First, the big news. California Local is forging a partnership with Bay City News and its nonprofit, the Bay City News Foundation. In coming months, we will be working together to apply for grants to help our organizations expand our missions.
Together with BCN, which has been providing newsrooms in Northern California with essential news coverage for 45 years, we will be working on some big projects to help people engage with their communities and live a better life. You can read about one of these projects in a blogpost by our friend Chris Neklason, below.
The ask: This partnership also allows you, for the first time, to make tax-deductible contributions to help us with our efforts. If you can help, and you want to support local journalism, send me an email: I am eric@californialocal.com. Find more ways to easily donate below.
On to the festive part of this edition of The Newsletter.
Seasons greetings. I write today from my home in your state capital, where we had a nice little solstice party last night, and are preparing to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah in just a few days. I hope you are enjoying the wintry weather and observing this week of darkness and light in whatever way you do that at your house.
I want to tell you today how grateful I am that you are a California Local member and newsletter subscriber. I am so glad that you care about your community and appreciate our work. These are troubled times, and I'm deeply happy for the opportunity to share some good news about individuals and organizations in our state that are trying to make things better.
That’s mostly what we do here—I’m sure you’ve noticed—after all, we titled our book How California Works: Building Democracy in the Golden State. We are unapologetic optimists. There are serious problems in this world and in our state; we are mostly focused on solutions.
In recent weeks, Chris has brought you stories about legacy service organizations such as the Lions, Rotary and Soroptimists. Tomorrow, I will be publishing an article about our friends at the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation and their awesome “Give Back Tahoe“ campaign. And over the past three years, we have published articles about scores of individuals and organizations working toward what Chris likes to call "community betterment."
Please help us spread the good word. (Our 'ask' of you; part 2.)
If you believe it’s important for people to Discover trusted information about their local communities and have that information at their fingertips; if you believe it would be good if these folks could Connect with each other and with their local leaders; if you believe it would be best if they could Act by reaching out to their elected officials and other others active in their communities; then I hope you will consider contributing to California Local.
Again: The Bay City News Foundation has agreed to serve as our nonprofit fiscal sponsor. This sponsorship allows you to make a tax-deductible contribution to help us deliver news and information from trusted sources to more Californians.
You can support our work by contributing a tax-deductible donation through the Bay City News Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization with Tax ID 83-0654488, who have agreed to support our work.
Checks can be mailed to Bay City News Foundation, 900 Hilldale Ave., Berkeley CA 94708. Please note in the memo line: "For California Local"
You can also donate online using a credit card or PayPal. In the form field labeled “Special instructions for seller” write in “For California Local”
Again, I'm eric@californialocal.com. Shoot me a note and I'll send you more info. And: I'll send you a book!
A new California law will prohibit state-chartered banks from charging fees for withdrawals that are instantaneously declined.
(12/23/2024) CalMatters
The invasive South American housecat-sized semi-aquatic rodent is making the Bay Area a new home, and that's a problem. Read on to learn what wildlife officials are doing about it.
(12/23/2024) The Mercury News
New operating rules for massive Delta systems will increase water deliveries to Southern California cities and some growers. Salmon numbers could drop, especially in dry years.
(12/20/2024) CalMatters
For California nurses seeking help with alcohol or drug abuse, the road to recovery through a program managed by their licensing board can be fraught, writes CalMatters health reporter Kristen Hwang.
(12/19/2024) CalMatters
Keith Poulsen's jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.
(12/19/2024) California Healthline
Learn more about how a deal from 2022 to extend operations of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant and a recent California Public Utilities Commission decision are leading to higher electricity bills across the state.
(12/19/2024) Los Angeles Times
As the first serious case of bird flu in a human is reported and more dairy herds across the state are infected, California Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency. Read on to learn what that entails.
(12/18/2024) CapPublicRadio
All high school students are required to take civics, but a lack of money can limit opportunities. And in some communities, parent objections pressure teachers to avoid certain topics.
(12/18/2024) CalMatters
California doctors are asking the state to create a ‘safe harbor’ program for addiction recovery. They say the current system discourages doctors from participating because they regard it as punitive.
(12/18/2024) CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decree that by 2035 all new cars sold in California must be powered by batteries or other zero-emission systems has received a double dose of legal and political support.
(12/18/2024) CalMatters
Cal Fire is taking applications for Camp Cinder, a free four-day, three-night immersive firefighter camp for young women ages 15-17. The program, led by women firefighters and offered June 23-26 in Shasta and San Luis Obispo, will teach rope skills, water rescues, hose movement, leadership and more,
(12/18/2024) Local News Matters
The US EPA granted California’s waiver, which the incoming Trump administration is likely to try to overturn in the courts. The state’s zero-emission vehicle mandates have been the driving force behind California’s progress in cleaning up dangerous air pollutants.
(12/17/2024) CalMatters
Child care centers throughout California struggled to find people with the right credentials to look after their babies, toddlers and preschoolers. At the same time, many people who wanted to become early childhood educators faced difficulties in earning the credentials.
(12/17/2024) CalMatters
Use this explainer by the National Science Foundation-sponsored National Center for Atmospheric Research to understand atmospheric rivers and how they'll change as the climate warms.
(12/17/2024) YubaNet
California recorded historically high numbers of deaths in county jails for the past six years. Now, counties expect to house more prisoners as Prop. 36 takes effect.
(12/16/2024) CalMatters
Gov. Newsom and legislative Democrats pushed through a law that bans employers from requiring workers to attend ‘captive audience meetings.’ It was the latest victory for the labor movement at the state Capitol.
(12/16/2024) CalMatters
There’s no law requiring California property owners to carry insurance, but the vast majority buy it to protect themselves from fire and other perils, or are required to do so by their mortgage lenders.
(12/16/2024) CalMatters
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “Master Plan for Career Education” seeks to help the nearly 7 million adults in California who lack college degrees by giving them college credit for their work experience and by changing the requirements on some state jobs.
(12/16/2024) CalMatters
