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
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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. -
A group of climbers in Yosemite are staging a 24-hour pro-Palestinian protest in one of the park’s most popular destinations. -
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. -
Today, around a hundred anti-Zionist protestors staged a surprise sit-in at the building that houses the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco. -
CrosscurrentsStudent reporters have been at the center of pro-Palestine encampments across the world. But what's it like being a student reporter today? -
This week, pro-Palestinian student organizers announced that San Francisco State University has agreed to divest from weapons manufacturers.
News Updates
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Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees across California and Hawaii began a five-day strike at 7:00 this morning. -
The MacArthur Foundation announced the recipients of its coveted ‘genius grants’ on Wednesday. Three of them live in the Bay Area. -
New data from San Francisco shows that speeding has decreased by more than 70 percent at the city’s speed camera locations. -
Alameda County officials are holding off on implementing a new policy discouraging investment in companies that profit off of environmental and human rights violations. -
Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers are expected to go on strike next week. -
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.
Crosscurrents
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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. -
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?
