap, and you can actually catch the leader if they fall, and they’re not gonna die.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>This was huge. Climbers started practicing these “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock. And they brought these life-saving skills to Yosemite with them.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>This was huge. Climbers started practicing these “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock. And they brought these life-saving skills to Yosemite with them.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A decade later, in the 1940s, nylon was widely available. And climbers started using the stretchy fiber to make stronger, more shock-absorbant ropes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>A decade later, in the 1940s, nylon was widely available. And climbers started using the stretchy fiber to make stronger, more shock-absorbant ropes.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer. The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer. The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Falling on a rock climb was no longer a death sentence and that made the sport a lot more popular.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Falling on a rock climb was no longer a death sentence and that made the sport a lot more popular.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As new tools and techniques made climbs safer, the goals of climbing changed, too.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As new tools and techniques made climbs safer, the goals of climbing changed, too.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>Style was more important than difficulty.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>Style was more important than difficulty.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John says by the time he got hooked, rock climbing was no longer just about getting to the top. It was about finding creative ways up a rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John says by the time he got hooked, rock climbing was no longer just about getting to the top. It was about finding creative ways up a rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Climbers were \u003cem>still \u003c/em>eager to test themselves on the big climbs in places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree. But the Bay Area’s natural geology was limiting. And climbing gyms — with their variety of simulated rock types — weren’t as common as they are today.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Climbers were \u003cem>still \u003c/em>eager to test themselves on the big climbs in places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree. But the Bay Area’s natural geology was limiting. And climbing gyms — with their variety of simulated rock types — weren’t as common as they are today.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>So for Bay Area climbers to take their skills to the next level … they had to look in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>So for Bay Area climbers to take their skills to the next level … they had to look in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Pretty much every building is climbable is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Pretty much every building is climbable is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan Schulz is the kind of climber who looks at it “the right way.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan Schulz is the kind of climber who looks at it “the right way.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s 23 and sees climbing opportunities everywhere. Even the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s showing me one of the university’s most famous climbing “routes.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s 23 and sees climbing opportunities everywhere. Even the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s showing me one of the university’s most famous climbing “routes.” \u003c/p>\n"
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"attrs": [],
"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>It’s a crack in the side of a brick building that houses the Chemistry department. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>It’s a crack in the side of a brick building that houses the Chemistry department. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>This is the crack we’re looking at right here. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>This is the crack we’re looking at right here. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>To me, I’m looking at a brick wall with a parking sign on it. Yeah. And there’s a gap in the wall that’s maybe about an inch and a half thick. And it runs from the base of the wall to the the next story up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Yeah. That’s the climb. It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it. And then I think that’s the beautiful part about it, is that you need to open your eyes to it, you know?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says climbers have been using the crack in this building to practice their technique since at least the 1960s\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A lot of the style of climbing in Yosemite and the Sierras features a lot of cracks in the rock. And so, it offers a good training ground to learn some crack climbing technique that would help people climb better in the mountains.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says this spot has another name: the Penny Wall. Back in the 60s, when a climber was practicing at the crack, they’d stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>And so people would see, like, how high was the penny, and every so often it would get higher.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A challenge to the next climber…\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A subtle way of communicating you know, who climbed a little higher and moved the penny up.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Back at Beaver Street, our question asker Ravi is getting ready to place his own metaphorical penny on the wall.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: All right, Ravi, let’s get your shoes on- Yep\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s about to climb outside for the first time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene:\u003c/strong> How are you feeling about climbing it? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I’m excited. I’m also, yeah, a li- little nervous. Like, I don’t want to slip, but, no, mostly excited. Mostly feeling excited about climbing this.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Your belay is on. And climbing. Okay. Climb on, sir.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area’s outdoor rock walls have been home to major breakthroughs in the sport. But as Max would say, they’re also good clean fun.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What do you think of outdoor climbing versus, uh, in the gym? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> This is great. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Isn’t it so nice?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>And urban climbs like this one — tucked into corners of busy cities — feel like secrets, passed along by other members of this special club. People who’ve contributed a penny, or a pair of chains, or advice about how to get around a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Try and utilize that crack as much as possible. This guy’s got some bragging rights having this be his first outdoor climb, and he’s just absolutely sending it. Okay, I’m gonna lower you nice and slow. Just walk those feet down. Hey, nice work, man. That was amazing. Good job, man. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Thank you. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>First outdoor climb. Yeah. What a classic too, man. This is a, uh- That was amazing … that’s no slouch of a climb, man. That was, uh, you worked hard for that.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Whether you’re a seasoned mountaineer, or a new climber, like Ravi, a neighborhood rock can feel just as magical as Yosemite.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What’d you think of that glass section in the middle there? \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> The glass section was definitely interesting. That was wild. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Well, what do you think? Should we, uh, pull these ropes?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds or rope falling from a great height\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Boom. That’s it. That’s the sound of the end of it.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Classical music plays\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>That song is the perfect soundtrack. Was that your cellphone?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, it was.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That story was brought to us by KQED reporter Francesca Fenzi.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>I’ve got two requests for you on our way out. First, Head to \u003ca href=\"http://baycurious.org\">BayCurious.org\u003c/a> and VOTE in our public voting round to help us decide what story we should tackle next. All it takes is a few seconds and one click.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Second, consider becoming a member of KQED and supporting Bay Curious. We are relying more on listener donations than we have in the past and every dollar helps us to keep bringing you stories like this one. Head to \u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/a> to get started.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Beaver Street’s shiny slab isn’t just a geologic curiosity — it’s part of a long legacy for Bay Area climbers who have used city rocks and buildings to train for the heights of Yosemite Valley.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"#transcript\">View the full episode transcript\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco’s\u003c/a> Beaver Street is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill toward Corona Heights, a few blocks from the Castro Theater.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tucked into the curve of this tiny street is a narrow park, and inside it, a 60-foot slab of rock that towers over a public playground. The rock is streaked with diagonal bands of red and tan that make it look almost like a slice of bacon — with a surface unlike any rock Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar had seen.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar first stumbled across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105733887/beaver-street-wall\">Beaver Street rock wall\u003c/a> during a weekend outing with his daughters, to the Randall Museum of Science in Corona Heights Park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12093864\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-3-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Max Stewart belays Ravi Bhoraskar as he climbs the Beaver Street wall in San Francisco’s Corona Heights Park. (Francesca Fenzi/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He described it as a “shiny, almost slippery-looking surface” with a few sparse holes “that you can potentially use to climb on.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The secluded crag felt like a revelation. He recently started rock climbing, and climbs weekly at his neighborhood gym in the Mission.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I was excited to learn that there is at least one [outdoor] climbing spot within the city, easily reachable by bus,” Bhoraskar said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A visible record of Bay Area geology\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bhoraskar’s first clue to the origins of the Beaver Street rock came from a sign posted at its base. Known as a “slickenside,” the sign explained: “This smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Slickenside is a type of rock that forms along fault lines, like the San Andreas Fault that slashes diagonally across San Francisco. When two rocks on either side of the fault rub against each other, the friction between them can generate heat and super-fine particles of dust. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That dust acts like a lubricant, polishing the rock surface until it becomes glassy and smooth, just like the rock on Beaver Street. The colorful stripes on a slickenside formation even record the direction the rocks were moving, allowing geologists to track the movement of different faults across time. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-06-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the City of San Francisco’s posted signage, the rock wall on Beaver Street is thought to be one of the largest exposed slickenside formations in the world.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This sign also serves as a reminder of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/savebsw/\">small municipal battle over access to the rock\u003c/a>. In 2014, the city instituted a permitting process for climbers hoping to scale the slick stone wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>San Francisco climbers protested and eventually persuaded the city to drop the permits — on the condition that local climbing groups and the signage at Beaver Street emphasized a “leave no trace” policy.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a Berkeley park changed climbing history\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rock on Beaver Street is one of a handful of outdoor climbing areas in San Francisco proper, but across the bay in the Berkeley Hills sits another city park where climbers have pushed the sport forward for nearly a century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/indian-rock-park\">Indian Rock Park\u003c/a> encompasses a collection of volcanic boulders in the hills overlooking the UC Berkeley campus. Long a \u003ca href=\"https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/slt_resources/indian-rock/\">place of significance to Ohlone people\u003c/a>, these boulders have also played an outsized role in the Bay Area’s climbing history. John Sherman remembers getting introduced to the sport here in the 1970s, when he was a student at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Well, it’s kind of a funny story,” Sherman said. “Some friends and I scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\n\u003cfigure class=\"alignleft size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A man in orange shirt and grey pants wearing a helmet and rock climbing shoes climbs a rock wall.\" class=\"wp-image-12093866\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED.jpg 1500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/BeaverStreetClimbing_FF-5-KQED-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ravi Bhoraskar climbs the Beaver Street wall, his first outdoor climbing experience. (Francesca Fenzi/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\n\u003cp>A friend suggested that they take their contraband to Indian Rock Park. While they were sitting on the steps enjoying these illicit beverages, Sherman noticed people scrambling on the rocks nearby, practicing gymnastic moves just a few feet off the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself,” he said. He came back a few days later, blundering his way through the first of many bouldering climbs in what would become his 50-year love affair with rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since,” Sherman said. Bay Area climbers might recognize Sherman by his nickname: Verm, short for Vermin.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Verm would go on to become one of the pioneers of a relatively new style of climbing, called bouldering, where climbers perform ambitious, gymnastic moves with no ropes — all while staying relatively close to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just because bouldering involves less consequential falls than those taken by climbers on California’s soaring cliff faces, doesn’t mean falling off a boulder didn’t hurt.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We took a real beating back in those days,” Sherman explained of his early bouldering experiments at Indian Rock. “There weren’t that many people, like myself, who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climbinggold.com/voices/john-sherman\">Sherman is now a climbing legend\u003c/a> within the Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He was the first person to scale and document hundreds of new routes in a now-esteemed bouldering area in Texas, called \u003ca href=\"https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/hueco-tanks/activities/#rock-climbing\">Hueco Tanks\u003c/a>, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.climbing.com/gear/crash-pads-safety-changed-bouldering-forever/\">helped to invent the “crash pads” that boulderers use to cushion their falls\u003c/a> today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But his most recognizable contribution to the Bay Area’s climbing culture is one that Sherman doesn’t like to talk about. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094719\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-14-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of the skyline from the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>He invented a system to grade the difficulty of bouldering climbs, dubbed the \u003ca href=\"https://rockclimbingrealms.com/bouldering-grades-explained/\">“V grading system” \u003c/a>— as in, the Vermin grading system. This is a system now widely used by climbing gyms, which rates the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up numerically (V1, V2, V3 and so on) as the difficulty increases.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sherman said he dislikes how fixated other climbers have become with his grading system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience,” he said. He described the “nutrition” of the climbing experience as being all the things that make climbing worthwhile: the camaraderie, the “kinesthetic flow of the movement” and a communion with nature.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then what happens afterwards?” he said. “Out pops a V grade.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A safer way to fall\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Sherman prefers to think of himself as part of a long lineage of Bay Area climbers who have sharpened their skills on the urban rock faces available to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At Indian Rock, for example, a group of Berkeley law students and mountaineers were \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/12/07/rock-climbing-indian-rock-mortar-rock\">preparing for ascents in Yosemite Valley as early as the 1930s\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Mountain climbing at the time was extraordinarily dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward, and the safety equipment didn’t really work. Climbers used ropes made of hemp — stiff, dry, and prone to snapping if pulled too quickly. Most people assumed a fall on a climbing route was fatal.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The rope’s gonna break, and that’s it, you know?” Sherman said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094716\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260810-BeaverStreetPortraits-09-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An anchor chain at the top of the Beaver Street Wall in Corona Heights Park in San Francisco on Aug. 10, 2026. The rock wall is open to climbing and is primarily used for top-rope climbing. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But the Berkeley students climbing at Indian Rock developed a counterintuitive idea to change that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The solution was all in how climbers handled the rope. If a belayer let the rope run through their hands and slowly absorbed the force of a fall, the rope was far less likely to snap — and could actually catch a falling climber without killing them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers began practicing these controlled, “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock, and they carried the life-saving technique with them to Yosemite. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/nylon-a-revolution-in-textiles/\">By the 1940s, nylon was commercially accessible\u003c/a>, and climbers began making stronger, more shock-absorbent ropes from it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer,” Sherman said. “The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Falling was no longer a death sentence, and the sport became more popular as a result. As new tools and techniques made climbing safer, the goals of the sport shifted too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Style was more important than difficulty, and you were more respected if you could walk up to a climb and climb it without falling … just figuring it out,” Sherman said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>By the 1960s, climbing was no longer just about the summit — it was about finding a creative way up each rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The secret climbs on University of California, Berkeley campus\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers still wanted to test themselves on big routes in Yosemite and Joshua Tree, but the Bay Area’s natural geology was limited, and climbing gyms weren’t yet common. So climbers had to look for training grounds in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Jordan Schultz is the kind of climber who sees potential everywhere — even across the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s cataloged hundreds of “buildering” routes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I think I listed, like, 300-plus routes just on campus,” Schultz said. “Pretty much every building is climbable, is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094710\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/260811-BEAVER-STREET-CLIMBING-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From left to right, climbers Ace Landauer, Jordan Schultz, Tilly Holtz and Colin Wills hang from cracks in the “penny wall,” a spot on the UC Berkeley campus where rock climbers practice crack climbing techniques required for climbs in Yosemite Valley. ((Courtesy Jordan Schultz))\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Schultz documented these routes — and the history behind them — in his guidebook, \u003ca href=\"https://campusingbook.com\">\u003cem>Campusing: A Secret History and Buildering Guide to UC Berkeley\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>One of the university’s most famous unofficial routes is a crack running up the side of a brick building that houses the chemistry department.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it,” Schultz said. “I think that’s the beautiful part about it. You need to open your eyes to it, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers have used this crack to practice technique since at least the 1960s, Schultz said, because it mirrors the kind of crack climbing common in Yosemite and other parts of the Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The spot has another name, too: the Penny Wall. According to Schultz, back in the 1960s, climbers practicing at the crack would stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach — a marker and quiet challenge to whoever climbed the crack next.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Sherman honed his own crack-climbing technique on the Penny Wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And as much as the Bay Area’s outdoor climbing sites have been the home of real breakthroughs in the sport of climbing, he said their true value is in the community of climbers that are drawn to them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbing something like the rock on Beaver Street, tucked into the corner of a busy city, can still feel like being let in on a local secret — passed down by generations of climbers who have left something behind for the next adventurous climber: a penny, a piece of gear, or simply a tip to help newcomers navigate a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“When you do go to these little areas, and make the effort to meet the locals [climbing there], the experience is so much richer,” Sherman said. “It doesn’t have to be Yosemite to give you a climbing experience and a community to hang out with.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"transcript\">Episode transcript\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> I’m Olivia Allen-Price and you’re listening to Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>When I was about six months pregnant with my first child, a friend of a friend passed along a maternity climbing harness … a full body nylon contraption that allows pregnant people to keep rock climbing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Now, I was not a rock climber at the time, but thought — “hey, why not? A lot of other activities I love, like running, have gotten really hard, but my legs are stronger than ever. Let’s climb!”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Soon I found myself halfway up a wall in Pinnacles National Park … having a blast, but also hearing the voice of my mother inside my head: \u003cem>“Oh, Olivia. You would.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To be honest, my stint with rock climbing was relatively short, but I was into it long enough to hit up most of the bigger climbing areas in the Bay Area. And I learned you don’t have to drive all the way to Yosemite to feel the thrill of scaling a cliff. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There are a handful of urban climbing areas you might have walked past without a second look.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Ravi Bhoraskar [[boh-RAHS-car]] stumbled across one of those hidden rock walls … tucked into the hills of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It looked to me like a residential street. A bunch of cute houses, \u003cs>uh,\u003c/s> and, like, a little narrow path in the middle.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Beaver Street itself is just two blocks long. It climbs from Castro Street up a steep hill towards Corona Heights. The Castro Theater is just a few blocks away.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And tucked into the curve of Beaver Street is a narrow park.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>And as you come in, you get this giant piece of shiny rock, which is the Beaver Street Wall. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This big slab of rock towers 60 feet above a kids’ playground. It’s got these diagonal streaks of red and tan rock that honestly make it look almost like a slice of bacon. And it has an unusual texture…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s kind of like a shiny, almost slippery-looking surface, with some holes that you can potentially use to climb on.