KAZU News

Monterey Bay This Week: Santa Cruz bike event, gender identity news, fire preparedness and more

KAZU | By Katie Brown,

Erin Malsbury, Jillian Smith, Elena Neale-Sacks, Ngozi Cole, Amy Mayer

Published June 13, 2026 at 10:05 AM PDT

A woman holds her baby, who is wearing a blue onesie with blue and yellow animals. — Marina, a farmworker in Greenfield (who asked us not to use her last name), gave birth to her first two children when Mee Memorial’s labor and delivery unit was still open, just 15 minutes from home. But, baby Juan was born at Natividad, about 45 minutes away. Marina got prenatal care at Mee Memorial's satellite clinic in Greenfield, but hopes the hospital will reopen its Labor and Delivery unit.

In this week's news roundup:

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Katie Brown

Katie Brown comes to KAZU after earning spot news and investigative journalism awards for her reporting and photography in Maine. A Report for America alumna and former Metcalf Institute fellow, Katie’s reporting beats span business, environment, and public health.

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Erin Malsbury

Erin is an award-winning journalist and photographer. She's written for local and national outlets, including the Smithsonian and Science Magazine. She has a master's degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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Jillian Smith

Jillian Smith graduated from California State University Monterey Bay with a degree in Humanities and Communication, focusing on Journalism and New Media. Her love for storytelling took root in school creative writing clubs, where she first discovered how powerful words can be in bringing people together.

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Elena Neale-Sacks

Elena is an Emmy award-winning researcher, reporter, and producer. At KAZU, they cover agriculture, housing and homelessness, and the aftermath of the January 2025 lithium battery fire in Moss Landing. Their reporting and research has been featured on NPR, KQED, Netflix, Reveal, CalMatters, and more. Elena is an alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and UC Santa Cruz. You can reach them at elena@kazu.org.

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Ngozi Cole

Before joining KAZU, Ngozi covered health, business and economy stories for WYSO in southwest Ohio and The Ohio Newsroom. She’s also worked as a freelance reporter for Reveal, The New Humanitarian and other outlets.

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Amy Mayer

Amy Mayer is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience in public radio. Before KAZU, she worked as an editor for the California Newsroom and at St. Louis Public Radio. For eight years, she covered agriculture as the Harvest Public Media reporter based at Iowa Public Radio. She's also worked at stations in Massachusetts and Alaska and has written for many newspapers, magazines and online news outlets.

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