California Local Explainers, Guides, Etc.

The organization responsible for the GI Bill and Veterans Day continues to help service members, veterans, and their families.

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

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

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

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

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

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

What does it mean when firefighters call a fire "contained?" Here's a brief guide to commonly used fire prevention terminology.

Learn what's getting into Californians’ lungs and why it matters.

The total combined revenues and expenditures of California's 58 counties are astronomical. And getting astronomicaler every year.

Local democracy is a complex, expensive process. We explain.

Civil Grand Juries are a powerful means by which ordinary citizens investigate local governments and provide recommendations for improvement.

General Plans, mandated by the state and carried out by local counties, cities, and other municipalities, serve as a locality’s ‘constitution'.

True stories about how, at its best, California has resisted and pushed back against anti-democratic forces. The histories and policies, deeply human characters, and controversies that have led us to where we are today.

California has been home to many Asian American and Pacific Islanders who have transcended barriers and reshaped society, from education to advocacy, art to sports, politics, and beyond.

Like the 33 million acres of forest in California, the nearly 15 million units of housing in the state are tended and managed with future generations in mind. Meet the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

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.

We take a closer look at ambitious plans to build a new community of up to 400,000 residents in Solano County.

The California housing crisis is not only weakening the state politically at the national level, it could shift the political balance in Washington, D.C., as Republican-led states add population while California’s exodus continues.

A celebrated photographer reflects on the life that led to his first book, which captures a secret paradise in the heart of the San Francisco Peninsula.