Eric Westervelt

A Latinx neighborhood in a wealthy California county hard-hit by COVID-19 reflects on the complex challenges and policy failures affecting vulnerable communities across the U.S. during the pandemic.

The experts and regulators are calling for the federal government to renew efforts to bolster safe storage, handling, use and transport rules for ammonium nitrate in the U.S.

Experts warn that the U.S. is at risk of a deadly accident involving ammonium nitrate, similar to the explosion that destroyed part of the city and killed more than 200 people in Beirut, Lebanon.

Bisa French is Richmond, CA's new police chief. She's the first woman and woman of color to lead the force in its history. Activists are cautiously optimistic she can foster real change.

San Jose, Calif., is the tenth most populous city in the U.S. but has one of the smallest police forces. It is facing calls for more cuts as the debate grows over the role of policing.

More than one third of inmates at California's overcrowded San Quentin prison have tested positive for COVID-19, in what some are calling the state's biggest prison health catastrophe in history.

Ex-police officer Joseph DeAngelo pleaded guilty to a series of rapes and murders that terrorized California in the 1970s and 80s. The scope of his crimes is staggering, prosecutor Thien Ho said.

Joseph James DeAngelo has pleaded guilty to 13 murders and other charges Monday in Sacramento. Prosecutors say he terrorized several counties in the '70s and '80s as the Golden State Killer.

Doctors warn that a fast-moving outbreak at San Quentin, California's oldest prison, may hurt the wider community and health care system.

To some, "defund the police" means strategically re-directing resources from police toward social services. We look at two promising programs currently re-imagining safety as a public health response.

Some California prosecutors are calling for an end a practice of police unions donating to political campaigns of district attorneys — those who will invariably hear cases of police misconduct.

Some California district attorneys say accepting campaign money from police unions creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, both real and perceived, when investigating police.

Family members and protesters want answers in the death of a 24-year-old black man found hanging from a tree in Palmdale, Calif. A similar death happened in late May in a nearby city.

Since the protests sparked by George Floyd's killing in police custody, many have called for overhauling police departments and policies. Efforts underway in some cities have had mixed success.

The sometimes aggressive police responses to anti-police brutality protesters have been punctuated by occasional unity between the two sides. Will those gestures amount to anything substantive?

California this week has begun rolling out cash aid to undocumented adults who have been economically hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and do not qualify for federal assistance.

Response far outstrips resources as the state partners with nonprofits and foundations in a one-time program that aids undocumented workers and their families during the pandemic.

The federal government has put the onus of reopening on states. Many state and local leaders say responses reopening their economies have been fractured and chaotic, including in rural California.

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted supply chains and left some farmers reeling. But community supported agriculture, or CSAs, have flourished as consumers seek deliveries for boxes of fresh produce.

NPR's correspondents update on the latest coronavirus news, including the effectiveness of infrared temperature checks and California's partial reopening.