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This interested Ravi because he recently got into rock climbing. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Mostly indoors at the climbing gym. I was excited to learn that there is, like, at least one climbing spot right within the city, like, easily reachable by bus.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And he wants to know … what is that slippery, striped bacon rock?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>How did it end up there, and why does it look so cool?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>And most importantly…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>Like, can I climb it?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Today we’re going to get answers for Ravi, of course. But we’ll also explore how Bay Area climbers have used city parks to practice their skills for decades — and ultimately push the sport forward. Turns out there’s a lot of rock climbing history anchored right here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>KQED producer Francesca Fenzi headed to Beaver Street with Ravi … to check out this unusual rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Birds singing, slight traffic sounds\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> Ravi and I arrive at Corona Heights Park on a sunny weekend afternoon. We can hear birds singing … and the faint sound of traffic from Market Street carrying up the hill.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>There’s a playground, a dense pocket of trees, and then … this glistening rock wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar: \u003c/strong>It’s not wet, but it \u003cem>looks\u003c/em> wet. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The shiny surface is interrupted by a single jagged crack, which runs about six stories high. And at the base of the rock is a sign … which gives us a clue about how it got here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Known as a slickenslide, this smooth rock face was once inside a fault. Its surface was polished by millions of years of geological activity.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It’s Slicken SIDE actually. Try saying that three times fast! \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Slickenside forms when two rocks inside a fault rub against each other. Imagine pressing your hands together as hard as you can and then sliding them back and forth. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>That friction creates heat — and tiny dust particles which act like a fluid — to polish the rock until it looks glassy and smooth. Just like the wall at Beaver Street. The colorful stripes even show the direction the fault was moving when a Slickenside was formed.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to the sign, this rock is thought to be one of the largest exposed Slickenside formations in the world. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Capitals, “Please do not chip holes in the rock face or alter the rock in any way.” And then it’s taped over Um, climbing on these rocks is by permit only. To obtain a permit, call some number.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I looked into getting a permit and it turns out you no longer need one to climb at Beaver Street. So Ravi is going to try to climb it today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And to make sure we don’t damage the rock, we’ve enlisted some help.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Hey, how you doing? I’m Max. Hey, Ravi. Ravi, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max Stewart owns a guiding company, called SAANO Adventures. And he’s offered to help us set up an anchor and climbing rope on the Beaver Street wall… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> I’d be happy to. Did you bring some shoes? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I brought some shoes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Yeah? Okay. Cool.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Outdoor rocks don’t come with built-in safety equipment like the climbs in a gym, so we’ll need to secure our rope to something sturdy at the top of the rock wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>There’s a little staircase here. Yep, there it is.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max leads us up and around the back side of the rock, to the top of a windy hill. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I can pick out landmarks like the diagonal slash of Market Street below, the Salesforce tower and the Bay Bridge in the distance. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Directly in front of us is a steep drop off. It looks a lot more intimidating from up here! \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Isn’t that wild? So the playground. we met just right down there. There’s the sign that you were reading.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Separating us from the edge of the cliff is a chain link fence. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> And then a bunch of heavy duty chains that we’re gonna use.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>These heavy duty chains bolted into the top of the wall are perfect for setting up what’s called a “top rope” climb, where a rope runs from the ground, up to an anchor, and back down to the climber, catching them if they fall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> Always a little weird!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Max explains that this is the same setup used by climbing gyms … even if it looks a bit different outside.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Oh, man. That was impressive. [to Ravi] Is this what you were expecting? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> No, not at all. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>A little different than the climbing gym, huh? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, yeah, definitely.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>I’ve climbed outside a bit myself and part of what I love is the sense of possibility. There aren’t any predetermined holds, you can find your own route up to the top. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Every single person is gonna have their own method for solving this. the gyms I think are a really good place to get started, to kinda just learn the ropes, but I really encourage people as soon as, you feel like you can do it, to get outside.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>Is this gonna be your first time climbing outside? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Uh, yes. Yes, this will be. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>No way, really? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Oh, it’s so fun.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sound of climbing over chain link fence\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart:\u003c/strong> When was the last time you were hopping [00:07:00] fences to go climbing. Hey. It feels kinda like you’re doing stuff you’re not supposed to do, hopping fences and … It’s like good clean fun, but still kind of a throwback, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>No laws were broken in the making of this podcast! But Max is right. Setting up the rope above Beaver Street really does feel like getting away with something.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A lot of urban climbs FEEL illicit because it seems kind of unnatural to be doing something we associate with mountains right in our backyards. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>But, there’s actually a long history of Bay Area climbers using whatever they can find to ready themselves for those more ambitious, wild ascents. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Beaver Street is one of the only rocks you can climb outdoors in San Francisco, but just across the bay, in the Berkeley Hills, is another city park where climbers have been pushing the limits of the sport for almost a century.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John Sherman grew up in Berkeley. And he remembers getting introduced to climbing there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman:\u003c/strong> Well, it’s kind of a funny story. Some friends and I in high school, we scored some beer. Of course, we weren’t of legal drinking age, so we were really excited, and we wanted to find some place where \u003cs>we, you know, \u003c/s>we’d be semi-hidden to drink it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>So they made their way to Indian Rock park, a collection of volcanic boulders that was once an Ohlone meeting spot. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And we were sitting on the steps there drinking this beer we had gotten, and I saw people climbing there.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The climbers were just a few feet off the ground … practicing gravity-defying moves.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>That day I got fascinated with it, and I wanted to try it myself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Pretty soon, he was taking the bus to Indian Rock every day after school.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And I would always have my climbing shoes in my book bag along with my textbooks and stuff, and I would stop there on the way home every day, go to Indian Rock and boulder till it got dark and then walk home.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He was at the rock so often that his brother started describing himself as an only child.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I got hooked, and I’ve been doing it every day since. And, you know, it’s been over 50 years now.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The type of climbing John was doing is called bouldering. There aren’t any ropes, but people climb closer to the ground, using pads to cushion a fall. At least, they do now. But in the early days…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>We took a real beating and there weren’t that many people like myself who were daft enough to go through that and keep beating themselves up like that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John is a bit of a legend. He was the first person to climb a bunch of famous bouldering routes, he helped invent those cushioned pads, AND he created a system for ranking the difficulty of climbs — called the V grading system — that’s widely used today. It starts with the easiest climbs at V0 and goes up from there as the climbing gets harder — V1, V2 and so on. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The V comes from John’s lifelong nickname, given to him by a biology teacher at El Cerrito High.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>So he called me Sherman the Vermin. Got shortened to Verm and just kind of stuck.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John actually hates how fixated other climbers get on his V grading system.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>I just think of climbing grades as the excrement of the climbing experience. After you do a wonderful, you know, boulder problem, and you enjoy the setting that you’re in, the camaraderie of your climbing partners, the kinesthetic flow of the moves and everything, and then what happens afterwards? Out pops a V grade.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Instead, John likes to think of himself as part of a long line of climbers honing their skills at Indian Rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The early history that I know of that’s documented goes back to like the 1930s\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>At that time, a group of Berkeley law students — and mountaineers — had their sights on Yosemite Valley.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And here is a collection of rocks where they could train.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The training part was important. Because at the time mountain climbing was super dangerous. The gear was heavy and awkward. The safety equipment didn’t really work.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers were using these flimsy ropes made out of hemp that were stiff and dry and tended to break if they got pulled apart too quickly.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>John says most people assumed that falling on a climbing route was a death sentence.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>The rope’s gonna break and that’s it, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>But these Berkeley students, climbing at Indian Rock. They came up with a counterintuitive idea.\u003cbr>\u003cbr>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> More on their idea and how it revolutionized climbing after this quick break. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> UC Berkeley Students climbing at Indian Rock wanted to make climbing safer, and they discovered a technique that would really change the game. Francesca Fenzi takes it from here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi:\u003c/strong> It was all in how you handled the rope… \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>If you let it run through your hands and slowly break the fall, that rope might not snap, and you can actually catch the leader if they fall, and they’re not gonna die.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>This was huge. Climbers started practicing these “slow” rope falls by jumping off the boulders at Indian Rock. And they brought these life-saving skills to Yosemite with them.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>A decade later, in the 1940s, nylon was widely available. And climbers started using the stretchy fiber to make stronger, more shock-absorbant ropes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>And then all of a sudden things got a lot safer. The nylon ropes were less prone to breaking than hemp ropes were.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Falling on a rock climb was no longer a death sentence and that made the sport a lot more popular.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As new tools and techniques made climbs safer, the goals of climbing changed, too.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>John Sherman: \u003c/strong>Style was more important than difficulty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>John says by the time he got hooked, rock climbing was no longer just about getting to the top. It was about finding creative ways up a rock, and making the act of climbing itself beautiful.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Climbers were \u003cem>still \u003c/em>eager to test themselves on the big climbs in places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree. But the Bay Area’s natural geology was limiting. And climbing gyms — with their variety of simulated rock types — weren’t as common as they are today.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>So for Bay Area climbers to take their skills to the next level … they had to look in some unexpected places.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Pretty much every building is climbable is what I found out, if you look at it in the right way.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan Schulz is the kind of climber who looks at it “the right way.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s 23 and sees climbing opportunities everywhere. Even the UC Berkeley campus, where he’s showing me one of the university’s most famous climbing “routes.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>It’s a crack in the side of a brick building that houses the Chemistry department. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>This is the crack we’re looking at right here. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>It takes me a moment to “see” it the way Jordan does.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>To me, I’m looking at a brick wall with a parking sign on it. Yeah. And there’s a gap in the wall that’s maybe about an inch and a half thick. And it runs from the base of the wall to the the next story up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>Yeah. That’s the climb. It doesn’t really look like much when you look at it. And then I think that’s the beautiful part about it, is that you need to open your eyes to it, you know?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says climbers have been using the crack in this building to practice their technique since at least the 1960s\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A lot of the style of climbing in Yosemite and the Sierras features a lot of cracks in the rock. And so, it offers a good training ground to learn some crack climbing technique that would help people climb better in the mountains.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Jordan says this spot has another name: the Penny Wall. Back in the 60s, when a climber was practicing at the crack, they’d stick a penny onto the highest brick they could reach.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>And so people would see, like, how high was the penny, and every so often it would get higher.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>A challenge to the next climber…\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jordan Schulz: \u003c/strong>A subtle way of communicating you know, who climbed a little higher and moved the penny up.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Back at Beaver Street, our question asker Ravi is getting ready to place his own metaphorical penny on the wall.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: All right, Ravi, let’s get your shoes on- Yep\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>He’s about to climb outside for the first time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene:\u003c/strong> How are you feeling about climbing it? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> I’m excited. I’m also, yeah, a li- little nervous. Like, I don’t want to slip, but, no, mostly excited. Mostly feeling excited about climbing this.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Your belay is on. And climbing. Okay. Climb on, sir.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area’s outdoor rock walls have been home to major breakthroughs in the sport. But as Max would say, they’re also good clean fun.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What do you think of outdoor climbing versus, uh, in the gym? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> This is great. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Isn’t it so nice?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>And urban climbs like this one — tucked into corners of busy cities — feel like secrets, passed along by other members of this special club. People who’ve contributed a penny, or a pair of chains, or advice about how to get around a tricky stretch of rock.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Try and utilize that crack as much as possible. This guy’s got some bragging rights having this be his first outdoor climb, and he’s just absolutely sending it. Okay, I’m gonna lower you nice and slow. Just walk those feet down. Hey, nice work, man. That was amazing. Good job, man. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Thank you. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>First outdoor climb. Yeah. What a classic too, man. This is a, uh- That was amazing … that’s no slouch of a climb, man. That was, uh, you worked hard for that.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi: \u003c/strong>Whether you’re a seasoned mountaineer, or a new climber, like Ravi, a neighborhood rock can feel just as magical as Yosemite.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>What’d you think of that glass section in the middle there? \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> The glass section was definitely interesting. That was wild. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Well, what do you think? Should we, uh, pull these ropes?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sounds or rope falling from a great height\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Max Stewart: \u003c/strong>Boom. That’s it. That’s the sound of the end of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Classical music plays\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Francesca Fenzi in scene: \u003c/strong>That song is the perfect soundtrack. Was that your cellphone?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ravi Bhoraskar:\u003c/strong> Yeah, it was.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> That story was brought to us by KQED reporter Francesca Fenzi.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>I’ve got two requests for you on our way out. First, Head to \u003ca href=\"http://baycurious.org\">BayCurious.org\u003c/a> and VOTE in our public voting round to help us decide what story we should tackle next. All it takes is a few seconds and one click.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, consider becoming a member of KQED and supporting Bay Curious. We are relying more on listener donations than we have in the past and every dollar helps us to keep bringing you stories like this one. Head to \u003ca href=\"http://donate.kqed.org/podcasts\">donate.kqed.org/podcasts\u003c/a> to get started.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California FAIR Plan Announces 29.1% Rate Hike for Homeowners This Fall",
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"headTitle": "California FAIR Plan Announces 29.1% Rate Hike for Homeowners This Fall | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026808/fair-plan-bailout-from-insurance-companies-policyholders-following-la-fires\">insurer of last resort\u003c/a> is about to get significantly more expensive for policyholders starting Oct. 15, 2026. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The California FAIR Plan will be increasing its rates by an average of 29.1% for its more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfpnet.com/key-statistics-data/\">675,000\u003c/a> customers — the highest rate bump in recent history. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The exact increase depends on each homeowner’s situation. Those living in areas at a high risk of wildfire may pay significantly more. Some will see their wildfire premiums double. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s definitely going to cause pain for some people,” said Karl Susman, broker and insurance expert. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Policyholders with less risk will be less impacted. In residential, urban communities in the Bay Area, some might even see reductions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-Insurance-Home-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12071333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-Insurance-Home-01-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-Insurance-Home-01-KQED-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-Insurance-Home-01-KQED-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/260123-Insurance-Home-01-KQED-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Overhead shot of a newly completed model home in what will become Northern California’s first wildfire-prepared neighborhood. (Courtesy of Rachael Gauthier)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The FAIR Plan asked for a higher rate hike of 35.8% from the California Department of Insurance, which oversees rate setting, last September. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://woods.stanford.edu/news/californias-home-insurance-crisis-spreading-beyond-wildfire-country\">study \u003c/a>released in June by Stanford University researchers found California homeowners insurance premiums are up 84% since 2020. FAIR Plan enrollment has nearly tripled — from under 2% to 5% of homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The FAIR Plan was designed as a temporary way to get coverage, not as a long-term insurance provider. But years of catastrophic fire damage and inflation prompted traditional insurers to pull back from areas at high risk of wildfire damage. For many Californians, the Plan became their first and only option. Half of homes in some high fire risk areas, such as Truckee, Nevada City, Malibu and Lake Arrowhead, are insured through the FAIR Plan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of June 2026, the FAIR Plan’s total exposure is $768 billion, reflecting an 11% increase since September 2025 and a 250% increase since September 2022. This dwarfs its direct cash balance, which sits between $200 and $400 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To pay out catastrophic claims, the Plan relies on reinsurance, bonds and the ability to get money from private insurance companies and surcharges on policyholders. Some insurance experts have questioned how the FAIR Plan spends its money, citing bureaucratic inefficiencies and lengthy and costly legal battles, such as its fight to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fmglaw.com/insurance-4/los-angeles-court-finds-california-fair-plan-policy-coverage-for-smoke-damage-illegal/\">avoid\u003c/a> paying for smoke damage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While enrollments in the FAIR Plan are still increasing, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfpnet.com/key-statistics-data/#:~:text=The%20FAIR%20Plan's%20total%20NB%20through%209,in%20September%202022%20(Fiscal%20Year%20End%202022\">pace of growth\u003c/a> appears to be slowing, according to recent data from the FAIR Plan. New business this year is down 25% over last year. Insurance regulators are hopeful this is a sign reforms passed through in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/180-climate-change/sustainable-insurance-strategy.Cfm\">Sustainable Insurance Strategy\u003c/a> are working. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, California is seeing more traditional insurers writing policies again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have markets that didn’t exist a month ago. And in another month, we’ll probably have more markets, again, that didn’t exist,” Susman said. “So, while we see the FAIR Plan rates going up, we [also] see the ability for people that are with the FAIR Plans to go and find private insurance, which, at the end of the day, is what we want them to be doing.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The exact increase depends on each homeowner’s situation. Those living in areas at a high risk of wildfire may pay significantly more. Some will see their wildfire premiums double. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The FAIR Plan asked for a higher rate hike of 35.8% from the California Department of Insurance, which oversees rate setting, last September. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://woods.stanford.edu/news/californias-home-insurance-crisis-spreading-beyond-wildfire-country\">study \u003c/a>released in June by Stanford University researchers found California homeowners insurance premiums are up 84% since 2020. FAIR Plan enrollment has nearly tripled — from under 2% to 5% of homes. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As of June 2026, the FAIR Plan’s total exposure is $768 billion, reflecting an 11% increase since September 2025 and a 250% increase since September 2022. This dwarfs its direct cash balance, which sits between $200 and $400 million. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We have markets that didn’t exist a month ago. And in another month, we’ll probably have more markets, again, that didn’t exist,” Susman said. “So, while we see the FAIR Plan rates going up, we [also] see the ability for people that are with the FAIR Plans to go and find private insurance, which, at the end of the day, is what we want them to be doing.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://woods.stanford.edu/news/californias-home-insurance-crisis-spreading-beyond-wildfire-country\">study \u003c/a>released in June by Stanford University researchers found California homeowners insurance premiums are up 84% since 2020. FAIR Plan enrollment has nearly tripled — from under 2% to 5% of homes. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The FAIR Plan was designed as a temporary way to get coverage, not as a long-term insurance provider. But years of catastrophic fire damage and inflation prompted traditional insurers to pull back from areas at high risk of wildfire damage. For many Californians, the Plan became their first and only option. Half of homes in some high fire risk areas, such as Truckee, Nevada City, Malibu and Lake Arrowhead, are insured through the FAIR Plan. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of June 2026, the FAIR Plan’s total exposure is $768 billion, reflecting an 11% increase since September 2025 and a 250% increase since September 2022. This dwarfs its direct cash balance, which sits between $200 and $400 million. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>To pay out catastrophic claims, the Plan relies on reinsurance, bonds and the ability to get money from private insurance companies and surcharges on policyholders. Some insurance experts have questioned how the FAIR Plan spends its money, citing bureaucratic inefficiencies and lengthy and costly legal battles, such as its fight to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fmglaw.com/insurance-4/los-angeles-court-finds-california-fair-plan-policy-coverage-for-smoke-damage-illegal/\">avoid\u003c/a> paying for smoke damage. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While enrollments in the FAIR Plan are still increasing, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfpnet.com/key-statistics-data/#:~:text=The%20FAIR%20Plan's%20total%20NB%20through%209,in%20September%202022%20(Fiscal%20Year%20End%202022\">pace of growth\u003c/a> appears to be slowing, according to recent data from the FAIR Plan. New business this year is down 25% over last year. Insurance regulators are hopeful this is a sign reforms passed through in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/180-climate-change/sustainable-insurance-strategy.Cfm\">Sustainable Insurance Strategy\u003c/a> are working. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At the same time, California is seeing more traditional insurers writing policies again. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have markets that didn’t exist a month ago. And in another month, we’ll probably have more markets, again, that didn’t exist,” Susman said. “So, while we see the FAIR Plan rates going up, we [also] see the ability for people that are with the FAIR Plans to go and find private insurance, which, at the end of the day, is what we want them to be doing.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "timber-fire-in-big-sur-forces-evacuations-threatens-beloved-tourist-sites",
