Statewide Region Local News: Business, Economy & Jobs


All Local Business, Economy & Jobs News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: Long-duration energy storage, such as this thermal energy storage facility, allows renewable energy sources to operate at full capacity without overloading the power grid.
How California Leads the Race For Long Duration Energy Storage

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.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

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.

Image caption: Zoning laws tell you what you can and can't build on the property you own. How does government get away with that?
How Zoning Laws Shape California and Society

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 …

Image caption: They help feed the whole country, but life for California’s farm workers remains a struggle.
How California Feeds the Country

California stands as America’s agricultural powerhouse, growing half of its fruits and vegetables. Here’s how California farming has shaped the state, from the early missions to today’s “factories in the field.”

Image caption: Though life expectancy has declined in recent years, Californians still live longer than most Americans.
Want to Live a Long, Healthy Life? Move to California

Life expectancy in California exceeds all but three other states, but how long you live depends on which county you live in. They're not all equal. Why? The answer may lie in political policies.

Image caption: Owning homes is the primary way the middle class builds wealth, and an option no longer available to most Californians.
Is California’s Housing Crisis Making Inequality Worse?

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

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

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.

Image caption: Thousands of homeowners have been kicked off their fire insurance policies.
California Fire Insurance Crisis: How the State Helps Homeowners

As California insurance companies have revoked the fire policies of thousands of homeowners, the state has taken steps to get them covered again.

Image caption: The cycle of crime and homelessness is escalating, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Homelessness and Crime in California: Even More Complex Than You Think

The links between homelessness and crime are complex, and the idea that unhoused individuals present a danger to their community seems to be exaggerated.

Image caption: Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained

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.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/25/2024
After years of delay, a new California regulation to protect indoor workers from extreme heat is now in effect.

California Local Pin Marker From Local News Matters...

07/24/2024
California Forever’s announcement July 22 that it has decided to pull a ballot measure that would have let voters decide on a controversial planned city in rural Solano County drew swift reaction from political leaders and opponents.

California Local Pin Marker From SF Gate...

07/22/2024
On July 22, California Forever announced it was withdrawing its initiative to amend the Solano County General Plan off the November ballot and would instead begin working with the county through the normal, though less expeditious, process.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/19/2024
A judge has halted a union effort at the Wonderful Company, throwing into question a new state law designed to make it easier for agricultural workers to organize.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/16/2024
California courts have long upheld below-minimum wage pay for prison inmates working a wide range of jobs. A 2024 ballot measure that would ban forced labor could alter those decisions.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/12/2024
A mother picks up her son from daycare in Richmond on Sept. 26, 2022. Photo by Marissa Leshnov for CalMatters

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/08/2024
Private-sector jobs in California have declined since their post-pandemic peak, while public-sector employment has shown gains, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/08/2024
A program for low-income, first-generation STEM students at community colleges is receiving millions of dollars to expand across the state.

California Local Pin Marker From The Mercury News...

06/20/2024
On June 19, California YIMBY announced support for the California Forever project going to the Solano County ballot in November.

California Local Pin Marker From CapPublicRadio...

06/11/2024
On June 11, Solano County elections officials announced the verification of necessary signatures for the California Forever sponsored initiative to amend the county General Plan to be on the November ballot.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

06/06/2024
A panel of labor experts at the CalMatters Ideas Festival say California workers should have more access to more apprenticeships that pay more. Barriers still exist, especially for women and low-income Californians.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/27/2024
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, flew more 6,000 miles to Rome this month to deliver a brief speech on climate change at a Vatican-sponsored conference.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/16/2024
As Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators spend the next few weeks fashioning a state budget that’s plagued by a multibillion-dollar deficit, they can’t count on a booming economy to make their task easier.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

05/05/2024
Image for display with article titled California Forever CEO on Democracy and City Planning

Jan Sramek disavows techno-libertarian 'Network State,' explains why master-planned cities are All-American, and talks of his love for walkable communities.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/04/2024
More than half of the U.S. House supports a bill to extend the funds, but it can’t get out of committee.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

04/30/2024
Image for display with article titled Is the ‘California Exodus’ Over?

Despite predictions that the party on the West Coast is winding down, California’s population increased last year for the first time since 2020.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

04/29/2024
During the much-ballyhooed “California exodus” amid the pandemic, remote workers moved to other states where they could live for a fraction of the cost compared to cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/26/2024
A bill to rein in a proposed monthly fee on California electric bills would let California’s largest for-profit utility companies charge customers $24 per month — with fees as low as $6 for lower-income customers — as a kind of membership fee for the power grid.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/18/2024
The California Public Utilities Commission will consider on May 9 a new proposal that would change how Californians pay for electricity.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

04/15/2024
Image for display with article titled How California Helped Clean China’s Bad Air

A Tesla lobbyist, an LA-based environmental group, and Gov. Jerry Brown brought a rule minted in Sacramento to Beijing, and helped launch China’s EV industry.

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