Wren Farrell
ReporterWren Farrell (he/him) is a writer, producer and journalist living in San Francisco. Originally from San Diego, he moved to the Bay Area in 2018, where he got his start in radio at KPFA. He graduated from KALW’s Audio Academy in 2021 and then went on to work for a number of podcasts as an associate producer. In 2023 he joined the inaugural class of UC Berkeley’s California Local News Fellowship, which brought him back to KALW as a full-time emergency and disaster preparedness reporter. In his free time he likes biking, cooking and hanging out.
All Stories
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CrosscurrentsEvery other year, communities across the country count the number of unhoused folks in their area. It's a way to get federal funding. But is the model working?
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A new audit has found that about half of food facilities in Berkeley and San Francisco went uninspected in 2023.
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An extreme heat wave has hit the Bay Area, impacting even San Francisco, where temps are expected to range between the low 80’s to mid 90’s through the weekend.
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A civil grand Jury report in Contra Costa County has made recommendations to improve the county’s community warning system.
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A group of climbers in Yosemite are staging a 24-hour pro-Palestinian protest in one of the park’s most popular destinations.
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Temperatures began rising dramatically on Tuesday. Over the next few days it’s expected to be between 70 to 80 degrees on the coast and could hit triple digits inland.
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Today, around a hundred anti-Zionist protestors staged a surprise sit-in at the building that houses the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco.
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CrosscurrentsStudent reporters have been at the center of pro-Palestine encampments across the world. But what's it like being a student reporter today?
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This week, pro-Palestinian student organizers announced that San Francisco State University has agreed to divest from weapons manufacturers.
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On Monday, UC San Francisco students and healthcare workers erected a pro-Palestine encampment outside of the university’s main library. By 6 p.m., UCSF police removed it.
News Updates
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On Monday, the Berkeley City Manager, Dee Williams-Ridley, announced that she is resigning from her position as the city’s top administrator.
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On Monday, San Francisco State University students, faculty, and administration began an “open negotiations session” with the university to discuss the demands of the San Francisco State Gaza student encampment.
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Over the weekend, a crowd of stakeholders gathered at UCSF’s Parnassus campus to kick off construction for what the university says will be a 15-story, “state-of-the-art” facility.
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On Monday, students and faculty at San Francisco State University rallied at the campus’s Malcolm X plaza, demanding divestment from Israel’s war on Palestine.
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Today, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new 911 dispatch center.
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On Tuesday morning, more than 50 tents were pitched outside of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley, with students and organizers there asking that the university meet a number of demands – including divesting from Israel’s war on Palestine.
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Earlier this week, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ask for the state’s help preventing the closure of one of the region's only trauma centers.
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At Tuesday’s SFMTA Board meeting, a group of people living in RVs near San Francisco State University asked that the Board delay new parking restrictions.
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The SFMTA Board Tuesday approved the locations of 33 new speed cameras in San Francisco.
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Today, the Alameda County registrar of voters announced that the movement to recall District Attorney Pamela Price has officially gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall election.
Crosscurrents
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CrosscurrentsSubstance abuse experts say there’s a strong connection between the stress of the pandemic and increased drug and alcohol use nationwide. In this story, we take a closer look at one of the personal stories behind the statistics.
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CrosscurrentsLast week the California Academy of Science’s resident corpse flower bloomed. It’s an event that usually makes the news. But despite all the attention they attract, wild corpse flowers are endangered, which is why the Academy is joining a national effort to preserve their DNA.
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CrosscurrentsIt’s been 34 years since the Loma Prieta earthquake changed the San Francisco Bay Area forever. The Neighborhood Emergency Response Team is part of its legacy.
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CrosscurrentsCommunity Responders: Oakland’s Alternative to the Police, is a series that focuses on one non-police crisis response program. What else is out there?
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CrosscurrentsMACRO was created to address some of the toughest problems facing Oakland, from addiction and mental health issues to homelessness. But, building trust takes time.
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CrosscurrentsMACRO was formed in 2022 as an alternative to cops for non-emergency, non-violent 911 calls. But deciding when they should be deployed hasnt been consistent.
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CrosscurrentsMACRO is Oakland’s non-police response team. They’ve been running since mid-2022, but how do they differ from police, firefighters, and paramedics?