Good afternoon, this is “The State, Of California,” Doug Sovern is away. Yesterday afternoon the SF Symphony took a turn with more than 150 musicians and patrons joining together to unite in a strike by the Sympony chorus against the Symphony.

Music Director and Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen's opening show in his final season was canceled just hours before the show started, indicating a strike with signs reading "No contract - No chrous."

For a closer look, KCBS Radio's Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart were joined by Joshua Kosman, Former Classical Music Critic from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Donald Trump and JD Vance have doubled down on their explosive and unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating pets.

For more on this, KCBS Insider Doug Sovern and KCBS Radio anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart were joined by Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that works to improve U.S. immigration policy.

There’s renewed focus on immigration as a presidential campaign issue, as Donald Trump and JD Vance continue to insist Haitian migrants are eating people’s pets in Ohio. What is really behind the GOP ticket’s continued emphasis on a rumor that has already been debunked?

Border security is certainly a core issue for the Republican candidates, and a perceived vulnerability for the the Democrats. The latest polling shows most voters agree with Donald Trump that the country should deport undocumented immigrants, and they think Trump will be stronger on immigration issues than Harris.

For more, KCBS Political Reporter Doug Sovern, along with KCBS Radio news anchors Bret Burkhart and Patti Reising, spoke with Anna Sampaio, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and Political Science at Santa Clara University.

The fight over a ballot measure to help firefighters heats up in San Francisco.

But there’s a lot more to this one than meets the eye, affecting multiple layers of the City’s always complicated politics.

We are talking about Proposition H, on the November ballot, which would allow San Francisco firefighters to retire with their full pension at age 55 instead of 58. The firefighters’ union says too many of them are developing cancer from decades of on-the-job exposure, and allowing them to retire three years sooner will reduce that risk and save lives.

Sounds straightforward enough, and most voters will probably be sympathetic enough to a campaign featuring heroic firefighters getting cancer. But the city controller and Mayor London Breed say lowering the retirement age will cost the City many millions of dollars a year in additional pension costs, and that will balloon over time, and cash-strapped San Francisco just can’t afford that. So the firefighters union is going all out on this one, dropping its past support of Mayor Breed, and launching a $1.2 million dollar local ad buy today, which we were able to report exclusively on KCBS.

The latest man accused of planning to assassinate former President Trump makes his first appearance in court, as the Secret Service comes under criticism yet again.

That’s two attempts in nine weeks, and we are just 7 weeks from the presidential election.

What impact could this latest attempt have on the campaign? Unlike the first one, in which Trump was wounded in Pennsylvania, neither side is halting campaign events, taking down ads or changing its tone. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris have, of course, deplored the political violence, but former president Trump is blaming their rhetoric for inciting potential assassins, and he’s going forward with his campaign schedule for the week too.

For more, KCBS Insider Doug Sovern and KCBS Radio anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart were joined by Sonoma State political science professor David McCuan.

It's been nearly 10 years since Proposition 47 was passed in California, reclassifying some drug possession and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The idea was to thin out overcrowded prisons and save space for more serious crimes, spurred on by a desire for criminal justice reform in the state.

But now, with a decade of data to reflect on, the long-term effects of Prop 47 are becoming clearer, and with a growing focus on improving public safety and fighting theft, taxpayers and lawmakers alike are paying attention to the findings.

For a closer look, KCBS Radio anchors Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart were joined by Magnus Lofstrom, policy director of criminal justice at the Public Policy Institute of California. He's one of the authors of a new study analyzing how crime in California has been affected by Prop 47 and the pandemic.

Today, Doug Sovern, KCBS political reporter and host of “The State, Of California,” spoke with 98-year-old political activist, Dorothy Witt—who's putting her funds behind Kamala Harris. What has her suddenly politically motivated?

Today, Doug Sovern, KCBS political reporter and host of “The State, Of California,” joined KCBS Radio's Patti Reising and Bret Burkhart from the Merchant Exchange building in downtown San Francisco—the site of tonight’s debate in the San Francisco Mayor’s race.

Four major candidates trying to unseat Mayor London Breed will face off in that showdown tonight, which you can see live on KPIX Channel 5 at 6:00.