"title": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Forces Evacuations, Threatens Beloved Tourist Sites",
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"headTitle": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Forces Evacuations, Threatens Beloved Tourist Sites | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Locals and officials are urging tourists to avoid Big Sur as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">the Timber Fire\u003c/a> continues to spread along California’s Central Coast on Tuesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Evacuation orders expanded, and state park closures in Monterey County remained after the wildfire grew to nearly 2,500 acres by midday, according to fire officials. It is 5% contained. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The blaze southeast of the Loma Vista area moved at a slow pace through grass, brush and oak woodland in the Los Padres National Forest on Monday night and remains active in both the northern and eastern directions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday morning, ground crews were attempting to access difficult terrain, focused on protecting homes near Highway 1 in the Ventana area, according to Cal Fire. The agency said so far, the fire has held to the east side of the road. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-4-scaled-e1786481390761.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094806\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of flames and smoke as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Residents said heavy fog in the area helped keep the fire close to the ground and reduced wind, but the condition also has downsides — including making it challenging for helicopters to access water below the fog line, and preventing planes from doing drops over the flames.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal Fire, warmer and drier conditions are expected to move in over the eastern portions of the fire. On Wednesday afternoon and evening, there is a 15% chance of showers and thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since the Timber Fire broke out Sunday, it has forced evacuations along the northern coast. Zones near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road — MRY-F026 and MRY-F027— were evacuated Sunday night, while those directly adjacent, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028-A, were evacuated throughout the day on Monday. People living in MRY-F023 were ordered to leave their homes on Tuesday. In total, Cal Fire said just under 260 structures are threatened. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additional surrounding areas — MRY-F022, MRY-F024, MRY-F028-B and MRY-F029 — are under evacuation warnings. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of Big Sur’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You could see the smoke from the patio at Nepenthe pretty clearly, and later that night, some flames,” said Meredith Gafill, whose husband and son run the restaurant, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said in the 30 years she’s lived in Big Sur, her home and restaurant have been close to many fires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’ve gone to bed and looked off my back deck and thought, ‘How do you go to sleep when there’s a fire behind your house? When you can see the flames?’ so many times now,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gafill and her family live on the restaurant property, which includes about 30 units that house employees on the remote cliffside. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the past, Gafill and her husband have stayed onsite during fires, she said, but this week, she’s been staying at a home they recently purchased in Monterey. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to have somewhere we could be during this time and [where] my daughter-in-law was able to bring her pet,” Gafill said. “Oftentimes during these moments, you get the evacuation notice, and you don’t have anywhere to go.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kate Novoa, who lives in the southern part of Big Sur, said she is far from the evacuation area, but can see Partington Ridge, shrouded in smoke, from her home. With binoculars, she has been able to see flames at times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Novoa, who has chronicled the area’s fires \u003ca href=\"https://bigsurkate.blog/\">online\u003c/a> for years, said the Timber Fire’s movement reminded her and neighbors of the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, which burned more than 162,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest almost 20 years ago. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094837\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A bulldozer helps battle the Timber Fire in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Once it gets into the wilderness, which was what happened with this one on Sunday afternoon, … at that point, most of us that live here and have been through this many times realized this is going to be a long, extended fight on this fire because it’s so rugged,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Monday, Monterey County closed all of the Big Sur State Parks, including Andrew Molera, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, Pfeiffer Big Sur and Point Sur. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Highway 1 remains accessible\u003c/a>, the sheriff’s office has asked the public to keep roadways clear for first responders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations,” the sheriff’s office wrote on social media.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire comes during a busy tourist season for the famed stretch of Highway 1, as many people travel from Southern California to Monterey’s annual car week, which began Friday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the agency is asking people making the drive to use alternate routes through the fire area. He said that because the fire is just above the highway, responders are transporting large amounts of equipment and personnel along the road. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire could also impact one of Car Week’s biggest events, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, which traditionally traces the coast from Pebble Beach to Big Sur. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Organizers announced Tuesday that they’ve developed a contingency plan for the Thursday event, planning an alternate route “that will protect spectators and participants and give first responders space to conduct their essential work.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our thoughts are with the Big Sur community during this challenging time,” the event update from Pebble Beach Concours read. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fire officials said an evacuation center was set up at Carmel Middle School, where people can access incident information and resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nearly 500 fire personnel are currently fighting the blaze, including 36 engines, multiple dozers and helicopters. Cal Fire said numerous air tankers from throughout the state are also flying fire suppression missions as weather conditions allow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gafill said that Tuesday morning, she counted 30 fire engines headed south from Carmel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> “The good humans have arrived more and more every day, so it’s going to be okay,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everything about Big Sur is abundant,” she said. “The plants, the rain. That’s why it’s so beautiful. That’s why people love it so much. It also comes with a huge price tag — when we have a fire, it’s huge. When we have disaster, it’s abundant.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/carlysevern\">\u003cem>Carly Severn\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Evacuation orders expanded, and state park closures in Monterey County remained after the wildfire grew to nearly 2,500 acres by midday, according to fire officials. It is 5% contained. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The blaze southeast of the Loma Vista area moved at a slow pace through grass, brush and oak woodland in the Los Padres National Forest on Monday night and remains active in both the northern and eastern directions. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The blaze southeast of the Loma Vista area moved at a slow pace through grass, brush and oak woodland in the Los Padres National Forest on Monday night and remains active in both the northern and eastern directions. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday morning, ground crews were attempting to access difficult terrain, focused on protecting homes near Highway 1 in the Ventana area, according to Cal Fire. The agency said so far, the fire has held to the east side of the road. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday morning, ground crews were attempting to access difficult terrain, focused on protecting homes near Highway 1 in the Ventana area, according to Cal Fire. The agency said so far, the fire has held to the east side of the road. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-4-scaled-e1786481390761.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094806\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of flames and smoke as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-4-scaled-e1786481390761.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094806\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of flames and smoke as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Residents said heavy fog in the area helped keep the fire close to the ground and reduced wind, but the condition also has downsides — including making it challenging for helicopters to access water below the fog line, and preventing planes from doing drops over the flames.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Residents said heavy fog in the area helped keep the fire close to the ground and reduced wind, but the condition also has downsides — including making it challenging for helicopters to access water below the fog line, and preventing planes from doing drops over the flames.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to Cal Fire, warmer and drier conditions are expected to move in over the eastern portions of the fire. On Wednesday afternoon and evening, there is a 15% chance of showers and thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>According to Cal Fire, warmer and drier conditions are expected to move in over the eastern portions of the fire. On Wednesday afternoon and evening, there is a 15% chance of showers and thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Since the Timber Fire broke out Sunday, it has forced evacuations along the northern coast. Zones near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road — MRY-F026 and MRY-F027— were evacuated Sunday night, while those directly adjacent, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028-A, were evacuated throughout the day on Monday. People living in MRY-F023 were ordered to leave their homes on Tuesday. In total, Cal Fire said just under 260 structures are threatened. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Since the Timber Fire broke out Sunday, it has forced evacuations along the northern coast. Zones near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road — MRY-F026 and MRY-F027— were evacuated Sunday night, while those directly adjacent, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028-A, were evacuated throughout the day on Monday. People living in MRY-F023 were ordered to leave their homes on Tuesday. In total, Cal Fire said just under 260 structures are threatened. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Additional surrounding areas — MRY-F022, MRY-F024, MRY-F028-B and MRY-F029 — are under evacuation warnings. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of Big Sur’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“You could see the smoke from the patio at Nepenthe pretty clearly, and later that night, some flames,” said Meredith Gafill, whose husband and son run the restaurant, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>She said in the 30 years she’s lived in Big Sur, her home and restaurant have been close to many fires. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“I’ve gone to bed and looked off my back deck and thought, ‘How do you go to sleep when there’s a fire behind your house? When you can see the flames?’ so many times now,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gafill and her family live on the restaurant property, which includes about 30 units that house employees on the remote cliffside. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In the past, Gafill and her husband have stayed onsite during fires, she said, but this week, she’s been staying at a home they recently purchased in Monterey. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In the past, Gafill and her husband have stayed onsite during fires, she said, but this week, she’s been staying at a home they recently purchased in Monterey. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to have somewhere we could be during this time and [where] my daughter-in-law was able to bring her pet,” Gafill said. “Oftentimes during these moments, you get the evacuation notice, and you don’t have anywhere to go.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to have somewhere we could be during this time and [where] my daughter-in-law was able to bring her pet,” Gafill said. “Oftentimes during these moments, you get the evacuation notice, and you don’t have anywhere to go.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Kate Novoa, who lives in the southern part of Big Sur, said she is far from the evacuation area, but can see Partington Ridge, shrouded in smoke, from her home. With binoculars, she has been able to see flames at times. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Kate Novoa, who lives in the southern part of Big Sur, said she is far from the evacuation area, but can see Partington Ridge, shrouded in smoke, from her home. With binoculars, she has been able to see flames at times. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Novoa, who has chronicled the area’s fires \u003ca href=\"https://bigsurkate.blog/\">online\u003c/a> for years, said the Timber Fire’s movement reminded her and neighbors of the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, which burned more than 162,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest almost 20 years ago. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Novoa, who has chronicled the area’s fires \u003ca href=\"https://bigsurkate.blog/\">online\u003c/a> for years, said the Timber Fire’s movement reminded her and neighbors of the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, which burned more than 162,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest almost 20 years ago. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094837\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A bulldozer helps battle the Timber Fire in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094837\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A bulldozer helps battle the Timber Fire in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Once it gets into the wilderness, which was what happened with this one on Sunday afternoon, … at that point, most of us that live here and have been through this many times realized this is going to be a long, extended fight on this fire because it’s so rugged,” she said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Once it gets into the wilderness, which was what happened with this one on Sunday afternoon, … at that point, most of us that live here and have been through this many times realized this is going to be a long, extended fight on this fire because it’s so rugged,” she said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On Monday, Monterey County closed all of the Big Sur State Parks, including Andrew Molera, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, Pfeiffer Big Sur and Point Sur. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Highway 1 remains accessible\u003c/a>, the sheriff’s office has asked the public to keep roadways clear for first responders. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On Monday, Monterey County closed all of the Big Sur State Parks, including Andrew Molera, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, Pfeiffer Big Sur and Point Sur. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Highway 1 remains accessible\u003c/a>, the sheriff’s office has asked the public to keep roadways clear for first responders. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations,” the sheriff’s office wrote on social media.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fire comes during a busy tourist season for the famed stretch of Highway 1, as many people travel from Southern California to Monterey’s annual car week, which began Friday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the agency is asking people making the drive to use alternate routes through the fire area. He said that because the fire is just above the highway, responders are transporting large amounts of equipment and personnel along the road. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the agency is asking people making the drive to use alternate routes through the fire area. He said that because the fire is just above the highway, responders are transporting large amounts of equipment and personnel along the road. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The fire could also impact one of Car Week’s biggest events, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, which traditionally traces the coast from Pebble Beach to Big Sur. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Organizers announced Tuesday that they’ve developed a contingency plan for the Thursday event, planning an alternate route “that will protect spectators and participants and give first responders space to conduct their essential work.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Our thoughts are with the Big Sur community during this challenging time,” the event update from Pebble Beach Concours read. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Our thoughts are with the Big Sur community during this challenging time,” the event update from Pebble Beach Concours read. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Fire officials said an evacuation center was set up at Carmel Middle School, where people can access incident information and resources. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Nearly 500 fire personnel are currently fighting the blaze, including 36 engines, multiple dozers and helicopters. Cal Fire said numerous air tankers from throughout the state are also flying fire suppression missions as weather conditions allow.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gafill said that Tuesday morning, she counted 30 fire engines headed south from Carmel. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp> “The good humans have arrived more and more every day, so it’s going to be okay,” she said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Everything about Big Sur is abundant,” she said. “The plants, the rain. That’s why it’s so beautiful. That’s why people love it so much. It also comes with a huge price tag — when we have a fire, it’s huge. When we have disaster, it’s abundant.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Everything about Big Sur is abundant,” she said. “The plants, the rain. That’s why it’s so beautiful. That’s why people love it so much. It also comes with a huge price tag — when we have a fire, it’s huge. When we have disaster, it’s abundant.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/carlysevern\">\u003cem>Carly Severn\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Living in the famed area “comes with a huge price tag. When we have disaster, it's abundant,” said Meredith Gafill, whose family runs Nepenthe restaurant.",
