All Statewide Region Articles


All articles shown on the County Overview. (More in Topics)

Image caption: A sign for the Rotary Summit Center in San Jose, California.
Doing Good: Rotary International

The first service club is over 100 years old and still doing good in the world.

Image caption: Rotarians fete foreign diplomats, Washington, D.C.,  February 24, 1937,  On the left and right are the presidents of two local Rotary clubs, along with the ambassadors of Russia, Italy and Germany.
Meet the Radical Rotarians

An international network of business leaders are working to build local alliances and solve global problems.

Image caption: The California Treasurer's Office
Billions in Bonds on Your Ballot

Californians are being asked to approve two bond measures totaling $20 billion in the election now underway. What does that mean, and how does it work? Find out here.

Image caption: Municipal bonds built the Redwood Shores water treatment plant in Redwood City, California.
How California Governments Borrow Money

Municipal bonds fund water systems, school buildings, parks, police stations and other public projects that require voter-approved money.

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Ballots Are in the Mail: It's Democracy Week

As voters receive their ballots for the 2024 presidential election and important statewide and local races, we look at efforts to build democracy, and efforts to weaken it.

Image caption: A portrait of the first Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters in Chicago in 1920.
Doing Good: The League of Women Voters

The decades of work to win the right to vote for women was only the beginning.

Image caption: Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., a staunch defender of voting rights.
The Attack on the Popular Vote

In more than 30 states, it’s harder than ever to vote this year. But in California, it’s never been easier.

Image caption: Sign for  Baliuag Lodge No. 301 - Soroptimist International (Pan-Philippine Highway, San Rafael, Bulacan)
Doing Good: Soroptimist International

Making a better world for women and preparing women to make a better world.

Image caption: Welcome to town. Here's how you can pitch in!
The Changing Nature of Doing Good

The legacy of ‘service clubs’ such as Soroptomists and Rotary lives on in a new generation of social clubs and volunteer organizations.

Image caption: A road in Florida flooded by the massive rains brought by Hurricane Helene.
A History of Mutual Aid

Volunteering and looking out for one another is central to community life.

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How We Helped Create a National Monument

A spectacular piece of land north of Santa Cruz shows what a determined group of people, with the help of a tenacious little media company, can do.

Image caption: The author, left, with Hilltromper Managing Director Mike Kahn at the Cotoni Coast Dairies National Monument.
A Collective, Monumental Effort

The Cotoni Coast Dairies National Monument, just north of Santa Cruz, brought a community together.

Image caption: Loch Lomond, the reservoir that supplies the city of Santa Cruz with a significant portion of its drinking water, is also a beautiful recreational and natural resource.
Dams and Reservoirs: Up and Down

California's first big reservoir project in decades is underway, as the state finally gets rid of some old dams. Environmental responsibility meets aridification.

Image caption: Tens of thousands of truck loads of earth will be moved to raise the B.F. Sisk Dam by ten feet.
The Ups and Downs of California Dams

We check in on efforts to raise some dams in the state to store more water, and to raze some dams to to let water run free.

Image caption: Democracy is all about having a seat at the table.
The Simmering California Public Service Crisis

What happens if you have a democracy and nobody shows up?

Image caption: Democracy works better when more people actively participate.
Building a Civic Engagement Pipeline

We look at one of many local efforts to cultivate the local civic engagement talent pool.

Image caption: The council chambers in Santa Cruz City Hall has been the scene of countless heated political battles, and at least one melee.
It Takes a Village to Run a Village: Developing Leadership

As some municipalities struggle to find people to run for elected offices and advisory boards, we look at the civic engagement pipeline.

Image caption: A relaxing nap can be a good way to spend the holiday which honors workers.
Happy Labor Day to All Who Celebrate

In which we salute the hard workers who make California the fifth largest economy on the planet.

Image caption: Many hands make the community bloom.
Cultivating Civic Engagement

Things bloom best when people get their hands dirty.