A recent audit reveals significant challenges in California’s community college transfer process. In other news, solar energy advocates will be in court to challenge new state regulations for installing battery storage. Plus, we hear from the man behind the Haunted Trail in Balboa Park.

San Diego County will loan up to $32 million to UC San Diego to expand behavioral health care for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. In other news, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have expanded the number of languages offered on ballots. Plus, California’s Secretary of State is hosting a series of webinars to encourage more people to vote this November.

The state is suing ExxonMobil for producing massive amounts of plastics and then lying about their impact on the environment. In other news, San Diego County officials lifted some beach closures in Imperial Beach this weekend. Plus, fentanyl use in San Diego County has skyrocketed in recent years, however, the number of fentanyl overdose deaths has begun to inch downward.

It’s been two years since voters allowed the city of San Diego to charge them for trash pickup, and now they want to know how much it will cost. In other news, the San Diego Registrar of Voters is looking for more poll workers, especially bilingual ones, for the November election. Plus, this October, San Diego Central Library has the most low-key, low-stress horror book club for the Halloween season. We have details on the Email Book Club.

Stock markets shot up Thursday in response to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts, but lower interest rates may not make it easier to afford a home mortgage in San Diego. In other news, data shows Black mothers and infants face higher rates of childbirth related complications or deaths than any other race or ethnicity in the U.S. San Diego county is expanding valuable resources to black mothers and babies to help bring those rates down. Plus, our KPBS arts reporter joins the podcast to talk about the new fall arts guide.

The San Diego City Council wants to make it easier to install traffic safety measures like crosswalks and speed humps. In other news, the FBI is warning of a new scam that involves extorting teens over sexually explicit photos. We have details on what parents can do to protect their children. Plus, how you can donate a Halloween costume to military families on limited budgets.

Striking hotel workers in San Diego got some support Tuesday from the San Diego City Council, when it passed a resolution calling on the Hilton Bayfront to go back to the bargaining table. In other news, a senior enlisted Marine at the San Diego Recruit Depot is in the brig and facing charges. Plus, with America's bitter divide on full display this election season, social media platforms are often blamed for fanning polarization by failing to reign in hate speech and misinformation.

Most of California’s foster family agencies are about to lose their insurance, and almost 9,000 children could be taken from their homes as early as October. In other news, a new report says that electrical vehicle charging stations couldn’t survive if they weren’t subsidized by the government. Plus, Hispanic Heritage Month is now underway, and San Diego is celebrating with a new exhibit at city hall.

A 19-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to a series of drive-by pellet gun shootings in Hillcrest earlier this month. In other news, the city of Del Mar recently passed a set of rules regulating short-term rentals and capping their numbers, but the ordinance still needs the state’s approval. Plus, KPBS just launched a new project called Public Matters, where our newsroom explores how we engage over politics, how government impacts our lives and threats to democracy.

A bipartisan group of congress members is again raising the alarm about the cross border sewage crisis as scientists reported dangerous levels of sewer gas in the Tijuana River Valley earlier this week. In other news, mental health resources are scarce. On Thursday, Palomar Health broke ground on a new 120 bed facility that will bring much needed services to the North County, including help for our first responders. Plus, more than 100 disabled veterans spent a week in San Diego last month for the VA’s summer sports clinic. Our KPBS military and veterans reporter spent time with some of the veterans, and says they get so much more than a workout.