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Politics

Roundtable: California's Record-Breaking Heat

A firefighter battles the Caldor Fire along Highway 89, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, near South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Noah Berger / Associated Press
A firefighter battles the Caldor Fire along Highway 89, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, near South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
California experiences its hottest summer on record as supersized wildfires burn millions of acres, and local Hispanic journalists mentor the next generation of reporters.

America’s Hot Summer

America is roasting. According to the national weather agency NOAA, this is the hottest summer on record since the Dust Bowl era. It's even worse for California and several other states that are setting new records for average temperature. LA Times environment reporter Hayley Smith joins us to talk about climate change in California and how it's contributing to unusually large and destructive wildfires to our north.

RELATED: Climate Change Raises Risk For Outdoor Workers

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If Disaster Strikes, Are We Ready?

President Joe Biden visited California this week, partly to tour damage from the Caldor Fire near Lake Tahoe. It’s the latest in a string of wildfires in recent years that are among the largest in state history and experts say climate change is driving the trend. If a major fire were to break out here, would we have the proper resources? KPBS North County reporter Tania Thorne recently reported on the staffing shortages among local fire agencies, and how pay inequities are largely to blame.

RELATED: San Diego County’s First ‘Heli-Hydrant’ Ready For Duty As Wildfire Season Peak Approaches

Mentoring San Diego's Young Journalists

This week brought the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. In celebration, the San Diego-Tijuana chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists is hosting a fundraising event to benefit its scholarship program for young and emerging journalists. We check in with chapter president and San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Andrea Lopez-Villafaña about the event and the importance of Latinx representation in local media.

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RELATED: Exploring The ‘X’ in Latinx: A Conversation On Identity

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.