News
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California Lawmakers Move to Protect Undocumented Workers

07.13.2017
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By Elena Shore, New America Media
If immigration agents show up at a worksite, employers don’t have to let them in. That is one of the key messages immigrant rights advocates are sending out as a new bill that would increase protections for workers makes its way through committees in the California Legislature. Employers across the country already have certain rights, said Grisel Ruiz, staff attorney of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “If an employer has [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents coming to their workplace, so long as the workplace is private property, they should also keep ICE agents out…unless they have an ICE warrant,” she said. Read the complete story at New America Media.

News
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New Funds Available to Train Bilingual Teachers in California

07.12.2017
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By Ashley Hopkinson, EdSource
In the midst of a statewide teacher shortage, the new California state budget includes $5 million to address a shortfall of bilingual teachers, a shortage a new study concludes will continue following the passage of Proposition 58 and the expected growth of bilingual programs.
The new state law, in effect on July 1, lifted an almost 20-year ban on bilingual education and gives districts more flexibility to offer bilingual classes to all students. Under the old law English learners had to be taught in English, unless a parent signed a waiver to enroll their child in bilingual or dual language programs — classrooms where students are taught in English and another language such as Mandarin or Spanish. The goal is learning to read, write and speak in both languages. Read the complete story at EdSource. For more information on bilingual education in California, read the Winter 2017 San Francisco Public Press Special Report on Bilingual Schools: How California Is Following S.F. Language Education. 

News
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Rift in San Francisco Over Bill to Make It Harder for Voters to Block Developments

07.11.2017
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By Guy Marzorati, KQED News Fix
State legislation that would make it harder for voters to block developments at the ballot box has split politicians in San Francisco, the latest example of a rift within the liberal city over how to address the city’s housing crisis. Assembly Bill 943, carried by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, would require that local measures to “reduce density or stop development or construction” brought to the ballot by voters in certain cities and counties would need 55 percent of the vote to pass, instead of the current majority threshold. 
Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.

News
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Early Returns Suggest Drop in Smoking in Response to State Tax

07.10.2017
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By Matt Levin, CALmatters
Last fall, California voters approved the biggest increase in cigarette taxes since the state first began levying tobacco in the 1950s. Advocates for Proposition 56, which passed with a fairly overwhelming 64 percent of the vote, argued that a $2-per-pack tax hike would hurt pocketbooks enough to nudge millions of California smokers to quit or at least to light up less frequently. When the tax went into effect in April, smokers saw the average cost of a pack of cigarettes soar from under $6 to up to $9, making California one of the most expensive states in which to buy cigarettes. But the question then: Was that enough to force smokers to kick an increasingly expensive habit? Read the complete story at CALmatters.

News
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Cap-and-Trade Deal Could Woo GOP Support, Anger Environmentalists

07.06.2017
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By Guy Marzorati, KQED News Fix/The California Report
In recent months, Gov. Jerry Brown has made clear that an extension of the state’s cap-and-trade program will need GOP support. “It’s going to take some Republicans,” he said at a California Chamber of Commerce breakfast last month. He echoed the sentiment weeks later when he said Republicans were “the key” to extending the program (set to expire in 2020) that allows companies to buy and sell credits that allow them to pollute. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix/The California Report. For more information about the state cap-and-trade program, read the San Francisco Public Press Summer 2013  special report on California’s cap-and-trade program, in collaboration with Earth Island Journal and Bay Nature magazine.

Bay Area
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One Week of Homelessness Coverage, 11 Ideas About Solutions

07.06.2017
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More than 20 media outlets revisited the problem of homelessness during the last week of June as part of a continuing campaign of coverage under the banner of the S.F. Homeless Project. The coordinated effort, which started a year ago, encourages newsrooms to cover the issue from a variety of perspectives, hoping to bring homelessness to the attention of neighbors and city leaders. » Read more

News
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Despite Backlog of Rape Kits, California’s not Requiring They Be Tested or Tallied

07.05.2017
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By Samantha Young, CALmatters/Justice
After a man held a knife to her throat, forced her into her car and repeatedly raped her, Helena Lazaro underwent a painful and humiliating medical forensic examination. The 17-year-old wanted her attacker caught. She never imagined the evidence collected in what is known as a rape kit would sit untouched for years by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. And by the time she discovered the identity of her attacker, prosecutors couldn’t charge him with the rape because the statute of limitations had expired in California. “I think about that 17-year-old girl, the 25-year-old girl, the 30-year-old woman – all the versions of myself who have suffered,” Lazaro says.

City Hall
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Nomads by the Bay: Homeless Camp Faces Cycle of Displacement

07.05.2017
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They are impossible to ignore: encampments dense with people, tents, jerry-built box homes, detritus, building supplies and personal belongings.
Ever since the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing formed in July 2016, it has set its sights on removing encampments and getting their inhabitants off the streets. » Read more

News
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California Taps Health Care Money to Pay for Homeless Services

07.04.2017
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By Guy Marzorati, KQED News/The California Report
Standing in his new apartment, on the top of a two-level building in Oakland, Daniel Yapo admits his journey from homelessness to housing took a lot of help. Yapo spent years bouncing between temporary homes and jail, even spending time living on a roof in nearby Hayward. Service providers helped him find a place of his own, navigate treatment for mental illness and handle the tasks that come with independent living. 
Read the complete story at KQED News/The California Report.