Fifth & Mission

At the end of a long day, Matthias Gafni is able to report back to evacuated residents of Solar Hills Drive who'd asked him to check on their homes: The fire came right up to the houses, but they're still standing. He also sees wildlife starting to return and neighbors putting out water and "Vacaville Strong" signs. Elsewhere in the region, though, fires are out of control. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporting from hard-hit English Hills Road, Matthias Gafni describes Vacaville on Thursday afternoon as people return to the area, sort through their damaged homes and, in some cases, breathe a sigh of relief that they were spared. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chronicle reporter Matthias Gafni interviews Jimmy Santos, a Vacaville homeowner he'd met Wednesday night as Santos and his wife waited for word about whether their “dream house” — bought only two months ago — would be saved by firefighters. It was. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Wilson, executive director of a homeless shelter in the Tenderloin, talks about the grueling nature of the job for those who do nonprofit work during the coronavirus crisis. Requests for mental health leaves are on the rise. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The wildfires burning through California are raising difficult new questions: How to evacuate while social distancing? Is the state prepared to fight the blazes? How bad is the air quality throughout the region? What about wineries and their workers? Chronicle reporters Joaquin Palomino, Trisha Thadani, Aidin Vaziri and Esther Mobley break it all down. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthias Gafni reports from the scene in Vacaville, where flames swallowed dozens of homes early Wednesday. A fast-moving fire raced into the town from the northwest, prompting frantic evacuations and rescues. Gafni speaks from a parking lot, where families are waiting in their cars to find out if their homes have been destroyed. | Full wildfires coverage: sfchronicle.com/wildfires Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prices have dropped 20% in some neighborhoods and are expected to keep falling in the coronavirus crisis. Landlords are begging tenants to stay, offering reductions, weeks of free rent and even gift cards worth thousands of dollars. Reporter J.K. Dineen talks about whether the perks are working and what the market change means for the city long term. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid a historic heat wave, millions could lose power in the first rolling blackouts since the electrical crisis two decades ago. Reporter J.D. Morris talks about how California got here, who's to blame and what you can do to help and stay safe. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

School is starting remotely in the Bay Area, and as working parents try to juggle jobs and distance learning, data and real-life stories show mothers are bearing the brunt of the extra work. Reporter Mallory Moench talks about the major reduction of women in the workforce as moms are finding something has to give. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the City Council has its way, cops will no longer make traffic stops or respond to mental health crises. Different city workers will take on those jobs, leaving police to investigate violent crime. Reporter Ryan Kost wrote about Berkeley’s initiative in The Throughline. He discusses how policing across America might change as a result of Black Lives Matter protests. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has BART on the ropes. But reporter Rachel Swan explains that the election for key board seats may be decided by another issue that has long haunted the agency: Police reform. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Assemblyman David Chiu of San Francisco has a plan to stem the wave of evictions expected to hit California in September, but just over two weeks to get it through the Legislature. He's also deeply concerned about the state's severely backed-up unemployment office, which owes more than 1 million people money. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Developers of two of the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates are seeking volunteers in San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Clara County. Health reporter Erin Allday talks about how the studies work, how close we are to a real vaccine, and how some big challenges lie ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Covering your face is good, but new research suggests that how you do it is important. Many help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but some are not as effective as others. Reporter Aidin Vaziri has the details. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com Related episode: Do Face Shields Work? (Aug. 5, 2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The former San Francisco DA and California attorney general is in position to make history. Political reporters Tal Kopan and Joe Garofoli break down why Biden wants Harris as his running mate and how her past will factor into the campaign ahead. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A data glitch and a problematic public statement by Gov. Gavin Newsom prompts a changing of the guard in Sacramento, where Dr. Sonia Angell suddenly resigned as the state's top public health officer. Health reporter Erin Allday talks about the fallout. | Full Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the coronavirus pandemic, our ever-worsening screen time obsession has increased. From working, going to school, exercising, socializing and recreational time, nearly everything involves a device. Chronicle reporter Sam Whiting interviewed a Stanford professor who runs a screen use lab about the phenomena and what it’s doing to our brains and social lives. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California is entering its worst months for wildfires, and the danger is only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. What do Bay Area residents need to know about the conditions on the ground, PG&E power outages and socially distant evacuations? Reporter J.D. Morris has the answers. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that their companies are allowing them to work remotely for the duration, tech workers are fleeing high-priced San Francisco. What does that mean for the city's future as an internationally important tech center? Jennifer Stojkovic, executive director of sf.citi, a Chamber of Commerce-style group for tech companies, expects some companies will move their headquarters out of San Francisco — and take crucial tax dollars with them. | Coronavirus coverage: sfchronicle.com/coronavirus | Full Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why can't we defeat the pandemic by allowing the coronavirus to infect the majority of the population? Health reporter Erin Allday breaks down the science behind the idea, how it factors into the outbreaks at San Quentin prison and in Sweden, and how it would perpetuate racial disparities. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices