Building Democracy in California

As a small group of local dignitaries and residents gathered at the corner of Washington and 7th Streets on Dec. 1 in San Juan Bautista, the artists were putting the finishing touches to the new mural.

The Hollister City Council continued discussions on having a biker rally in July 2024. The city has not hosted a rally since 2017 because of public safety liability concerns and COVID-19.

Voters will decide next November whether future Hollister mayors will serve a four-year or two-year term. The council approved the ballot measure, with Mayor Mia Casey abstaining.

The Double Up Food Bucks program—with its proven ability to connect food-insecure families and individuals to more fresh produce—officially debuted in Monterey County.

Chef Jean Pierre Iuliano—who helmed Café Mare in Santa Cruz for nearly 22 years—served his last meal Nov. 26. But don’t despair. Café Mare will reopen Dec. 1 under new ownership by Marco Paoletti and Andrea Loporcaro, who both worked there in the early days.

Watsonville has a winner in new Tacos Al Fuego, and it’s not surprising that the family-owned addition to the Hangar food complex proves excellent.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles changed its voter registration process in 2019 to put a party selection dropdown on the same page. Since then, the number of people registering as Republicans or Democrats has jumped close to 20 points.

With nine months’ experience in the Assembly, Liz Ortega will lead the Labor committee after a strike-filled summer and several wins for low-wage workers.

An Alameda County judge ruled on Nov. 22 that the city of Oakland thwarted a proposed coal export terminal. The judge will rule if the developer who sued is entitled to $159 million in damages or moving forward with the project.

Hackers stole data this week from Blue Shield of California. Historically, this type of data has sometimes wound up for sale on what’s known as the dark web, the part of the internet not typically included in search engine results.

California’s minimum hourly wage will rise from $15.50 to $16 on Jan. 1. Ahead of this, retailers like Costco and Target have raised their minimum pay in recent years.

An analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy found that with expected technology advances, the Salton Sea region’s total lithium resources could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles—more than the total number currently on U.S. roads.

A man stripped naked at the Disneyland ride “It’s a Small World,” causing it to be shut down for nearly an hour. He could face charges of being under the influence of a controlled substance and indecent exposure.

California and Florida took starkly different approaches to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Data shows that more Floridians died per capita of COVID than did Californians.

State officials passed a 1,000-page document in July outlining new guidelines for teaching math in California. Funding has not been allocated, though the state superintendent intends to introduce legislation that could change this.

Seven times as many patients have been admitted to the trauma unit at UC San Diego Health since the Trump administration raised the height of the border wall to 30 feet in California. The hospital also notes that 23 people have died in falls from the wall since 2019.