Updated at 1:05 p.m.

A conversation with a national school safety expert regarding the fatal stabbing at Stockton’s Stagg High School and campus safety ahead of the new school year. Shoun Thao, with Hmong Organizing for Progress and Empowerment (HOPE) Center, and Daniel Savala, with the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership, discuss the issues and needs of the North Sacramento community. Two of California’s three existing wolf packs have produced 11 new pups, reflecting promising momentum in the comeback of the species in Northern California. 

School safety

Around Northern California, students around the region are wrapping up their summer breaks and preparing to return to class for a new school year. Safety was top of mind on the first day of school at Stockton’s Stagg High, where nearly four months ago, 15-year-old Alycia Reynaga was tragically stabbed to death by an intruder. Documents recently obtained by the Stockton Record from the Stockton Unified School District reveal a security booth at the school’s main entrance was empty the morning of the attack, and four of the school’s seven security guards were absent that day. Stockton Unified School District’s Interim Superintendent has announced new security measures at the school, including a “security monitor” at the school entrance, expanded gates and fencing, and a larger police presence. The tragedy at Stagg High highlights the many challenges schools face in keeping everyone on campus safe from the threat of violence. To better understand these challenges Insight spoke with Kenneth Trump, President of the National School Safety and Security Services, onto the program.

North Sacramento organizations overcoming neglect

Sixty years ago, North Sacramento was its own city. At the time, it had a population of roughly 16,000 people with its own city council, police department, and fire stations. That changed in 1964 when the city of Sacramento voted to annex North Sac and fold it into the city limits now known as District 2. Since the beginning, residents against annexation argued that elected officials would overlook them and that neighborhoods like Hagginwood, Del Paso Heights, Old North Sacramento, and other nearby communities would shoulder more than their share of the city’s most pressing issues. Jump ahead to the present day, and North Sacramento represents roughly 68,000 people. CapRadio spent nearly a year meeting with residents, listening to their current concerns, frustrations, and ideas about possible solutions. Those conversations are the foundation of a CapRadio week-long series. In this episode of Insight, Shoun Thao, founder of the Hmong Organizing for Progress and Empowerment (HOPE) Center, and Daniel Savala, Executive Director of the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership, discuss working to overcome the collective feeling of neglect by transforming underserved neighborhoods through services and changing perspectives.  

Northern California wolf pups

Nearly a decade ago, a lone male wolf left his pack in Oregon and journeyed across the California border into Siskiyou County, becoming the first wolf to return to the Golden State since they were eradicated nearly a century ago. In the years since the wolf packs have slowly reestablished themselves in the state's northeastern corner. The overall population grew to about 20 wolves between the three packs by the end of last year. But wolf advocates say they're overjoyed to learn that two of those packs got notably bigger just last week. The Center for Biological Diversity announced eleven new wolf pups were born in two packs who roam the Siskiyou, Plumas, and Lassen County regions. This brings the population to approximately 28 known wolves in the state. For conservationists, the births marked a milestone in their efforts to reestablish California as "wolf country." But not everyone is enthused with their return, and the wolves remain increasingly threatened by human activity and a changing climate. Amaroq Weiss, Senior Wolf Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, joined Insight to discuss the latest additions to California's wolf family and what steps are being taken to protect the endangered animals.

Correction: Shoun Thao was incorrectly spelled in a previous version of this article. It has been corrected.