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"title": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Forces Evacuations, Threatens Beloved Tourist Sites | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Locals and officials are urging tourists to avoid Big Sur as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">the Timber Fire\u003c/a> continues to spread along California’s Central Coast on Tuesday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Evacuation orders expanded, and state park closures in Monterey County remained after the wildfire grew to nearly 2,500 acres by midday, according to fire officials. It is 5% contained. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The blaze southeast of the Loma Vista area moved at a slow pace through grass, brush and oak woodland in the Los Padres National Forest on Monday night and remains active in both the northern and eastern directions. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As of Tuesday morning, ground crews were attempting to access difficult terrain, focused on protecting homes near Highway 1 in the Ventana area, according to Cal Fire. The agency said so far, the fire has held to the east side of the road. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-4-scaled-e1786481390761.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094806\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A view of flames and smoke as the Timber Fire continues in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Residents said heavy fog in the area helped keep the fire close to the ground and reduced wind, but the condition also has downsides — including making it challenging for helicopters to access water below the fog line, and preventing planes from doing drops over the flames.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal Fire, warmer and drier conditions are expected to move in over the eastern portions of the fire. On Wednesday afternoon and evening, there is a 15% chance of showers and thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Since the Timber Fire broke out Sunday, it has forced evacuations along the northern coast. Zones near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road — MRY-F026 and MRY-F027— were evacuated Sunday night, while those directly adjacent, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028-A, were evacuated throughout the day on Monday. People living in MRY-F023 were ordered to leave their homes on Tuesday. In total, Cal Fire said just under 260 structures are threatened. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Additional surrounding areas — MRY-F022, MRY-F024, MRY-F028-B and MRY-F029 — are under evacuation warnings. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of Big Sur’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“You could see the smoke from the patio at Nepenthe pretty clearly, and later that night, some flames,” said Meredith Gafill, whose husband and son run the restaurant, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>She said in the 30 years she’s lived in Big Sur, her home and restaurant have been close to many fires. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“I’ve gone to bed and looked off my back deck and thought, ‘How do you go to sleep when there’s a fire behind your house? When you can see the flames?’ so many times now,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gafill and her family live on the restaurant property, which includes about 30 units that house employees on the remote cliffside. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In the past, Gafill and her husband have stayed onsite during fires, she said, but this week, she’s been staying at a home they recently purchased in Monterey. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“It’s really nice to have somewhere we could be during this time and [where] my daughter-in-law was able to bring her pet,” Gafill said. “Oftentimes during these moments, you get the evacuation notice, and you don’t have anywhere to go.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Kate Novoa, who lives in the southern part of Big Sur, said she is far from the evacuation area, but can see Partington Ridge, shrouded in smoke, from her home. With binoculars, she has been able to see flames at times. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Novoa, who has chronicled the area’s fires \u003ca href=\"https://bigsurkate.blog/\">online\u003c/a> for years, said the Timber Fire’s movement reminded her and neighbors of the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, which burned more than 162,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest almost 20 years ago. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094837\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/timber-fire-getty-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A bulldozer helps battle the Timber Fire in Big Sur, California, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Once it gets into the wilderness, which was what happened with this one on Sunday afternoon, … at that point, most of us that live here and have been through this many times realized this is going to be a long, extended fight on this fire because it’s so rugged,” she said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On Monday, Monterey County closed all of the Big Sur State Parks, including Andrew Molera, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, Pfeiffer Big Sur and Point Sur. While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094533/big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026\">Highway 1 remains accessible\u003c/a>, the sheriff’s office has asked the public to keep roadways clear for first responders. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations,” the sheriff’s office wrote on social media.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire comes during a busy tourist season for the famed stretch of Highway 1, as many people travel from Southern California to Monterey’s annual car week, which began Friday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the agency is asking people making the drive to use alternate routes through the fire area. He said that because the fire is just above the highway, responders are transporting large amounts of equipment and personnel along the road. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” he told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The fire could also impact one of Car Week’s biggest events, the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance, which traditionally traces the coast from Pebble Beach to Big Sur. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Organizers announced Tuesday that they’ve developed a contingency plan for the Thursday event, planning an alternate route “that will protect spectators and participants and give first responders space to conduct their essential work.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Our thoughts are with the Big Sur community during this challenging time,” the event update from Pebble Beach Concours read. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Fire officials said an evacuation center was set up at Carmel Middle School, where people can access incident information and resources. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Nearly 500 fire personnel are currently fighting the blaze, including 36 engines, multiple dozers and helicopters. Cal Fire said numerous air tankers from throughout the state are also flying fire suppression missions as weather conditions allow.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gafill said that Tuesday morning, she counted 30 fire engines headed south from Carmel. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp> “The good humans have arrived more and more every day, so it’s going to be okay,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Everything about Big Sur is abundant,” she said. “The plants, the rain. That’s why it’s so beautiful. That’s why people love it so much. It also comes with a huge price tag — when we have a fire, it’s huge. When we have disaster, it’s abundant.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "californians-vow-to-fight-federal-takeover-of-coastline-for-oil-drilling",
"title": "Californians Vow to Fight ‘Federal Takeover’ of Coastline for Oil Drilling",
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"headTitle": "Californians Vow to Fight ‘Federal Takeover’ of Coastline for Oil Drilling | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>State lawmakers, Indigenous leaders, advocates and business groups gathered in Santa Monica on Monday to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to open the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-coast\">California coast\u003c/a> for oil drilling and other industrial projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The stakeholders rallied ahead of an in-person meeting held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reviewing California’s Coastal Management Program, which speakers at the press conference considered to be an attack on California’s right to protect its coastline. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This federal administration is bent on industrializing our coast,” California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said, addressing a crowd of dozens, many of whom brandished protest signs or wore oceanic blue T-shirts with the slogan “No Federal Takeover.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For the first time in over four decades, through Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, this is the first administration moving aggressively to expand new offshore oil drilling,” Crowfoot said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1368\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California’s Natural Resources Secretary, Wade Crowfoot, speaks at a press conference opposing a Trump administration NOAA review of California’s coastline management authority on Aug. 10, 2026, in Santa Monica, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rally and meeting come just over a month after NOAA \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089085/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-california-coastal-protections\">began the regulatory process\u003c/a> with a notice in the Federal Register about its plans to study California’s Coastal Management Program. Following Monday’s in-person meeting, there will be opportunities for public comment at \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/aug26/czma-public-meetings.html\">virtual meetings\u003c/a> on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told the crowd of protesters on Monday that this review has no legal basis and that state leaders will go to court to keep President Donald Trump out of state matters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Other speakers spoke about the predicted harms to the environment, the economy and the cultural norms that would come from opening more of California’s waters and beaches to the oil industry and other business interests. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California’s coasts are for the people, not for crony capitalism,” said Marcela Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, a board member of the California State Coastal Conservancy who founded the marine-conservation group Azul. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said that California’s coasts are a place for people to come together as equals. She said the Trump administration’s plans go against California policies that have protected the state’s beaches from becoming a luxury commodity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While critics see the move as part of Trump’s broader goals to increase oil and gas production, those in Trump’s cabinet say there are economic costs to coastal-protection schemes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“America must continue to lead in innovation, space exploration, and economic strength,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in May. “Obstructionist policies that delay critical national infrastructure in the name of environmental extremism are unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Outside the NOAA’s meeting at Hilton Santa Monica on Monday, meanwhile, speakers emphasized the destructive economic and environmental impact of major oil spills along the coast since 1970. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Clean beaches, clean water and a coast that’s open for business — an offshore oil spill shuts all of that down,” said Grant Bixby, who helped found the group Business Alliance for Protecting the Coast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1344\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-1536x1032.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Antonette “Toni” Cordero, board member of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, speaks at a press conference opposing a Trump administration NOAA review of California’s coastline management authority on Aug. 10, 2026, in Santa Monica, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bixby said that the coastal economy generates over \u003ca href=\"https://www.coastal.ca.gov/coastalact50/\">$50 billion\u003c/a> in annual revenue, with offshore oil making up just 1% of that figure today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Should we put 99% of other employment at risk for the benefit of one dirty industry that can close and devastate all other businesses? I don’t think so,” Bixby said. “It’s pretty simple math.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Indigenous leaders said California’s waters are sacred and have been subject to enough harm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The ocean provides for us as a mother provides for her children,” said Antonette Cordero, board member of the groups Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, Surfrider Foundation and Environmental Defense Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will continue to stand up for our mother ocean and for all of her relatives, all of her inhabitants and all of those who call this coast home,” Cordero said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State lawmakers, Indigenous leaders, advocates and business groups gathered in Santa Monica on Monday to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to open the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-coast\">California coast\u003c/a> for oil drilling and other industrial projects.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The stakeholders rallied ahead of an in-person meeting held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reviewing California’s Coastal Management Program, which speakers at the press conference considered to be an attack on California’s right to protect its coastline. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This federal administration is bent on industrializing our coast,” California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said, addressing a crowd of dozens, many of whom brandished protest signs or wore oceanic blue T-shirts with the slogan “No Federal Takeover.” \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“For the first time in over four decades, through Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, this is the first administration moving aggressively to expand new offshore oil drilling,” Crowfoot said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The rally and meeting come just over a month after NOAA \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089085/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-california-coastal-protections\">began the regulatory process\u003c/a> with a notice in the Federal Register about its plans to study California’s Coastal Management Program. Following Monday’s in-person meeting, there will be opportunities for public comment at \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/aug26/czma-public-meetings.html\">virtual meetings\u003c/a> on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told the crowd of protesters on Monday that this review has no legal basis and that state leaders will go to court to keep President Donald Trump out of state matters.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Other speakers spoke about the predicted harms to the environment, the economy and the cultural norms that would come from opening more of California’s waters and beaches to the oil industry and other business interests. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“California’s coasts are for the people, not for crony capitalism,” said Marcela Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, a board member of the California State Coastal Conservancy who founded the marine-conservation group Azul. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said that California’s coasts are a place for people to come together as equals. She said the Trump administration’s plans go against California policies that have protected the state’s beaches from becoming a luxury commodity. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>While critics see the move as part of Trump’s broader goals to increase oil and gas production, those in Trump’s cabinet say there are economic costs to coastal-protection schemes.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“America must continue to lead in innovation, space exploration, and economic strength,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in May. “Obstructionist policies that delay critical national infrastructure in the name of environmental extremism are unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Outside the NOAA’s meeting at Hilton Santa Monica on Monday, meanwhile, speakers emphasized the destructive economic and environmental impact of major oil spills along the coast since 1970. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Clean beaches, clean water and a coast that’s open for business — an offshore oil spill shuts all of that down,” said Grant Bixby, who helped found the group Business Alliance for Protecting the Coast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Clean beaches, clean water and a coast that’s open for business — an offshore oil spill shuts all of that down,” said Grant Bixby, who helped found the group Business Alliance for Protecting the Coast. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-1536x1032.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Antonette “Toni” Cordero, board member of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, speaks at a press conference opposing a Trump administration NOAA review of California’s coastline management authority on Aug. 10, 2026, in Santa Monica, California.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Bixby said that the coastal economy generates over \u003ca href=\"https://www.coastal.ca.gov/coastalact50/\">$50 billion\u003c/a> in annual revenue, with offshore oil making up just 1% of that figure today. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Should we put 99% of other employment at risk for the benefit of one dirty industry that can close and devastate all other businesses? I don’t think so,” Bixby said. “It’s pretty simple math.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The ocean provides for us as a mother provides for her children,” said Antonette Cordero, board member of the groups Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, Surfrider Foundation and Environmental Defense Center.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We will continue to stand up for our mother ocean and for all of her relatives, all of her inhabitants and all of those who call this coast home,” Cordero said.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Critics of a Trump review of the state’s coastal management policies say the consequences of deregulation and industrialization would be dire.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State lawmakers, Indigenous leaders, advocates and business groups gathered in Santa Monica on Monday to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to open the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california-coast\">California coast\u003c/a> for oil drilling and other industrial projects.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The stakeholders rallied ahead of an in-person meeting held by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reviewing California’s Coastal Management Program, which speakers at the press conference considered to be an attack on California’s right to protect its coastline. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This federal administration is bent on industrializing our coast,” California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said, addressing a crowd of dozens, many of whom brandished protest signs or wore oceanic blue T-shirts with the slogan “No Federal Takeover.” \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“For the first time in over four decades, through Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, this is the first administration moving aggressively to expand new offshore oil drilling,” Crowfoot said.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1368\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094728\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/WadeCrowfootGetty-1536x1051.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California’s Natural Resources Secretary, Wade Crowfoot, speaks at a press conference opposing a Trump administration NOAA review of California’s coastline management authority on Aug. 10, 2026, in Santa Monica, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The rally and meeting come just over a month after NOAA \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12089085/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-california-coastal-protections\">began the regulatory process\u003c/a> with a notice in the Federal Register about its plans to study California’s Coastal Management Program. Following Monday’s in-person meeting, there will be opportunities for public comment at \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/aug26/czma-public-meetings.html\">virtual meetings\u003c/a> on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told the crowd of protesters on Monday that this review has no legal basis and that state leaders will go to court to keep President Donald Trump out of state matters.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Other speakers spoke about the predicted harms to the environment, the economy and the cultural norms that would come from opening more of California’s waters and beaches to the oil industry and other business interests. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“California’s coasts are for the people, not for crony capitalism,” said Marcela Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, a board member of the California State Coastal Conservancy who founded the marine-conservation group Azul. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said that California’s coasts are a place for people to come together as equals. She said the Trump administration’s plans go against California policies that have protected the state’s beaches from becoming a luxury commodity. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>While critics see the move as part of Trump’s broader goals to increase oil and gas production, those in Trump’s cabinet say there are economic costs to coastal-protection schemes.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“America must continue to lead in innovation, space exploration, and economic strength,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in May. “Obstructionist policies that delay critical national infrastructure in the name of environmental extremism are unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Outside the NOAA’s meeting at Hilton Santa Monica on Monday, meanwhile, speakers emphasized the destructive economic and environmental impact of major oil spills along the coast since 1970. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Clean beaches, clean water and a coast that’s open for business — an offshore oil spill shuts all of that down,” said Grant Bixby, who helped found the group Business Alliance for Protecting the Coast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1344\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12094731\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/08/AntoinetteCorderoGetty-1536x1032.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Antonette “Toni” Cordero, board member of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, speaks at a press conference opposing a Trump administration NOAA review of California’s coastline management authority on Aug. 10, 2026, in Santa Monica, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Bixby said that the coastal economy generates over \u003ca href=\"https://www.coastal.ca.gov/coastalact50/\">$50 billion\u003c/a> in annual revenue, with offshore oil making up just 1% of that figure today. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Should we put 99% of other employment at risk for the benefit of one dirty industry that can close and devastate all other businesses? I don’t think so,” Bixby said. “It’s pretty simple math.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Indigenous leaders said California’s waters are sacred and have been subject to enough harm. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The ocean provides for us as a mother provides for her children,” said Antonette Cordero, board member of the groups Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, Surfrider Foundation and Environmental Defense Center.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will continue to stand up for our mother ocean and for all of her relatives, all of her inhabitants and all of those who call this coast home,” Cordero said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "big-sur-wildfire-map-evacuation-timber-fire-august-2026",
"title": "Visitors Urged to Stay Away From Big Sur as Timber Fire Grows",
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"headTitle": "Visitors Urged to Stay Away From Big Sur as Timber Fire Grows | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Would-be visitors to Big Sur are being urged not to travel to the region after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> forced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">mandatory evacuation orders \u003c/a>in the area on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">continues to grow in size\u003c/a> and is 5% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11624317/wildfires-youve-got-questions-weve-got-answers\">contained\u003c/a>, is burning in what Monterey County officials describe as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3siHclrYy/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">“steep, rugged and difficult terrain” \u003c/a>in the Los Padres National Forest above Highway 1.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This coastal stretch is home to many of Big Sur’s most popular hotels, restaurants and campgrounds, as well as state parks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Highway 1 through the area is closed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">a Facebook post \u003c/a>by the California Highway Patrol. But visitors were being strongly advised to avoid Big Sur altogether over the past few days even when the route \u003cem>was \u003c/em>open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We are respectfully asking the public to stay out of the area,” the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountySheriffsOffice/posts/deputies-captured-these-images-during-evacuation-operations-overnight-as-the-tim/1489024383260620/\">a Monday morning Facebook post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11986406\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caltrans employees and contractors in Big Sur on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, work to stabilize the southbound portion of U.S. Highway 1 that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, which occurred on March 30, 2024, after days of heavy rainfall, hail and powerful winds. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Roadways must remain clear so first responders can work safely and effectively. Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evacuation order has forced the closure of several Big Sur businesses and attractions on and around Highway 1, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3s0hID7Va/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Nepenthe\u003c/a>, and the evacuation of guests from hotels, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3isGPmpDB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/08/10/big-sur-fire-ventana-inn-nepenthe-restaurant-evacuated-as-fire-doubles-in-size/\">the Alila Ventana hotel and campground\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All state parks in Big Sur — \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582\">Andrew Molera\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578\">Julia Pfeiffer Burns, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570\">Pfeiffer Big Sur \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=565\">Point Sur\u003c/a> state parks — are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">closed \u003c/a>due to the threat from the Timber Fire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Announcing its temporary closure in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3V1TIFGzb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D\">an Instagram post\u003c/a>, the Henry Miller Memorial Library wrote: “We implore you: Do not come to Big Sur.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is an incredibly serious situation,” the library said. “Fewer cars on the road allow CalFire and emergency services to do their job as effectively and safely as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">Stretches of the coast to the north and south\u003c/a> of the mandatory evacuation zone are also currently under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834901/fire-evacuation-what-actually-happens-and-how-can-you-plan\">an evacuation warning\u003c/a> — the step that comes before an evacuation order, which acts as a warning to residents that they may need to evacuate soon. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Highway 1 open through Big Sur during the Timber Fire?