Placer County Local News: Local Governments


All Local Local Governments News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: Does California’s signature environmental law protect the state’s scenic beauty, or cause more problems than it solves?
CEQA: The Surprising Story of CA’s Key Environmental Law

The California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, is the state’s signature environmental legislation, and is also often named as the villain in the state’s housing shortage. But the story may not be that simple.

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: California has a goal of 6 million heat pumps cooling and heating buildings by 2030.
6 Million New Heat Pumps: Essential to California's Climate Future

Heat pumps, an energy-efficient way to both heat and cool homes, are a necessary element of California's climate goal of net zero carbon emissions. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to get one.

Image caption: The 1965 law known as the Williamson Act has been responsible for keeping about half of California's farmland out of the hands of developers.
The Williamson Act: How the Law That Protects California’s Farmland Works

The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.

Image caption: The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Image caption: Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage

Long-duration energy storage is essential if renewables are to become the basis for a future, carbon-neutral power grid. Here's how California is leading the race to store energy from solar, wind, and other clean sources for use whenever it's needed.

Image caption: Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?

Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work …

Image caption: Since 1972, the California Coastal Commission has ruled over the state’s shoreline.
California Coastal Commission: Where It Comes From, What It Does

What is the California Coastal Commission? How one of the state’s most powerful agency protects public access to the state’s scenic coast from Mexico to Oregon.

Image caption: The Pajaro River levee broke during the 2023 atmospheric river storms, flooding the town of Pajaro.
Is California Ready for More Extreme Weather Driven by Climate Change?

This year, a series of extreme events in California and around the country have wreaked havoc, driven by climate change. How prepared are we for things to get worse?

Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: Zoning laws tell you what you can and can't build on the property you own. How does government get away with that?
How Zoning Laws Shape California and Society

Zoning laws determine what can be built and where. These laws have shaped California, but are they really just tools for social engineering? The history of zoning is closely tied to racial segregation, as well as the state's shortage of …

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: Owning homes is the primary way the middle class builds wealth, and an option no longer available to most Californians.
Is California’s Housing Crisis Making Inequality Worse?

California has some of the worst economic inequality in the United States. Is the housing crisis a cause?

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Image caption: California transportation history runs from railroads to today’s car culture.
California’s History of Transportation: From Railroads to Highways

The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the railroads to today’s highways, making the need for planning increasingly urgent. Here’s how it all happened, and where we stand today.

Image caption: Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained

Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.

Image caption: California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
Voting Rites

California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.

Image caption: There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained

Community service districts can do most anything a city government can do. Here’s how they work and how to start one.

Image caption: Mosquitos kill about 725,000 people every year, worldwide.
Taking a Bite Out of the Mosquito Population

The pesky mosquito can be deadly as well as annoying. Here’s how local governments in California have been waging war on mosquitoes for more than a century.

Image caption: RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
California Dirt

What do resource conservation districts protect? Pretty much everything that’s worth saving.

Image caption: Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained

Residential wells are drying up in the state’s main agricultural region at the same time that agricultural businesses consume almost 90 percent of the water there.

Image caption: States have expansive powers to protect the health of the general public.
The State’s Broad Power to Protect Public Health, Explained

Since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, states have possessed broad authority to protect public health, even to suspend laws and commandeer private property. Here’s why, and how it works.

Image caption: California's sprawling public education system encompasses approximately 10,500 schools.
California’s Education System: How the Bureaucracy Works

How California's extensive public school system is organized and managed, explained.

Tahoe Guide logo From Tahoe Guide...

05/19/2025
Image for display with article titled Live at Lakeview Summer Concerts Return for Season 12

The City of South Lake Tahoe and Visit Lake Tahoe present the 2025 Live at Lakeview Summer Music Series, returning for its twelfth season of free Thursday concerts on the beach.

Sierra Sun logo From Sierra Sun...

