Wren Farrell
Newscasts EditorWren 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
-
On Thursday afternoon, a coalition gathered on the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall, to protest the city’s policy on “aggressive” encampment sweeps. -
On Wednesday afternoon, San Francisco Superior Court staff rallied outside of the Hall of Justice to demand that management do more to address the court’s staffing crisis. -
The official data from San Francisco’s 2024 Point-in-Time count came out this week, it shows an increase in homelessness, but officials say the city has made progress on getting people into shelters. -
On Tuesday night, a community of people living in RV’s in San Francisco were forced to move from a parking lot near the Zoo. -
On Monday, dozens of medical interns and resident physicians rallied outside of the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. -
Last week, Governor Newsom issued a statewide order, directing cities to clear homeless encampments. Advocates and stakeholders say this will only make things worse for the state’s unhoused population. -
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? -
A new audit has found that about half of food facilities in Berkeley and San Francisco went uninspected in 2023. -
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. -
A civil grand Jury report in Contra Costa County has made recommendations to improve the county’s community warning system.
News Updates
-
And in more government shutdown news, the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, has officially lapsed. -
Officials gathered in the Bayview on Tuesday morning to celebrate renovations to a new wastewater treatment plant. -
Santa Clara County released its 2025 point-in-time count report yesterday. KALW’s Wren Farrell has more. -
Today, San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department announced that its long-time manager, Phil Ginsburg, will be leaving his role at the end of the year. -
With increasing threats to federal funding, state lawmakers have introduced a new bill to fund scientific research in California. -
The Oakland People’s Arms Embargo Coalition met this morning at Oakland airport to demand an end to all military shipments to Israel. -
Supervisor Joel Engardio has been recalled. -
The special recall election for District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio is happening today. -
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is likely to finalize an almost three-million dollar settlement of a lawsuit with the Coalition on Homelessness in regards to its "bag & tag" policy. -
A new report from Food and Water Watch found that the drinking water for almost 60 million Americans is at risk for contamination.
Crosscurrents
-
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? -
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. -
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. -
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?
