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Valley Water working to reduce methylmercury (toxins) in local waterways
For more than 15 years, Valley Water has measured mercury levels in reservoirs and creeks in the Guadalupe River Watershed and studied ways to reduce the metal’s harmful impacts. Parts of the Guad...
Lauren's House
Listed under: Education Families & Children Homelessness Community Service & Support
Heat pumps, an energy-efficient way to both heat and cool homes, are a necessary element of California's climate goal of net zero carbon emissions. Here's what they are, how they work, and how to get one.
The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.
The California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, is both the state’s signature environmental legislation, and is also often named as the villain in the state’s housing shortage. But the story may not be that simple.
How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.
Long-duration energy storage is essential if renewables are to become the basis for a future, carbon-neutral power grid. Here's how California is leading the race to store energy from solar, wind, and other clean sources for use whenever it's needed.
Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work …
What is the California Coastal Commission? How one of the state’s most powerful agency protects public access to the state’s scenic coast from Mexico to Oregon.
This year, a series of extreme events in California and around the country have wreaked havoc, driven by climate change. How prepared are we for things to get worse?
Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.
California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.
Zoning laws determine what can be built and where. These laws have shaped California, but are they really just tools for social engineering? The history of zoning is closely tied to racial segregation, as well as the state's shortage of …
The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.
California has some of the worst economic inequality in the United States. Is the housing crisis a cause?
Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.
How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.
The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the railroads to today’s highways, making the need for planning increasingly urgent. Here’s how it all happened, and where we stand today.
Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.
California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.
Community service districts can do most anything a city government can do. Here’s how they work and how to start one.
The pesky mosquito can be deadly as well as annoying. Here’s how local governments in California have been waging war on mosquitoes for more than a century.
What do resource conservation districts protect? Pretty much everything that’s worth saving.
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.
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.
How California's extensive public school system is organized and managed, explained.
From California Local...
A bill from a member of the Legislature’s happiness committee would require schools to come up with homework policies that consider the strain on students.
From Los Angeles Times...
From San Jose Spotlight...
A homeless housing project is coming to South San Jose, and city officials want to clear the area of unsheltered encampments before it's built.
BART’s expansion through Silicon Valley is taking shape as pre-construction work gets underway in Santa Clara.
From The Mercury News...
From Los Altos Town Crier...
From Palo Alto Online...
From San Jose Inside...
More than 10,000 comments submitted to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voice concerns about proposed open-pit mine at Juristac’s sacred tribal land.
San Jose councilmembers are supposed show who they’re meeting with behind closed doors — but their public calendars lack vital details and skirt the spirit of transparency.
From Mountain View Voice...
Cupertino officials are about to implement some of the largest cuts to city services residents have ever seen, as the city works to balance its budget in the face of a multimillion-dollar deficit.
Eddie Aubrey, currently working with the Richmond Police Department, has been investigating police misconduct since 2016
Los Gatos’ famous poles with orange netting and flags are a thing of the past on some development projects in town.
Santa Clara County leaders are calling on state officials to stop a for-profit hospital from closing one of the county’s only trauma centers.
From Morgan Hill Times...
Morgan Hill is set to receive more than $2 million from the federal government to help with local projects that are intended to improve transportation efficiency and safety in the coming years.
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