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"content": "\u003cp>Caltrans is now several months into a study of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032217/caltrans-launches-long-awaited-study-on-i-580-truck-ban-and-pollution-impact\">impact of allowing large trucks along Interstate 580\u003c/a>. Agency representatives shared initial slides outlining the scope of the research at a Bay Area Air District meeting this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study will analyze how allowing trucks on the highway would affect safety, traffic, and public health equity for people who live along both I-580 and I-880, and “find consensus for the ban’s potential repeal,” according to Caltrans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 70 years, trucks weighing more than 9,000 pounds, with the exception of passenger buses and paratransit vehicles, have not been permitted on a section of I-580 that runs along the base of the East Bay Hills in Oakland and San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, large trucks nearly exclusively drive through — and pollute — neighborhoods along I-880, a parallel highway running through Oakland and San Leandro’s flatlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Xu, office chief of multimodal system planning at Caltrans, presented the \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/2025/pgtc_presentations_101525_op-pdf.pdf?rev=0892632ed31b4330aacea6ff698217da&sc_lang=en\">study updates\u003c/a> on Wednesday to members of the Air District’s Policy Grants and Technology Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the research will “analyze the likely impacts of removing the truck ban from various vantage points,” and reevaluate the purpose of the ban, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998851\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998851\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1272\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aerial view of the MacArthur Maze freeway interchange during the evening commute. The interchange handles 250,000 vehicles a day on Interstates 80, 580 and 880. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of \u003ca href=\"https://flic.kr/p/23ZHjxs\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Layefsky via Flickr\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The work is expected to last roughly two years, having begun in March of this year and concluding at the end of 2026. Caltrans is in the process of analyzing current traffic, air quality and noise conditions along both highways and will move on to assessing racial equity along the routes early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans will ultimately recommend strategies to address existing issues with truck flows and “alleviate the disproportionate health impact of truck traffic on vulnerable communities,” according to the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results from the study cannot remove the ban: it was signed into state law in 2000, and therefore would require legislative action to reverse it.[aside postID=science_1998733 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/241101-CalTrain-01-BL_qed.jpg']Patrick Messac, a former Oakland public school teacher, and his class of sixth-grade students, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879641/trucks-are-banned-on-oaklands-i-580-these-sixth-graders-wondered-why\">helped reignite the debate over the ban \u003c/a>in 2021. The class studied the ban and its health impacts, and reached out to KQED’s Bay Curious podcast and their elected representatives to elevate the issue. Many of Messac’s students lived near I-880, and some had respiratory problems they believed were linked to air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Messac expressed frustration at the Air District meeting with how long the process has taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By the time this study is complete, my students will be in college,” Messac said. “This is a textbook example of structural racism: A decision that on its face may seem to be race neutral, not motivated by any sort of racial animosity, but downstream has profound racial impacts and effects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Messac asked that the study not just be an exercise, but lead to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others said people living along I-580 do not yet know the study is happening. Terry Galvin Lee lives about three blocks from the highway and is a member of the Lakeshore Homes Association in Oakland. She said that while she signed up to receive information about the study, Caltrans has not sent anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past meetings, proponents of keeping the truck ban point to the many more people, schools and other community sites along I-580 and argue the restriction should remain in place. Removing it, they said, will simply spread more pollution throughout the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several trucks drive through an industrial area with cranes in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trucks leave the Port of Oakland on Sept. 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the ban overburdens lower-income communities of color that live along I-880. These residents, especially in East Oakland, experience some of the highest \u003ca href=\"https://acphd-web-media.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/data-reports/city-county-regional/docs/maps2016.pdf\">rates (PDF)\u003c/a> of asthma hospitalizations in Alameda County, according to the county’s public health department. In addition to the diesel exhaust, the communities are also near several stationary sources of pollution, such as the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans told KQED there is no structural safety reason preventing trucks from using I-580 and that “the freeway was designed to be safe for all vehicular traffic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There will be three rounds of public engagement, Xu said, that will include community workshops, surveys and informational presentations. Members of the public who want to stay informed can visit the study’s \u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/d4-580-truck-access-study\">website\u003c/a> or sign up for updates \u003ca href=\"https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/oX4UN69\">online\u003c/a>. The first meeting will be on Nov. 12, and people can participate in a public Zoom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans will also hold several meetings with stakeholders, including cities and counties that are affected, industry groups like the California Trucking Association, and community-based organizations like the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Caltrans is now several months into a study of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032217/caltrans-launches-long-awaited-study-on-i-580-truck-ban-and-pollution-impact\">impact of allowing large trucks along Interstate 580\u003c/a>. Agency representatives shared initial slides outlining the scope of the research at a Bay Area Air District meeting this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study will analyze how allowing trucks on the highway would affect safety, traffic, and public health equity for people who live along both I-580 and I-880, and “find consensus for the ban’s potential repeal,” according to Caltrans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more than 70 years, trucks weighing more than 9,000 pounds, with the exception of passenger buses and paratransit vehicles, have not been permitted on a section of I-580 that runs along the base of the East Bay Hills in Oakland and San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, large trucks nearly exclusively drive through — and pollute — neighborhoods along I-880, a parallel highway running through Oakland and San Leandro’s flatlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Xu, office chief of multimodal system planning at Caltrans, presented the \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/2025/pgtc_presentations_101525_op-pdf.pdf?rev=0892632ed31b4330aacea6ff698217da&sc_lang=en\">study updates\u003c/a> on Wednesday to members of the Air District’s Policy Grants and Technology Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the research will “analyze the likely impacts of removing the truck ban from various vantage points,” and reevaluate the purpose of the ban, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998851\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998851\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1272\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/MacArthur-Maze-1536x1018.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aerial view of the MacArthur Maze freeway interchange during the evening commute. The interchange handles 250,000 vehicles a day on Interstates 80, 580 and 880. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of \u003ca href=\"https://flic.kr/p/23ZHjxs\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Layefsky via Flickr\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The work is expected to last roughly two years, having begun in March of this year and concluding at the end of 2026. Caltrans is in the process of analyzing current traffic, air quality and noise conditions along both highways and will move on to assessing racial equity along the routes early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans will ultimately recommend strategies to address existing issues with truck flows and “alleviate the disproportionate health impact of truck traffic on vulnerable communities,” according to the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results from the study cannot remove the ban: it was signed into state law in 2000, and therefore would require legislative action to reverse it.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Patrick Messac, a former Oakland public school teacher, and his class of sixth-grade students, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11879641/trucks-are-banned-on-oaklands-i-580-these-sixth-graders-wondered-why\">helped reignite the debate over the ban \u003c/a>in 2021. The class studied the ban and its health impacts, and reached out to KQED’s Bay Curious podcast and their elected representatives to elevate the issue. Many of Messac’s students lived near I-880, and some had respiratory problems they believed were linked to air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Messac expressed frustration at the Air District meeting with how long the process has taken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By the time this study is complete, my students will be in college,” Messac said. “This is a textbook example of structural racism: A decision that on its face may seem to be race neutral, not motivated by any sort of racial animosity, but downstream has profound racial impacts and effects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Messac asked that the study not just be an exercise, but lead to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others said people living along I-580 do not yet know the study is happening. Terry Galvin Lee lives about three blocks from the highway and is a member of the Lakeshore Homes Association in Oakland. She said that while she signed up to receive information about the study, Caltrans has not sent anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past meetings, proponents of keeping the truck ban point to the many more people, schools and other community sites along I-580 and argue the restriction should remain in place. Removing it, they said, will simply spread more pollution throughout the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1984452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Several trucks drive through an industrial area with cranes in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/09/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trucks leave the Port of Oakland on Sept. 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Opponents argue the ban overburdens lower-income communities of color that live along I-880. These residents, especially in East Oakland, experience some of the highest \u003ca href=\"https://acphd-web-media.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/data-reports/city-county-regional/docs/maps2016.pdf\">rates (PDF)\u003c/a> of asthma hospitalizations in Alameda County, according to the county’s public health department. In addition to the diesel exhaust, the communities are also near several stationary sources of pollution, such as the Port of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans told KQED there is no structural safety reason preventing trucks from using I-580 and that “the freeway was designed to be safe for all vehicular traffic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There will be three rounds of public engagement, Xu said, that will include community workshops, surveys and informational presentations. Members of the public who want to stay informed can visit the study’s \u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/d4-580-truck-access-study\">website\u003c/a> or sign up for updates \u003ca href=\"https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/oX4UN69\">online\u003c/a>. The first meeting will be on Nov. 12, and people can participate in a public Zoom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans will also hold several meetings with stakeholders, including cities and counties that are affected, industry groups like the California Trucking Association, and community-based organizations like the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Gena Bentall paddled her kayak deep into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/elkhorn-slough\">Elkhorn Slough\u003c/a> on the lookout for the flip of a tail or the bob of a head. About a mile in, sea \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052889/healthy-otters-lead-to-a-happy-ecosystem-in-monterey-countys-elkhorn-slough\">otters\u003c/a> bobbed in the water everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some dove under the water while munching on crab parts. Others floated on their backs, pups sprawled on their bellies. At 2 miles in, she spotted a raft of about 15 sea otters clustered together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time I watch a mom with a pup, my heart flutters a little bit,” said Bentall, director and senior scientist with the nonprofit Sea Otter Savvy. “They are so devoted and so caring with their pups that it gets me in the feels every single time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around a hundred southern sea otters make their home in Elkhorn Slough, a 7-mile-long tidal marsh and estuary on Monterey Bay, which is also home to a diverse array of birds, plants, fish, and other marine mammals. Some call it one of the state’s last great coastal wetlands, which conservationists have fought to preserve for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen ecosystems restored as they recovered,” Bentall said. “They’re bringing with them a wave of biodiversity, recovery, resilience and restoration that goes way beyond just the restoration of their numbers. It’s all linked together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bentall and other wildlife enthusiasts are concerned that those preservation efforts could be threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998531\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gena Bentall, a sea otter biologist with more than two decades of field experience from Russia’s Commander Islands to California’s coast, surveys the water from her kayak in the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Moss Landing, California, on Sept. 16, 2025. Bentall is the founder of Sea Otter Savvy, an organization that educates the public on reducing human disturbance in otter habitats. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, the Trump administration proposed limiting the \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act\">Endangered Species Act’s power\u003c/a> to preserve habitats. Ecologists argue that the move could have severe consequences for a wide range of ecosystems and species, including the southern sea otter, which is listed as \u003ca href=\"https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/8560\">threatened under federal law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed altering the text of the Endangered Species Act to redefine the word “harm” as it pertains to endangered species, a term that has been interpreted to include ecosystem protections. The law would likely still forbid any action that hurts or kills an endangered animal, but could no longer extend protections to the habitats where they live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the change claim environmentalists have abused the law to limit real estate development, farming, logging and other business activities.[aside postID=news_12059734 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/MontereyBayAquariumOttersGetty.jpg']What this would mean for Elkhorn Slough, the only estuary along the West Coast where sea otters have significantly colonized, won’t be known until after the final rule is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, wildlife advocates and scientists argue that protecting species and their environments go hand in hand. While the sea otters have helped stabilize marshland and promote eelgrass growth, ultimately mitigating some of the worst effects of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, April Ridlon, director of science for the U.S. Ocean Conservation Program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said otters rely on the living ecosystem for their survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they don’t have anything to eat, we can pick up, feed and nurture otters, and release them as much as we want, but if the ecosystems they’re going back to are degraded they’re not going to fare well,” Ridlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal wildlife officials published a proposal in the Federal Register that said they are “undertaking this change to adhere to the single, best meaning” of the Endangered Species Act. A federal spokesperson told KQED they would not “speculate” on how sea otters would be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hundreds of thousands of comments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over 350,000 responses flooded in during the public comment period that ended in May. Of the thousands of comments from Californians, the majority opposed the rule change. Some groups labeled it an act of “insanity,” while others argued that maintaining the current definition is “vital protection for endangered species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a dozen museums, aquariums and wildlife groups sent a joint letter to the federal government strongly \u003ca href=\"https://www.aquariumconservation.org/protectimls\">urging the withdrawal\u003c/a> of the proposed rule. They note that “habitat destruction is the greatest driver of species extinction” and removing harm from the definition “runs contrary to the intent of the” act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998532\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998532\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayakers paddle through Elkhorn Slough as a sea otter floats nearby. Conservationists warn that proposed rollbacks to Endangered Species Act protections could threaten the species’ recovery. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Comments from supporters argued, on the other hand, that scaling back enforcement would address a “longstanding obstacle that has blocked countless necessary projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least 40 supporters — including major farm organizations and water agencies — wrote a letter\u003ca href=\"https://www.familyfarmalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FINAL-Coalition-Comment-Letter-ESA-Harm-Rule-051925.pdf\"> arguing regulators’ interpretation of the act is too broad\u003c/a> and has resulted in the slowing, halting, or blocking of “activities that are critical to sustain the economic livelihoods of private landowners, farmers, ranchers, water users,” and rural communities. They wrote that projects are often tied up in expensive lawsuits, excessive permitting, even in areas where endangered species may no longer live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ian Lyle, director of federal relations for the Association of California Water Agencies, argues the change would pave the way for developing water infrastructure — everything from desalination to new storage to water recycling — in a way that “balances the needs of species with the needs of California and communities in the face of climate resilience needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kari Fisher, senior director and counsel of the California Farm Bureau Federation, which represents hundreds of farmers, told KQED that farmers care about wildlife, and if there’s a concern about a species, that would still be addressed. But said the change could pave the way for growers and species to coexist, “as well as economic prosperity for farmers and ranchers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The poster child for top predators’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fur traders hunted sea otters almost to extinction during the 18th and 19th centuries, and in California, their numbers dwindled to around 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, there are more than 3,000 sea otters in California, and they’re “all descendants of those incredible tough survivors that managed to evade the fur trade,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998529 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two sea otters swim in the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Moss Landing, California, as an electric-powered catamaran wildlife tour passes in the background on Sept. 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The resurgence of the furry animals is a testament to the restoration efforts of wildlife officials, environmental protections, and organizations like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which rehabilitate sea otters and release them into Elkhorn Slough and other conservation areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sea otters still face risks, such as white sharks that bite and kill them, mistaking them for seals. Bentall said the prevalence of sharks along the California coast is one reason the species has had trouble extending its home range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other issue is the \u003ca href=\"http://nsf.gov/news/collapse-northern-california-kelp-forests-will-be\">loss of around 95%\u003c/a> of Northern California’s kelp forests, where sea otters historically found refuge and foraged for crabs, abalone, snails and other food. Human-caused climate change, warming the Pacific Ocean, has led to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp\">urchin outbreaks\u003c/a> and declining sea star populations.[aside postID=news_12058007 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/Hope-and-Bounce2.jpg']Kelp along the Central Coast has fared better. A 2021 study by researchers from UC Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2012493118\">the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay\u003c/a> slowed the decline of kelp, resulting in areas of lush kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Elkhorn Slough, with the highest concentration of sea otters in the state, has proven a haven for otters. \u003ca href=\"https://biology.sonoma.edu/faculty-staff/brent-b-hughes\">Brent Hughes\u003c/a>, a biologist at Sonoma State University, who studies sea otter habitats, found that the furry creatures are restabilizing marshlands by consuming an overabundance of crabs that have eaten away at their banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re kind of like the poster child for top predators and conservation,” Hughes said. “There are now generations of sea otters at Elkhorn Slough that have never even seen a kelp forest. All they know are these salt marshes and seagrass beds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By removing swarms of crabs, both native and invasive, sea otters opened the door for eelgrass to flourish, creating a lush bed that can better sequester carbon in its root systems and soil — much like the trees of a redwood forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just the sea otter numbers coming back, it’s whole ecosystems,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s mind-boggling’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even if the federal government decides to more narrowly interpret its conservation law, other protections remain in place for species like sea otters. The Marine Mammal Protection Act — also, \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/republicans-weaken-50-year-law-protecting-whales-seals-126425918\">under threat by Republican lawmakers\u003c/a> — protects not only sea otters but also all marine mammals from harassment. Meanwhile, Elkhorn Slough is part of the NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the National Estuarine Research Reserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ridlon, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said it won’t just be sea otters and their habitat at risk. There are \u003ca href=\"https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/reports/ad-hoc-species-report?kingdom=V&kingdom=I&status=E&status=T&status=EmE&status=EmT&status=EXPE&status=EXPN&status=SAE&status=SAT&mapstatus=3&fcrithab=on&fstatus=on&fspecrule=on&finvpop=on&fgroup=on&header=Listed+Animals\">more than 1,500 threatened and endangered species \u003c/a>on the federal Endangered Species List.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sea otters swim in Elkhorn Slough as an electric-powered catamaran wildlife tour passes in the background on Sept. 16, 2025. The estuary is one of California’s largest tidal waterways and a refuge for the threatened species. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s mind-boggling when you think about how many species and the recovery of how many populations could actually be affected by a change like this,” Ridlon said. “It’s huge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For sea otters, whose populations are rebounding, Ridlon said scaling back regulations “feels like pulling the rug out from under one of the essential protections that has allowed us to make that progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Bentall’s way back to the docks, two sea otters popped up a few feet from her kayak, fighting over a shellfish. Bentall said they’re oblivious to the federal tug-of-war over protections that just might have the power to alter their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Elkhorn Slough’s capacity to hold sea otters is nearly full, Bentall said she would like to see the otter population spread along the entire California coastline to recover its historical range. She dreams of seeing sea otters where she grew up in Laguna Beach, in Orange County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d love to see sea otters back in my hometown down in Southern California someday and sit on the beach and look out and watch a raft of sea otters,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Advocates say Southern sea otters are thriving in California’s Elkhorn Slough, but could face new risks if a proposed law change weakens the Endangered Species Act.",
