Rice flies in the air during the wedding scene in the Rocky Horror Picture Show during a sold-out performance at the Clay Theatre on Saturday. Many theaters don't like to host Rocky Horror due to the mess of rice and toilet paper and the late-night debauchery. The Clay welcomed the cast of Rocky Horror in 2007 when no other theater was playing the film. Shot on assignment for #kqednews.
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#claytheater #rockyhorrorpictureshow #rockyhorror #midnightmovie
*Print Sale*
Brianna Noble rides her horse Dapper Dan down Broadway in Oakland on May 29, 2020, during a protest over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. On assignment for @kqednews . Read more at KQED.org/news.
This print is currently for sale with 100% of proceeds going to the youth equestrian program @mulattomeadowsandhumble started by Brianna Noble.
For more information or to purchase please visit the link in bio or bethlaberge.com/prints
Type: Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Paper
Paper: Matte
Size: 8x10 inches
Shipping: First-class mail within US only.
Printed by @underdogfilmlab in West Oakland.
*Currently, I am only able to offer these 200 prints at 8x10 inches with shipment to the United States. Apologies but I cannot take requests at this time. Please follow for future print sales. Thank you so much!
#oakland #protest #dapperdan #nikon #nikonphotography #womenphotograph #gettyreportage #nikonwomenphotographer #horsesofinstagram #horsepower #horselife #humble #urbanhorse #reportagespotlight
Matt Cowdrey, Mark Paiz and Kyle Ortega surf Ocean Beach in San Francisco under an orange-red sky caused by wildfires on Sep. 9, 2020.
On assignment for @kqednews
#orangesky #wildfires #surfing #oceanbeach #sanfrancisco #surf #reportagespotlight #nikonphotography #womenwhophotograph
In a state where just 18% of people can afford to own their homes, mobile home parks offer a rare bastion of affordable ownership. But advocates say people living in these communities have become more exposed as investors seek higher returns.
Harmony Communities, a property management company based in Stockton, has faced criticism from residents, advocates and local officials for aggressive rent increases and opaque ownership structures.
A KQED analysis of property records reveals Harmony Communities has grown into a major player in the industry. The property-management company has managed operations of around 100 parks since 2004, and as of 2025, was actively managing roughly 80 parks statewide.
While the company claims its practices ensure “long-term viability,” interviews with nearly two dozen residents and lawyers point to a recurring pattern: Harmony assumes control, substantially raises rents, and in some cases, employs tactics residents and advocates describe as aggressive, leaving low-income tenants susceptible to displacement.
When KQED asked Bay Area residents how they’re managing the region’s high cost of living, many described compromises: moving into smaller homes, doubling up with family, taking on extra work, or cutting back on everyday expenses.
Their experiences reveal how rising housing costs and inflation are reshaping middle-class life in the Bay Area — forcing people to rethink what “enough” looks like and how to make ends meet.
They also mirror two national polls from the Washington Post and New York Times that found Americans see upward mobility as less attainable and consider maintaining the trappings of a middle-class lifestyle increasingly unaffordable — feelings that are expected to influence November’s midterm elections, with likely voters repeatedly citing the cost of living as a top concern.
Photos: @bethlaberge
Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu’s highly-anticipated homecoming is finally here, and the Town is ready to party.
Thousands flooded sunny downtown Oakland for a sold-out rally Thursday. The event was emceed by local radio personality Sway Calloway, and featured performances from the Fremont High School drumline, speeches from local athletes like Steph Curry and a rendition of Liu’s free skate song, MacArthur Park, by a student from Liu’s alma mater, Oakland School of the Arts.
Fans erupted in cheers when Liu took the stage just after noon, and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee presented the figure skater with an oversized key to the city.
Photos: @bethlaberge
Nearly 400,000 people were arrested by ICE last year, more than four times the number in 2024. Public attention has focused on the crackdown in cities like Los Angeles and Minneapolis, where federal agents have killed at least two people and observers have documented their use of aggressive tactics. But even in Northern California, where a planned Border Patrol surge was called off at the last minute last fall, immigration arrests have more than doubled.
Under previous administrations, ICE sometimes violated the civil rights of immigrants — and its own policies — said Elena Hodges, an immigration attorney with Pangea Legal Services. But now the intensity is escalating, she said.
“This level of violence is becoming more common and is increasingly embraced as just the routine course of operations,” she said. “High-profile harms to people, where they end up in the hospital, their car window is smashed … that tracks with a new level of political acceptance and encouragement that we’re seeing from the Trump administration.”
Over the past year, the administration has dismantled many of the internal watchdog offices at the Department of Homeland Security, enabling agents to act with impunity, said Doris Meissner, a senior fellow at the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
Photos: @bethlaberge
Teachers, faculty, and supporters gather for a rally and march on the second day of the SFUSD teachers’ strike in San Francisco on Feb. 10, 2026. @kqednews
Bad Bunny fans and impersonators spilled out onto the sidewalk at Tacolicious in the San Francisco Mission District on Thursday night, in hopes of finding the Bay Area’s best Bad Bunny double. After all, the global superstar was once someone’s local grocery bagger.
The look-alike contest came just days before Bad Bunny is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most-watched musical performances of the year.
Thirty-four contestants paraded through the restaurant, each offering their best Bad Bunny strut as the audience cheered.
Photos: @bethlaberge
Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny said Thursday that viewers can expect “a huge party” from his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance on Feb. 8 as speculation swirls as to whether he will use the platform to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
“I just want people to have fun,” the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said during a moderated conversation with Apple Music Radio’s Ebro Darden and Zane Lowe in San Francisco.
“I want to bring my culture to the stage. People only need to worry about dancing,” Bad Bunny said.
Bad Bunny Promises Unity, Doesn’t Mention ICE, in San Francisco for @kqedarts
✍️ Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman
Bay Area residents and businesses joined in a nationwide day of action protesting the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis by immigration officers during the Trump administration’s escalating immigration crackdown.
“ICE Out” organizers in the Bay Area encouraged participants to abstain from shopping and going to school or work today as part of a “National Shutdown” in solidarity with Twin Cities residents. In San Francisco on Friday, dozens of local businesses closed their doors, students walked off school grounds and thousands of people flooded into Mission Dolores Park, where an afternoon protest gathered.
From the KQED News story
Thousands Gather in San Francisco, Businesses Close as Part of Nationwide ‘ICE Out’ Protest
On a corner in Richmond, California, there’s a business that has celebrated the city’s Black history and Southern roots for 30 years.
The building is bright white with a hand-painted, red sign: “CJ’s BBQ and Fish.”
Inside, on a recent Monday morning, the small, efficient crew was busy prepping for the week. It was clear they’ve had years on the job, and with each other.
Mike Reddick, who’s worked at CJ’s for about five years, sharpened knives. Larry Turner trimmed, rinsed and seasoned slabs of ribs, the way he’s done for more than 15 years. Nick Gamble took inventory of the freezers.
Watching and managing it all was Gamble’s uncle, Charles Evans — CJ himself — who’s nearly 80.
“They try to keep me out of here, but they can’t,” Evans said, with a twinkle in his eye. “They can’t do what I do. I show them all how to do everything: cook, clean, repair, fix. I mean, that’s the running of the restaurant. It ain’t just one thing. You’ve got to do it all.”
Photos: @bethlaberge