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Right now, no. On Tuesday afternoon, \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">Monterey CHP announced on Facebook \u003c/a>that Highway 1 through the area is closed between Fernwood Resort and Campground all the way to Julia Pfeiffer Burns Vista Point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The status of Highway 1 has been changeable and unpredictable for drivers in the last few days. On Monday, signs on Highway 1 informed motorists that the route was closed to all drivers except for residents and employees between Point Sur Lighthouse and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hwy 1 was open to the public on Tuesday morning but Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told KQED that the agency was nonetheless asking travelers to avoid travel to Big Sur even if the route was technically open — not just because of the fire’s proximity to the highway but because of the “inordinate amount of equipment and staffing” that the Timber Fire response demands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” Drabinski said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/events/monterey-car-week/\">Monterey Car Week\u003c/a>, which organizers say draws over \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monterey-car-week--pebble-beach-concours-delegance-returns-august-716-2026-302839650.html\">100,000 visitors\u003c/a> every year, is currently ongoing north of Big Sur through Sunday — and travelers heading to Monterey from the south who were planning to use Hwy 1 “are encouraged to consider an alternate route using Highway 101 North,” said See Monterey, the region’s tourism body.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re looking at alternative routes around Big Sur right now, bear in mind that the one narrow road connecting Big Sur south of Lucia to Hwy 101 over the Santa Lucia mountains — \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nacimiento-Fergusson+Rd,+California/@35.9907059,-121.3662903,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x809296a8a7f9159b:0x70441b9f4863105b!8m2!3d35.9907059!4d-121.3637154!16s%2Fm%2F02rk30k!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D\">Nacimiento-Fergusson Road\u003c/a> — is notoriously steep and winding.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advice for visitors to Big Sur right now\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you have existing plans to visit the Big Sur region, keep a close eye out for any email or voicemail notification from your hotel advising you of any cancellations — and your options. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to get in contact with your accommodation yourself, bear in mind that the property may have been directly affected by the Timber Fire evacuations, and that cellphone service in the area is spotty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>See Monterey is \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/plan-your-visit/travel-alert/\">advising visitors\u003c/a> who are already in the affected areas of Big Sur to “follow evacuation instructions, take essential belongings and medications, and bring their pets.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to See Monterey, several hotels throughout Monterey County are now also “offering evacuation rates for residents and visitors in need,” through \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">a spreadsheet of available lodgings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monterey County has established a temporary evacuation point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Carmel+Middle+School/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x802598be38507ac1?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Carmel Middle School\u003c/a>, where evacuees can get information and help on next steps they should take.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Big Sur Timber Fire links and resources\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">CalFire’s Timber Fire evacuation map and updates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">Current California state park closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">See Monterey’s spreadsheet of hotel evacuation rates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/?view=36.3458%2C-121.8507%2C12&layers=full_closures%2Clane_closures%2Cspeed\">Caltrans map of highway closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Would-be visitors to Big Sur are being urged not to travel to the region after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> forced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">mandatory evacuation orders \u003c/a>in the area on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Would-be visitors to Big Sur are being urged not to travel to the region after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> forced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">mandatory evacuation orders \u003c/a>in the area on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">continues to grow in size\u003c/a> and is 5% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11624317/wildfires-youve-got-questions-weve-got-answers\">contained\u003c/a>, is burning in what Monterey County officials describe as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3siHclrYy/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">“steep, rugged and difficult terrain” \u003c/a>in the Los Padres National Forest above Highway 1.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">continues to grow in size\u003c/a> and is 5% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11624317/wildfires-youve-got-questions-weve-got-answers\">contained\u003c/a>, is burning in what Monterey County officials describe as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3siHclrYy/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">“steep, rugged and difficult terrain” \u003c/a>in the Los Padres National Forest above Highway 1.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This coastal stretch is home to many of Big Sur’s most popular hotels, restaurants and campgrounds, as well as state parks. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This coastal stretch is home to many of Big Sur’s most popular hotels, restaurants and campgrounds, as well as state parks. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Highway 1 through the area is closed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__[0]=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">a Facebook post \u003c/a>by the California Highway Patrol. But visitors were being strongly advised to avoid Big Sur altogether over the past few days even when the route \u003cem>was \u003c/em>open to the public.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Highway 1 through the area is closed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__[0]=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">a Facebook post \u003c/a>by the California Highway Patrol. But visitors were being strongly advised to avoid Big Sur altogether over the past few days even when the route \u003cem>was \u003c/em>open to the public.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We are respectfully asking the public to stay out of the area,” the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountySheriffsOffice/posts/deputies-captured-these-images-during-evacuation-operations-overnight-as-the-tim/1489024383260620/\">a Monday morning Facebook post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We are respectfully asking the public to stay out of the area,” the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountySheriffsOffice/posts/deputies-captured-these-images-during-evacuation-operations-overnight-as-the-tim/1489024383260620/\">a Monday morning Facebook post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11986406\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caltrans employees and contractors in Big Sur on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, work to stabilize the southbound portion of U.S. Highway 1 that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, which occurred on March 30, 2024, after days of heavy rainfall, hail and powerful winds.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Roadways must remain clear so first responders can work safely and effectively. Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Roadways must remain clear so first responders can work safely and effectively. Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The evacuation order has forced the closure of several Big Sur businesses and attractions on and around Highway 1, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3s0hID7Va/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Nepenthe\u003c/a>, and the evacuation of guests from hotels, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3isGPmpDB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/08/10/big-sur-fire-ventana-inn-nepenthe-restaurant-evacuated-as-fire-doubles-in-size/\">the Alila Ventana hotel and campground\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The evacuation order has forced the closure of several Big Sur businesses and attractions on and around Highway 1, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3s0hID7Va/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Nepenthe\u003c/a>, and the evacuation of guests from hotels, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3isGPmpDB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/08/10/big-sur-fire-ventana-inn-nepenthe-restaurant-evacuated-as-fire-doubles-in-size/\">the Alila Ventana hotel and campground\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>All state parks in Big Sur — \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582\">Andrew Molera\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578\">Julia Pfeiffer Burns, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570\">Pfeiffer Big Sur \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=565\">Point Sur\u003c/a> state parks — are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">closed \u003c/a>due to the threat from the Timber Fire.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>All state parks in Big Sur — \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582\">Andrew Molera\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578\">Julia Pfeiffer Burns, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570\">Pfeiffer Big Sur \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=565\">Point Sur\u003c/a> state parks — are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">closed \u003c/a>due to the threat from the Timber Fire.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Announcing its temporary closure in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3V1TIFGzb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D\">an Instagram post\u003c/a>, the Henry Miller Memorial Library wrote: “We implore you: Do not come to Big Sur.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Announcing its temporary closure in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3V1TIFGzb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D\">an Instagram post\u003c/a>, the Henry Miller Memorial Library wrote: “We implore you: Do not come to Big Sur.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“This is an incredibly serious situation,” the library said. “Fewer cars on the road allow CalFire and emergency services to do their job as effectively and safely as possible.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“This is an incredibly serious situation,” the library said. “Fewer cars on the road allow CalFire and emergency services to do their job as effectively and safely as possible.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">Stretches of the coast to the north and south\u003c/a> of the mandatory evacuation zone are also currently under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834901/fire-evacuation-what-actually-happens-and-how-can-you-plan\">an evacuation warning\u003c/a> — the step that comes before an evacuation order, which acts as a warning to residents that they may need to evacuate soon. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">Stretches of the coast to the north and south\u003c/a> of the mandatory evacuation zone are also currently under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834901/fire-evacuation-what-actually-happens-and-how-can-you-plan\">an evacuation warning\u003c/a> — the step that comes before an evacuation order, which acts as a warning to residents that they may need to evacuate soon. \u003c/p>\n"
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"blockName": "core/heading",
"attrs": {
"text": "Is Highway 1 open through Big Sur during the Timber Fire?",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Highway 1 open through Big Sur during the Timber Fire?\u003c/h2>\n",
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"\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Highway 1 open through Big Sur during the Timber Fire?\u003c/h2>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Right now, no. On Tuesday afternoon, \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__[0]=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">Monterey CHP announced on Facebook \u003c/a>that Highway 1 through the area is closed between Fernwood Resort and Campground all the way to Julia Pfeiffer Burns Vista Point.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Right now, no. On Tuesday afternoon, \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__[0]=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">Monterey CHP announced on Facebook \u003c/a>that Highway 1 through the area is closed between Fernwood Resort and Campground all the way to Julia Pfeiffer Burns Vista Point.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The status of Highway 1 has been changeable and unpredictable for drivers in the last few days. On Monday, signs on Highway 1 informed motorists that the route was closed to all drivers except for residents and employees between Point Sur Lighthouse and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The status of Highway 1 has been changeable and unpredictable for drivers in the last few days. On Monday, signs on Highway 1 informed motorists that the route was closed to all drivers except for residents and employees between Point Sur Lighthouse and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Hwy 1 was open to the public on Tuesday morning but Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told KQED that the agency was nonetheless asking travelers to avoid travel to Big Sur even if the route was technically open — not just because of the fire’s proximity to the highway but because of the “inordinate amount of equipment and staffing” that the Timber Fire response demands.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Hwy 1 was open to the public on Tuesday morning but Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told KQED that the agency was nonetheless asking travelers to avoid travel to Big Sur even if the route was technically open — not just because of the fire’s proximity to the highway but because of the “inordinate amount of equipment and staffing” that the Timber Fire response demands.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” Drabinski said. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” Drabinski said. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/events/monterey-car-week/\">Monterey Car Week\u003c/a>, which organizers say draws over \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monterey-car-week--pebble-beach-concours-delegance-returns-august-716-2026-302839650.html\">100,000 visitors\u003c/a> every year, is currently ongoing north of Big Sur through Sunday — and travelers heading to Monterey from the south who were planning to use Hwy 1 “are encouraged to consider an alternate route using Highway 101 North,” said See Monterey, the region’s tourism body.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/events/monterey-car-week/\">Monterey Car Week\u003c/a>, which organizers say draws over \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monterey-car-week--pebble-beach-concours-delegance-returns-august-716-2026-302839650.html\">100,000 visitors\u003c/a> every year, is currently ongoing north of Big Sur through Sunday — and travelers heading to Monterey from the south who were planning to use Hwy 1 “are encouraged to consider an alternate route using Highway 101 North,” said See Monterey, the region’s tourism body.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’re looking at alternative routes around Big Sur right now, bear in mind that the one narrow road connecting Big Sur south of Lucia to Hwy 101 over the Santa Lucia mountains — \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nacimiento-Fergusson+Rd,+California/@35.9907059,-121.3662903,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x809296a8a7f9159b:0x70441b9f4863105b!8m2!3d35.9907059!4d-121.3637154!16s%2Fm%2F02rk30k!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D\">Nacimiento-Fergusson Road\u003c/a> — is notoriously steep and winding.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’re looking at alternative routes around Big Sur right now, bear in mind that the one narrow road connecting Big Sur south of Lucia to Hwy 101 over the Santa Lucia mountains — \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nacimiento-Fergusson+Rd,+California/@35.9907059,-121.3662903,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x809296a8a7f9159b:0x70441b9f4863105b!8m2!3d35.9907059!4d-121.3637154!16s%2Fm%2F02rk30k!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D\">Nacimiento-Fergusson Road\u003c/a> — is notoriously steep and winding.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you have existing plans to visit the Big Sur region, keep a close eye out for any email or voicemail notification from your hotel advising you of any cancellations — and your options. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you have existing plans to visit the Big Sur region, keep a close eye out for any email or voicemail notification from your hotel advising you of any cancellations — and your options. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to get in contact with your accommodation yourself, bear in mind that the property may have been directly affected by the Timber Fire evacuations, and that cellphone service in the area is spotty.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to get in contact with your accommodation yourself, bear in mind that the property may have been directly affected by the Timber Fire evacuations, and that cellphone service in the area is spotty.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>See Monterey is \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/plan-your-visit/travel-alert/\">advising visitors\u003c/a> who are already in the affected areas of Big Sur to “follow evacuation instructions, take essential belongings and medications, and bring their pets.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>See Monterey is \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/plan-your-visit/travel-alert/\">advising visitors\u003c/a> who are already in the affected areas of Big Sur to “follow evacuation instructions, take essential belongings and medications, and bring their pets.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>According to See Monterey, several hotels throughout Monterey County are now also “offering evacuation rates for residents and visitors in need,” through \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">a spreadsheet of available lodgings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>According to See Monterey, several hotels throughout Monterey County are now also “offering evacuation rates for residents and visitors in need,” through \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">a spreadsheet of available lodgings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Monterey County has established a temporary evacuation point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Carmel+Middle+School/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x802598be38507ac1?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Carmel Middle School\u003c/a>, where evacuees can get information and help on next steps they should take.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Monterey County has established a temporary evacuation point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Carmel+Middle+School/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x802598be38507ac1?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Carmel Middle School\u003c/a>, where evacuees can get information and help on next steps they should take.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">CalFire’s Timber Fire evacuation map and updates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">CalFire’s Timber Fire evacuation map and updates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">Current California state park closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">See Monterey’s spreadsheet of hotel evacuation rates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">See Monterey’s spreadsheet of hotel evacuation rates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/?view=36.3458%2C-121.8507%2C12&layers=full_closures%2Clane_closures%2Cspeed\">Caltrans map of highway closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n",
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"excerpt": "As a wildfire in the mountains of Big Sur above Hwy 1 grows, tourists are being asked to reconsider travel to the region.",
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"title": "Visitors Urged to Stay Away From Big Sur as Timber Fire Grows | KQED",
"description": "As a wildfire in the mountains of Big Sur above Hwy 1 grows, tourists are being asked to reconsider travel to the region.",
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"headline": "Visitors Urged to Stay Away From Big Sur as Timber Fire Grows",
"datePublished": "2026-08-10T17:43:00-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Would-be visitors to Big Sur are being urged not to travel to the region after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> forced \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">mandatory evacuation orders \u003c/a>in the area on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12094539/timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots\">continues to grow in size\u003c/a> and is 5% \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11624317/wildfires-youve-got-questions-weve-got-answers\">contained\u003c/a>, is burning in what Monterey County officials describe as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3siHclrYy/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">“steep, rugged and difficult terrain” \u003c/a>in the Los Padres National Forest above Highway 1.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This coastal stretch is home to many of Big Sur’s most popular hotels, restaurants and campgrounds, as well as state parks. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Highway 1 through the area is closed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">a Facebook post \u003c/a>by the California Highway Patrol. But visitors were being strongly advised to avoid Big Sur altogether over the past few days even when the route \u003cem>was \u003c/em>open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We are respectfully asking the public to stay out of the area,” the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MontereyCountySheriffsOffice/posts/deputies-captured-these-images-during-evacuation-operations-overnight-as-the-tim/1489024383260620/\">a Monday morning Facebook post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11986406\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/05/BigSur-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Caltrans employees and contractors in Big Sur on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, work to stabilize the southbound portion of U.S. Highway 1 that collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, which occurred on March 30, 2024, after days of heavy rainfall, hail and powerful winds. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“Roadways must remain clear so first responders can work safely and effectively. Unnecessary traffic and sightseeing in the fire zone create hazards for emergency crews and slow down critical operations.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evacuation order has forced the closure of several Big Sur businesses and attractions on and around Highway 1, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3s0hID7Va/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Nepenthe\u003c/a>, and the evacuation of guests from hotels, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3isGPmpDB/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==\">Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.montereyherald.com/2026/08/10/big-sur-fire-ventana-inn-nepenthe-restaurant-evacuated-as-fire-doubles-in-size/\">the Alila Ventana hotel and campground\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>All state parks in Big Sur — \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=582\">Andrew Molera\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578\">Julia Pfeiffer Burns, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=570\">Pfeiffer Big Sur \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=565\">Point Sur\u003c/a> state parks — are currently \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">closed \u003c/a>due to the threat from the Timber Fire.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Announcing its temporary closure in \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Db3V1TIFGzb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D\">an Instagram post\u003c/a>, the Henry Miller Memorial Library wrote: “We implore you: Do not come to Big Sur.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“This is an incredibly serious situation,” the library said. “Fewer cars on the road allow CalFire and emergency services to do their job as effectively and safely as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">Stretches of the coast to the north and south\u003c/a> of the mandatory evacuation zone are also currently under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11834901/fire-evacuation-what-actually-happens-and-how-can-you-plan\">an evacuation warning\u003c/a> — the step that comes before an evacuation order, which acts as a warning to residents that they may need to evacuate soon. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Highway 1 open through Big Sur during the Timber Fire?\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Right now, no. On Tuesday afternoon, \u003ca href=\"http://facebook.com/CHPMontereyArea/posts/pfbid02uw4JfN9qfALuPZPfNdvpXudf2biSbDYyKpzWd4eLDa8ZL3YFNDT31v6DtGK14KVEl?__cft__%5B0%5D=AZbu4bh0otqLTgT290--IY08IZBIbun6MTi4fWvnXvz-dM2w7D8XfNYQblr0Zr3M6yAMckFePzamu63zIFgOgNM3qE51GaEWkMCj18OplAKFIAeDCZ7X4jJAGzbdm9pWAkvuAPIV9vl8CVUw2ZyLpaxu8qCj2V_zxqLk5ZL7531pkGGO7ftz-3zSZlj27cuHekY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">Monterey CHP announced on Facebook \u003c/a>that Highway 1 through the area is closed between Fernwood Resort and Campground all the way to Julia Pfeiffer Burns Vista Point.