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"title": "California Sea Otters Could Face New Threats if Trump Weakens Law for Endangered Animals | KQED",
"description": "Advocates say Southern sea otters are thriving in California’s Elkhorn Slough, but could face new risks if a proposed law change weakens the Endangered Species Act.",
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"headline": "California Sea Otters Could Face New Threats if Trump Weakens Law for Endangered Animals",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gena Bentall paddled her kayak deep into \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/elkhorn-slough\">Elkhorn Slough\u003c/a> on the lookout for the flip of a tail or the bob of a head. About a mile in, sea \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052889/healthy-otters-lead-to-a-happy-ecosystem-in-monterey-countys-elkhorn-slough\">otters\u003c/a> bobbed in the water everywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some dove under the water while munching on crab parts. Others floated on their backs, pups sprawled on their bellies. At 2 miles in, she spotted a raft of about 15 sea otters clustered together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time I watch a mom with a pup, my heart flutters a little bit,” said Bentall, director and senior scientist with the nonprofit Sea Otter Savvy. “They are so devoted and so caring with their pups that it gets me in the feels every single time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around a hundred southern sea otters make their home in Elkhorn Slough, a 7-mile-long tidal marsh and estuary on Monterey Bay, which is also home to a diverse array of birds, plants, fish, and other marine mammals. Some call it one of the state’s last great coastal wetlands, which conservationists have fought to preserve for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen ecosystems restored as they recovered,” Bentall said. “They’re bringing with them a wave of biodiversity, recovery, resilience and restoration that goes way beyond just the restoration of their numbers. It’s all linked together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bentall and other wildlife enthusiasts are concerned that those preservation efforts could be threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998531\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998531\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gena Bentall, a sea otter biologist with more than two decades of field experience from Russia’s Commander Islands to California’s coast, surveys the water from her kayak in the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Moss Landing, California, on Sept. 16, 2025. Bentall is the founder of Sea Otter Savvy, an organization that educates the public on reducing human disturbance in otter habitats. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In April, the Trump administration proposed limiting the \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act\">Endangered Species Act’s power\u003c/a> to preserve habitats. Ecologists argue that the move could have severe consequences for a wide range of ecosystems and species, including the southern sea otter, which is listed as \u003ca href=\"https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/8560\">threatened under federal law\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed altering the text of the Endangered Species Act to redefine the word “harm” as it pertains to endangered species, a term that has been interpreted to include ecosystem protections. The law would likely still forbid any action that hurts or kills an endangered animal, but could no longer extend protections to the habitats where they live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of the change claim environmentalists have abused the law to limit real estate development, farming, logging and other business activities.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>What this would mean for Elkhorn Slough, the only estuary along the West Coast where sea otters have significantly colonized, won’t be known until after the final rule is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, wildlife advocates and scientists argue that protecting species and their environments go hand in hand. While the sea otters have helped stabilize marshland and promote eelgrass growth, ultimately mitigating some of the worst effects of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, April Ridlon, director of science for the U.S. Ocean Conservation Program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said otters rely on the living ecosystem for their survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they don’t have anything to eat, we can pick up, feed and nurture otters, and release them as much as we want, but if the ecosystems they’re going back to are degraded they’re not going to fare well,” Ridlon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal wildlife officials published a proposal in the Federal Register that said they are “undertaking this change to adhere to the single, best meaning” of the Endangered Species Act. A federal spokesperson told KQED they would not “speculate” on how sea otters would be affected.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hundreds of thousands of comments\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over 350,000 responses flooded in during the public comment period that ended in May. Of the thousands of comments from Californians, the majority opposed the rule change. Some groups labeled it an act of “insanity,” while others argued that maintaining the current definition is “vital protection for endangered species.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a dozen museums, aquariums and wildlife groups sent a joint letter to the federal government strongly \u003ca href=\"https://www.aquariumconservation.org/protectimls\">urging the withdrawal\u003c/a> of the proposed rule. They note that “habitat destruction is the greatest driver of species extinction” and removing harm from the definition “runs contrary to the intent of the” act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998532\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998532\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-9-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayakers paddle through Elkhorn Slough as a sea otter floats nearby. Conservationists warn that proposed rollbacks to Endangered Species Act protections could threaten the species’ recovery. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Comments from supporters argued, on the other hand, that scaling back enforcement would address a “longstanding obstacle that has blocked countless necessary projects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least 40 supporters — including major farm organizations and water agencies — wrote a letter\u003ca href=\"https://www.familyfarmalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FINAL-Coalition-Comment-Letter-ESA-Harm-Rule-051925.pdf\"> arguing regulators’ interpretation of the act is too broad\u003c/a> and has resulted in the slowing, halting, or blocking of “activities that are critical to sustain the economic livelihoods of private landowners, farmers, ranchers, water users,” and rural communities. They wrote that projects are often tied up in expensive lawsuits, excessive permitting, even in areas where endangered species may no longer live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ian Lyle, director of federal relations for the Association of California Water Agencies, argues the change would pave the way for developing water infrastructure — everything from desalination to new storage to water recycling — in a way that “balances the needs of species with the needs of California and communities in the face of climate resilience needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kari Fisher, senior director and counsel of the California Farm Bureau Federation, which represents hundreds of farmers, told KQED that farmers care about wildlife, and if there’s a concern about a species, that would still be addressed. But said the change could pave the way for growers and species to coexist, “as well as economic prosperity for farmers and ranchers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘The poster child for top predators’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Fur traders hunted sea otters almost to extinction during the 18th and 19th centuries, and in California, their numbers dwindled to around 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, there are more than 3,000 sea otters in California, and they’re “all descendants of those incredible tough survivors that managed to evade the fur trade,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998529\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998529 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two sea otters swim in the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve near Moss Landing, California, as an electric-powered catamaran wildlife tour passes in the background on Sept. 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The resurgence of the furry animals is a testament to the restoration efforts of wildlife officials, environmental protections, and organizations like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which rehabilitate sea otters and release them into Elkhorn Slough and other conservation areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sea otters still face risks, such as white sharks that bite and kill them, mistaking them for seals. Bentall said the prevalence of sharks along the California coast is one reason the species has had trouble extending its home range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other issue is the \u003ca href=\"http://nsf.gov/news/collapse-northern-california-kelp-forests-will-be\">loss of around 95%\u003c/a> of Northern California’s kelp forests, where sea otters historically found refuge and foraged for crabs, abalone, snails and other food. Human-caused climate change, warming the Pacific Ocean, has led to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp\">urchin outbreaks\u003c/a> and declining sea star populations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kelp along the Central Coast has fared better. A 2021 study by researchers from UC Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2012493118\">the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay\u003c/a> slowed the decline of kelp, resulting in areas of lush kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Elkhorn Slough, with the highest concentration of sea otters in the state, has proven a haven for otters. \u003ca href=\"https://biology.sonoma.edu/faculty-staff/brent-b-hughes\">Brent Hughes\u003c/a>, a biologist at Sonoma State University, who studies sea otter habitats, found that the furry creatures are restabilizing marshlands by consuming an overabundance of crabs that have eaten away at their banks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re kind of like the poster child for top predators and conservation,” Hughes said. “There are now generations of sea otters at Elkhorn Slough that have never even seen a kelp forest. All they know are these salt marshes and seagrass beds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By removing swarms of crabs, both native and invasive, sea otters opened the door for eelgrass to flourish, creating a lush bed that can better sequester carbon in its root systems and soil — much like the trees of a redwood forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just the sea otter numbers coming back, it’s whole ecosystems,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s mind-boggling’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even if the federal government decides to more narrowly interpret its conservation law, other protections remain in place for species like sea otters. The Marine Mammal Protection Act — also, \u003ca href=\"https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/republicans-weaken-50-year-law-protecting-whales-seals-126425918\">under threat by Republican lawmakers\u003c/a> — protects not only sea otters but also all marine mammals from harassment. Meanwhile, Elkhorn Slough is part of the NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the National Estuarine Research Reserve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Ridlon, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said it won’t just be sea otters and their habitat at risk. There are \u003ca href=\"https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/reports/ad-hoc-species-report?kingdom=V&kingdom=I&status=E&status=T&status=EmE&status=EmT&status=EXPE&status=EXPN&status=SAE&status=SAT&mapstatus=3&fcrithab=on&fstatus=on&fspecrule=on&finvpop=on&fgroup=on&header=Listed+Animals\">more than 1,500 threatened and endangered species \u003c/a>on the federal Endangered Species List.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250916_SEAOTTERS_GH-28-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sea otters swim in Elkhorn Slough as an electric-powered catamaran wildlife tour passes in the background on Sept. 16, 2025. The estuary is one of California’s largest tidal waterways and a refuge for the threatened species. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s mind-boggling when you think about how many species and the recovery of how many populations could actually be affected by a change like this,” Ridlon said. “It’s huge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For sea otters, whose populations are rebounding, Ridlon said scaling back regulations “feels like pulling the rug out from under one of the essential protections that has allowed us to make that progress.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Bentall’s way back to the docks, two sea otters popped up a few feet from her kayak, fighting over a shellfish. Bentall said they’re oblivious to the federal tug-of-war over protections that just might have the power to alter their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Elkhorn Slough’s capacity to hold sea otters is nearly full, Bentall said she would like to see the otter population spread along the entire California coastline to recover its historical range. She dreams of seeing sea otters where she grew up in Laguna Beach, in Orange County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d love to see sea otters back in my hometown down in Southern California someday and sit on the beach and look out and watch a raft of sea otters,” Bentall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>While fire safety advocates want California to take a new approach to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a>, with more emphasis on anticipating and preventing the worst damage, legislation to do just that has failed to win over Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said it would have cost too much unbudgeted money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year was the third in a row that state lawmakers tried to mandate broadscale strategic planning for avoiding catastrophic fires, and the first such a measure made it to the governor’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, SB 326, on Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sponsoring lawmaker, Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), hasn’t committed to bringing it forward again in the next legislative session. In the meantime, the ideas it contained will be pursued in a patchwork way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326 would have accelerated the timelines for implementing Zone 0 mandates, which require clearing landscaping within five feet of homes in fire-prone areas. On Wednesday, state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara sent a \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/DhWqCzpn0ysnrGKKSKsAu9yD9N?domain=ooagbytab.cc.rs6.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter\u003c/a> (PDF) to the state’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, urging a speedy finalization of those regulations anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a related bill also sponsored by Becker, SB 254, will have the state’s wildfire fund administrator model utility risk and make suggestions about how to prevent fires and manage utility costs after Newsom signed it last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998790\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998790\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of St. Mark’s Church and the school’s playground in\u003cbr>Altadena, California, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s budget has doubled to around $4 billion in recent years, but the agency is not required to do strategic planning for how to best prepare for and avoid the worst wildfires. SB 326 would have called on Cal Fire to model fire risks and estimate how they change as safety projects like defensible space or fire breaks are completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other states do long-term strategic planning for hazards such as hurricanes, California does not for wildfires. Fire experts and policy advocates have pushed for this sort of planning for years, as some have criticized California’s current fire prevention efforts as looking like “random acts of conservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was disappointed,” Becker said of Newsom’s veto. “I did notice, however, that the governor didn’t criticize the content of the bill at all in his vetoed message. He said that it was vetoed solely on the basis of cost.”[aside postID=science_1998746 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/240109-CAWindStorm-076_qed.jpg']In a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326\">letter\u003c/a> from the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cal Fire estimated it would cost more than $100 million a year to build its own model to assess and forecast risk. SB 326 would have allowed the agency to use an off-the-shelf model for around $20 million a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estimates of what it would take to accomplish strategic planning, meanwhile, have varied significantly. In the 2024 version of the bill, Cal Fire estimated the cost around $12 million. But in the version proposed just a year earlier, which would have tasked the Office of Emergency Services with forecasting and planning, OES estimated the cost of complying to be under \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB436\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$3 million per year\u003c/a> (PDF). The 2023 bill died in committee and faced opposition from the Cal Fire employees union, which objected to fire-related jobs being given to a different department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think [SB 326] would have saved money, not cost money for the state of California,” said Michael Wara, climate and energy expert at Stanford and an advocate for the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 2017 North Bay fires, he said, utility companies have made a lot of progress on safety, and after the 2018 Camp Fire, they were required to create comprehensive mitigation plans. But without the need to holistically look at risk and plan for safety in fire-prone neighborhoods, Wara said, California has made comparatively little progress on making communities more resilient to wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is just as important as the utility safety side,” he said. “Where we are is not OK. It should not be acceptable to any Californian. And we need to make progress — measurable progress — at a much faster rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326, which passed through committees and both houses without a single no vote, was supported by the insurance industry and insurance regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Becker has not committed to reintroducing a new version next year, he acknowledges the issue is only growing more urgent — especially as the costs of wildfires become stratospheric. Damage from this year’s Los Angeles fires, for example, is estimated to be over $100 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>While fire safety advocates want California to take a new approach to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfires\u003c/a>, with more emphasis on anticipating and preventing the worst damage, legislation to do just that has failed to win over Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said it would have cost too much unbudgeted money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year was the third in a row that state lawmakers tried to mandate broadscale strategic planning for avoiding catastrophic fires, and the first such a measure made it to the governor’s desk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, SB 326, on Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sponsoring lawmaker, Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), hasn’t committed to bringing it forward again in the next legislative session. In the meantime, the ideas it contained will be pursued in a patchwork way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326 would have accelerated the timelines for implementing Zone 0 mandates, which require clearing landscaping within five feet of homes in fire-prone areas. On Wednesday, state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara sent a \u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/DhWqCzpn0ysnrGKKSKsAu9yD9N?domain=ooagbytab.cc.rs6.