05/17/2025
Image for display with article titled Tahoe City PUD to Make Major Improvements to Popular West Shore Trail in 2025

Tahoe City Public Utility District (TCPUD) is preparing to reconstruct 2.4 miles of the West Shore Trail between Sunnyside and Blackwood Creek. The reconstruction will improve safety, accessibility, and the trail experience for all users.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

05/16/2025
Image for display with article titled Facing Deficit, Auburn Seeks Way to Hold Fireworks Show

Is there going to be a Fourth of July fireworks show in Auburn? That was the question discussed at the May 12 city council meeting.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

05/16/2025
Image for display with article titled Tahoe Transportation District Board Appoints New Executive Director

The Tahoe Transportation District Board of Directors has named Jim Marino as the agency's new Executive Director, effective May 7, 2025. Marino has served as Acting District Manager since the retirement of longtime District Manager Carl Hasty at the end of 2024.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/16/2025
Many school districts require students to undergo a lengthy process if they want to wear tribal or other cultural regalia at graduation. A new bill would eliminate those obstacles.

Placer Herald logo From Placer Herald...

05/15/2025
Image for display with article titled City Hall Beat: Picking Apart Property Taxes

In December 2020, I wrote a City Hall Beat column about General Fund revenues. I noted the two most significant sources of revenue funding our police, fire, library and parks and recreation departments are property taxes and sales tax revenue.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/15/2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget proposal lays out deep cuts to public universities and health care. It also seeks to more than double the tax credits for Hollywood studios — an expansion moving smoothly through the state Legislature.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/15/2025
The most interesting moment of Monday’s labor union-sponsored interrogation of seven declared Democratic candidates for governor was their response to a question from the union representing oil refinery workers.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

05/15/2025
Because of a lack of availability of potable water and toilets, Yosemite National Park's High Sierra Camps won't be opened this year.

California Local Pin Marker From YubaNet...

05/14/2025
A new partnership between Placer County and the newly formed Indigenous-led non-profit organization The Sierra Fund will work to increase wildfire resilience in the Foresthill Divide community.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/14/2025
California lawmakers are considering a bill that would pause updates to state housing standards. Is the building code to blame for California’s housing crisis?

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/14/2025
California’s falling incarcerated population has allowed Gov. Gavin Newsom to close four state prisons. Now he’s calling for a fifth.

Sierra Sun logo From Sierra Sun...

05/13/2025
Image for display with article titled Fee Increase Approved, Impacting New Development in Northstar Community Services District

The Placer County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution increasing a certain fee on new development in the Northstar Community Services District at a meeting on Tuesday, May 13.

California Local Pin Marker From The Union...

05/13/2025
In a presentation to Nevada County supervisors, a CalFire fire chief said the three or four month fire season of the past was now "passe" as his department is making staffing plans for a 12-month fire season.

Placer Sentinel logo From Placer Sentinel...

05/09/2025
Image for display with article titled Placer’s Business Resource Center Announces Its Reopening in Time for Small Business Month Events

Placer County’s Business Resource Center has reopened its Rocklin office to help small business owners and entrepreneurs with walk-in or virtual appointments available four days a week.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/09/2025
Last week the Northern California beach town of Santa Cruz enacted a tax on sodas, ice teas and other beverages with added sugar. Voters approved the 2-cent-per-ounce tax in November, despite the beverage industry pouring at least $1.2 million in opposition.

Loomis News logo From Loomis News...

05/08/2025
Image for display with article titled Loomis Summer Concert Series Kicks Off May 9

Each year, bands come to the Four Corners downtown to perform on the second Friday of the month through August. The concerts will feature food trucks, bounce houses and more. The event is free to all, but concertgoers are urged to bring lawn chairs for the show.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/08/2025
Earthquakes, wildfires and floods all could cause problems for California prisons. A new audit says they aren’t ready to quickly evacuate prisoners.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/07/2025
Only 14 school districts and county offices of education have begun billing for behavioral health services under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative Fee Schedule Program, according to state health officials.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

05/06/2025
Image for display with article titled Placer to Host Events for Affordable Housing Month

Placer County is launching a series of events in May to recognize Affordable Housing Month and underscore the county’s ongoing commitment to addressing the critical need for safe, stable and affordable housing for all residents.