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The status of Highway 1 has been changeable and unpredictable for drivers in the last few days. On Monday, signs on Highway 1 informed motorists that the route was closed to all drivers except for residents and employees between Point Sur Lighthouse and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Hwy 1 was open to the public on Tuesday morning but Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told KQED that the agency was nonetheless asking travelers to avoid travel to Big Sur even if the route was technically open — not just because of the fire’s proximity to the highway but because of the “inordinate amount of equipment and staffing” that the Timber Fire response demands.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“We want to leave as much space on the highway for emergency responders and that effort,” Drabinski said. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>This year’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/events/monterey-car-week/\">Monterey Car Week\u003c/a>, which organizers say draws over \u003ca href=\"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monterey-car-week--pebble-beach-concours-delegance-returns-august-716-2026-302839650.html\">100,000 visitors\u003c/a> every year, is currently ongoing north of Big Sur through Sunday — and travelers heading to Monterey from the south who were planning to use Hwy 1 “are encouraged to consider an alternate route using Highway 101 North,” said See Monterey, the region’s tourism body.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re looking at alternative routes around Big Sur right now, bear in mind that the one narrow road connecting Big Sur south of Lucia to Hwy 101 over the Santa Lucia mountains — \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nacimiento-Fergusson+Rd,+California/@35.9907059,-121.3662903,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x809296a8a7f9159b:0x70441b9f4863105b!8m2!3d35.9907059!4d-121.3637154!16s%2Fm%2F02rk30k!5m1!1e1?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D\">Nacimiento-Fergusson Road\u003c/a> — is notoriously steep and winding.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advice for visitors to Big Sur right now\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you have existing plans to visit the Big Sur region, keep a close eye out for any email or voicemail notification from your hotel advising you of any cancellations — and your options. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If you’re trying to get in contact with your accommodation yourself, bear in mind that the property may have been directly affected by the Timber Fire evacuations, and that cellphone service in the area is spotty.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>See Monterey is \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/plan-your-visit/travel-alert/\">advising visitors\u003c/a> who are already in the affected areas of Big Sur to “follow evacuation instructions, take essential belongings and medications, and bring their pets.”\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>According to See Monterey, several hotels throughout Monterey County are now also “offering evacuation rates for residents and visitors in need,” through \u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">a spreadsheet of available lodgings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Monterey County has established a temporary evacuation point at \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/place/Carmel+Middle+School/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x802598be38507ac1?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111\">Carmel Middle School\u003c/a>, where evacuees can get information and help on next steps they should take.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Big Sur Timber Fire links and resources\u003c/h2>\n\n\n\n\u003cul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/8/9/timber-fire\">CalFire’s Timber Fire evacuation map and updates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30009\">Current California state park closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.seemonterey.com/resources/community-connection/\">See Monterey’s spreadsheet of hotel evacuation rates\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\n\n\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/?view=36.3458%2C-121.8507%2C12&layers=full_closures%2Clane_closures%2Cspeed\">Caltrans map of highway closures\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "timber-fire-in-big-sur-doubles-overnight-forcing-evacuations-of-popular-tourist-spots",
"title": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Doubles Overnight, Forcing Evacuations of Popular Tourist Spots",
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"headTitle": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Doubles Overnight, Forcing Evacuations of Popular Tourist Spots | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> near Big Sur doubled in size overnight, forcing evacuations in Monterey County as fire crews face difficult terrain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which had burned 800 acres in the Los Padres National Forest as of Monday morning, is 5% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officials said the blaze burned actively overnight, after fire behavior increased Sunday evening. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fire is burning in steep, rugged, and difficult terrain, which continues to hamper firefighter access and suppression efforts,” the Forest Service said in an update at 10 a.m. Monday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-11369833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1020x717.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1180x830.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-960x675.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-240x169.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-375x264.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The historic Nepenthe Restaurant is among a list of locations forced to evacuate because of the Timber Fire on Aug. 10, 2026. (jongela19/Flickr)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Big Sur has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968870/california-wildfires-scorch-redwoods-and-threaten-condors-but-theres-still-hope\">multiple massive fires\u003c/a> in recent years, in part due to the mountainous landscape, limited water and roads that make suppression challenging. These fires have threatened the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974648/last-years-santa-cruz-lightning-fires-still-causing-trouble\">area’s unique ecosystem\u003c/a> and wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire broke out shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a remote area of grass and brush southeast of Loma Vista. It spread throughout the day Sunday, prompting evacuation orders in two zones, MRY-F026 and MRY-F027 near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road, late last night. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of the area’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just after 11 p.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation warnings for three more zones, MRY-F024, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028, to the immediate north and south of the existing orders along the Big Sur coast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, said she was communicating with local, state and federal partners to navigate the developing fire. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safety is the top priority,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Please follow all evacuation orders and guidance from authorities. Thank you to every firefighter, emergency responder and public safety professional working around the clock to protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which had burned 800 acres in the Los Padres National Forest as of Monday morning, is 5% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which had burned 800 acres in the Los Padres National Forest as of Monday morning, is 5% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Officials said the blaze burned actively overnight, after fire behavior increased Sunday evening. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“The fire is burning in steep, rugged, and difficult terrain, which continues to hamper firefighter access and suppression efforts,” the Forest Service said in an update at 10 a.m. Monday. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“The fire is burning in steep, rugged, and difficult terrain, which continues to hamper firefighter access and suppression efforts,” the Forest Service said in an update at 10 a.m. Monday. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-11369833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1020x717.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1180x830.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-960x675.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-240x169.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-375x264.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The historic Nepenthe Restaurant is among a list of locations forced to evacuate because of the Timber Fire on Aug. 10, 2026.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Big Sur has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968870/california-wildfires-scorch-redwoods-and-threaten-condors-but-theres-still-hope\">multiple massive fires\u003c/a> in recent years, in part due to the mountainous landscape, limited water and roads that make suppression challenging. These fires have threatened the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974648/last-years-santa-cruz-lightning-fires-still-causing-trouble\">area’s unique ecosystem\u003c/a> and wildlife. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Big Sur has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968870/california-wildfires-scorch-redwoods-and-threaten-condors-but-theres-still-hope\">multiple massive fires\u003c/a> in recent years, in part due to the mountainous landscape, limited water and roads that make suppression challenging. These fires have threatened the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974648/last-years-santa-cruz-lightning-fires-still-causing-trouble\">area’s unique ecosystem\u003c/a> and wildlife. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire broke out shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a remote area of grass and brush southeast of Loma Vista. It spread throughout the day Sunday, prompting evacuation orders in two zones, MRY-F026 and MRY-F027 near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road, late last night. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire broke out shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a remote area of grass and brush southeast of Loma Vista. It spread throughout the day Sunday, prompting evacuation orders in two zones, MRY-F026 and MRY-F027 near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road, late last night. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of the area’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Just after 11 p.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation warnings for three more zones, MRY-F024, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028, to the immediate north and south of the existing orders along the Big Sur coast. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Just after 11 p.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation warnings for three more zones, MRY-F024, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028, to the immediate north and south of the existing orders along the Big Sur coast. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, said she was communicating with local, state and federal partners to navigate the developing fire. \u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>“Safety is the top priority,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Please follow all evacuation orders and guidance from authorities. Thank you to every firefighter, emergency responder and public safety professional working around the clock to protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>“Safety is the top priority,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Please follow all evacuation orders and guidance from authorities. Thank you to every firefighter, emergency responder and public safety professional working around the clock to protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n"
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"excerpt": "Luxury resort Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library were included in the order to depart immediately.",
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"title": "Timber Fire in Big Sur Doubles Overnight, Forcing Evacuations of Popular Tourist Spots | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> near Big Sur doubled in size overnight, forcing evacuations in Monterey County as fire crews face difficult terrain.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire, which had burned 800 acres in the Los Padres National Forest as of Monday morning, is 5% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Officials said the blaze burned actively overnight, after fire behavior increased Sunday evening. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>“The fire is burning in steep, rugged, and difficult terrain, which continues to hamper firefighter access and suppression efforts,” the Forest Service said in an update at 10 a.m. Monday. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1350\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant.\" class=\"wp-image-11369833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-160x113.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1020x717.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1180x830.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-960x675.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-240x169.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-375x264.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The historic Nepenthe Restaurant is among a list of locations forced to evacuate because of the Timber Fire on Aug. 10, 2026. (jongela19/Flickr)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Big Sur has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1968870/california-wildfires-scorch-redwoods-and-threaten-condors-but-theres-still-hope\">multiple massive fires\u003c/a> in recent years, in part due to the mountainous landscape, limited water and roads that make suppression challenging. These fires have threatened the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974648/last-years-santa-cruz-lightning-fires-still-causing-trouble\">area’s unique ecosystem\u003c/a> and wildlife. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Timber Fire broke out shortly after 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a remote area of grass and brush southeast of Loma Vista. It spread throughout the day Sunday, prompting evacuation orders in two zones, MRY-F026 and MRY-F027 near Partington Ridge Road and North Coast Ridge Road, late last night. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The area under immediate evacuation orders includes some of the area’s top tourist destinations, including luxury resort the Ventana Inn, beloved restaurant Nepenthe and the Henry Miller Memorial Library. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Just after 11 p.m., the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation warnings for three more zones, MRY-F024, MRY-F025 and MRY-F028, to the immediate north and south of the existing orders along the Big Sur coast. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, said she was communicating with local, state and federal partners to navigate the developing fire. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Safety is the top priority,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Please follow all evacuation orders and guidance from authorities. Thank you to every firefighter, emergency responder and public safety professional working around the clock to protect our community.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "were-not-fighting-this-alone-gilroy-and-beyond-pushes-back-against-planned-ice-facility",
"title": "‘We’re Not Fighting This Alone’: Gilroy and Beyond Pushes Back Against Planned ICE Facility",
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"headTitle": "‘We’re Not Fighting This Alone’: Gilroy and Beyond Pushes Back Against Planned ICE Facility | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>State and local leaders are suing the federal government after alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly broke ground on a proposal to build an ICE facility in Gilroy. Santa Clara County leaders and a number of other Bay Area cities, counties and community groups, have banded together to put a stop to the plan. At a recent press conference, members of San Jose’s Japanese American community also spoke out, drawing parallels to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1862873733\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>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/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Episode transcript\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This transcript is computer-generated. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. Back in April, Rebeca Armendariz got a message from someone in her community of Gilroy. Rumors were spreading of an immigration and customs enforcement facility coming to the city, where about 60% of the population identify as Hispanic or Latino, many of whom are also immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We have lots of farm workers. We have farm workers that come documented, and we have farm work that migrate from Yuma and Texas and other parts of the Southwest.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Now it’s in this community where immigration and customs enforcement plans to build a 4,000 square foot facility that state and county leaders say will be an ICE detention center. And advocates warn that it could be used to hold immigrants not just from Gilroy, but from across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>This is an issue that is impacting all of us, and that’s why all of us have to come together and fight against this deportation machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The state, along with dozens of cities, counties, and multi-ethnic community groups are now fighting to stop the ICE facility from being built. And long-time Gilroy residents like Armendariz say they’re ready for this fight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We’ve been organizing for decades, for generations, in my community, like my parents before me and others before them. I feel like we are in a place that we’re not fighting this alone, where I have, you know, dozens and dozens of other activists and community members who will also put themselves on the line and to fight back with all we have, right, with all we’ve got.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, the Bay Area’s fight against an ICE facility in Gilroy. So, Joseph, just to start, what do we know so far and at this point about the federal government’s plans for a potential detention center in the city of Gilroy?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Most of what we know is from documents that are filed as part of a lawsuit against ICE and against the federal government. That’s been brought by Santa Clara County and the state attorney general’s office.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Joseph Geha covers the South Bay for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>And basically what the, what the lawsuit shows is that the federal government, ICE essentially wants to redevelop this 25 acre property on Holsclaw road. It’s a essentially a piece of farmland to, you know, make it an office for ICE operations and it would include concrete reinforced holding rooms for detainees. Santa Clara County and the state are basically alleging that this office would hold about 60 employees and possibly up to 150 detainees.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That’s interesting. So it sounds like the details that we know so far are not necessarily coming from the federal government or the Trump administration itself, but from this lawsuit from Santa Clara County and the state attorney general, essentially suing ICE and the federal government to try and stop this detention center from being built, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s correct. The county and the state say they had county investigators kind of taking a look at the property and watching it closely. And it was in late April that they started seeing fences go up. There was demolition taking place. So like, they’re very clear in their lawsuit that the government has started to develop this and started to do work on the site and then, you know, done a lease there and everything all in secret. At a high level, Santa Clara County and the state are arguing that, first of all, this property used to be used recently as an agricultural research facility where pesticides were often being tested. So there’s a lot of hazardous materials at the site and they are worried that that also makes it an inappropriate place for this facility. They’re also saying that the government is violating intergovernmental cooperation laws, essentially saying that federal government started developing this in secret and really told the county and the state nothing about this and that goes against laws where they are you know required to solicit the input of the communities that they’re intending to build or develop in and that this site is inappropriate and not allowed essentially to become a non-agricultural use without you know explicit permission from the county.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Or not an appropriate place to house more than 100 potential people for long periods of time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That too, yeah. It’s been reported widely in media and other lawsuits that the Trump administration’s facilities for ICE and detention centers and temporary holding centers and offices have all kind of violated rights of people in their own right. That they’re not providing proper, you know, hygiene facilities, water, food, bathrooms, you know, sleeping sites. So that people are actually being held in very subpar, you cruel conditions. I think the concern from the county and the state is that it would indeed kind of bring that cruelty to their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And there’s some precedent for that concern, right? Because we have sort of seen the Trump administration in the last two years really beefing up detention centers across not just California, but the country, right.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s right. I mean, the government is and has kind of publicized the fact that it is rapidly expanding its deportation program. And as a part of that is purchasing all kinds of facilities. ICE as an agency has kind of touted from the top down that they are getting more funding and that this should not be a surprise that they’re going to continue to push these operations forward.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Do we know why they’re looking at building this facility in Gilroy specifically?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>ICE itself and the federal government have not said very much about this site until recently. They told the Sacramento Bee in late July that this site is not for a detention center. A spokesperson for ICE said the South Bay facility would be for an ICE office that will support local operations and the enforcement of federal immigration laws. So even when they’re offering a statement, ICE has been pretty vague. But, if you listen to the concern from advocates, you know, they are saying that this is essentially a part of the Bay Area. It’s close to the central coast. It’s in South Santa Clara County, Gilroy within the county. These places are heavily immigrant rich communities, and this is something that has really concerned folks up and down the Bay Area here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Our local coalition has pulled together folks from Soledad to Stockton, Morgan Hill to Monterey because we know that if they build this gallery processing center and they open the Dublin Detention Center, they will fill it with our people from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>But one of the most outspoken folks against this facility and a person who has really stood up for social justice issues in the South Bay is Rebeca Armendariz. She’s a former Gilroy council member and she currently is associated with Working Partnerships USA, which is a nonprofit in the south Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Leaders from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and even Marin County have joined a dozen cities and others to sign on to an amicus brief in support of our lawsuit. They know that ICE will raid workplaces, schools, malls, neighborhoods, hospitals, and even places of worship. We see that our community will suffer together as they always have, but that’s why together we will gather, we will strategize, we’ll organize, and continue to fight together so that we will win back our country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up how the rest of the Bay Area is responding to the ICE facility in Gilroy. By the way, if you appreciate the local deep dives that we bring you here on The Bay, consider becoming a sustaining KQED member. KQED members are the backbone of our journalism here. Join the thousands of people who make it all happen. Just go to donate.kqed.org slash podcasts. We’ll be right back. You have specifically been reporting on the reaction from surrounding communities near and around Gilroy and their response to this potential detention center there. And it seems like the concern has really stretched beyond Gilroy itself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>The reaction was very strong. I mean, community members from Gilroy, uh, of course, but as well as San Jose and other Santa Clara County residents were coming together to call attention to this, I think a list of something like 25 or more cities and counties have signed onto this lawsuit to say that they, uh also oppose this and we’re talking about, yes, like the entire, you know, Monterey County board of supervisors, along with like small places like the city of Alameda in the Bay. Agricultural cities like Watsonville, but also Sunnyvale where Google and other major companies are based. Also yes, individually in local communities we’re seeing pockets of resistance. One community in particular that I think has really expressed a deep concern and connection to this issue is the Japanese American community in San Jose. So recently I went to a press conference and a rally in Japantown.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference: \u003c/strong>We will never be defeated!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What was the idea behind this press conference? Why were folks there to speak out?