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter\u003c/a> (PDF) to the state’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, urging a speedy finalization of those regulations anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a related bill also sponsored by Becker, SB 254, will have the state’s wildfire fund administrator model utility risk and make suggestions about how to prevent fires and manage utility costs after Newsom signed it last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998790\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998790\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/mette.lampcov.church.bell-30_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The burnt remains of St. Mark’s Church and the school’s playground in\u003cbr>Altadena, California, on April 20, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire’s budget has doubled to around $4 billion in recent years, but the agency is not required to do strategic planning for how to best prepare for and avoid the worst wildfires. SB 326 would have called on Cal Fire to model fire risks and estimate how they change as safety projects like defensible space or fire breaks are completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While other states do long-term strategic planning for hazards such as hurricanes, California does not for wildfires. Fire experts and policy advocates have pushed for this sort of planning for years, as some have criticized California’s current fire prevention efforts as looking like “random acts of conservation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was disappointed,” Becker said of Newsom’s veto. “I did notice, however, that the governor didn’t criticize the content of the bill at all in his vetoed message. He said that it was vetoed solely on the basis of cost.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326\">letter\u003c/a> from the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cal Fire estimated it would cost more than $100 million a year to build its own model to assess and forecast risk. SB 326 would have allowed the agency to use an off-the-shelf model for around $20 million a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Estimates of what it would take to accomplish strategic planning, meanwhile, have varied significantly. In the 2024 version of the bill, Cal Fire estimated the cost around $12 million. But in the version proposed just a year earlier, which would have tasked the Office of Emergency Services with forecasting and planning, OES estimated the cost of complying to be under \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB436\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$3 million per year\u003c/a> (PDF). The 2023 bill died in committee and faced opposition from the Cal Fire employees union, which objected to fire-related jobs being given to a different department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think [SB 326] would have saved money, not cost money for the state of California,” said Michael Wara, climate and energy expert at Stanford and an advocate for the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the 2017 North Bay fires, he said, utility companies have made a lot of progress on safety, and after the 2018 Camp Fire, they were required to create comprehensive mitigation plans. But without the need to holistically look at risk and plan for safety in fire-prone neighborhoods, Wara said, California has made comparatively little progress on making communities more resilient to wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is just as important as the utility safety side,” he said. “Where we are is not OK. It should not be acceptable to any Californian. And we need to make progress — measurable progress — at a much faster rate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326, which passed through committees and both houses without a single no vote, was supported by the insurance industry and insurance regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Becker has not committed to reintroducing a new version next year, he acknowledges the issue is only growing more urgent — especially as the costs of wildfires become stratospheric. Damage from this year’s Los Angeles fires, for example, is estimated to be over $100 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "facing-terminal-childhood-cancer-these-mothers-made-an-impossible-choice",
"title": "Facing Terminal Childhood Cancer, These Mothers Made an Impossible Choice",
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"content": "\u003cp>In the fall of 2021, Kate Hallward noticed her 11-year-old son Sam squinting. His right eyelid sagged, just a little — the kind of thing most parents would chalk up to fatigue. But when it lingered, she called the pediatrician. A neurological exam ended with an unsettling suggestion: schedule an MRI, just to be safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month dragged by before they finally landed an appointment. By the time results came back, Christmas lights twinkled in their Berkeley neighborhood. Inside the hospital, Hallward and her husband learned about a mass on their son’s brain stem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doctors diagnosed Sam with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. Surgery was not an option. Radiation might buy him a few months, but the average survival rate is less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was totally stunning,” Hallward said. “I yelled at the doctor. I almost needed to be physically restrained.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news left Hallward and her husband with an impossible choice, one that thousands of parents of children with brain tumors face each year. Should they gamble on experimental trials that would tether Sam to a hospital bed, or go home and make memories?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998690\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate Hallward lights a candle for the altar of her deceased son, Samuel Lepie Hallward, at her home in Berkeley on Sept. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Survival rates for DIPG have not budged in decades. The tumor hides in the brainstem, beyond the reach of surgery; and with only a few hundred cases each year, drug companies have little financial incentive to invest in treatments. Recent federal funding cuts have only widened the void. Mothers and fathers are left to decide how best to love a child unlikely to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaken, the family flew to the East Coast to celebrate that Christmas with relatives, determined to pack the holiday with joy. Dog sledding. A magician who made Sam the star assistant. “You put on this smiley face when you’re basically crushed beyond crushed,” Hallward said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Praying for a miracle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When they returned, some doctors told the family not to “chase rainbows.” Clinical trials, they said, were arduous for kids. Better to cherish the days they had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For children with the deadliest cancer diagnoses, experimental trials are often the only possibility left — but the odds are slim. \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7288652/?\">Fewer than 12%\u003c/a> see any response at all, and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6409418/?\">less than 5% of drugs tested\u003c/a> gain approval. By contrast, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678?\">palliative care\u003c/a> often helps children feel better day to day and spares them many of the grueling interventions that can dominate the final months. Yet, without families enrolling in trials, new cures will never be discovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998691\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate Hallward flips through a photo album of her late son, Samuel Lepie Hallward, at her home in Berkeley on Sept. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the 1960s, essentially a pediatric cancer diagnosis was almost universally fatal,” said William Temple, UCSF pediatric hematologist-oncologist. “Nowadays, approximately 70% of those kids are now cured. That improvement is because of clinical trials in pediatric cancer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Hallward was reluctant to enroll Sam in a trial, fearing hospitals would swallow their remaining days. Then she learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/439584/new-gene-therapy-gives-teen-a-second-chance-after-cancer\">CAR-T cell therapy\u003c/a>, which reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early results were promising: in one \u003ca href=\"https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2024/11/car-t-brain-cancer.html#:~:text=CAR%2DT%20cells%2C%20or%20chimeric,see%20clear%20evidence%20of%20reversibility.%22\">trial\u003c/a> of eleven DIPG patients, several saw their tumors shrink, and one boy’s tumor vanished entirely. Nearly five years later, that child is still alive.[aside postID=science_1998573 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01313_TV-KQED.jpg']“Within hours of reading about the trial, I got him on the waitlist for the next arm of the study,” Hallward said. “I hoped against hope that there would be a breakthrough, just like every family does.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was Sam’s turn to receive the treatment at Stanford, Hallward recalled that more than a dozen doctors and nurses crowded into his hospital room, eager to witness the infusion. Sam, ever the showman, seized the moment. From under his blanket, he pulled out a deck of cards and performed a magic trick, fooling even the lead researcher. The room erupted in laughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But within hours, the side effects hit hard. Sam suffered a severe negative reaction. He vomited and his fever spiked. By dawn, he was unresponsive. His brain swelled so severely that surgeons rushed him to the ICU, drilling into his skull to relieve the pressure. He spent 19 days there, hooked to monitors while his parents slept in chairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slowly, Sam recovered from the treatment. For a few months, there were glimmers of normal life: a group of his middle school friends, nicknamed the “blubber seals,” stopped by. Card tricks. Family dinners. But the disease resumed its course. His legs grew unsteady. Forks slipped through his hands. His words began to slur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He lost his ability to talk from one hour to the next,” Kate said. “It literally just faded, and he couldn’t speak anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam died in Kate’s arms on Dec. 2, 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chasing joy instead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nine years earlier in Charleston, South Carolina, Erin Benson faced the same devastating diagnosis but chose the opposite path. She was nine months pregnant with twins when she noticed her two-year-old son — also named Sam — start laughing strangely, and then one of his eyes stopped tracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The precocious redhead already carried a rare skeletal disorder that left him limping and scarred from surgeries. When an oncologist told her he had brain cancer, something inside Benson surrendered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998686 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erin Benson in her backyard in James Island, SC. Benson is holding a photograph of her husband Mike, her son Sam (4), and herself in 2015. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Almost like a gut-level knowing that he wasn’t going to live a long life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her husband was ready to try anything. But Benson insisted their mission was to make Sam happy. With his medical history, she couldn’t bear to put him through more suffering. “For what, like a one percent chance?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friends and strangers chipped in more than $100,000 on a crowdfunding site, enough to bankroll a year of wish-list experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family crammed into a minivan and drove to New York City, landing in Bryant Park during Fashion Week — strollers and diaper bags colliding with runway shows. At Disney World, they splurged on a special pass to skip every line. In Puerto Rico, Sam bobbed in the pool at the Ritz-Carlton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998688\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph on the wall in Erin Benson’s home of her children Sam (4), Ada (2) and Ma (2) in the bath tub together in 2015. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We were showmen, performing our greatest and most important act: the act of having fun while losing it all,” Benson wrote in a book about her son’s death. She confessed to her therapist that the charade was exhausting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the money ran out, they sought normalcy. The family moved into Benson’s aunt and uncle’s basement in Minnesota, grateful for the extra hands to care for three small kids. Sundays became family dinners. Sam raced his four-wheeler alongside neighborhood kids on bikes. One afternoon, his cousin taught him to pee standing up — and overnight, he was potty trained. Those were the tiny triumphs Benson treasures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam lived two and a half years, far longer than expected. On his final night, Benson knelt beside his bed, squeezing his hand three times — their family’s code for “ love you.” She begged him: “What can I do to make you happy right now?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam looked at her, almost bemused. “I am happy, Mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Starved system shrinks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both mothers carry the weight of their decisions. Hallward wondered if the medical odyssey was worth it. “There’s no good path,” she said. “All terrible options. It felt impossible not to try.” Benson wished she had poured her energy into ordinary milestones from the start, instead of globetrotting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the options for families facing pediatric cancer have shrunk further. In August, the federal government cut off funding for a network of 15 hospitals that for more than two decades had coordinated research and trials for children with brain cancer, what’s called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbtc.org/\">Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium\u003c/a>, or PBTC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998685\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998685\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memory box that Erin Benson keeps in her home in James Island, SC, full of her son Sam’s things. She keeps shoes, because walking was always challenging, underwear, because of a favorite memory of potty training, the shirt he died in, a lock of hair and his dinosaur toys. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The group was created in 1999 because, while survival rates for many childhood cancers had improved, outcomes for brain tumors had not. The consortium was meant to close that gap. But this summer, the National Cancer Institute told its leaders they could not apply for another round of funding. Enrollment in active studies was suspended. Families who had waited months for a spot in those trials were told to go home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes you want to throw up,” Hallward said. “Every day matters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Cancer Institute said resources would instead be folded into a pediatric cancer network with a wider research scope, known as \u003ca href=\"https://dctd.cancer.gov/research/networks/pediatric\">PEP-CTN\u003c/a>. But researchers warn that this may dilute attention and progress on brain tumors. “It’s certainly possible they won’t be able to dedicate as much of their efforts to brain tumors as PBTC has and that there will be fewer pediatric brain chemo clinical trials than there otherwise would have been,” said Ira Dunkel, chair of PBTC. “Currently, there are no options for new patients.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite being the leading disease-related killer of children in the U.S., pediatric cancers receive less than 8% of the federal cancer research budget. Each cancer type is rare, patient pools are tiny, and enrolling enough children requires dozens of hospitals working in coordination. At the same time, the Trump administration has moved to cut billions from the National Institutes of Health, canceling grants and capping support for universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Funding is hard to come up with, so you’re left with a rag-tag group of parents running nonprofits to keep things going,” said Benson, who founded one herself after Sam died. “But parents burn out. We don’t have the power to fix a broken system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hallward has tried to channel her grief the same way. She supported a \u003ca href=\"https://chadtough.org/\">parent-led foundation\u003c/a> that has funneled over $40 million into research. “That is the result of family after family doing bake sales and charity runs and tournaments, for years after losing their children,” she said. “This is not the model we should have. The government should be investing in the public good. And we all should be supporting a government that invests in the public good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the fall of 2021, Kate Hallward noticed her 11-year-old son Sam squinting. His right eyelid sagged, just a little — the kind of thing most parents would chalk up to fatigue. But when it lingered, she called the pediatrician. A neurological exam ended with an unsettling suggestion: schedule an MRI, just to be safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month dragged by before they finally landed an appointment. By the time results came back, Christmas lights twinkled in their Berkeley neighborhood. Inside the hospital, Hallward and her husband learned about a mass on their son’s brain stem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doctors diagnosed Sam with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. Surgery was not an option. Radiation might buy him a few months, but the average survival rate is less than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was totally stunning,” Hallward said. “I yelled at the doctor. I almost needed to be physically restrained.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The news left Hallward and her husband with an impossible choice, one that thousands of parents of children with brain tumors face each year. Should they gamble on experimental trials that would tether Sam to a hospital bed, or go home and make memories?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998690\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998690\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00281_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate Hallward lights a candle for the altar of her deceased son, Samuel Lepie Hallward, at her home in Berkeley on Sept. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Survival rates for DIPG have not budged in decades. The tumor hides in the brainstem, beyond the reach of surgery; and with only a few hundred cases each year, drug companies have little financial incentive to invest in treatments. Recent federal funding cuts have only widened the void. Mothers and fathers are left to decide how best to love a child unlikely to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shaken, the family flew to the East Coast to celebrate that Christmas with relatives, determined to pack the holiday with joy. Dog sledding. A magician who made Sam the star assistant. “You put on this smiley face when you’re basically crushed beyond crushed,” Hallward said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Praying for a miracle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When they returned, some doctors told the family not to “chase rainbows.” Clinical trials, they said, were arduous for kids. Better to cherish the days they had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For children with the deadliest cancer diagnoses, experimental trials are often the only possibility left — but the odds are slim. \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7288652/?\">Fewer than 12%\u003c/a> see any response at all, and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6409418/?\">less than 5% of drugs tested\u003c/a> gain approval. By contrast, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1000678?\">palliative care\u003c/a> often helps children feel better day to day and spares them many of the grueling interventions that can dominate the final months. Yet, without families enrolling in trials, new cures will never be discovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998691\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250924-CANCERMOMS00392_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kate Hallward flips through a photo album of her late son, Samuel Lepie Hallward, at her home in Berkeley on Sept. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the 1960s, essentially a pediatric cancer diagnosis was almost universally fatal,” said William Temple, UCSF pediatric hematologist-oncologist. “Nowadays, approximately 70% of those kids are now cured. That improvement is because of clinical trials in pediatric cancer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, Hallward was reluctant to enroll Sam in a trial, fearing hospitals would swallow their remaining days. Then she learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/439584/new-gene-therapy-gives-teen-a-second-chance-after-cancer\">CAR-T cell therapy\u003c/a>, which reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early results were promising: in one \u003ca href=\"https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2024/11/car-t-brain-cancer.html#:~:text=CAR%2DT%20cells%2C%20or%20chimeric,see%20clear%20evidence%20of%20reversibility.%22\">trial\u003c/a> of eleven DIPG patients, several saw their tumors shrink, and one boy’s tumor vanished entirely. Nearly five years later, that child is still alive.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Within hours of reading about the trial, I got him on the waitlist for the next arm of the study,” Hallward said. “I hoped against hope that there would be a breakthrough, just like every family does.