Santa Clara County Explainer Articles

State of Jefferson may be the best-known secessionist movement, but starting before California became a state, there have been at lest 220 efforts to divide the state into two pieces, or even more.

The State of Jefferson is a movement by northern counties to secede from California and form a new state. It started in 1941, and remains strong today. But it such a drastic move even possible? Here's everything you need to …

On March 10, the Pajaro River flooded the small agricultural town on its banks. Professor Dustin Mulvaney traces the turbulent history of the Central Coast’s second largest watershed.

2023’s torrential rainstorms have eased California's drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to drought than the amount of rain, and this drought isn't over yet.

In a time of unprecedented polarization, Braver Angels encourages citizens to do something completely revolutionary: listen to each other.

Shopping malls revolutionized how Americans shopped, socialized, and lived. Now, malls face an uncertain future. How did the dream of a new town square go so wrong?

America has become a mostly suburban country, and California is known for its sprawling ’burbs. But what is a suburb? It turns out California may not be as suburban as people believe.

Silicon Valley has been hit with repeated boom and bust cycles throughout its history, and layoffs are sweeping the tech industry in 2023. Here's why the Valley will survive the latest downturn, as it has all the others.

Google may be forced to sell off its $200 billion online advertising service if a new lawsuit by the federal Department of Justice claiming that Google acts as a monopoly succeeds.

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are 5 "honorable mentions" in the list of our most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from animal welfare to the …

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are our 10 most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from immigration to cryptocurrency to wealth inequality and more.

From its early days of hard-charging, Jewish immigrant moguls to today's domination by megacorporations, here's how Hollywood continues to hold its place as one of California's most important industries.

California is the most American of all states, both setting the direction for the rest of the country, and acting as a mirror of what the U.S. is today. Here's why, and how it got that way.

Amoxicillin, the most widely prescribed antibiotic, is suddenly in short supply just as a wave of respiratory illnesses is sweeping California. What is causing the sudden shortage?

Proposition 13, the popular tax reform law passed in 1978, has driven increases in economic inequality and racial wealth disparities in California. Here’s how.

California's government was born out of utter chaos. Here's how the state developed some sort of order to the way it operates, and how it makes and enforces laws.

California is full of places and communities, but most are not cities. Here's what it takes for a community to become a city, the benefits of being one—and why the state has a 'de facto moratorium' on new cities.

Billionaires now own Twitter, Facebook and numerous other online and offline media outlets. But there are other information sources not run by the super-rich. We've found a few and listed them here.

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

Palo Alto voters will vote on seven statewide props and two local measures this election.