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was like a whole coalition, like basically several different groups of people, but it was led by local Japanese American groups. One of them is called the San Jose Nikkei Resisters and the Neighbors Not Enemy Coalition of San Jose. And they’re drawing connections from the Japanese American community to the past, to the pretty recent past of, you know, the incarceration of Japanese Americans at concentration camps during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>You know, when we see people dragged away, we think of our grandparents and we think of our parents. We feel it deeply.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>One of the main organizers of the San Jose Nikkei Resisters, the co-founder, is this person named Susan Hayase. And Susan is a person who’s been in the fight, I would say, for a long time. Decades ago, she helped participate in the effort to get reparations for Japanese Americans, the Japanese American redress effort, and an apology from the U.S., both in words, but in the form of these reparations for the incarceration of people during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We’ve had to stand up for ourselves and stand together with other communities in struggles for justice and equality. And so facing the demands of today with our neighbors being attacked by ICE, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re doing it again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>She told me, you know, this is this is very close to her because we’re talking about not some far away distant past We’re talking, about her parents generation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We hoped that by illuminating our history, we could inspire people to make sure that it never happened again. But today, unfortunately, it’s too late to just say never again. The thing we feared is happening again now. In World War II, there were 75 confinement sites. Today, there are over 200, and there are reports of horrifying subhuman conditions. In World war II, over 125,000 were detained. Today, almost 400,000 have been arrested by ICE. Over 51 have died in ICE custody, and the number of those being shot in the street is growing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was not just Japanese Americans at this press conference. Certainly that was, I think, the focus of the day. But the point drawn by several speakers there is that this coalition, these various groups of people from around the community, were multiethnic, right? Different generations, different ages, different cultural backgrounds, different religions. And they’re all here to kind of say that this is not the right direction for this community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What is the status of things now?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>With the lawsuit, things right now are kind of in a holding pattern. So part of the ask of the lawsuit the big driving force of the lawsuits to stop this, right? But in the meantime, the county and the state have also filed a request with the courts for a preliminary injunction. Essentially meaning, can we put a court order to hold on everything until this litigation is done? And as part of kind of like a scheduling compromise with the federal government, they have agreed. To halt all operations there, like construction and demolition, until at least September 9th. And that right around then is going to be a court hearing on this request for preliminary injunction. So we may know more by early September about whether or not a court is going to have a favorable view of the lawsuit brought by Santa Clara County and the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, one thing I’m thinking about is I feel like we’ve really seen the South Bay, Santa Clara County, really coming out against the Trump administration and ICE since the start of Trump’s second administration. I mean things like bans on masks for ICE in the county, for example. Is it safe to say that this is kind of just like another frontier in the South Bay’s pushback against the trump administration’s policies on immigration?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>I think you hit the nail on the head. Santa Clara County, cities like San Jose and others here that represent a lot of people have, yes, taken steps to signal where their values are, to say that we’re in new territory here. We haven’t dealt with a federal administration like this that has gone after our people so aggressively and in ways that we believe violate myriad laws. So what we’re going to do is set up as many laws, protections, funding apparatus as possible. Within reason to make sure that our community members know that they are supported locally. That this immigrant rich community, city and county are not alone in this fight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well Joseph, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Ericka. It’s always great talking to you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>I think that sometimes people get used to bad news, you know, they become calloused. But I think in order to make this system work, everybody has to participate. In that same spirit, we can and should protest, object and resist today’s brutal, unlawful ICE, policies. Moi chiro. Let’s do it again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crowd: \u003c/strong>Woo!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Joseph Geha who covers the South Bay for KQED. This episode was cut down and edited by Kyana Moghadam and me. Gabriela Glueck is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape. She also conducted the interview that you heard with Rebeca Armendariz. Music courtesy of APM and Audio Network. If you ever want to get in touch with us here at the Bay. You could send us an email at thebay.kqed.org. The Bay is a production of listener-supported KQED public media. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. 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. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>State and local leaders are suing the federal government after alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly broke ground on a proposal to build an ICE facility in Gilroy. Santa Clara County leaders and a number of other Bay Area cities, counties and community groups, have banded together to put a stop to the plan. At a recent press conference, members of San Jose’s Japanese American community also spoke out, drawing parallels to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. Back in April, Rebeca Armendariz got a message from someone in her community of Gilroy. Rumors were spreading of an immigration and customs enforcement facility coming to the city, where about 60% of the population identify as Hispanic or Latino, many of whom are also immigrants.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. Back in April, Rebeca Armendariz got a message from someone in her community of Gilroy. Rumors were spreading of an immigration and customs enforcement facility coming to the city, where about 60% of the population identify as Hispanic or Latino, many of whom are also immigrants.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We have lots of farm workers. We have farm workers that come documented, and we have farm work that migrate from Yuma and Texas and other parts of the Southwest.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We have lots of farm workers. We have farm workers that come documented, and we have farm work that migrate from Yuma and Texas and other parts of the Southwest.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Now it’s in this community where immigration and customs enforcement plans to build a 4,000 square foot facility that state and county leaders say will be an ICE detention center. And advocates warn that it could be used to hold immigrants not just from Gilroy, but from across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Now it’s in this community where immigration and customs enforcement plans to build a 4,000 square foot facility that state and county leaders say will be an ICE detention center. And advocates warn that it could be used to hold immigrants not just from Gilroy, but from across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>This is an issue that is impacting all of us, and that’s why all of us have to come together and fight against this deportation machine.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>This is an issue that is impacting all of us, and that’s why all of us have to come together and fight against this deportation machine.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The state, along with dozens of cities, counties, and multi-ethnic community groups are now fighting to stop the ICE facility from being built. And long-time Gilroy residents like Armendariz say they’re ready for this fight.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The state, along with dozens of cities, counties, and multi-ethnic community groups are now fighting to stop the ICE facility from being built. And long-time Gilroy residents like Armendariz say they’re ready for this fight.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We’ve been organizing for decades, for generations, in my community, like my parents before me and others before them. I feel like we are in a place that we’re not fighting this alone, where I have, you know, dozens and dozens of other activists and community members who will also put themselves on the line and to fight back with all we have, right, with all we’ve got.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We’ve been organizing for decades, for generations, in my community, like my parents before me and others before them. I feel like we are in a place that we’re not fighting this alone, where I have, you know, dozens and dozens of other activists and community members who will also put themselves on the line and to fight back with all we have, right, with all we’ve got.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, the Bay Area’s fight against an ICE facility in Gilroy. So, Joseph, just to start, what do we know so far and at this point about the federal government’s plans for a potential detention center in the city of Gilroy?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, the Bay Area’s fight against an ICE facility in Gilroy. So, Joseph, just to start, what do we know so far and at this point about the federal government’s plans for a potential detention center in the city of Gilroy?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Most of what we know is from documents that are filed as part of a lawsuit against ICE and against the federal government. That’s been brought by Santa Clara County and the state attorney general’s office.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Most of what we know is from documents that are filed as part of a lawsuit against ICE and against the federal government. That’s been brought by Santa Clara County and the state attorney general’s office.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Joseph Geha covers the South Bay for KQED.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>And basically what the, what the lawsuit shows is that the federal government, ICE essentially wants to redevelop this 25 acre property on Holsclaw road. It’s a essentially a piece of farmland to, you know, make it an office for ICE operations and it would include concrete reinforced holding rooms for detainees. Santa Clara County and the state are basically alleging that this office would hold about 60 employees and possibly up to 150 detainees.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>And basically what the, what the lawsuit shows is that the federal government, ICE essentially wants to redevelop this 25 acre property on Holsclaw road. It’s a essentially a piece of farmland to, you know, make it an office for ICE operations and it would include concrete reinforced holding rooms for detainees. Santa Clara County and the state are basically alleging that this office would hold about 60 employees and possibly up to 150 detainees.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That’s interesting. So it sounds like the details that we know so far are not necessarily coming from the federal government or the Trump administration itself, but from this lawsuit from Santa Clara County and the state attorney general, essentially suing ICE and the federal government to try and stop this detention center from being built, right?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That’s interesting. So it sounds like the details that we know so far are not necessarily coming from the federal government or the Trump administration itself, but from this lawsuit from Santa Clara County and the state attorney general, essentially suing ICE and the federal government to try and stop this detention center from being built, right?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s correct. The county and the state say they had county investigators kind of taking a look at the property and watching it closely. And it was in late April that they started seeing fences go up. There was demolition taking place. So like, they’re very clear in their lawsuit that the government has started to develop this and started to do work on the site and then, you know, done a lease there and everything all in secret. At a high level, Santa Clara County and the state are arguing that, first of all, this property used to be used recently as an agricultural research facility where pesticides were often being tested. So there’s a lot of hazardous materials at the site and they are worried that that also makes it an inappropriate place for this facility. They’re also saying that the government is violating intergovernmental cooperation laws, essentially saying that federal government started developing this in secret and really told the county and the state nothing about this and that goes against laws where they are you know required to solicit the input of the communities that they’re intending to build or develop in and that this site is inappropriate and not allowed essentially to become a non-agricultural use without you know explicit permission from the county.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s correct. The county and the state say they had county investigators kind of taking a look at the property and watching it closely. And it was in late April that they started seeing fences go up. There was demolition taking place. So like, they’re very clear in their lawsuit that the government has started to develop this and started to do work on the site and then, you know, done a lease there and everything all in secret. At a high level, Santa Clara County and the state are arguing that, first of all, this property used to be used recently as an agricultural research facility where pesticides were often being tested. So there’s a lot of hazardous materials at the site and they are worried that that also makes it an inappropriate place for this facility. They’re also saying that the government is violating intergovernmental cooperation laws, essentially saying that federal government started developing this in secret and really told the county and the state nothing about this and that goes against laws where they are you know required to solicit the input of the communities that they’re intending to build or develop in and that this site is inappropriate and not allowed essentially to become a non-agricultural use without you know explicit permission from the county.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Or not an appropriate place to house more than 100 potential people for long periods of time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Or not an appropriate place to house more than 100 potential people for long periods of time.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That too, yeah. It’s been reported widely in media and other lawsuits that the Trump administration’s facilities for ICE and detention centers and temporary holding centers and offices have all kind of violated rights of people in their own right. That they’re not providing proper, you know, hygiene facilities, water, food, bathrooms, you know, sleeping sites. So that people are actually being held in very subpar, you cruel conditions. I think the concern from the county and the state is that it would indeed kind of bring that cruelty to their backyard.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That too, yeah. It’s been reported widely in media and other lawsuits that the Trump administration’s facilities for ICE and detention centers and temporary holding centers and offices have all kind of violated rights of people in their own right. That they’re not providing proper, you know, hygiene facilities, water, food, bathrooms, you know, sleeping sites. So that people are actually being held in very subpar, you cruel conditions. I think the concern from the county and the state is that it would indeed kind of bring that cruelty to their backyard.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And there’s some precedent for that concern, right? Because we have sort of seen the Trump administration in the last two years really beefing up detention centers across not just California, but the country, right.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And there’s some precedent for that concern, right? Because we have sort of seen the Trump administration in the last two years really beefing up detention centers across not just California, but the country, right.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s right. I mean, the government is and has kind of publicized the fact that it is rapidly expanding its deportation program. And as a part of that is purchasing all kinds of facilities. ICE as an agency has kind of touted from the top down that they are getting more funding and that this should not be a surprise that they’re going to continue to push these operations forward.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s right. I mean, the government is and has kind of publicized the fact that it is rapidly expanding its deportation program. And as a part of that is purchasing all kinds of facilities. ICE as an agency has kind of touted from the top down that they are getting more funding and that this should not be a surprise that they’re going to continue to push these operations forward.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Do we know why they’re looking at building this facility in Gilroy specifically?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Do we know why they’re looking at building this facility in Gilroy specifically?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>ICE itself and the federal government have not said very much about this site until recently. They told the Sacramento Bee in late July that this site is not for a detention center. A spokesperson for ICE said the South Bay facility would be for an ICE office that will support local operations and the enforcement of federal immigration laws. So even when they’re offering a statement, ICE has been pretty vague. But, if you listen to the concern from advocates, you know, they are saying that this is essentially a part of the Bay Area. It’s close to the central coast. It’s in South Santa Clara County, Gilroy within the county. These places are heavily immigrant rich communities, and this is something that has really concerned folks up and down the Bay Area here.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>ICE itself and the federal government have not said very much about this site until recently. They told the Sacramento Bee in late July that this site is not for a detention center. A spokesperson for ICE said the South Bay facility would be for an ICE office that will support local operations and the enforcement of federal immigration laws. So even when they’re offering a statement, ICE has been pretty vague. But, if you listen to the concern from advocates, you know, they are saying that this is essentially a part of the Bay Area. It’s close to the central coast. It’s in South Santa Clara County, Gilroy within the county. These places are heavily immigrant rich communities, and this is something that has really concerned folks up and down the Bay Area here.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Our local coalition has pulled together folks from Soledad to Stockton, Morgan Hill to Monterey because we know that if they build this gallery processing center and they open the Dublin Detention Center, they will fill it with our people from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Our local coalition has pulled together folks from Soledad to Stockton, Morgan Hill to Monterey because we know that if they build this gallery processing center and they open the Dublin Detention Center, they will fill it with our people from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>But one of the most outspoken folks against this facility and a person who has really stood up for social justice issues in the South Bay is Rebeca Armendariz. She’s a former Gilroy council member and she currently is associated with Working Partnerships USA, which is a nonprofit in the south Bay.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Leaders from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and even Marin County have joined a dozen cities and others to sign on to an amicus brief in support of our lawsuit. They know that ICE will raid workplaces, schools, malls, neighborhoods, hospitals, and even places of worship. We see that our community will suffer together as they always have, but that’s why together we will gather, we will strategize, we’ll organize, and continue to fight together so that we will win back our country.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Leaders from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and even Marin County have joined a dozen cities and others to sign on to an amicus brief in support of our lawsuit. They know that ICE will raid workplaces, schools, malls, neighborhoods, hospitals, and even places of worship. We see that our community will suffer together as they always have, but that’s why together we will gather, we will strategize, we’ll organize, and continue to fight together so that we will win back our country.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up how the rest of the Bay Area is responding to the ICE facility in Gilroy. By the way, if you appreciate the local deep dives that we bring you here on The Bay, consider becoming a sustaining KQED member. KQED members are the backbone of our journalism here. Join the thousands of people who make it all happen. Just go to donate.kqed.org slash podcasts. We’ll be right back. You have specifically been reporting on the reaction from surrounding communities near and around Gilroy and their response to this potential detention center there. And it seems like the concern has really stretched beyond Gilroy itself.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up how the rest of the Bay Area is responding to the ICE facility in Gilroy. By the way, if you appreciate the local deep dives that we bring you here on The Bay, consider becoming a sustaining KQED member. KQED members are the backbone of our journalism here. Join the thousands of people who make it all happen. Just go to donate.kqed.org slash podcasts. We’ll be right back. You have specifically been reporting on the reaction from surrounding communities near and around Gilroy and their response to this potential detention center there. And it seems like the concern has really stretched beyond Gilroy itself.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>The reaction was very strong. I mean, community members from Gilroy, uh, of course, but as well as San Jose and other Santa Clara County residents were coming together to call attention to this, I think a list of something like 25 or more cities and counties have signed onto this lawsuit to say that they, uh also oppose this and we’re talking about, yes, like the entire, you know, Monterey County board of supervisors, along with like small places like the city of Alameda in the Bay. Agricultural cities like Watsonville, but also Sunnyvale where Google and other major companies are based. Also yes, individually in local communities we’re seeing pockets of resistance. One community in particular that I think has really expressed a deep concern and connection to this issue is the Japanese American community in San Jose. So recently I went to a press conference and a rally in Japantown.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>The reaction was very strong. I mean, community members from Gilroy, uh, of course, but as well as San Jose and other Santa Clara County residents were coming together to call attention to this, I think a list of something like 25 or more cities and counties have signed onto this lawsuit to say that they, uh also oppose this and we’re talking about, yes, like the entire, you know, Monterey County board of supervisors, along with like small places like the city of Alameda in the Bay. Agricultural cities like Watsonville, but also Sunnyvale where Google and other major companies are based. Also yes, individually in local communities we’re seeing pockets of resistance. One community in particular that I think has really expressed a deep concern and connection to this issue is the Japanese American community in San Jose. So recently I went to a press conference and a rally in Japantown.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference: \u003c/strong>We will never be defeated!\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What was the idea behind this press conference? Why were folks there to speak out?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was like a whole coalition, like basically several different groups of people, but it was led by local Japanese American groups. One of them is called the San Jose Nikkei Resisters and the Neighbors Not Enemy Coalition of San Jose. And they’re drawing connections from the Japanese American community to the past, to the pretty recent past of, you know, the incarceration of Japanese Americans at concentration camps during World War II.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was like a whole coalition, like basically several different groups of people, but it was led by local Japanese American groups. One of them is called the San Jose Nikkei Resisters and the Neighbors Not Enemy Coalition of San Jose. And they’re drawing connections from the Japanese American community to the past, to the pretty recent past of, you know, the incarceration of Japanese Americans at concentration camps during World War II.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>You know, when we see people dragged away, we think of our grandparents and we think of our parents. We feel it deeply.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>You know, when we see people dragged away, we think of our grandparents and we think of our parents. We feel it deeply.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>One of the main organizers of the San Jose Nikkei Resisters, the co-founder, is this person named Susan Hayase. And Susan is a person who’s been in the fight, I would say, for a long time. Decades ago, she helped participate in the effort to get reparations for Japanese Americans, the Japanese American redress effort, and an apology from the U.S., both in words, but in the form of these reparations for the incarceration of people during World War II.