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it was Sam’s turn to receive the treatment at Stanford, Hallward recalled that more than a dozen doctors and nurses crowded into his hospital room, eager to witness the infusion. Sam, ever the showman, seized the moment. From under his blanket, he pulled out a deck of cards and performed a magic trick, fooling even the lead researcher. The room erupted in laughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But within hours, the side effects hit hard. Sam suffered a severe negative reaction. He vomited and his fever spiked. By dawn, he was unresponsive. His brain swelled so severely that surgeons rushed him to the ICU, drilling into his skull to relieve the pressure. He spent 19 days there, hooked to monitors while his parents slept in chairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Slowly, Sam recovered from the treatment. For a few months, there were glimmers of normal life: a group of his middle school friends, nicknamed the “blubber seals,” stopped by. Card tricks. Family dinners. But the disease resumed its course. His legs grew unsteady. Forks slipped through his hands. His words began to slur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He lost his ability to talk from one hour to the next,” Kate said. “It literally just faded, and he couldn’t speak anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam died in Kate’s arms on Dec. 2, 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chasing joy instead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nine years earlier in Charleston, South Carolina, Erin Benson faced the same devastating diagnosis but chose the opposite path. She was nine months pregnant with twins when she noticed her two-year-old son — also named Sam — start laughing strangely, and then one of his eyes stopped tracking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The precocious redhead already carried a rare skeletal disorder that left him limping and scarred from surgeries. When an oncologist told her he had brain cancer, something inside Benson surrendered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998686 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0005-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Erin Benson in her backyard in James Island, SC. Benson is holding a photograph of her husband Mike, her son Sam (4), and herself in 2015. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Almost like a gut-level knowing that he wasn’t going to live a long life,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her husband was ready to try anything. But Benson insisted their mission was to make Sam happy. With his medical history, she couldn’t bear to put him through more suffering. “For what, like a one percent chance?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friends and strangers chipped in more than $100,000 on a crowdfunding site, enough to bankroll a year of wish-list experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The family crammed into a minivan and drove to New York City, landing in Bryant Park during Fashion Week — strollers and diaper bags colliding with runway shows. At Disney World, they splurged on a special pass to skip every line. In Puerto Rico, Sam bobbed in the pool at the Ritz-Carlton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998688\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0014-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photograph on the wall in Erin Benson’s home of her children Sam (4), Ada (2) and Ma (2) in the bath tub together in 2015. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We were showmen, performing our greatest and most important act: the act of having fun while losing it all,” Benson wrote in a book about her son’s death. She confessed to her therapist that the charade was exhausting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the money ran out, they sought normalcy. The family moved into Benson’s aunt and uncle’s basement in Minnesota, grateful for the extra hands to care for three small kids. Sundays became family dinners. Sam raced his four-wheeler alongside neighborhood kids on bikes. One afternoon, his cousin taught him to pee standing up — and overnight, he was potty trained. Those were the tiny triumphs Benson treasures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam lived two and a half years, far longer than expected. On his final night, Benson knelt beside his bed, squeezing his hand three times — their family’s code for “ love you.” She begged him: “What can I do to make you happy right now?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam looked at her, almost bemused. “I am happy, Mom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Starved system shrinks\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both mothers carry the weight of their decisions. Hallward wondered if the medical odyssey was worth it. “There’s no good path,” she said. “All terrible options. It felt impossible not to try.” Benson wished she had poured her energy into ordinary milestones from the start, instead of globetrotting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the options for families facing pediatric cancer have shrunk further. In August, the federal government cut off funding for a network of 15 hospitals that for more than two decades had coordinated research and trials for children with brain cancer, what’s called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbtc.org/\">Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium\u003c/a>, or PBTC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998685\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998685\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/09.25.25_ERINBENSON_CANCERMOMS_0002-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A memory box that Erin Benson keeps in her home in James Island, SC, full of her son Sam’s things. She keeps shoes, because walking was always challenging, underwear, because of a favorite memory of potty training, the shirt he died in, a lock of hair and his dinosaur toys. \u003ccite>(Hunter McRae for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The group was created in 1999 because, while survival rates for many childhood cancers had improved, outcomes for brain tumors had not. The consortium was meant to close that gap. But this summer, the National Cancer Institute told its leaders they could not apply for another round of funding. Enrollment in active studies was suspended. Families who had waited months for a spot in those trials were told to go home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes you want to throw up,” Hallward said. “Every day matters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Cancer Institute said resources would instead be folded into a pediatric cancer network with a wider research scope, known as \u003ca href=\"https://dctd.cancer.gov/research/networks/pediatric\">PEP-CTN\u003c/a>. But researchers warn that this may dilute attention and progress on brain tumors. “It’s certainly possible they won’t be able to dedicate as much of their efforts to brain tumors as PBTC has and that there will be fewer pediatric brain chemo clinical trials than there otherwise would have been,” said Ira Dunkel, chair of PBTC. “Currently, there are no options for new patients.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite being the leading disease-related killer of children in the U.S., pediatric cancers receive less than 8% of the federal cancer research budget. Each cancer type is rare, patient pools are tiny, and enrolling enough children requires dozens of hospitals working in coordination. At the same time, the Trump administration has moved to cut billions from the National Institutes of Health, canceling grants and capping support for universities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Funding is hard to come up with, so you’re left with a rag-tag group of parents running nonprofits to keep things going,” said Benson, who founded one herself after Sam died. “But parents burn out. We don’t have the power to fix a broken system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hallward has tried to channel her grief the same way. She supported a \u003ca href=\"https://chadtough.org/\">parent-led foundation\u003c/a> that has funneled over $40 million into research. “That is the result of family after family doing bake sales and charity runs and tournaments, for years after losing their children,” she said. “This is not the model we should have. The government should be investing in the public good. And we all should be supporting a government that invests in the public good.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Lightning. Erratic Winds. Hail. Waterspouts. Flooding. Forecasters suggest these environmental conditions are all possible through Tuesday in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area-weather\">Bay Area\u003c/a>, and the Sierra Nevada will likely get its first significant snow of the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A low-pressure system \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059267/storm-forecasted-to-hit-the-bay-area-early-next-week-as-typhoon-halong-hits-japan\">moving into the region\u003c/a> from Oregon and Washington “will quickly dive down the West Coast today,” first hitting the North Bay with rain midmorning Monday, according to the National Weather Service daily forecast discussion. But as the day lingers, the storm will move south, bringing potentially wet conditions across the region before likely dousing the Central Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pretty much everywhere is going to be impacted,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “It’s an early storm system, but there’s no atmospheric river-type scenario associated with the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gass said the storm could bring a suite of environmental issues with it, including lightning, offshore water spouts and small hail. But he said the “biggest threat will be nuisance flooding,” where areas that typically pool water could flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for rainfall totals, he said the larger amounts of rain will be on the Central Coast, with up to 2 inches of rain at the highest elevations. Meteorologists expect an inch of rain or less for the rest of the Bay Area.[aside postID=science_1998746 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/240109-CAWindStorm-076_qed.jpg']“Don’t drive through flooded roadways,” Gass said. “The most deaths [in storms] are due to people driving through flooded roadways. And then for thunderstorms, if thunder roars, go indoors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther inland, forecasters said the storm could drop up to 3 feet of snow on the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, especially in the area south of Highway 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our first time issuing winter products for the season and the first measurable snowfall event we’ve had in our area,” said Dakari Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anderson said travelers on mountain passes should expect chain controls, slippery conditions and inclement weather. The office has issued a winter storm warning through Wednesday at 5 a.m. for the Sierra Nevada and the Lassen National Park area above 6,500 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect the heaviest snow totals on Monday afternoon and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Make sure you’re checking the forecast before heading out for the day,” Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Lightning. Erratic Winds. Hail. Waterspouts. Flooding. Forecasters suggest these environmental conditions are all possible through Tuesday in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area-weather\">Bay Area\u003c/a>, and the Sierra Nevada will likely get its first significant snow of the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A low-pressure system \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12059267/storm-forecasted-to-hit-the-bay-area-early-next-week-as-typhoon-halong-hits-japan\">moving into the region\u003c/a> from Oregon and Washington “will quickly dive down the West Coast today,” first hitting the North Bay with rain midmorning Monday, according to the National Weather Service daily forecast discussion. But as the day lingers, the storm will move south, bringing potentially wet conditions across the region before likely dousing the Central Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pretty much everywhere is going to be impacted,” said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “It’s an early storm system, but there’s no atmospheric river-type scenario associated with the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gass said the storm could bring a suite of environmental issues with it, including lightning, offshore water spouts and small hail. But he said the “biggest threat will be nuisance flooding,” where areas that typically pool water could flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for rainfall totals, he said the larger amounts of rain will be on the Central Coast, with up to 2 inches of rain at the highest elevations. Meteorologists expect an inch of rain or less for the rest of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Don’t drive through flooded roadways,” Gass said. “The most deaths [in storms] are due to people driving through flooded roadways. And then for thunderstorms, if thunder roars, go indoors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther inland, forecasters said the storm could drop up to 3 feet of snow on the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, especially in the area south of Highway 50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is our first time issuing winter products for the season and the first measurable snowfall event we’ve had in our area,” said Dakari Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anderson said travelers on mountain passes should expect chain controls, slippery conditions and inclement weather. The office has issued a winter storm warning through Wednesday at 5 a.m. for the Sierra Nevada and the Lassen National Park area above 6,500 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters expect the heaviest snow totals on Monday afternoon and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Make sure you’re checking the forecast before heading out for the day,” Anderson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "will-newsom-sign-californias-biggest-step-toward-saving-fire-prone-neighborhoods",
"title": "Will Newsom Sign California’s ‘Biggest Step’ Toward Saving Fire-Prone Neighborhoods?",
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"headTitle": "Will Newsom Sign California’s ‘Biggest Step’ Toward Saving Fire-Prone Neighborhoods? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a year marked by the costliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> fires on record, state lawmakers sent a large package of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> bills to the governor’s desk. One measure in particular promises outsized impacts for protecting neighborhoods — and it’s largely flown under the radar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326&cversion=20250SB32698AMD\">Senate Bill 326\u003c/a>, sponsored by State Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), would accelerate fire mitigation efforts, particularly in these older, at-risk neighborhoods, by mandating the removal of flammable trees and bushes for certain homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing more extreme weather conditions and we’re seeing wildfires spread at a speed that we’ve never seen before,” Becker said. “That’s why we need this bill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While “not a panacea,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, “it’s the biggest step we can take this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thorniest problem in the state’s effort to guard against wildfire devastation is how to protect the millions of homes that already exist in fire-prone areas, Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996121\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996121\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo.jpg\" alt=\"A before and after picture of a small, one-story, nicely kept home, and the remains of it after it was burned down.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-800x396.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1020x505.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-768x380.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1536x760.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1920x950.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family home in Altadena, California, before and after the Eaton Fire ravaged the community in January. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Moreno family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What we need to do is change how flammable people’s gardens are in places where there’s high risk,” he said. “That’s important if we want to have affordable insurance, affordable electricity. It’s important if we don’t want to lose communities like we did in Altadena.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While newer homes are built to relatively high fire safety standards, the vast \u003ca href=\"https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/california/housing-statistics\">majority\u003c/a> of California’s housing stock — built before the 1990s — was not designed with fire resilience in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new regulations mandate a Zone 0 space, or an ember-resistant zone extending five feet around a house, where there is non-burnable material like river rocks instead of plants or mulch. It’s controversial, in part because it would dramatically alter the appearance of many neighborhoods. Homeowners are understandably reluctant to tear out beloved, beautiful plants.[aside postID=news_12059123 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/GettyImages-2194137909-1020x696.jpg']However, fire prevention advocates see this as the simplest, most affordable way to quickly improve fire resilience in vulnerable neighborhoods. Tearing out a bush, for instance, costs far less — and is much quicker — than retrofits like replacing a roof. And the \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/bof-website/projects-and-programs/defensible-space-zones-0-1-2/previous-public-workshops-and-materials/2025/sept-22/august-zone-0-rule-plead.pdf?rev=86f548de3486423c995bb2394aaaa4c1&hash=F8723E42A201545B808CBC0B68FF937B\">current draft regulations\u003c/a> do not call for removing permanent features like a wooden deck or fence within 5 feet of the home. Supporters argue that the absence of coordinated fire-resilience planning wastes state resources. While California develops long-term plans for resources like water, it lacks a comparable approach for wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill moves up the timeline for Zone 0 requirements in high-risk areas, implementing some of the requirements as early as Jan. 1, 2026. If enacted, the legislation would also require Cal Fire to create a strategic, regularly updated plan for better assessing fire danger in the state and planning how to prevent destruction before a disaster hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If vetoed, Zone 0 requirements — the details of which are still being \u003ca href=\"https://bof.fire.ca.gov/projects-and-programs/defensible-space-zones-0-1-and-2\">hammered out\u003c/a> by the state Board of Forestry — would apply to new construction after Jan.1. Three years from now, at the end of 2028, it would apply to all homes in high-risk zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If SB 326 is signed, it would also apply to rental properties and houses for sale as of Jan.1. Wara said the rationale is to take a measured approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home destroyed by the Boyles Fire in Clearlake on Sept. 9, 2024, after the wildfire swept through the area on Sept. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t say everybody has to do this right away, because that would be too much,” Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the bill authors believe, people who have rentals and are making money from their house in a high-risk area should contribute to reducing risk in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Also, if you’re selling your house, you’ve got to do this,” Wara said, “because it’s a time when there’s cash available and where you might be more open to making changes in your backyard that will create safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has 1.3 million homes in high or very high severity areas, and retrofitting those homes would cost tens of billions of dollars, said Matt Weiner, CEO of Megafire Action, a nonprofit advancing policy to avoid catastrophic wildfire.[aside postID=news_12056655 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/Middlebrook-2-1020x765.jpg']For right now, Zone 0 is “the most important tool that we can move quickly on to guard against ember-driven fires like we saw in Palisades and Altadena,” Weiner said. The bill also provides funding to counties working to implement Zone 0.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up to 90% of homes destroyed in a wildfire burn down from embers finding their way inside the structure and burning it down from the inside. Relatively few homes burn down from coming into contact with a flaming front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/28/california-communities-can-reduce-wildfire-damage-by-half-heres-how/\">Researchers from UC Berkeley estimate\u003c/a> that 50% fewer homes would burn down in the extreme kind of conditions seen in the L.A. fires if neighborhoods hardened homes and had defensible space. Just complying with Zone 0 alone would reduce structure loss by an estimated 17%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With California spending billions on firefighting and homeowners bearing soaring insurance costs, advocates have argued that it’s time to move beyond the traditional “business as usual” approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Frankly, we knew we needed to do this back in 2017 and 2018,” Wara said. Those years saw terrible losses in Wine Country fires and the fire that destroyed the town of Paradise. “There was legislation [passed in 2020] that would have required it; it was supposed to take effect in 2023,” Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1976871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a podium in a cloud of wildfire smoke.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses California’s wildfires, before signing a $15 billion climate package, during a ceremony at Sequoia National Park near Three Rivers, on Sept. 23, 2021. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the state’s Board of Forestry missed the deadline, struggling to balance the concerns of homeowners with the desires of the insurance industry. In February, following the Los Angeles firestorm, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/02/06/governor-newsom-signs-executive-order-to-further-prepare-for-future-urban-firestorms-stepping-up-already-nation-leading-strategies/\">ordered the rules\u003c/a> to be completed by the end of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill will also require Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal to develop and use models to assess where risk is highest and how risk changes as safety projects are completed. The key, Weiner said, is to have cohesion between wildfire prevention work being done on the landscape level, the neighborhood level and the parcel level, by communities, utilities and homeowners. Currently, there is little to no coordination, which advocates have said risks wasting money and effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposals to require comprehensive fire planning have been introduced before, but have never made it to the governor’s desk. The heart- and record-breaking devastation from January’s fires in Los Angeles helped give it added urgency this year, advocates said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You want “somebody looking at the entire picture and helping inform the highest impact work to be done,” Weiner said. The state is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for fires. “You want somebody to assess that holistically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill’s technical nature may have hidden it from public attention — despite its potential to save homes and lives, Weiner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994224\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighter Nolan Graham sprays water around a scorched garage as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake on Sept. