It's a long way to the top, if you wanna rock ’n’ roll (or do journalism).
The theme for this issue of The Newsletter is incremental progress, told in two stories below.
The first is a blog post about new features we’ve recently rolled out on California Local—small improvements we hope enhance your experience.
The second is a Q&A with the co-founder of a “tiny newsroom” (and member of the California Local Media Alliance) who is using new tools to do old-fashioned accountability journalism.
Santa Cruz Local (no relation) started in 2019, and co-founder Kara Meyberg Guzman describes here the experience of starting a newsroom, surviving the pandemic, and now expanding.
California Local New Features
Our motto is Discover > Connect > Act, but with thousands of articles and government and community group directory listings in our database, and more being added every day, discovery of information and resources can be difficult, and connection less than convenient.
The good news is, we’ve been working on that.
Q&A With a Local Tiny Newsroom Founder
We’re privileged to work with a lot of local newsrooms, and going forward, we’re going to be spotlighting some of our fellow local journalists and the amazing work they do in communities across the state.
I recently interviewed Kara Meyberg Guzman, co-founder of a tiny newsroom named Santa Cruz Local in my home town on the Central California Coast. I’ve gushed about them before, and the Q&A below illuminates the effort and commitment to public service required to, in their words, “hold public officials to account.”
Get to Know a Group
Big Brother Big Sisters provides children facing adversity with strong, enduring, professionally supported mentorship. The organization believes that all children can achieve success when given the proper tools and resources—and volunteer mentors are among the most important of those resources.
→ Learn more
More than 300 people filled the Los Altos Community Center to celebrate the life of former mayor Roy Lave. Lave, who died June 22, began his longtime community involvement as a two-term council member in the 1970s and 1980s.
(09/26/2023) → Read the full Los Altos Town Crier report
A small number of wild birds have tested positive for West Nile virus in Redwood City, Menlo Park and other parts of San Mateo County, prompting authorities to ask the public to report any dead birds they encounter.
(09/26/2023) Palo Alto Online
Mountain View is looking to expand its park system with an ambitious plan that will bring more parks, trails and open spaces to the city, laying the groundwork to create what's called the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan.
(09/26/2023) Mountain View Voice
Newsroom employees at Embarcadero Media announced they are forming a union. The proposed Embarcadero Community News Guild includes reporters, editors, visual journalists and designers.
(09/26/2023) Palo Alto Online
San Jose spent $24 million in federal grants last year aimed at addressing homelessness. Of the more than 1,000 people experiencing homelessness that city-funded nonprofits reportedly connected with, less than 10% eventually transitioned into any type of housing.
(09/25/2023) San Jose Spotlight
Mayor Larry Klein in his State of the City address laid out plans for keeping Sunnyvale “happiest place in the U.S.” The speech was themed around Sunnyvale’s safety, diversity and distinctiveness.
(09/23/2023) San Jose Spotlight
Sukhdev Bainiwal said he has watched his Evergreen neighborhood deteriorate over the past 40 years. He believes he will be the one to change the district’s trajectory.
(09/22/2023) San Jose Spotlight
The construction of an inpatient psychiatric hospital that will serve Santa Clara County’s youngest residents is another step closer to becoming a reality.
(09/21/2023) Mountain View Voice
Eager to take advantage of new federal and state grants, Palo Alto is preparing to speed up its tortuous, decade-long effort to choose preferred alternatives for redesigning three rail crossings.
(09/21/2023) Palo Alto Online
Lifelong San Jose resident Olivia Navarro was on her deathbed last year when she realized she needed to change her life. While hospitalized from COVID-19, Navarro told herself if she recovered she would fulfill her high school dream of serving the community.
(09/20/2023) San Jose Spotlight
The city of Los Altos recently announced that the state accepted its plans for future housing growth. The housing element sets the stage for 1,958 new units over the next eight years.
(09/19/2023) Mountain View Voice
Survivors who were sexually assaulted while imprisoned got an audience at the state Capitol, sharing their stories while testifying at a California Legislative Women’s Caucus briefing about abuse by staff at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.
(09/26/2023) The Sacramento Observer
The $700 million price tag sets a $7 billion mark that would make the Warriors one of the world’s most valuable sports teams.
(09/22/2023) Daily Democrat
Work on a new annex, visitors center and underground parking garage can legally begin after the state issued a final, court-ordered review of the project. Plans have been on hold since early 2021.
(09/21/2023) CapPublicRadio
Companies set the original test dates arbitrarily due to these diagnostic at-home tests being developed rapidly. So, check your boxes before you toss them.
(09/21/2023) Daily Democrat
Outbreaks have wreaked havoc on the state’s river ecosystems for years. But this year was different. Faster, colder river waters led to fewer outbreaks of the harmful algae.
(09/20/2023) CapPublicRadio
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has identified nearly 500 “zones” that are ill-prepared to tolerate flooding, earthquakes, heat waves, wildfires, landslides and other natural hazards. California topped all states with 51 total zones, followed by 35 in Texas and 32 in Florida.
(09/19/2023) → Read the full The Mercury News report
