San Benito County Local History News Articles and Digest

Art & Culture Public Safety History Crime & Justice Government

American Graffiti is Back: Cruising Now Legal Again in California, But So Are Speed Cameras

12/27/2023
Under new state laws, five cities will test cameras to catch speeding drivers and cruising bans will be lifted statewide. The first is supposed to improve road safety, but critics of the second say it will endanger the public.

From CalMatters...

Art & Culture History Community Service & Support Government

California Presses Universities to Return Thousands of Native American Remains and Artifacts to Local Tribes

12/25/2023
State audits of the University of California and the California State University found both systems have failed to comply with decades-old state and federal laws mandating the return of Native ancestral remains and cultural artifacts. Only UCLA and Cal State Long Beach have returned a majority of their collections.

From SFGate...

Environment Land Use & Development Water History

Tribe Acquires Vast Land in Northern California, Will Remove Dams

12/21/2023
The Hoopa Valley Tribe announced it is acquiring about 10,000 acres of land in Northern California for $14.1 million. As part of this, the tribe will remove dams along the Klamath River and restore salmon runs.

From Benito Link...

Land Use & Development History City of San Juan Bautista

San Juan Bautista Gas Station Design Reconsidered at Planning Workshop

12/17/2023
Complications facing the architects of the new gas station to be built at the Alameda and Hwy 156 seems to be finally leading to approval by the San Juan Bautista Planning Commission.

From The New York Times...

Water History Sustainability

Who Gets the Water in California? Whoever Gets There First.

12/14/2023
Water fights have shaped California since its infancy as a state, when its abundance seemed limitless. Now, Californians are being forced to confront limitations, and the state that prides itself on creating the future is now reckoning with its past.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Homelessness History Community Service & Support Government

The State of California’s Homelessness Crisis, Updated for 2023

12/11/2023
Image for display with article titled California’s Homelessness Crisis Updated: Here’s Where It Stands Now

Updated data for 2022 and 2023 shows that California’s homeless population is only getting larger.

From SFGate...

Land Use & Development History

Native American Tribe to Get Back 40 Acres of Land from State

12/06/2023
The Fort Independence Indian Community is getting the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at no cost in 2024. Native Americans had lived on this land for centuries before the hatchery’s construction.

From CalMatters...

COVID-19 Elections & Politics History Government

California vs. Florida: Need-to-Know Facts About the Rival States Ahead of Newsom-DeSantis Showdown

11/28/2023
Political wonks in California, Florida and maybe a few states in between, will be glued to their screens Thursday night to watch Gov. Gavin Newsom and Gov. Ron Desantis square off in a highly-anticipated Blue vs. Red State debate that’s been brewing since the summer.

From SFGate...

History

Hundreds to Gather at Alcatraz at Sunrise on Thanksgiving

11/22/2023
Hundreds of people are expected at Alcatraz on Thanksgiving morning to commemorate Native Americans occupying the island from 1969-71. The event is known as the Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Gathering.

From Benito Link...

Art & Culture History El Teatro Campesino

El Teatro Campesino Stage Manager Milt Commons Dies at 96

11/17/2023
The longtime stage manager and associate of San Juan Bautista’s El Teatro Campesino was respected for his work in Teatro founder Luis Valdez’s landmark play “Zoot Suit,” as well as “La Pastorela” and “La Virgen de Tepeyac.”

From Sacramento Bee...

History State of California

Capitol Gets its First Monument to California’s Indigenous Population

11/07/2023
A statue of Miwok elder William J. Franklin has been installed on California State Capitol grounds. The monument replaces a statue of Father Junípero Serra, which protestors toppled in 2020.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Business, Economy & Jobs Environment Health Transportation History

Daylight Saving Time, Explained

11/04/2023
Image for display with article titled Daylight Saving Time, Explained: California Voted for Year-Round DST. Why Do We Still Set Back the Clock?

In 2018, California voted to ditch the twice-annual time shift. But the state still has it. Here’s why.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Education History Government

Affirmative Action: How SCOTUS Decision Changes College Admissions

11/03/2023
Image for display with article titled SCOTUS Ended Affirmative Action and the Decision is Changing How Students Pick Colleges

California has banned affirmative action for three decades, but SCOTUS ruling also affects private universities

From ProPublica...

Education History

UC Berkeley to Relinquish More Than 4,000 Ancestral Remains

11/03/2023
Tribes like the Muwekma Ohlone have been asking UC Berkeley for decades to give back ancestral remains from burial sites around the Bay Area. The school is in the process of repatriating 4,400 remains and 25,000 tribal items.

From New York Times...

Art & Culture History

Remembering Robert Irwin: Influential Artist Dies at 95

10/30/2023
Robert Irwin, an artist and MacArthur genius grant recipient, died in San Diego at 95 on Oct. 25. Michael Govan, who heads the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, offers a colorful retrospective on Irwin's work.

From MiceChat...

Parks & Recreation History

Two Disneyland Voices Are Moving On

10/27/2023
Camille Dixon, the announcer for Disney California Adventure, and her husband, Bill Rogers, the voice of Disneyland, are moving on from this work. They have been at the parks for more than 40 years combined.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Public Safety History Crime & Justice Government

California Gun Control Laws and Mass Shootings

10/26/2023
Image for display with article titled California Gun Control Laws: Mass Shootings Have Sparked New Legislation for Three Decades

How a series of mass shootings has made California the toughest gun control state in the nation.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Elections & Politics History Government

Trump Aside, California GOP Now Embraces ‘Ballot Harvesting’

10/18/2023
Image for display with article titled Breaking With Trump, California Republicans Go All-In on ‘Ballot Harvesting’

Desperate to win elections, state’s GOP embraces voting practices decried by former president as fraudulent.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Environment Elections & Politics History Government

Dianne Feinstein Dies, ‘Charted Own Path’ in Legendary Career

09/29/2023
Image for display with article titled Dianne Feinstein Dies at 90. ‘Charted Her Own Path’ in a Career Born in the Political Violence of the ’70s

Image for display with article titled Dianne Feinstein Dies at 90. ‘Charted Her Own Path’ in a Career Born in the Political Violence of the ’70s

The longest-serving California senator had a legendary political career spanning seven decades.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Art & Culture Education History Government

New California Bill Slaps Back at School Book Bans

09/11/2023
Image for display with article titled California Slaps Back at School Book Bans, Bill Expands Teaching About State’s Diversity

But School Boards Association says bill could further inflame tensions between state and local districts

San Benito County Local News: History