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the reasons [this proposal] doesn’t get enough attention is because whenever you start talking ‘tech,’ people think about it as a sideshow, nice to have but not a fundamental need,” Weiner said. “And nobody gets excited about creating the enabling conditions for future work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If signed, the bill would increase the responsibility and work demands placed on Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal. It would also impose some accountability in the form of requiring annual reports that would give a comprehensive overview of how they could strategically lessen wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those reports would aid lawmakers in overseeing their work. When it passed its \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326\">final vote\u003c/a> in September, no representatives voted against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to Cal Fire to discuss SB 326. An agency spokesperson said they do not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics have claimed that the state’s fire agency has been more motivated by responding to and fighting fires than working to prevent them, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">and has fumbled key \u003c/a>responsibilities for management and mitigation, despite a historic budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979588\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue uniform stands at a podium in front of a bulldozer.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler speaks in Santa Rosa for Wildfire Preparedness Week, May 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler has, however, spoken extensively about the need for the agency to be able to both prevent and fight fires, and is making progress in their preparedness goals. Becker aided Cal Fire in getting their budget doubled to 4 billion dollars this year as chair of the state’s budget subcommittee for natural resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need better, more targeted prevention action to reduce the risk of losing entire communities like what happened in January,” the lawmaker said. “This is about getting every dollar we spend on wildfire prevention exactly where it needs to be as fast as possible … and making sure every dollar truly reduces wildfire risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For homeowners, wildfires costs have exploded. Recent analysis by Wara and colleagues indicates that the average state homeowner is paying $266 more per month in insurance and electricity costs than they were in 2020, largely because of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ibhs.org/ibhs-news-releases/ibhs-releases-updated-wildfire-prepared-home-standard/\">insurance industry\u003c/a> has also openly supported the bill. Industry scientists said in a report this summer that Zone 0 was critical in preventing home ignitions. In a September letter to Newsom urging his signature on SB 326, the state’s top insurance regulator, Ricardo Lara, said: “With millions of homes in the Wildland Urban Interface, the early adoption of mitigation is critical to wildfire safety and insurability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a year marked by the costliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> fires on record, state lawmakers sent a large package of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/wildfires\">wildfire\u003c/a> bills to the governor’s desk. One measure in particular promises outsized impacts for protecting neighborhoods — and it’s largely flown under the radar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326&cversion=20250SB32698AMD\">Senate Bill 326\u003c/a>, sponsored by State Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), would accelerate fire mitigation efforts, particularly in these older, at-risk neighborhoods, by mandating the removal of flammable trees and bushes for certain homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing more extreme weather conditions and we’re seeing wildfires spread at a speed that we’ve never seen before,” Becker said. “That’s why we need this bill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While “not a panacea,” said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, “it’s the biggest step we can take this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thorniest problem in the state’s effort to guard against wildfire devastation is how to protect the millions of homes that already exist in fire-prone areas, Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1996121\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1996121\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo.jpg\" alt=\"A before and after picture of a small, one-story, nicely kept home, and the remains of it after it was burned down.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-800x396.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1020x505.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-160x79.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-768x380.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1536x760.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/02/IMG_5331_duo-1920x950.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family home in Altadena, California, before and after the Eaton Fire ravaged the community in January. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Moreno family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What we need to do is change how flammable people’s gardens are in places where there’s high risk,” he said. “That’s important if we want to have affordable insurance, affordable electricity. It’s important if we don’t want to lose communities like we did in Altadena.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While newer homes are built to relatively high fire safety standards, the vast \u003ca href=\"https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/california/housing-statistics\">majority\u003c/a> of California’s housing stock — built before the 1990s — was not designed with fire resilience in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new regulations mandate a Zone 0 space, or an ember-resistant zone extending five feet around a house, where there is non-burnable material like river rocks instead of plants or mulch. It’s controversial, in part because it would dramatically alter the appearance of many neighborhoods. Homeowners are understandably reluctant to tear out beloved, beautiful plants.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>However, fire prevention advocates see this as the simplest, most affordable way to quickly improve fire resilience in vulnerable neighborhoods. Tearing out a bush, for instance, costs far less — and is much quicker — than retrofits like replacing a roof. And the \u003ca href=\"https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/bof-website/projects-and-programs/defensible-space-zones-0-1-2/previous-public-workshops-and-materials/2025/sept-22/august-zone-0-rule-plead.pdf?rev=86f548de3486423c995bb2394aaaa4c1&hash=F8723E42A201545B808CBC0B68FF937B\">current draft regulations\u003c/a> do not call for removing permanent features like a wooden deck or fence within 5 feet of the home. Supporters argue that the absence of coordinated fire-resilience planning wastes state resources. While California develops long-term plans for resources like water, it lacks a comparable approach for wildfire prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill moves up the timeline for Zone 0 requirements in high-risk areas, implementing some of the requirements as early as Jan. 1, 2026. If enacted, the legislation would also require Cal Fire to create a strategic, regularly updated plan for better assessing fire danger in the state and planning how to prevent destruction before a disaster hits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If vetoed, Zone 0 requirements — the details of which are still being \u003ca href=\"https://bof.fire.ca.gov/projects-and-programs/defensible-space-zones-0-1-and-2\">hammered out\u003c/a> by the state Board of Forestry — would apply to new construction after Jan.1. Three years from now, at the end of 2028, it would apply to all homes in high-risk zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If SB 326 is signed, it would also apply to rental properties and houses for sale as of Jan.1. Wara said the rationale is to take a measured approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994257\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994257\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/240909-BOYLESFIRE-22-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home destroyed by the Boyles Fire in Clearlake on Sept. 9, 2024, after the wildfire swept through the area on Sept. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t say everybody has to do this right away, because that would be too much,” Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the bill authors believe, people who have rentals and are making money from their house in a high-risk area should contribute to reducing risk in the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Also, if you’re selling your house, you’ve got to do this,” Wara said, “because it’s a time when there’s cash available and where you might be more open to making changes in your backyard that will create safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has 1.3 million homes in high or very high severity areas, and retrofitting those homes would cost tens of billions of dollars, said Matt Weiner, CEO of Megafire Action, a nonprofit advancing policy to avoid catastrophic wildfire.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For right now, Zone 0 is “the most important tool that we can move quickly on to guard against ember-driven fires like we saw in Palisades and Altadena,” Weiner said. The bill also provides funding to counties working to implement Zone 0.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Up to 90% of homes destroyed in a wildfire burn down from embers finding their way inside the structure and burning it down from the inside. Relatively few homes burn down from coming into contact with a flaming front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/28/california-communities-can-reduce-wildfire-damage-by-half-heres-how/\">Researchers from UC Berkeley estimate\u003c/a> that 50% fewer homes would burn down in the extreme kind of conditions seen in the L.A. fires if neighborhoods hardened homes and had defensible space. Just complying with Zone 0 alone would reduce structure loss by an estimated 17%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With California spending billions on firefighting and homeowners bearing soaring insurance costs, advocates have argued that it’s time to move beyond the traditional “business as usual” approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Frankly, we knew we needed to do this back in 2017 and 2018,” Wara said. Those years saw terrible losses in Wine Country fires and the fire that destroyed the town of Paradise. “There was legislation [passed in 2020] that would have required it; it was supposed to take effect in 2023,” Wara said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976871\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1976871\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a podium in a cloud of wildfire smoke.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/RS51646_GettyImages-1235453439-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses California’s wildfires, before signing a $15 billion climate package, during a ceremony at Sequoia National Park near Three Rivers, on Sept. 23, 2021. \u003ccite>(Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the state’s Board of Forestry missed the deadline, struggling to balance the concerns of homeowners with the desires of the insurance industry. In February, following the Los Angeles firestorm, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/02/06/governor-newsom-signs-executive-order-to-further-prepare-for-future-urban-firestorms-stepping-up-already-nation-leading-strategies/\">ordered the rules\u003c/a> to be completed by the end of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill will also require Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal to develop and use models to assess where risk is highest and how risk changes as safety projects are completed. The key, Weiner said, is to have cohesion between wildfire prevention work being done on the landscape level, the neighborhood level and the parcel level, by communities, utilities and homeowners. Currently, there is little to no coordination, which advocates have said risks wasting money and effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposals to require comprehensive fire planning have been introduced before, but have never made it to the governor’s desk. The heart- and record-breaking devastation from January’s fires in Los Angeles helped give it added urgency this year, advocates said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You want “somebody looking at the entire picture and helping inform the highest impact work to be done,” Weiner said. The state is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare for fires. “You want somebody to assess that holistically.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill’s technical nature may have hidden it from public attention — despite its potential to save homes and lives, Weiner said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994224\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/AP24253126507105-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighter Nolan Graham sprays water around a scorched garage as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake on Sept. 8, 2024. \u003ccite>(Noah Berger/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think one of the reasons [this proposal] doesn’t get enough attention is because whenever you start talking ‘tech,’ people think about it as a sideshow, nice to have but not a fundamental need,” Weiner said. “And nobody gets excited about creating the enabling conditions for future work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If signed, the bill would increase the responsibility and work demands placed on Cal Fire and the State Fire Marshal. It would also impose some accountability in the form of requiring annual reports that would give a comprehensive overview of how they could strategically lessen wildfire risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those reports would aid lawmakers in overseeing their work. When it passed its \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB326\">final vote\u003c/a> in September, no representatives voted against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED reached out to Cal Fire to discuss SB 326. An agency spokesperson said they do not comment on pending legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics have claimed that the state’s fire agency has been more motivated by responding to and fighting fires than working to prevent them, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979560/cal-fire-fumbles-key-responsibilities-to-prevent-catastrophic-wildfires-despite-historic-budget\">and has fumbled key \u003c/a>responsibilities for management and mitigation, despite a historic budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979588\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979588\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue uniform stands at a podium in front of a bulldozer.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS56654_52052067027_34755aed5d_o-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler speaks in Santa Rosa for Wildfire Preparedness Week, May 5, 2022. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler has, however, spoken extensively about the need for the agency to be able to both prevent and fight fires, and is making progress in their preparedness goals. Becker aided Cal Fire in getting their budget doubled to 4 billion dollars this year as chair of the state’s budget subcommittee for natural resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need better, more targeted prevention action to reduce the risk of losing entire communities like what happened in January,” the lawmaker said. “This is about getting every dollar we spend on wildfire prevention exactly where it needs to be as fast as possible … and making sure every dollar truly reduces wildfire risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For homeowners, wildfires costs have exploded. Recent analysis by Wara and colleagues indicates that the average state homeowner is paying $266 more per month in insurance and electricity costs than they were in 2020, largely because of wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ibhs.org/ibhs-news-releases/ibhs-releases-updated-wildfire-prepared-home-standard/\">insurance industry\u003c/a> has also openly supported the bill. Industry scientists said in a report this summer that Zone 0 was critical in preventing home ignitions. In a September letter to Newsom urging his signature on SB 326, the state’s top insurance regulator, Ricardo Lara, said: “With millions of homes in the Wildland Urban Interface, the early adoption of mitigation is critical to wildfire safety and insurability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/caltrain\">Caltrain\u003c/a> rolled out its electrified fleet last year, the new, more eco-friendly trains also came with the ability to recapture energy as they slow down and return it to the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the agency will start to be compensated for that power, following policy changes from local providers Peninsula Clean Energy and San José Clean Energy announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrain’s regenerative braking is performing better than officials originally anticipated, returning 23% of the power used by its new electric trains. As a result, the commuter rail line revised down its estimated annual power cost from $19.5 million to $16.5 million. Caltrain’s service runs on 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no legal requirement for the transit agency to be reimbursed for the energy generated by its trains; until now, Caltrain was providing that power back to the grid free of charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s exciting and will bring down costs for Caltrain, compensate the system for the energy it’s giving back to the grid,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who spoke to KQED after a press conference at the city’s Diridon Station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are considering legislation that would make this a standard model for any public agency, allowing them to be compensated for all the power they return to the grid. AB 1372, a two-year bill by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, would also identify regenerative braking from electric trains as a renewable electrical generation facility.[aside postID=news_12058994 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/NobelPrizePhysicsGetty1.jpg']Papan introduced the bill in February to fill what she called a “gap in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Caltrain was sending clean, renewable energy back to the grid, but it wasn’t getting credit for it,” Papan said. “If this were a rooftop solar situation, we would certainly be getting the credit for what we sent back to grid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill did not pass this legislative session, but it will be considered next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Peninsula Clean Energy and San José Clean Energy voluntarily changed their policies to allow for a net billing tariff to compensate the transit agency for energy returned to the grid. “I’m delighted about it because it really does give Caltrain the credit that it deserves,” Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said that this model points to a more innovative future that extends to people’s homes, “where we have a connected grid with electric vehicles and devices on the grid that can charge two ways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He recently installed two batteries at his house, which are capable of storing power and putting it back on the grid. “But the market and the financing structure still is not mature enough,” he said. “That’s a policy innovation that we need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/caltrain\">Caltrain\u003c/a> rolled out its electrified fleet last year, the new, more eco-friendly trains also came with the ability to recapture energy as they slow down and return it to the grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the agency will start to be compensated for that power, following policy changes from local providers Peninsula Clean Energy and San José Clean Energy announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrain’s regenerative braking is performing better than officials originally anticipated, returning 23% of the power used by its new electric trains. As a result, the commuter rail line revised down its estimated annual power cost from $19.5 million to $16.5 million. Caltrain’s service runs on 100% renewable energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no legal requirement for the transit agency to be reimbursed for the energy generated by its trains; until now, Caltrain was providing that power back to the grid free of charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s exciting and will bring down costs for Caltrain, compensate the system for the energy it’s giving back to the grid,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan, who spoke to KQED after a press conference at the city’s Diridon Station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are considering legislation that would make this a standard model for any public agency, allowing them to be compensated for all the power they return to the grid. AB 1372, a two-year bill by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo, would also identify regenerative braking from electric trains as a renewable electrical generation facility.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Papan introduced the bill in February to fill what she called a “gap in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Caltrain was sending clean, renewable energy back to the grid, but it wasn’t getting credit for it,” Papan said. “If this were a rooftop solar situation, we would certainly be getting the credit for what we sent back to grid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill did not pass this legislative session, but it will be considered next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Peninsula Clean Energy and San José Clean Energy voluntarily changed their policies to allow for a net billing tariff to compensate the transit agency for energy returned to the grid. “I’m delighted about it because it really does give Caltrain the credit that it deserves,” Papan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said that this model points to a more innovative future that extends to people’s homes, “where we have a connected grid with electric vehicles and devices on the grid that can charge two ways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He recently installed two batteries at his house, which are capable of storing power and putting it back on the grid. “But the market and the financing structure still is not mature enough,” he said. “That’s a policy innovation that we need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Glaciers in California’s mountains are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/3284/californias-vanishing-glaciers-a-defining-moment\">disappearing fast and will likely be gone\u003c/a> by the end of the century. Geologists found that these glaciers have been in place since before humans came to the Americas. This means there is no precedent in the last 20,000 years for their disappearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new research challenges a previous assumption that California’s glaciers had waxed and waned into disappearance since the end of the last glacial period, offering a new understanding of their history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glaciers offer a touchstone — something we can literally hike to and touch — providing a link between our past and present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason this work is important is because climate change feels abstract and nebulous,” said Andrew Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lead author on a study\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx9442\"> published Wednesday in \u003cem>Science Advances\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. “You hear about two degrees Celsius of warming. To most people, that’s just an imperceivable difference on their home thermostat. But our findings here are tangible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To accompany the paper, Jones and his co-authors released comparative photographs showing before and after pictures. For instance, in the late 1880s, when John Muir was studying glacial flow with wooden stakes, the East Lyell Glacier in Yosemite covered a broad sweep of the mountainside. Today, it is just a few blobs clinging on in the hollows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998701\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maclure Glacier in Yosemite National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Andrew Jones)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This glacier will be familiar to anyone who has hiked south from Tuolumne Meadows toward Donahue Pass. Backpackers who love the Sierra Nevada may be likewise familiar with other glaciers evaluated by the research team: Maclure, Conness and Palisade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers, however, had to access these glaciers without the benefit of trails. The fieldwork was grueling, Jones admitted with a laugh: “Man, the hiking was really difficult, honestly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research team traversed glacial moraines — large deposits of rock out in front of glaciers — places that had been covered by ice until a few decades ago. From there, they collected samples of bedrock just below glaciers to determine, through isotopes, how long it had been since that rock was last exposed to sunlight. “The [moraines] are very loose, very treacherous. You step on a boulder and it slides,” said Jones. “You’re like, ‘Oh that’s not good.