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>One of the main organizers of the San Jose Nikkei Resisters, the co-founder, is this person named Susan Hayase. And Susan is a person who’s been in the fight, I would say, for a long time. Decades ago, she helped participate in the effort to get reparations for Japanese Americans, the Japanese American redress effort, and an apology from the U.S., both in words, but in the form of these reparations for the incarceration of people during World War II.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We’ve had to stand up for ourselves and stand together with other communities in struggles for justice and equality. And so facing the demands of today with our neighbors being attacked by ICE, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re doing it again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We’ve had to stand up for ourselves and stand together with other communities in struggles for justice and equality. And so facing the demands of today with our neighbors being attacked by ICE, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re doing it again.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>She told me, you know, this is this is very close to her because we’re talking about not some far away distant past We’re talking, about her parents generation.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>She told me, you know, this is this is very close to her because we’re talking about not some far away distant past We’re talking, about her parents generation.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We hoped that by illuminating our history, we could inspire people to make sure that it never happened again. But today, unfortunately, it’s too late to just say never again. The thing we feared is happening again now. In World War II, there were 75 confinement sites. Today, there are over 200, and there are reports of horrifying subhuman conditions. In World war II, over 125,000 were detained. Today, almost 400,000 have been arrested by ICE. Over 51 have died in ICE custody, and the number of those being shot in the street is growing.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We hoped that by illuminating our history, we could inspire people to make sure that it never happened again. But today, unfortunately, it’s too late to just say never again. The thing we feared is happening again now. In World War II, there were 75 confinement sites. Today, there are over 200, and there are reports of horrifying subhuman conditions. In World war II, over 125,000 were detained. Today, almost 400,000 have been arrested by ICE. Over 51 have died in ICE custody, and the number of those being shot in the street is growing.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was not just Japanese Americans at this press conference. Certainly that was, I think, the focus of the day. But the point drawn by several speakers there is that this coalition, these various groups of people from around the community, were multiethnic, right? Different generations, different ages, different cultural backgrounds, different religions. And they’re all here to kind of say that this is not the right direction for this community.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was not just Japanese Americans at this press conference. Certainly that was, I think, the focus of the day. But the point drawn by several speakers there is that this coalition, these various groups of people from around the community, were multiethnic, right? Different generations, different ages, different cultural backgrounds, different religions. And they’re all here to kind of say that this is not the right direction for this community.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What is the status of things now?\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>With the lawsuit, things right now are kind of in a holding pattern. So part of the ask of the lawsuit the big driving force of the lawsuits to stop this, right? But in the meantime, the county and the state have also filed a request with the courts for a preliminary injunction. Essentially meaning, can we put a court order to hold on everything until this litigation is done? And as part of kind of like a scheduling compromise with the federal government, they have agreed. To halt all operations there, like construction and demolition, until at least September 9th. And that right around then is going to be a court hearing on this request for preliminary injunction. So we may know more by early September about whether or not a court is going to have a favorable view of the lawsuit brought by Santa Clara County and the state.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>With the lawsuit, things right now are kind of in a holding pattern. So part of the ask of the lawsuit the big driving force of the lawsuits to stop this, right? But in the meantime, the county and the state have also filed a request with the courts for a preliminary injunction. Essentially meaning, can we put a court order to hold on everything until this litigation is done? And as part of kind of like a scheduling compromise with the federal government, they have agreed. To halt all operations there, like construction and demolition, until at least September 9th. And that right around then is going to be a court hearing on this request for preliminary injunction. So we may know more by early September about whether or not a court is going to have a favorable view of the lawsuit brought by Santa Clara County and the state.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, one thing I’m thinking about is I feel like we’ve really seen the South Bay, Santa Clara County, really coming out against the Trump administration and ICE since the start of Trump’s second administration. I mean things like bans on masks for ICE in the county, for example. Is it safe to say that this is kind of just like another frontier in the South Bay’s pushback against the trump administration’s policies on immigration?\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, one thing I’m thinking about is I feel like we’ve really seen the South Bay, Santa Clara County, really coming out against the Trump administration and ICE since the start of Trump’s second administration. I mean things like bans on masks for ICE in the county, for example. Is it safe to say that this is kind of just like another frontier in the South Bay’s pushback against the trump administration’s policies on immigration?\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>I think you hit the nail on the head. Santa Clara County, cities like San Jose and others here that represent a lot of people have, yes, taken steps to signal where their values are, to say that we’re in new territory here. We haven’t dealt with a federal administration like this that has gone after our people so aggressively and in ways that we believe violate myriad laws. So what we’re going to do is set up as many laws, protections, funding apparatus as possible. Within reason to make sure that our community members know that they are supported locally. That this immigrant rich community, city and county are not alone in this fight.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>I think you hit the nail on the head. Santa Clara County, cities like San Jose and others here that represent a lot of people have, yes, taken steps to signal where their values are, to say that we’re in new territory here. We haven’t dealt with a federal administration like this that has gone after our people so aggressively and in ways that we believe violate myriad laws. So what we’re going to do is set up as many laws, protections, funding apparatus as possible. Within reason to make sure that our community members know that they are supported locally. That this immigrant rich community, city and county are not alone in this fight.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well Joseph, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well Joseph, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Ericka. It’s always great talking to you.\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>I think that sometimes people get used to bad news, you know, they become calloused. But I think in order to make this system work, everybody has to participate. In that same spirit, we can and should protest, object and resist today’s brutal, unlawful ICE, policies. Moi chiro. Let’s do it again.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>I think that sometimes people get used to bad news, you know, they become calloused. But I think in order to make this system work, everybody has to participate. In that same spirit, we can and should protest, object and resist today’s brutal, unlawful ICE, policies. Moi chiro. Let’s do it again.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Joseph Geha who covers the South Bay for KQED. This episode was cut down and edited by Kyana Moghadam and me. Gabriela Glueck is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape. She also conducted the interview that you heard with Rebeca Armendariz. Music courtesy of APM and Audio Network. If you ever want to get in touch with us here at the Bay. You could send us an email at thebay.kqed.org. The Bay is a production of listener-supported KQED public media. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. 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. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Joseph Geha who covers the South Bay for KQED. This episode was cut down and edited by Kyana Moghadam and me. Gabriela Glueck is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape. She also conducted the interview that you heard with Rebeca Armendariz. Music courtesy of APM and Audio Network. If you ever want to get in touch with us here at the Bay. You could send us an email at thebay.kqed.org. The Bay is a production of listener-supported KQED public media. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. 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. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State and local leaders are suing the federal government after alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement quietly broke ground on a proposal to build an ICE facility in Gilroy. Santa Clara County leaders and a number of other Bay Area cities, counties and community groups, have banded together to put a stop to the plan. At a recent press conference, members of San Jose’s Japanese American community also spoke out, drawing parallels to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-megaphone wp-block-embed-megaphone\">\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC1862873733\n\u003c/div>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>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/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Episode transcript\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This transcript is computer-generated. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. Back in April, Rebeca Armendariz got a message from someone in her community of Gilroy. Rumors were spreading of an immigration and customs enforcement facility coming to the city, where about 60% of the population identify as Hispanic or Latino, many of whom are also immigrants.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We have lots of farm workers. We have farm workers that come documented, and we have farm work that migrate from Yuma and Texas and other parts of the Southwest.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Now it’s in this community where immigration and customs enforcement plans to build a 4,000 square foot facility that state and county leaders say will be an ICE detention center. And advocates warn that it could be used to hold immigrants not just from Gilroy, but from across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>This is an issue that is impacting all of us, and that’s why all of us have to come together and fight against this deportation machine.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The state, along with dozens of cities, counties, and multi-ethnic community groups are now fighting to stop the ICE facility from being built. And long-time Gilroy residents like Armendariz say they’re ready for this fight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>We’ve been organizing for decades, for generations, in my community, like my parents before me and others before them. I feel like we are in a place that we’re not fighting this alone, where I have, you know, dozens and dozens of other activists and community members who will also put themselves on the line and to fight back with all we have, right, with all we’ve got.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, the Bay Area’s fight against an ICE facility in Gilroy. So, Joseph, just to start, what do we know so far and at this point about the federal government’s plans for a potential detention center in the city of Gilroy?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Most of what we know is from documents that are filed as part of a lawsuit against ICE and against the federal government. That’s been brought by Santa Clara County and the state attorney general’s office.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Joseph Geha covers the South Bay for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>And basically what the, what the lawsuit shows is that the federal government, ICE essentially wants to redevelop this 25 acre property on Holsclaw road. It’s a essentially a piece of farmland to, you know, make it an office for ICE operations and it would include concrete reinforced holding rooms for detainees. Santa Clara County and the state are basically alleging that this office would hold about 60 employees and possibly up to 150 detainees.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That’s interesting. So it sounds like the details that we know so far are not necessarily coming from the federal government or the Trump administration itself, but from this lawsuit from Santa Clara County and the state attorney general, essentially suing ICE and the federal government to try and stop this detention center from being built, right?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s correct. The county and the state say they had county investigators kind of taking a look at the property and watching it closely. And it was in late April that they started seeing fences go up. There was demolition taking place. So like, they’re very clear in their lawsuit that the government has started to develop this and started to do work on the site and then, you know, done a lease there and everything all in secret. At a high level, Santa Clara County and the state are arguing that, first of all, this property used to be used recently as an agricultural research facility where pesticides were often being tested. So there’s a lot of hazardous materials at the site and they are worried that that also makes it an inappropriate place for this facility. They’re also saying that the government is violating intergovernmental cooperation laws, essentially saying that federal government started developing this in secret and really told the county and the state nothing about this and that goes against laws where they are you know required to solicit the input of the communities that they’re intending to build or develop in and that this site is inappropriate and not allowed essentially to become a non-agricultural use without you know explicit permission from the county.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Or not an appropriate place to house more than 100 potential people for long periods of time.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That too, yeah. It’s been reported widely in media and other lawsuits that the Trump administration’s facilities for ICE and detention centers and temporary holding centers and offices have all kind of violated rights of people in their own right. That they’re not providing proper, you know, hygiene facilities, water, food, bathrooms, you know, sleeping sites. So that people are actually being held in very subpar, you cruel conditions. I think the concern from the county and the state is that it would indeed kind of bring that cruelty to their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And there’s some precedent for that concern, right? Because we have sort of seen the Trump administration in the last two years really beefing up detention centers across not just California, but the country, right.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>That’s right. I mean, the government is and has kind of publicized the fact that it is rapidly expanding its deportation program. And as a part of that is purchasing all kinds of facilities. ICE as an agency has kind of touted from the top down that they are getting more funding and that this should not be a surprise that they’re going to continue to push these operations forward.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Do we know why they’re looking at building this facility in Gilroy specifically?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>ICE itself and the federal government have not said very much about this site until recently. They told the Sacramento Bee in late July that this site is not for a detention center. A spokesperson for ICE said the South Bay facility would be for an ICE office that will support local operations and the enforcement of federal immigration laws. So even when they’re offering a statement, ICE has been pretty vague. But, if you listen to the concern from advocates, you know, they are saying that this is essentially a part of the Bay Area. It’s close to the central coast. It’s in South Santa Clara County, Gilroy within the county. These places are heavily immigrant rich communities, and this is something that has really concerned folks up and down the Bay Area here.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Our local coalition has pulled together folks from Soledad to Stockton, Morgan Hill to Monterey because we know that if they build this gallery processing center and they open the Dublin Detention Center, they will fill it with our people from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>But one of the most outspoken folks against this facility and a person who has really stood up for social justice issues in the South Bay is Rebeca Armendariz. She’s a former Gilroy council member and she currently is associated with Working Partnerships USA, which is a nonprofit in the south Bay.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rebeca Armendariz: \u003c/strong>Leaders from Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and even Marin County have joined a dozen cities and others to sign on to an amicus brief in support of our lawsuit. They know that ICE will raid workplaces, schools, malls, neighborhoods, hospitals, and even places of worship. We see that our community will suffer together as they always have, but that’s why together we will gather, we will strategize, we’ll organize, and continue to fight together so that we will win back our country.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up how the rest of the Bay Area is responding to the ICE facility in Gilroy. By the way, if you appreciate the local deep dives that we bring you here on The Bay, consider becoming a sustaining KQED member. KQED members are the backbone of our journalism here. Join the thousands of people who make it all happen. Just go to donate.kqed.org slash podcasts. We’ll be right back. You have specifically been reporting on the reaction from surrounding communities near and around Gilroy and their response to this potential detention center there. And it seems like the concern has really stretched beyond Gilroy itself.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>The reaction was very strong. I mean, community members from Gilroy, uh, of course, but as well as San Jose and other Santa Clara County residents were coming together to call attention to this, I think a list of something like 25 or more cities and counties have signed onto this lawsuit to say that they, uh also oppose this and we’re talking about, yes, like the entire, you know, Monterey County board of supervisors, along with like small places like the city of Alameda in the Bay. Agricultural cities like Watsonville, but also Sunnyvale where Google and other major companies are based. Also yes, individually in local communities we’re seeing pockets of resistance. One community in particular that I think has really expressed a deep concern and connection to this issue is the Japanese American community in San Jose. So recently I went to a press conference and a rally in Japantown.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Press Conference: \u003c/strong>We will never be defeated!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What was the idea behind this press conference? Why were folks there to speak out?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was like a whole coalition, like basically several different groups of people, but it was led by local Japanese American groups. One of them is called the San Jose Nikkei Resisters and the Neighbors Not Enemy Coalition of San Jose. And they’re drawing connections from the Japanese American community to the past, to the pretty recent past of, you know, the incarceration of Japanese Americans at concentration camps during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>You know, when we see people dragged away, we think of our grandparents and we think of our parents. We feel it deeply.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>One of the main organizers of the San Jose Nikkei Resisters, the co-founder, is this person named Susan Hayase. And Susan is a person who’s been in the fight, I would say, for a long time. Decades ago, she helped participate in the effort to get reparations for Japanese Americans, the Japanese American redress effort, and an apology from the U.S., both in words, but in the form of these reparations for the incarceration of people during World War II.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We’ve had to stand up for ourselves and stand together with other communities in struggles for justice and equality. And so facing the demands of today with our neighbors being attacked by ICE, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re doing it again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>She told me, you know, this is this is very close to her because we’re talking about not some far away distant past We’re talking, about her parents generation.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase: \u003c/strong>We hoped that by illuminating our history, we could inspire people to make sure that it never happened again. But today, unfortunately, it’s too late to just say never again. The thing we feared is happening again now. In World War II, there were 75 confinement sites. Today, there are over 200, and there are reports of horrifying subhuman conditions. In World war II, over 125,000 were detained. Today, almost 400,000 have been arrested by ICE. Over 51 have died in ICE custody, and the number of those being shot in the street is growing.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>It was not just Japanese Americans at this press conference. Certainly that was, I think, the focus of the day. But the point drawn by several speakers there is that this coalition, these various groups of people from around the community, were multiethnic, right? Different generations, different ages, different cultural backgrounds, different religions. And they’re all here to kind of say that this is not the right direction for this community.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What is the status of things now?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>With the lawsuit, things right now are kind of in a holding pattern. So part of the ask of the lawsuit the big driving force of the lawsuits to stop this, right? But in the meantime, the county and the state have also filed a request with the courts for a preliminary injunction. Essentially meaning, can we put a court order to hold on everything until this litigation is done? And as part of kind of like a scheduling compromise with the federal government, they have agreed. To halt all operations there, like construction and demolition, until at least September 9th. And that right around then is going to be a court hearing on this request for preliminary injunction. So we may know more by early September about whether or not a court is going to have a favorable view of the lawsuit brought by Santa Clara County and the state.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, one thing I’m thinking about is I feel like we’ve really seen the South Bay, Santa Clara County, really coming out against the Trump administration and ICE since the start of Trump’s second administration. I mean things like bans on masks for ICE in the county, for example. Is it safe to say that this is kind of just like another frontier in the South Bay’s pushback against the trump administration’s policies on immigration?\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>I think you hit the nail on the head. Santa Clara County, cities like San Jose and others here that represent a lot of people have, yes, taken steps to signal where their values are, to say that we’re in new territory here. We haven’t dealt with a federal administration like this that has gone after our people so aggressively and in ways that we believe violate myriad laws. So what we’re going to do is set up as many laws, protections, funding apparatus as possible. Within reason to make sure that our community members know that they are supported locally. That this immigrant rich community, city and county are not alone in this fight.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well Joseph, thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Joseph Geha: \u003c/strong>Thank you, Ericka. It’s always great talking to you.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Susan Hayase \u003c/strong>I think that sometimes people get used to bad news, you know, they become calloused. But I think in order to make this system work, everybody has to participate. In that same spirit, we can and should protest, object and resist today’s brutal, unlawful ICE, policies. Moi chiro. Let’s do it again.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Crowd: \u003c/strong>Woo!\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Joseph Geha who covers the South Bay for KQED. This episode was cut down and edited by Kyana Moghadam and me. Gabriela Glueck is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape. She also conducted the interview that you heard with Rebeca Armendariz. Music courtesy of APM and Audio Network. If you ever want to get in touch with us here at the Bay. You could send us an email at thebay.kqed.org. The Bay is a production of listener-supported KQED public media. Support for The Bay is provided in part by the Osher Production Fund. 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. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"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 />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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