When covering an important story like California’s homelessness crisis, there’s no substitute for in-person reporting and holding government accountable for its failures.

Those journalism principles were reinforced for me in recent months in a way I won’t soon forget. I produced a series of stories about Sacramento’s city and county leaders’ refusal to provide emergency shelter for thousands of unhoused residents during the region’s cold and severe weather — and the deadly consequences of that decision.

In late November, as low temperatures dipped into the 30s, I interviewed Gregory Tarola, a 63-year-old Sacramento man who lived on a sidewalk in the city’s River District. Three days after CapRadio featured his comments and photo in a story about the lack of warming centers, Tarola was found dead under a blanket wet from the previous night’s rain.

While an initial coroner’s report classified his death as “natural,” advocates believe he froze to death. After receiving numerous messages from Tarola’s family, friends and former classmates who had read our initial report and were shocked about his death, I followed up with a deeply reported story on his early life, career and family successes. I also chronicled the health and addiction struggles that ultimately drove him to the streets.

Days after our story was published, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced new efforts to expand the city’s shelter options, including warming centers, though the action came after years of calls by advocates to open the centers.

In telling Tarola’s story, I realized he was one of hundreds of Californians who die each year while homeless. To gain a deeper understanding of this loss in Sacramento County, I attended a vigil in December for the 90-plus people who died on the streets and in homeless shelters last year, based on figures from the Sacramento Regional Coalition To End Homelessness.

There I learned about people like 56-year-old Vanessa Franklin, who died in February of last year after spending years living in one of the city’s many tent encampments. Though she didn’t have a permanent home, Franklin volunteered at community events hosted by the Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign, handing out snacks and interacting with children.

When January’s powerful storm brought 60 mile per hour winds, downed trees and ripped through tent encampments across Sacramento, CapRadio reporters and editors filed several stories documenting the damage and ultimately the deaths of several unhoused people. We again investigated the lack of advance action to protect the area’s most vulnerable and the disconnect between city and county officials over solving the problem.

Days later, I attended another vigil — this time for the six unhoused people who died during the storm. City officials, meanwhile, opened more warming centers, but again only after tragedy struck.

Some might ask, ‘Why does CapRadio devote coverage to these topics?’ We do so because it’s a human emergency. There are more than 5,600 people without a home in Sacramento County and more than 150,000 statewide, according to the most recent estimates.

Gregory Tarola’s case was an emergency in plain sight. Other times, the problem is hidden with people and families living in cars or abandoned buildings. All of it is deserving of our attention and thoughtful news coverage.

There’s a healthy debate over how communities should address homelessness, which can burden businesses and neighborhoods across California. I captured some of that debate in a recent story about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s record addressing this problem so far.

But when you strip away the debate, the reality remains: homelessness is an urgent and deadly crisis. People’s lives are at stake.

I welcome feedback and additional angles to cover. My email is [email protected].

Chris Nichols
PolitiFact California Reporter

I first became interested in reporting on Sacramento’s Little Saigon neighborhood a little over a year ago when I first interviewed for my current job at CapRadio. To me, the Little Saigon neighborhood has always been fascinating because it’s a neighborhood that represents an origin story for a group of Sacramentans. It’s also become a place that represents a default enclave for Asian Americans in the city, because Sacramento doesn’t have a Chinatown like other nearby cities. I wanted to dive deeper into the neighborhood and the business community that was just beginning to come to prominence as a destination for foodies, and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

I’ve covered the Little Saigon community in bits and pieces in many of the stories I’ve done throughout the pandemic, looking at the ways in which the neighborhood has struggled because of lack of resources and its large concentration of new immigrants. But as the year mark of the pandemic and a new year began, I wanted to take a moment to look deeper at this community which means so much for Asian Americans here, even if they aren’t directly Vietnamese.

Many beloved celebrations and traditions have had to adapt due to the pandemic. In Sacramento, Lunar New Year usually means a community parade in the city’s Little Saigon. But with the pandemic continuing, Sacramento’s Iu Mien, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean communities instead marked the occasion with a drive-through celebration in the parking lot at Asian Resources inc. headquarters in South Sacramento with gifts, a produce distribution station and other Lunar New Year traditions.

Andrew Nixon
Visual Journalist

CapRadio is excited to announce our new, original broadcast show California State of Mind. Join us each week as hosts Nicole Nixon and Elizabeth Aguilera examine "The California Experience" through the lens of policy and politics. They'll help you make sense of the world's fifth-largest economy, one headline at a time.

Produced in collaboration with CalMatters, you can listen to a new episode every Friday on our broadcast or live stream at 3:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. You can also listen to episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

Sacramento Could Be One Of First Cities To Reform Single-Family Home Zoning, Here’s How It Would Work

Newsom Signs Economic Relief Package, Sending $600 Stimulus Payments To Low-Income Californians

How About Wind? California Explores Plan For Wind Energy Along Coast To Combat Climate Change

Billionaire Investor Backs Out Of Deal To Bring Major League Soccer Team To Sacramento

Investigation: Big Newsom Donors — Including Blue Shield — Received No-Bid Contracts During COVID-19 Response

Sacramento County Proposes Taking Some Emergency Calls Away From Law Enforcement

Join CapRadio Reads host Donna Apidone and Vietnamese-American novelist Lan Cao to discuss her dual first-person memoir — Family In Six Tones.

Cao and her thoroughly American teenage daughter explore their complicated relationship, touching on war and past tragedy, culture clash, bullying and growing up as individuals and as a family.

You can purchase the book or audiobook online.

Latest CapRadio Reads Podcasts

The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X – Tamara Payne

Malcolm X is well-known as a leader of the Black Power movement of the 1960s. Journalist Les Payne and co-author Tamara Payne uncover new aspects to his personality in the book The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota – J. Ryan Stradal

Nothing says Minnesota like beer. And pie. Both play prominently in J. Ryan Stradal’s latest novel, The Lager Queen of Minnesota. Two sisters and a granddaughter find their way through the brewing industry with equal parts laughter and tragedy.

CapRadio welcomes four new members to our board of directors.

Cornelious Burke
Cornelious is the director of legislative affairs at the North State Building Industry Association. He also serves as a board member for the California African American Museum and works as an adjunct professor for USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Richard Cummings
Richard works as the manager of deal advisory, infrastructure and higher education at KPMG LLP Foundation. He lives in Modesto, California, and hopes to help expand CapRadio's presence through the valley.

Steve Weiss
Steve is the Weiss Group's president and comes to CapRadio with more than 25 years of experience as a business strategist. He has previously been named Volunteer of the Year by the Sacramento Metro Chamber and awarded the Sacramento Arts and Business Council's Arts Leadership Award.

Dr. Marya Endriga
Marya has worked for CSU Sacramento for over twenty years, where she is the associate dean for student and personnel success. She has also worked to provide training and consultation on multicultural issues in mental health and counseling in Sacramento for over a decade.

Each year, CapRadio releases an impact report that highlights what we’ve done over the past fiscal year, provides audited financials and spotlights our major supporters. The daily services that we provide to our communities are made possible by all of our members, and we thank you for your ongoing support.

Festival Pass to The Sacramento Jewish Film Festival

Where: Virtual
When: March 03-28

Giveaway valid through 03/04 

Ticket giveaways are posted throughout the month, so check back for new opportunities.

CapRadio and NPR are accessible any time you want through your Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Apple Homepod smart speaker. To help you out, our digital products team put together a guide so you can easily stream the news and music you love.

In order to better serve our listeners, we now have a web page where you can check the status of our broadcast signals across our coverage areas. You can also report problems you're having and easily access other listening options through our online streaming, mobile app and more.