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones also said he had to laugh at the effort he and other members of the research team put into packing ultralight, bare bones gear. They did things like snap toothbrushes in half to save a few ounces, only to then carry out backpacks full of pounds of rock for testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was all the sacrifice of ultralight for none of the benefit,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To determine whether California’s glaciers had disappeared and reemerged since the last glacial maximum, the team used carbon-beryllium isotopes to evaluate those recently exposed rocks. Jones uses a battery analogy to explain. When the ice is gone and rock is exposed, the sun can “charge up” the rock. When the glacier comes back, the charge slowly recedes. But they found no “charge” at all in the glaciers tested in and around Yosemite.[aside postID=science_1992917 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/05/2014-05-12t120000z_163168172_gm1ea5d0e0o01_rtrmadp_3_climatechange-antarctica_wide-dc872b259e838b06facf859b790dcd5ad4af35cf-1020x573.jpg']“That tells us that rock has not seen the light of day for a very, very long time.” They estimate at least 10,000 years, probably 30,000 years. That’s before humans began living on this continent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This finding contrasts with the history of glaciers in the Swiss Alps, which have expanded, shrunk, expanded, and then, with global heating, begun to shrink again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the glaciers in the Sierra Nevada have shrunk so much that they no longer flow or move, which geologists consider “alive.” A slow slide downhill is a hallmark of normal glacial behavior — and it results in beautiful glacial carving of rock — but to do that, it has to be of a certain thickness. Many of California’s glaciers are now too small and thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Sierra Nevada glaciers are all gone, as projected in 2100, the generation of kids living now will be the first humans ever to see the rocks below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glacial loss feels like emotional loss for many who love the mountains. But here, amid the sadness, there is room for perspective and hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain glaciers are more sensitive to climate signals than other indicators, like the polar ice sheets. Changing the trend of an ice sheet is a huge undertaking — like turning a colossal ship. A glacier, like Lyell, is comparatively a small boat — one that can turn quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our decisions really do matter in how many glaciers survive,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we succeed in bringing down the concentration of warming gases in our atmosphere closer to levels we saw in the late 1980s (350 parts per million), glaciers globally would have a good shot at stabilizing, perhaps even starting to grow again. Just as their loss has heralded a heating planet, one that is suffering as if from a fever, their reappearance one day could be an early signal of a planet returning to health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason this work is important is because climate change feels abstract and nebulous,” said Andrew Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lead author on a study\u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx9442\"> published Wednesday in \u003cem>Science Advances\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. “You hear about two degrees Celsius of warming. To most people, that’s just an imperceivable difference on their home thermostat. But our findings here are tangible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To accompany the paper, Jones and his co-authors released comparative photographs showing before and after pictures. For instance, in the late 1880s, when John Muir was studying glacial flow with wooden stakes, the East Lyell Glacier in Yosemite covered a broad sweep of the mountainside. Today, it is just a few blobs clinging on in the hollows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998701\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998701\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250930-MACLURE-GLACIER-01-KQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maclure Glacier in Yosemite National Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Andrew Jones)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This glacier will be familiar to anyone who has hiked south from Tuolumne Meadows toward Donahue Pass. Backpackers who love the Sierra Nevada may be likewise familiar with other glaciers evaluated by the research team: Maclure, Conness and Palisade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers, however, had to access these glaciers without the benefit of trails. The fieldwork was grueling, Jones admitted with a laugh: “Man, the hiking was really difficult, honestly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The research team traversed glacial moraines — large deposits of rock out in front of glaciers — places that had been covered by ice until a few decades ago. From there, they collected samples of bedrock just below glaciers to determine, through isotopes, how long it had been since that rock was last exposed to sunlight. “The [moraines] are very loose, very treacherous. You step on a boulder and it slides,” said Jones. “You’re like, ‘Oh that’s not good.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones also said he had to laugh at the effort he and other members of the research team put into packing ultralight, bare bones gear. They did things like snap toothbrushes in half to save a few ounces, only to then carry out backpacks full of pounds of rock for testing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was all the sacrifice of ultralight for none of the benefit,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To determine whether California’s glaciers had disappeared and reemerged since the last glacial maximum, the team used carbon-beryllium isotopes to evaluate those recently exposed rocks. Jones uses a battery analogy to explain. When the ice is gone and rock is exposed, the sun can “charge up” the rock. When the glacier comes back, the charge slowly recedes. But they found no “charge” at all in the glaciers tested in and around Yosemite.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“That tells us that rock has not seen the light of day for a very, very long time.” They estimate at least 10,000 years, probably 30,000 years. That’s before humans began living on this continent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This finding contrasts with the history of glaciers in the Swiss Alps, which have expanded, shrunk, expanded, and then, with global heating, begun to shrink again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the glaciers in the Sierra Nevada have shrunk so much that they no longer flow or move, which geologists consider “alive.” A slow slide downhill is a hallmark of normal glacial behavior — and it results in beautiful glacial carving of rock — but to do that, it has to be of a certain thickness. Many of California’s glaciers are now too small and thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the Sierra Nevada glaciers are all gone, as projected in 2100, the generation of kids living now will be the first humans ever to see the rocks below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glacial loss feels like emotional loss for many who love the mountains. But here, amid the sadness, there is room for perspective and hope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain glaciers are more sensitive to climate signals than other indicators, like the polar ice sheets. Changing the trend of an ice sheet is a huge undertaking — like turning a colossal ship. A glacier, like Lyell, is comparatively a small boat — one that can turn quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our decisions really do matter in how many glaciers survive,” Jones said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we succeed in bringing down the concentration of warming gases in our atmosphere closer to levels we saw in the late 1980s (350 parts per million), glaciers globally would have a good shot at stabilizing, perhaps even starting to grow again. Just as their loss has heralded a heating planet, one that is suffering as if from a fever, their reappearance one day could be an early signal of a planet returning to health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A New Eye on Earth's Edge: UC Berkeley-Guided Space Telescope Has Liftoff",
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"content": "\u003cp>This week, a rocket lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057720/nasa-mission-with-help-from-uc-berkeley-to-explore-earths-exosphere\">carrying a new space telescope\u003c/a> to its parking spot about 1 million miles from Earth, guided by mission operators at the Space Sciences Laboratory at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once it reaches its permanent home, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will turn its eyes back to Earth to study the exosphere — the outermost layer of our atmosphere, where satellites orbit. Researchers hope that by better understanding how this region interacts with space weather from the Sun, they’ll be able to improve protections for satellites, which can be knocked offline by solar activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The telescope got a ride into space along with equipment for two other missions, each designed to study a different aspect of the Sun’s influence on our solar system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a visit to the Berkeley lab’s mission control room on Thursday, everything appeared calm and smooth as operators and technicians worked to bring the Carruthers systems online in a process known as “commissioning” the spacecraft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On large display screens, boxes of colors, text and graphs indicated the status of systems on the spacecraft with lots of green. That means all is well, said Abhi Tripathi, director of mission operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998642\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998642\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Engineers work in the Mission Operations Center at the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley on Sept. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All the displays have been designed to get your attention the moment something is off,” he said of the graphical user interfaces, or GUIs (pronounced “gooeys”). “If something flashes red, we have to quickly diagnose what is the issue and then figure out what we want to do to get it back within limits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operators were in the middle of a “pass,” a window of time during which NASA’s Deep Space Network allows for communication with the spacecraft. Mission operators send commands and receive data, images and navigation updates with the global network. On average, they get about two passes per day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier that day, Tripathi said, the room buzzed with activity when the spacecraft communicated in a slightly unexpected way. Fortunately, the team quickly resolved the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the biggest excitement of the week was the launch early Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The entire team in here came as early as 1:30 in the morning to watch the 4:30 a.m. launch,” Tripathi said. “The energy was high. I don’t think anyone had coffee. Everyone was working off of adrenaline.”[aside postID=news_12036237 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/JupiterGetty-1020x673.jpg']About an hour and a half after the launch, the spacecraft cleanly separated from the rocket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And we gave a big round of applause, of course,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 30 minutes later, the team achieved what they call first contact — a nerve-wracking moment in any mission when they establish communication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Will the spacecraft respond? Is it still alive?” Tripathi said. “And it was. So we all finally exhaled. After that, we got down to business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operating a mission like Carruthers is a source of pride for the Berkeley lab, which has been home to four Nobel Prize winners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are maybe two universities in the country that can run a mission like this,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/planetary-scientist-lindy-elkins-tanton-to-head-space-sciences-laboratory/\">newly installed director\u003c/a> of the lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our big strength over time has been space weather. What does the sun do to space?” she said. “What kind of radiation does it put out? How does it affect our Earth’s atmosphere? How does it interact with the magnetic field? Things that surprisingly we don’t understand even though they affect us every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Carruthers mission will continue the lab’s legacy in space weather research, but with a focus on a part of Earth’s atmosphere we haven’t seen clearly since Apollo 16. That mission, the fifth and one of the last to land on the Moon, carried a camera designed by NASA scientist George Carruthers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998660\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 985px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998660\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"985\" height=\"985\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg 985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">April 1972, Apollo 16 astronaut John Young on the surface of the Moon with George Carruthers’ gold-plated Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first Moon-based observatory. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The camera, capable of capturing ultraviolet light, was placed in the shadow of the lunar module to block scattered light. From there, astronauts pointed it back toward Earth and captured the first — and so far only — images of the geocorona: a faint glow around Earth caused by the outermost reaches of the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That imager was remarkable; it worked amazingly well,” said Thomas Immel, project scientist for the Carruthers observatory mission. “But it was just a snapshot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new mission will be able to capture what is going on, in incredible detail, over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upper atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. These gases help shield Earth from solar storms, but scientists aren’t sure if they’re gradually being stripped away by the solar wind. It’s also unclear how this region interacts with ions and particles from the Sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, for instance, a solar storm destroyed about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/science/spacex-satellites-storm.html\">40 SpaceX satellites in orbit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent such losses in the future, scientists need a clearer picture of this barely understood region of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at,” Elkins-Tanton said. “It’s really a blank spot in human knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Carruthers team hopes to unveil the mission’s first images at the American Geophysical Union conference this winter in New Orleans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A UC Berkeley lab is controlling a NASA mission to study the farthest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere from afar using the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory.\r\n",
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"title": "A New Eye on Earth's Edge: UC Berkeley-Guided Space Telescope Has Liftoff | KQED",
"description": "A UC Berkeley lab is controlling a NASA mission to study the farthest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere from afar using the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This week, a rocket lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057720/nasa-mission-with-help-from-uc-berkeley-to-explore-earths-exosphere\">carrying a new space telescope\u003c/a> to its parking spot about 1 million miles from Earth, guided by mission operators at the Space Sciences Laboratory at \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/uc-berkeley\">UC Berkeley\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once it reaches its permanent home, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will turn its eyes back to Earth to study the exosphere — the outermost layer of our atmosphere, where satellites orbit. Researchers hope that by better understanding how this region interacts with space weather from the Sun, they’ll be able to improve protections for satellites, which can be knocked offline by solar activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The telescope got a ride into space along with equipment for two other missions, each designed to study a different aspect of the Sun’s influence on our solar system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a visit to the Berkeley lab’s mission control room on Thursday, everything appeared calm and smooth as operators and technicians worked to bring the Carruthers systems online in a process known as “commissioning” the spacecraft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On large display screens, boxes of colors, text and graphs indicated the status of systems on the spacecraft with lots of green. That means all is well, said Abhi Tripathi, director of mission operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998642\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998642\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/20250925_MARSSATELLITE_GC-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Engineers work in the Mission Operations Center at the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley on Sept. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“All the displays have been designed to get your attention the moment something is off,” he said of the graphical user interfaces, or GUIs (pronounced “gooeys”). “If something flashes red, we have to quickly diagnose what is the issue and then figure out what we want to do to get it back within limits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operators were in the middle of a “pass,” a window of time during which NASA’s Deep Space Network allows for communication with the spacecraft. Mission operators send commands and receive data, images and navigation updates with the global network. On average, they get about two passes per day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier that day, Tripathi said, the room buzzed with activity when the spacecraft communicated in a slightly unexpected way. Fortunately, the team quickly resolved the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the biggest excitement of the week was the launch early Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The entire team in here came as early as 1:30 in the morning to watch the 4:30 a.m. launch,” Tripathi said. “The energy was high. I don’t think anyone had coffee. Everyone was working off of adrenaline.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>About an hour and a half after the launch, the spacecraft cleanly separated from the rocket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And we gave a big round of applause, of course,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 30 minutes later, the team achieved what they call first contact — a nerve-wracking moment in any mission when they establish communication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Will the spacecraft respond? Is it still alive?” Tripathi said. “And it was. So we all finally exhaled. After that, we got down to business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Operating a mission like Carruthers is a source of pride for the Berkeley lab, which has been home to four Nobel Prize winners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are maybe two universities in the country that can run a mission like this,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/planetary-scientist-lindy-elkins-tanton-to-head-space-sciences-laboratory/\">newly installed director\u003c/a> of the lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our big strength over time has been space weather. What does the sun do to space?” she said. “What kind of radiation does it put out? How does it affect our Earth’s atmosphere? How does it interact with the magnetic field? Things that surprisingly we don’t understand even though they affect us every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Carruthers mission will continue the lab’s legacy in space weather research, but with a focus on a part of Earth’s atmosphere we haven’t seen clearly since Apollo 16. That mission, the fifth and one of the last to land on the Moon, carried a camera designed by NASA scientist George Carruthers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998660\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 985px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1998660\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"985\" height=\"985\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope.jpg 985w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/moon-based-telescope-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 985px) 100vw, 985px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">April 1972, Apollo 16 astronaut John Young on the surface of the Moon with George Carruthers’ gold-plated Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, the first Moon-based observatory. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The camera, capable of capturing ultraviolet light, was placed in the shadow of the lunar module to block scattered light. From there, astronauts pointed it back toward Earth and captured the first — and so far only — images of the geocorona: a faint glow around Earth caused by the outermost reaches of the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That imager was remarkable; it worked amazingly well,” said Thomas Immel, project scientist for the Carruthers observatory mission. “But it was just a snapshot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This new mission will be able to capture what is going on, in incredible detail, over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The upper atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. These gases help shield Earth from solar storms, but scientists aren’t sure if they’re gradually being stripped away by the solar wind. It’s also unclear how this region interacts with ions and particles from the Sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, for instance, a solar storm destroyed about \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/science/spacex-satellites-storm.html\">40 SpaceX satellites in orbit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent such losses in the future, scientists need a clearer picture of this barely understood region of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at,” Elkins-Tanton said. “It’s really a blank spot in human knowledge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Carruthers team hopes to unveil the mission’s first images at the American Geophysical Union conference this winter in New Orleans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "their-brothers-died-of-cancer-their-fight-changed-california-law",
