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Proposed Health Care District Gets Financial Boost, Lawmakers’ Help
The Central California Alliance for Health has provided a $3 million grant to Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project to help purchase Watsonville Community Hospital.
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Potential lawsuit could tie UC Santa Cruz growth to campus housing
Other court cases stall student housing.
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Key Community Hero Retires
Valley Churches United has helped members of the San Lorenzo Valley community since 1985, providing financial support, a plentiful food pantry and kindness.

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BLOG
Welcome to California Local (Beta)
Thank you for finding California Local. This is what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it.

Image caption: California has tried to pass single-payer health plans before. Is 2022 the year it happens?
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Single-Payer Healthcare: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Single-payer healthcare may be the most-discussed but least-understood form of medical coverage. Here’s what you need to know as California considers a new bill for publicly funded universal insurance.

Image caption: Connections make the network.
BLOG
Find the Others
An exploration into the mechanisms and uses of the attention traps purposefully designed into digital platforms, and the importance of our real life relationships in countering manipulation.

Image caption: Trump supporters are seen in the NY Times video “Days of Rage” attacking police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. About 140 officers received injuries ranging from lacerations to concussions, rib fractures and chemical burns.
BLOG
The Big Lie, and the Epiphany that Didn’t Happen
I hoped the events of Jan. 6, 2021, would put an end to the Big Lie—that the election of 2020 was bogus. But on Jan. 6, 2022, the Big Lie got even bigger.

Image caption: It’s good to know traffic and weather conditions before you hit the road.
BLOG
Accurate Traffic Information Is Vital
We take a look under the hood of California Local’s Traffic and Transportation portal, which provides comprehensive information on local road and traffic conditions, current CHP incidents and traffic congestion hot spots.

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PG&E to Hold Meeting on CZU Fire Wood Removal Program
The San Lorenzo Valley Post published details on a Jan. 12 meeting for homeowners affected by wood debris left behind by PG&E after the 2020 CZU Fire.

Image caption: New Year's Day has been a time for celebration for at least 4,000 years.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Happy New Year, Explained
New Year's celebrations have been around as long as civilization itself. Here's how they started and how California marks the New Year today.

Image caption: California is taking at least small steps to reform the county sheriffs system.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
The Trouble With Sheriffs
Though they are elected officials, county sheriffs have less accountability than any other law enforcement officials. Here's why, and what California is doing about it.

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Santa Cruz County Cities Develop Cannabis Equity Programs
'Good Times Santa Cruz' reports that Watsonville and Santa Cruz are trying to ease barriers for entry into the cannabis industry for women and minorities.

Image caption: Supercell storms are just one of many weather phenomena in the era of climate change.
STATEWIDE LOCALIST
The New Vocabulary of the Climate Change Era
The climate change era has created a whole new set of terms for a wide variety of storms and other weather phenomena. Here are some of the most important.

Image caption: SB 35 aims to make it easier for developers to build projects that include significant amounts of affordable housing units.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
SB35, California’s Key Affordable Housing Law, Explained
SB 35 is one of California’s most important affordable housing laws. Here’s what it does, and a look at how well it’s working.

Image caption: Why are homicides on the rise in California? There are several plausible theories.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
What Drove Homicide Rates Up?
California homicide spiked by 31 percent in 2020. The shocking increase has continued into 2021. Here are several theories that attempt to explain the state’s suddenly rising murder rate.

Image caption: Despite a new law, leaf blowers may not be going away anytime soon.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Is California’s New Leaf Blower Ban Really a Ban?
California has a new law to ban leaf blowers, which both annoy neighbors and pollute the air. Here’s why the law might not do enough, explained.

Image caption: California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Voting Rites
California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.

Image caption: Stacy Caldwell, right, says the annual Give Back Tahoe campaign has become a “collective giving engine.”
STATEWIDE INTERVIEW
Give Back Tahoe’s Biggest Season
A conversation with Stacy Caldwell, CEO of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation.

Image caption: The Omicron variant spreads twice as fast as the highly contagious Delta variant.
STATEWIDE NEWS & ANALYSIS
What is ‘Omicron,’ and What’s California Doing About it?
Omicron is a new variant of the COVID-causing coronavirus that has now arrived in California and is causing fears of a new pandemic wave. What is it? Why are people so worried? And what, if anything, is California doing to …

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Getting to Yes
In which we ponder how to make things better in a climate of no.

Image caption: More than one in 20 California students attend school in Santa Cruz County.
EXPLAINER
Santa Cruz County’s School System, Explained
Santa Cruz County has more than 40,000 students enrolled in its 10 school districts, about 6 percent of all students in the state. Here’s how the school system works, and how it’s grown since its earliest days.

Image caption: Access to abortion in California is limited in many areas, though state laws protect a woman’s right to choose.
STATEWIDE EXPLAINER
Abortion Rights in California, Explained
California has historically been ahead of the rest of the country in expanding the legal right to abortion services. Here’s what state laws say today, and how we got here.

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STATEWIDE LOCALIST
How Not to Feel the Burn
California residents can turn to these public and private entities to help prepare for wildfires and protect their property.

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