Building Democracy in California

A proposed Sunnyvale housing development may be put on hold over concerns about exposure to cancerous chemicals.

A Silicon Valley developer is scaling back its plans for a massive and controversial development of offices, housing, retail, dining and park spaces on the site of the former Vallco Mall in Cupertino.

Over the impassioned pleas of orchard preservationists, the Los Altos City Council last week approved a new Los Altos main library expansion plan that will use space intended for a heritage apricot orchard.

Despite a recent uprising of residents calling for his job, Los Altos Hills Mayor Linda Swan said last week that Peter Pirnejad has the unanimous backing of the City Council and will continue to serve as city manager.

The majority of the Los Altos City Council agreed that going further in the process to determine the feasibility of such a partnership would involve too much staff time and perhaps cause more headaches when having to answer to a community with different priorities.

Former city manager Deanna Santana is threatening to sue Santa Clara, claiming that the city has failed to pay the compensation and benefits specified in her contract when she was dismissed in February 2022.

Environmentalists are urging San Jose leaders to reconsider plans for a new cemetery in Coyote Valley, claiming it will harm large swaths of natural habitats. 

The future of transportation arrived in San Jose via a conference centered on automated, sustainable forms of public transit for the region and beyond.

The Sunnyvale City Council voted 5-1 to discuss—at a future meeting—putting a property transfer tax on the November 2024 ballot.

A majority of Mountain View Whisman's school board expressed support at a meeting for electing Devon Conley as its president and Chris Chiang as vice president for the coming year, with a formal vote scheduled for next week.

Author and Palo Alto City Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims is considering jumping into the race succeed Rep. Anna Eshoo in the U.S. Congress.

A beaver that is recolonizing the Matadero Creek in Palo Alto was taken to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley after being spotted immobile in a pile of leaves, officials said.

Depending on whom you ask, the proposed high-rise development near the California Avenue Caltrain station is either an exemplar of smart urban planning or an affront to democracy.

Joby Bernstein is not a seasoned politician, but the Palo Alto resident believes his energy, enthusiasm and passion for investing and tackling climate change will serve him well in his next venture: running for Congress.

San Jose officials have signed off on plans for more than 900 apartments near a future BART station east of downtown.

Private company Brightline secured a $3 billion grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation toward a 218-mile high-speed rail line from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas. The line would allow people to make the trip to Sin City in a little over two hours.

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.