"title": "After Losing Brothers to Cancer, 2 Bay Area Teens Fought to Change California Law",
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"content": "\u003cp>On July 4, 2022, Rayaan Kolte hoisted a lemonade pitcher onto a wobbly green folding table in front of his house in Pleasanton. He taped up a handwritten sign that read in rainbow paint, “Drink to support childhood cancer — $1 a cup.” The tang of citrus hung in the air, mingling with the sweetness of peaches piled in a metal basket from the family’s tree — free for anyone willing to stop and learn about the rare brain cancer that stole his little brother the year before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I miss him every day,” Rayaan told strolling neighbors. “He was my best friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time dusk fell and fireworks cracked in the distance, the jar on the table brimmed with crumpled bills and coins, and more poured in through Venmo. Rayaan counted out about $400, money he used to purchase gifts for siblings of kids with cancer. He was determined that no other brothers and sisters felt overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My life was difficult after the diagnosis,” the 13-year-old said softly at his home earlier this month. “My parents were focusing all their attention on my brother, so I felt like I wasn’t heard or seen, and I didn’t get much attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long after, he met Sahil Mehta, a South Bay teen who had also lost his brother to the same brain cancer. Their parents began talking about launching a \u003ca href=\"https://www.neevronil.org/\">foundation\u003c/a>, and the boys’ paths kept crossing — at each other’s homes, on ski trips, at fundraising events. Over time, their friendship deepened, rooted in the kind of loss few others their age could understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998503\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998503 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sahil Mehta poses for a portrait in front of a photo of his older brother, Ronil Mehta, who died from brain cancer, in their Fremont home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A sidewalk lemonade stand was just the beginning. Before long, the friends teamed up on toy drives. Then, last winter, they persuaded Assemblymember Alex Lee of Fremont to sponsor \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB703/id/3217349\">AB 703\u003c/a> to create a new checkbox on California tax forms that allows residents to send money directly to childhood cancer research. The measure sailed through the Legislature this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stories of Sahil and Rayaan highlight the power of our young leaders in driving real and meaningful change,” Lee told KQED in a statement. “AB 703 is a testament to their commitment of bringing hope to all those impacted by childhood cancer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Standing in for Santa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rayaan was just starting third grade when doctors told his family that his little brother, Neev, had a rare brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. While their parents agonized over treatments, the boys built Minecraft worlds side by side, chased each other through the yard, and curled up to binge Pokémon cartoons. Even when the tumor in the 4-year-old’s brainstem buckled his legs and slurred his speech, Neev still insisted on playing with his big brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Neev loved his brother,” their mom, Misha Mehta, said. “We would always joke that they only had one brain. Neev would just follow Rayaan everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the winter holidays, Neev was tethered to an IV pole in the hospital, where pandemic-era rules prevented more than one visitor at a time. On Christmas Eve, Rayaan waved to his little brother from the cold parking lot. Inside, Neev whispered through tears to his mom that he was afraid Santa wouldn’t be able to find him in the maze of hallways and machines. His mom could hardly get the words out as she cried, but she managed to explain that she had directed Santa to the hospital with a letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998505 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old photo of Neev Kolte (left), who died from brain cancer, and his brother Rayaan Kolte (right) hangs on the wall of their Pleasanton home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the course of his treatment, Neev endured three brain surgeries, 15 MRIs, and countless needle pokes — his tiny arms covered in needle marks. He died on Nov. 30, 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was hard and scary,” Rayaan said. “I couldn’t imagine living without him for some time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the summer of fifth grade, Rayaan resolved to do something. That summer, he launched the lemonade stand, and that fall, he lobbied his teacher to run a toy drive for kids stuck in the hospital over Christmas. His father expected a handful of donations. Instead, hundreds of toys flooded the classroom, spilling into the hall. The family had to call for extra cars to haul the boxes to the oncology floor at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, where Neev had been treated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What began as the tender empathy of a big brother has become an annual community tradition,” Mehta said. “A reminder that even in the face of devastating loss, compassion can ripple outward. Each toy delivered to a child in the hospital carries with it a message that they are seen, remembered and loved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past four years, with help from classmates and friends, Rayaan has donated more than a thousand toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Carrying Ronil’s spirit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sahil Mehta was in second grade when his big brother Ronil suddenly collapsed at their Fremont home in early January 2016 and slipped into a coma. Until then, Ronil was seemingly a healthy 12-year-old. But in the hospital, doctors delivered a shocking prognosis: He had DIPG. He had less than a week to live and urged the family to take him off life support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My brain refused to listen,” said their mom, Manisha Mehta (no relation to Rayaan’s mom Misha Mehta). “The night before, he had gone to a Boy Scout meeting, and we had played ‘Game of Life.’ What an irony. Life certainly turned upside down for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998508 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family photo of Neev Kolte’s family, including Neev, who died from brain cancer, sits on a table in their Pleasanton home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Miraculously, four days later, Ronil opened his eyes. He fought to hold onto life for 31 months — through strokes, radiation, surgeries, even experimental treatments in Mexico. When the doctors exhausted all options, Ronil’s family stopped treatment and brought him home. He died on Sept. 1, 2018, in the same room where the brothers once built Lego castles and laughed under blanket forts. His last wish was to donate his tumor to Stanford for research, so that other children might have the chance he never did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years afterward, the family ached in silence. Sahil was just 10 years old, unsure what to do with his grief. But by the time he entered Irvington High School in Fremont, he had begun putting his emotions to work. He started a club at school called the “Childhood Cancer Crusaders,” and before long, 50 members were showing up to raise awareness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ronil’s spirit of giving is really what inspired me to take action,” Sahil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teaming up for change\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This past Christmas, Sahil organized a holiday toy drive, taking a cue from Rayaan’s earlier effort. Together, they collected boxes of dolls, puzzles, and board games for kids in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, Sahil’s school club hosted a Relay for Life — a walkathon where students lit candles, played music, and circled the track, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998502\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998502 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old decorations from past birthdays, photos, and artwork honor the memory of Ronil Mehta, who died of brain cancer, in his room in Fremont on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He didn’t stop there — for an Eagle Scout project, he assembled care kits stuffed with books and games, small comforts to ease the endless hours families spend at Stanford Hospital. His dedication drew national recognition when he was named a Gold Ambassador, one of just a handful of teens selected by the American Cancer Society to press lawmakers for more pediatric research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the boys wanted to expand their efforts. After attending Curefest, an advocacy event in Washington, D.C., Sahil came home restless. Why wasn’t California doing more? Digging around online, he discovered a voluntary contribution fund — a simple checkbox on tax forms that lets residents direct money to specific causes. Breast cancer had one.[aside postID=news_12024582 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/UCSFHealth-1020x680.jpg']Alzheimer’s had one. In states like Maine, Missouri, and New Jersey, pediatric cancer even had one. But in California? Nowhere on the list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He built a presentation, scheduled a meeting with Assemblymember Lee and pitched the idea. Within a couple of months, Lee’s office drafted AB 703.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it came time to testify, Sahil invited Rayaan to join him. Side by side, the two boys told lawmakers about the death of their brothers. Sahil explained in a measured voice that less than 8% of federal cancer research dollars go to children, and California earmarked none.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These children are not numbers,” he told the lawmakers. “They are sons. They are daughters. They are brothers and sisters whose lives are being left behind without a chance to grow up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 703 in July. Beginning next year, a checkbox will appear on California tax forms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I could influence policy,” Sahil said. “But it shows that even if you’re a kid or a teenager, there are ways to make an impact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On July 4, 2022, Rayaan Kolte hoisted a lemonade pitcher onto a wobbly green folding table in front of his house in Pleasanton. He taped up a handwritten sign that read in rainbow paint, “Drink to support childhood cancer — $1 a cup.” The tang of citrus hung in the air, mingling with the sweetness of peaches piled in a metal basket from the family’s tree — free for anyone willing to stop and learn about the rare brain cancer that stole his little brother the year before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I miss him every day,” Rayaan told strolling neighbors. “He was my best friend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time dusk fell and fireworks cracked in the distance, the jar on the table brimmed with crumpled bills and coins, and more poured in through Venmo. Rayaan counted out about $400, money he used to purchase gifts for siblings of kids with cancer. He was determined that no other brothers and sisters felt overlooked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My life was difficult after the diagnosis,” the 13-year-old said softly at his home earlier this month. “My parents were focusing all their attention on my brother, so I felt like I wasn’t heard or seen, and I didn’t get much attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long after, he met Sahil Mehta, a South Bay teen who had also lost his brother to the same brain cancer. Their parents began talking about launching a \u003ca href=\"https://www.neevronil.org/\">foundation\u003c/a>, and the boys’ paths kept crossing — at each other’s homes, on ski trips, at fundraising events. Over time, their friendship deepened, rooted in the kind of loss few others their age could understand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998503\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998503 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01086_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sahil Mehta poses for a portrait in front of a photo of his older brother, Ronil Mehta, who died from brain cancer, in their Fremont home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A sidewalk lemonade stand was just the beginning. Before long, the friends teamed up on toy drives. Then, last winter, they persuaded Assemblymember Alex Lee of Fremont to sponsor \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB703/id/3217349\">AB 703\u003c/a> to create a new checkbox on California tax forms that allows residents to send money directly to childhood cancer research. The measure sailed through the Legislature this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stories of Sahil and Rayaan highlight the power of our young leaders in driving real and meaningful change,” Lee told KQED in a statement. “AB 703 is a testament to their commitment of bringing hope to all those impacted by childhood cancer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Standing in for Santa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Rayaan was just starting third grade when doctors told his family that his little brother, Neev, had a rare brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. While their parents agonized over treatments, the boys built Minecraft worlds side by side, chased each other through the yard, and curled up to binge Pokémon cartoons. Even when the tumor in the 4-year-old’s brainstem buckled his legs and slurred his speech, Neev still insisted on playing with his big brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Neev loved his brother,” their mom, Misha Mehta, said. “We would always joke that they only had one brain. Neev would just follow Rayaan everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the winter holidays, Neev was tethered to an IV pole in the hospital, where pandemic-era rules prevented more than one visitor at a time. On Christmas Eve, Rayaan waved to his little brother from the cold parking lot. Inside, Neev whispered through tears to his mom that he was afraid Santa wouldn’t be able to find him in the maze of hallways and machines. His mom could hardly get the words out as she cried, but she managed to explain that she had directed Santa to the hospital with a letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998505\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998505 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01378_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old photo of Neev Kolte (left), who died from brain cancer, and his brother Rayaan Kolte (right) hangs on the wall of their Pleasanton home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Over the course of his treatment, Neev endured three brain surgeries, 15 MRIs, and countless needle pokes — his tiny arms covered in needle marks. He died on Nov. 30, 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was hard and scary,” Rayaan said. “I couldn’t imagine living without him for some time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the summer of fifth grade, Rayaan resolved to do something. That summer, he launched the lemonade stand, and that fall, he lobbied his teacher to run a toy drive for kids stuck in the hospital over Christmas. His father expected a handful of donations. Instead, hundreds of toys flooded the classroom, spilling into the hall. The family had to call for extra cars to haul the boxes to the oncology floor at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, where Neev had been treated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What began as the tender empathy of a big brother has become an annual community tradition,” Mehta said. “A reminder that even in the face of devastating loss, compassion can ripple outward. Each toy delivered to a child in the hospital carries with it a message that they are seen, remembered and loved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past four years, with help from classmates and friends, Rayaan has donated more than a thousand toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Carrying Ronil’s spirit\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sahil Mehta was in second grade when his big brother Ronil suddenly collapsed at their Fremont home in early January 2016 and slipped into a coma. Until then, Ronil was seemingly a healthy 12-year-old. But in the hospital, doctors delivered a shocking prognosis: He had DIPG. He had less than a week to live and urged the family to take him off life support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My brain refused to listen,” said their mom, Manisha Mehta (no relation to Rayaan’s mom Misha Mehta). “The night before, he had gone to a Boy Scout meeting, and we had played ‘Game of Life.’ What an irony. Life certainly turned upside down for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998508\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998508 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS01557_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family photo of Neev Kolte’s family, including Neev, who died from brain cancer, sits on a table in their Pleasanton home on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Miraculously, four days later, Ronil opened his eyes. He fought to hold onto life for 31 months — through strokes, radiation, surgeries, even experimental treatments in Mexico. When the doctors exhausted all options, Ronil’s family stopped treatment and brought him home. He died on Sept. 1, 2018, in the same room where the brothers once built Lego castles and laughed under blanket forts. His last wish was to donate his tumor to Stanford for research, so that other children might have the chance he never did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years afterward, the family ached in silence. Sahil was just 10 years old, unsure what to do with his grief. But by the time he entered Irvington High School in Fremont, he had begun putting his emotions to work. He started a club at school called the “Childhood Cancer Crusaders,” and before long, 50 members were showing up to raise awareness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ronil’s spirit of giving is really what inspired me to take action,” Sahil said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Teaming up for change\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This past Christmas, Sahil organized a holiday toy drive, taking a cue from Rayaan’s earlier effort. Together, they collected boxes of dolls, puzzles, and board games for kids in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, Sahil’s school club hosted a Relay for Life — a walkathon where students lit candles, played music, and circled the track, raising thousands of dollars for cancer research.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1998502\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1998502 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/09/250910-CANCERTEENS00997_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old decorations from past birthdays, photos, and artwork honor the memory of Ronil Mehta, who died of brain cancer, in his room in Fremont on Sept. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He didn’t stop there — for an Eagle Scout project, he assembled care kits stuffed with books and games, small comforts to ease the endless hours families spend at Stanford Hospital. His dedication drew national recognition when he was named a Gold Ambassador, one of just a handful of teens selected by the American Cancer Society to press lawmakers for more pediatric research funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the boys wanted to expand their efforts. After attending Curefest, an advocacy event in Washington, D.C., Sahil came home restless. Why wasn’t California doing more? Digging around online, he discovered a voluntary contribution fund — a simple checkbox on tax forms that lets residents direct money to specific causes. Breast cancer had one.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Alzheimer’s had one. In states like Maine, Missouri, and New Jersey, pediatric cancer even had one. But in California? Nowhere on the list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He built a presentation, scheduled a meeting with Assemblymember Lee and pitched the idea. Within a couple of months, Lee’s office drafted AB 703.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it came time to testify, Sahil invited Rayaan to join him. Side by side, the two boys told lawmakers about the death of their brothers. Sahil explained in a measured voice that less than 8% of federal cancer research dollars go to children, and California earmarked none.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These children are not numbers,” he told the lawmakers. “They are sons. They are daughters. They are brothers and sisters whose lives are being left behind without a chance to grow up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 703 in July. Beginning next year, a checkbox will appear on California tax forms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never thought I could influence policy,” Sahil said. “But it shows that even if you’re a kid or a teenager, there are ways to make an impact.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "fiber-optic-cables-could-revolutionize-earthquake-detection-and-monitoring",
"title": "Fiber Optic Cables Could Revolutionize Earthquake Detection and Monitoring",
