Photo: Getty Images

State Workers Face Minimum Wage

While the state's political attention was focused on this week's election, the days have been ticking away toward the deadline for a new state budget. State workers have been watching that story closely because if lawmakers don't get a budget passed by July 1, the Schwarzenegger administration is threatening to drop state employees to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour until a budget is passed.Reporter: Rachael Myrow

Lisa Morehouse

Stockton Police Protest Budget Cuts

The recession hit Stockton hard. The Central Valley city has 20 percent unemployment, nationally ranked foreclosure rates and a $23 million deficit. Even though its violent crime rate is second highest in the state, the city says it has to slash the police department budget. But the police officer's union is fighting back.Reporter: Lisa Morehouse

The Fight Over Methyl Iodide - Part I

State officials are poised to approve a new chemical for use on strawberry fields. It's called methyl iodide, and it has caused a rift in the state agency that makes such decisions. Scientists who consulted for the agency say the chemical is highly toxic and will affect the health of farmworkers. They say their warnings have been ignored.Reporter: Amy Standen

• More: "Toxic Fields" : from KQED's Forum
• More: EPA Pesticide Fact Sheet: Methyl Iodide : at EPA.gov
• More: Pesticide Action Network : PAN's page on methyl iodide, at PANNA.org

Pop Music Review: Jazz Mafia's "Brass, Bows and Beats"

This weekend, San Francisco's Jazz Mafia performs an expansive, ambitious work called "Brass, Bows and Beats" at the Hollywood Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Festival and again at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September. If you can't be there for one of the live performances, pop music critic Steve Hochman says you'll want to get their new record.

• More: About Jazz Mafia : at JazzMafia.com

Photo: Getty Images

Glendale Narrows

For decades, nature lovers have been working to expand the space around the Los Angeles River and restore it to something that looks more like parkland than a cement barrier by the water. Last month, the city of Glendale approved a $1.5 million upgrade for the Glendale Narrows, an undeveloped stretch of land that will eventually join a 52-mile bike path along the watershed. Reporter: Colin Berry

• More: Glendale Narrows Riverwalk : at the City of Glendale's website