screenshot_2013-08-02_at_1.55.32_pm_1.jpg

Audio Interview: Board Game Teaches California’s Cap-and-Trade Climate Program

Public Press reporter Chorel Centers sat down with editor Michael Stoll and illustrator Anna Vignet to discuss the creation of a board game that allows teaches players how California’s year-old cap-and-trade greenhouse gas pollution control program works. It’s part of a trend of “gamification” of the news, using interactive formats to engage audiences and teach complex policy issues. Players work as greenhouse gas tycoons in a race to make money before the caps on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases take full effect. The game is laid out like a Monopoly board.
The project was published in the summer 2013 print edition, and the prototype board game was printed on the back page of the first section of the newspaper. It accompnanied an extensive investigation on California’s cap and trade program, which aims to cut back to 1990 levels of greenhouse gases by 2020.

ed_lee_ron_conway_web.jpg

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: What Ed Lee Has Promised

In the two and a half years since he became mayor of San Francisco, Ed Lee has predicted that his economic development efforts across the board would yield hundreds of thousands of new jobs for San Francisco. But it could be years or decades before we know whether many of these predictions pan out. Plus: Listen to reporter Adriel Taquechel’s audio update on the story.

workforce2.jpg

Counting Costs for S.F. Workforce Development Programs

City programs offering workforce development services range from simple access to a job-listings database to a full-time, 18-week certification course that funnels graduates into union apprenticeships. They vary widely in cost, with some intensive programs costing tens of thousands of dollars for each participant placed in a job. Related: “HELP WANTED: City Hall Focuses on Hot Job Sectors, but Struggles to Track Workforce Training Budget,” the cover story in the fall print edition.