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"content": "\u003cp>Many of the world’s largest and most devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/earthquake\">earthquakes\u003c/a> strike beneath the ocean, where the lack of sensors makes quick warnings difficult. Most monitoring stations are on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have a big earthquake under the water, like that Kamchatka earthquake [this summer], our sensors that tell us an earthquake just happened are really quite far away,” said \u003ca href=\"https://seismo.sites.ucsc.edu/emily-brodsky/\">Emily Brodsky\u003c/a>, a geophysicist at UC Santa Cruz. “And so we’re sort of looking through this very fuzzy pair of glasses at the earthquake and making our best guess on what it’s gonna mean in terms of tsunamis or anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx6858\">research published Thursday\u003c/a> suggests fiber optic cables on the ocean floor could serve as earthquake sensors, Brodsky said. She \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeb1414\">co-authored a commentary\u003c/a> accompanying the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With 70% of the planet covered by water, using telecommunications infrastructure as seismometers could fill major blind spots in earthquake detection in a relatively affordable and scientifically robust way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this is not the first paper describing the technique, it pushes the technology to new limits, focusing on how faults rupture underwater. That’s important because researchers could see that the fault was rupturing super fast, casting new light on the physics of earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To use fiber optic cables this way, researchers partner with a company running the cables — in this case, \u003ca href=\"https://www.verofiber.com/\">Vero Fiber Networks\u003c/a> — and attach a box containing a laser and a computer. The laser sends pulses into the fiber that echo all along its length.[aside postID=news_12057001 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250922-BERKELEY-EARTHQUAKE-KQED-1.jpg']If the cable stretches due to earthquake movements, the light echoes change. The changes can be converted into measurements, giving a fine-grained view of the event. Even in California, which is relatively well-covered by seismometers, stations are spaced several miles apart. Fiber optic sensing allows measurements down to the scale of feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With this higher resolution, earthquake early warning alerts, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994754/emergency-alert-phone-earthquake-test-2024-myshake\">Californians receive through MyShake\u003c/a>, could improve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Traditionally, it’s very, very hard to see for big earthquakes, how long is the fault that’s rupturing, in what direction is it going?” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/james-w-atterholt\">James Atterholt\u003c/a>, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and author on the research paper. “And this technology shows that with modifications, with advancements, that this could be done in real time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts are skeptical that predicting earthquakes is possible. Others, including Brodsky, are cautiously optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just to be clear, no, we do not know how to predict earthquakes. But we do want to study whether or not they’re predictable,” she said. “We are in a totally different place than we were 15 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists now have better hypotheses for how prediction could work, Brodsky said, but “to a large extent, we’re instrumentally limited and we need the investment. And it’s kind of that simple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Many of the world’s largest and most devastating \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/earthquake\">earthquakes\u003c/a> strike beneath the ocean, where the lack of sensors makes quick warnings difficult. Most monitoring stations are on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have a big earthquake under the water, like that Kamchatka earthquake [this summer], our sensors that tell us an earthquake just happened are really quite far away,” said \u003ca href=\"https://seismo.sites.ucsc.edu/emily-brodsky/\">Emily Brodsky\u003c/a>, a geophysicist at UC Santa Cruz. “And so we’re sort of looking through this very fuzzy pair of glasses at the earthquake and making our best guess on what it’s gonna mean in terms of tsunamis or anything else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx6858\">research published Thursday\u003c/a> suggests fiber optic cables on the ocean floor could serve as earthquake sensors, Brodsky said. She \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeb1414\">co-authored a commentary\u003c/a> accompanying the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With 70% of the planet covered by water, using telecommunications infrastructure as seismometers could fill major blind spots in earthquake detection in a relatively affordable and scientifically robust way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this is not the first paper describing the technique, it pushes the technology to new limits, focusing on how faults rupture underwater. That’s important because researchers could see that the fault was rupturing super fast, casting new light on the physics of earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To use fiber optic cables this way, researchers partner with a company running the cables — in this case, \u003ca href=\"https://www.verofiber.com/\">Vero Fiber Networks\u003c/a> — and attach a box containing a laser and a computer. The laser sends pulses into the fiber that echo all along its length.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>If the cable stretches due to earthquake movements, the light echoes change. The changes can be converted into measurements, giving a fine-grained view of the event. Even in California, which is relatively well-covered by seismometers, stations are spaced several miles apart. Fiber optic sensing allows measurements down to the scale of feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With this higher resolution, earthquake early warning alerts, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994754/emergency-alert-phone-earthquake-test-2024-myshake\">Californians receive through MyShake\u003c/a>, could improve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Traditionally, it’s very, very hard to see for big earthquakes, how long is the fault that’s rupturing, in what direction is it going?” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/james-w-atterholt\">James Atterholt\u003c/a>, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and author on the research paper. “And this technology shows that with modifications, with advancements, that this could be done in real time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some experts are skeptical that predicting earthquakes is possible. Others, including Brodsky, are cautiously optimistic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just to be clear, no, we do not know how to predict earthquakes. But we do want to study whether or not they’re predictable,” she said. “We are in a totally different place than we were 15 years ago.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists now have better hypotheses for how prediction could work, Brodsky said, but “to a large extent, we’re instrumentally limited and we need the investment. And it’s kind of that simple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published in January 2019. It is being republished after a magnitude 4.3 earthquake centered near Berkeley rattled the Bay Area on Monday morning. Read more\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057001/bay-area-earthquake-was-near-fault-thats-overdue-for-intense-quake\"> here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On two straight mornings in January 2019, residents awoke to the familiar rock and roll from a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11718873/another-morning-another-wake-up-quake-in-the-east-bay-hills\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> cluster of relatively small earthquakes\u003c/a> along the Hayward Fault, across the bay from San Francisco. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While neither the magnitude 3.4 nor 3.5 quakes broke the seismograph, the two events struck in essentially the same spot. Both had epicenters nestled in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills, just a few miles from the UC Berkeley campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such cluster quakes always get people wondering if they mean more than the usual random jiggling. To get a read on this, we spoke to earthquake experts with UC Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"http://earthquakes.berkeley.edu/blog/2015/10/13/weak-stresses-strong-earthquakes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seismology Lab\u003c/a> about what it means, if anything, when it comes to forecasting the next Big One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Peggy Hellweg with UC Berkeley’s Seismology Lab, there’s minor earthquake activity occurring almost continuously along the Hayward Fault, though most of it goes unnoticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while January’s “felt quakes” were reported as individual events, they can be thought of as belonging to the same sequence of earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would actually group them together since they’re so close together on the fault and call one the foreshock, and then the one from Thursday morning, the main shock,” Hellweg says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Kind of Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trouble with terms like “foreshock” and “aftershock” is that scientists never know how to categorize one or the other until after the shaking settles down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellweg says she wouldn’t have been surprised to see tiny quakes or even another of similar size in the days following to finish out the sequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you look at the history of earthquakes along this section of the Hayward Fault, there can be from one to four earthquakes felt by the people who live here,” Hellweg says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do minor “felt quakes” foretell about the likelihood of the next Big One hitting the Hayward Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short answer: There’s no way to know for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, Hellweg says, in the last 20 to 30 years, “no big earthquake has happened on the Hayward Fault associated with one of these little sequences of earthquakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the bad news: pressure has been building up on the Hayward Fault. It’s been more than 150 years since the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1933064/map-are-you-in-the-severe-damage-zone-for-the-bay-areas-next-big-earthquake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> last major earthquake\u003c/a> to rattle the fault, which stretches through the most \u003ca href=\"http://seismo.berkeley.edu/hayward/\">densely populated\u003c/a> stretch of the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geological studies put the average interval between big quakes on the Hayward Fault at about 140 years, give or take 50 years. Meaning the Big One could happen any day now or not in the lifetime of many middle-aged residents. Scientists who developed the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3020/fs20163020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HayWired\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3020/fs20163020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> modeling scenario\u003c/a> estimate that there’s about a one-in-three chance of a magnitude-7 quake on the Hayward within the next 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here’s the other bad news: the oft-repeated idea that minor temblors serve to relieve pressure on the fault and lessen the chances of a major event, is a myth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the question of whether it happens tomorrow, Hellweg says, “Do I expect it? No. Would I be surprised? No.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/thepaintgrammer/status/1085905639077928969\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Where does that leave the current state of the Hayward Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports from the U.S. Geological Survey suggest that damage caused by the next major quake along the Hayward Fault could be \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-hayward-fault-20180417-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">catastrophic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What concerns UC Berkeley seismologist Roland Burgmann is where recent small quakes occurred on the fault line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re right next to part of the Hayward Fault that — from the kind of research we do here at Berkeley — we know to be the part that’s fully locked,” Burgman says. “That’s the part that, when a really big earthquake — magnitude 7 or so — happens again on the Hayward Fault, it will likely rupture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fault lines — or different portions of the same fault — can be classified as \u003ca href=\"https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/quaternary/stories/hayward_creep.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">locked or creeping\u003c/a>. Creeping faults shift slowly over time, and may undergo smaller quakes like the ones observed this week. Locked faults, however, don’t move, causing pressure to build until a large-magnitude earthquake releases it. The Hayward Fault is considered a mixed fault line, with sections that creep and ones that don’t. The ones that don’t pose the biggest danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This [latest] pair of events is small, but they’re right next to the sleeping beast of the Hayward Fault that we know is essentially ready to have a big earthquake today or in a couple of decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The danger, according to Burgmann, is that a cluster of small quakes adjacent to the locked portion of the fault could be “possible foreshocks” to a major quake. Unfortunately, he says, there’s no real way to predict this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Get those earthquake kits ready\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The takeaway here is probably already clear; Burgmann says small quakes are a good signal to get prepared — that whenever we have one, it boosts the probability of another occurring within a week by about 10 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Essentially what that means for people is whenever you feel an earthquake, that’s a good time to check on your earthquake kit.” Burgmann says. “It shouldn’t be a cause for true alarm, but it should be a reason to reassess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for what it’s worth: Burgmann muses that after years of studying the fault, a recent series of small shakers on the Hayward finally prompted him to buy earthquake insurance himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published in January 2019. It is being republished after a magnitude 4.3 earthquake centered near Berkeley rattled the Bay Area on Monday morning. Read more\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12057001/bay-area-earthquake-was-near-fault-thats-overdue-for-intense-quake\"> here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On two straight mornings in January 2019, residents awoke to the familiar rock and roll from a\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11718873/another-morning-another-wake-up-quake-in-the-east-bay-hills\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> cluster of relatively small earthquakes\u003c/a> along the Hayward Fault, across the bay from San Francisco. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While neither the magnitude 3.4 nor 3.5 quakes broke the seismograph, the two events struck in essentially the same spot. Both had epicenters nestled in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills, just a few miles from the UC Berkeley campus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such cluster quakes always get people wondering if they mean more than the usual random jiggling. To get a read on this, we spoke to earthquake experts with UC Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"http://earthquakes.berkeley.edu/blog/2015/10/13/weak-stresses-strong-earthquakes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seismology Lab\u003c/a> about what it means, if anything, when it comes to forecasting the next Big One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Peggy Hellweg with UC Berkeley’s Seismology Lab, there’s minor earthquake activity occurring almost continuously along the Hayward Fault, though most of it goes unnoticed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while January’s “felt quakes” were reported as individual events, they can be thought of as belonging to the same sequence of earthquakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would actually group them together since they’re so close together on the fault and call one the foreshock, and then the one from Thursday morning, the main shock,” Hellweg says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Kind of Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trouble with terms like “foreshock” and “aftershock” is that scientists never know how to categorize one or the other until after the shaking settles down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hellweg says she wouldn’t have been surprised to see tiny quakes or even another of similar size in the days following to finish out the sequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you look at the history of earthquakes along this section of the Hayward Fault, there can be from one to four earthquakes felt by the people who live here,” Hellweg says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do minor “felt quakes” foretell about the likelihood of the next Big One hitting the Hayward Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Short answer: There’s no way to know for sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the one hand, Hellweg says, in the last 20 to 30 years, “no big earthquake has happened on the Hayward Fault associated with one of these little sequences of earthquakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the bad news: pressure has been building up on the Hayward Fault. It’s been more than 150 years since the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1933064/map-are-you-in-the-severe-damage-zone-for-the-bay-areas-next-big-earthquake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> last major earthquake\u003c/a> to rattle the fault, which stretches through the most \u003ca href=\"http://seismo.berkeley.edu/hayward/\">densely populated\u003c/a> stretch of the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Geological studies put the average interval between big quakes on the Hayward Fault at about 140 years, give or take 50 years. Meaning the Big One could happen any day now or not in the lifetime of many middle-aged residents. Scientists who developed the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3020/fs20163020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HayWired\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2016/3020/fs20163020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> modeling scenario\u003c/a> estimate that there’s about a one-in-three chance of a magnitude-7 quake on the Hayward within the next 30 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here’s the other bad news: the oft-repeated idea that minor temblors serve to relieve pressure on the fault and lessen the chances of a major event, is a myth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the question of whether it happens tomorrow, Hellweg says, “Do I expect it? No. Would I be surprised? No.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Where does that leave the current state of the Hayward Fault?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reports from the U.S. Geological Survey suggest that damage caused by the next major quake along the Hayward Fault could be \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-hayward-fault-20180417-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">catastrophic\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What concerns UC Berkeley seismologist Roland Burgmann is where recent small quakes occurred on the fault line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re right next to part of the Hayward Fault that — from the kind of research we do here at Berkeley — we know to be the part that’s fully locked,” Burgman says. “That’s the part that, when a really big earthquake — magnitude 7 or so — happens again on the Hayward Fault, it will likely rupture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fault lines — or different portions of the same fault — can be classified as \u003ca href=\"https://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/quaternary/stories/hayward_creep.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">locked or creeping\u003c/a>. Creeping faults shift slowly over time, and may undergo smaller quakes like the ones observed this week. Locked faults, however, don’t move, causing pressure to build until a large-magnitude earthquake releases it. The Hayward Fault is considered a mixed fault line, with sections that creep and ones that don’t. The ones that don’t pose the biggest danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This [latest] pair of events is small, but they’re right next to the sleeping beast of the Hayward Fault that we know is essentially ready to have a big earthquake today or in a couple of decades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The danger, according to Burgmann, is that a cluster of small quakes adjacent to the locked portion of the fault could be “possible foreshocks” to a major quake. Unfortunately, he says, there’s no real way to predict this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Get those earthquake kits ready\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The takeaway here is probably already clear; Burgmann says small quakes are a good signal to get prepared — that whenever we have one, it boosts the probability of another occurring within a week by about 10 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Essentially what that means for people is whenever you feel an earthquake, that’s a good time to check on your earthquake kit.” Burgmann says. “It shouldn’t be a cause for true alarm, but it should be a reason to reassess.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for what it’s worth: Burgmann muses that after years of studying the fault, a recent series of small shakers on the Hayward finally prompted him to buy earthquake insurance himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED Science Editor Craig Miller contributed to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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"order": 19
},
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
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"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 3
},
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}
},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"order": 1
},
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"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
"forum": {
"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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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"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",
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"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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"title": "Here & Now",
"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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},
"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": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"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",
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"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
},
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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": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"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
},
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