Santa Clara County Explainer Articles

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic legislators have enacted a sweeping new package of police reform legislation. Here’s what the new laws will accomplish, and why.

The state’s largest power utility faced new criminal charges Sept. 24, but PG&E has a long and disturbing history of causing wildfires. Why? And how can the company change?

Residential wells are drying up in the state’s main agricultural region at the same time that agricultural businesses consume almost 90 percent of the water there.

Even as California’s wildfires grow more intense seemingly every year, insurers are cancelling policies for homeowners in the path of the fires.

California will soon add a new emergency hotline service with the number 988. Here’s the story behind that new service, and the original 911 number.

How does the water you drink and use for washing and every other function get to you in Santa Clara County? Here's how the counties various water districts work.

Cumbersome state bureaucracy and competition from their illegal counterparts has made life perilous for California’s nascent legal cannabis businesses.

Since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, states have possessed broad authority to protect public health, even to suspend laws and commandeer private property. Here’s why, and how it works.

Noise is a form of pollution that threatens public health like any other type of environmental pollution. Here's what federal, state and local governments are doing to quiet things down.

What’s a LAFCO? That’s the odd-sounding acronym for the independent boards that get a grip on suburban sprawl and government inefficiency.

Under California law, local governments may work together in a "Joint Powers Authority." But these little-known agencies can wield broad powers—even to levy taxes—with little public accountability.

The state of California, as well as some local governments, will soon require all public employees to be vaccinated against COVID. Here’s why they’re taking that step.

AB 1185, authorizing civilian sheriff's oversight bodies, was one of the few law enforcement reform bills to pass in the wake of the George Floyd protests. What does the law accomplish, and will it make a difference?

Climate scientists say that global warming is making wildfire season much worse. Here's how climate change causes fires to be more destructive.

California's recall system for public officials was originally intended to root out corruption, but it quickly took on a different use.

California‘s veterans are as varied as the nations in which they served—a tapestry of different educational levels, professions, and life experiences. And they all deserve our respect and support.

At hundreds of Stand Down events throughout California, veterans agencies and organizations come together to deliver life’s necessities.

How California's extensive public school system is organized and managed, explained.

California has gone from one library to more than 1,100 in the last 171 years.

Grand jurors investigate criminal felonies, but also the functions of government itself.