Conroy Pulls Within 1,857 Votes in WA-5 as Wong Faces Sentencing
Spokane Democrat Carmela Conroy trailed incumbent Republican Rep.
3 min read
Earlier stories
A closer look at the people, places and ideas shaping the Diablo Valley.
Search and community filters apply to these 50 stories in this part of the archive. Continue to earlier reporting below.
Civic life
Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan U.S. Senate as Ploger Takes Illinois Seat
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers by 7 percentage points with 97% of the vote counted in Michigan to become the…
3 min read
Record 17 States Elect Female Governors as Seattle Premieres Virtù
Voters in a record 17 states elected female governors in the 2026 midterms as 101 women won statewide office and 139 women were…
3 min read
Randy Villegas Leads District 22 Count as JetBlue Hikes Bag Fees
Democrat Randy Villegas took an early lead over six-term Republican incumbent Rep.
3 min read
Golden State Valkyries Celebrate WNBA Title in Oakland and Across Bay
The Golden State Valkyries celebrated their first WNBA championship on Wednesday with a rally in Oakland, a transbay ferry crossing,…
2 min read
Scott Wiener Leads 11th District by 15 Points as Union Square Opens
State Senator Scott Wiener declared victory over Supervisor Connie Chan after building a 15-point lead with 30% of ballots counted in…
3 min read
San Ramon Mayor Armstrong Leads With 76% as Lockheed Pays $29.5M
San Ramon Mayor Mark Armstrong led his reelection bid with 76.03% of the vote, or 13,576 votes, while Vice Mayor Marisol Rubio led…
3 min read
California Approves Proposition 3 School Tax as 3M Sets $7.35B Accord
California voters approved Proposition 3 with 59% of the vote to make a 12.3% income tax rate on top earners permanent, generating…
3 min read
Mountain View, Menlo Park, and Woodside Election Returns Tally
Early Mid-Peninsula election returns show Mountain View voters passing Measure F with 79.55% and Measure E with 71.53%, El Camino…
5 min read
Dow Surges Over 1,000 Points as Midterm Results Reshape Congress
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,009 points, or 1.9%, on Wednesday morning and rose 1,178 points, or 2.3%, in early trading…
4 min read
San Mateo Tops State at $2.27M Home Price and Passes Measures U & J
The California Association of Realtors’ Q3 2026 report ranked San Mateo County as California’s priciest housing market at a $2.27…
3 min read
Wiener Leads Chan and Lurie Charter Measures Pass in San Francisco
State Sen. Scott Wiener led Supervisor Connie Chan 55.4% to 44.6% (with 35% counted) to succeed Rep.
3 min read
Napa Master Gardeners Detail Monarch Habitat and El Niño Terracing
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County contributors Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall detailed how 12 California milkweed plants,…
2 min read
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Rep. Aisha Wahab Win in East Bay Vote
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee won a full 4-year term with 85% of early ballots and nearly 74% support for strong-mayor Measure EE while…
3 min read
Bay Area Passes BART and Muni Taxes as Valkyries Set Viewership Mark
Bay Area voters approved the 14-year, five-county Regional Measure RTM with 61.5% support (698,839 Yes to 437,799 No regionally,…
3 min read
Concord Passes Measure O and Kuslits Leads District 3 by 12 Votes
Contra Costa County’s election-night tally showed Robyn Kuslits leading Dena Acosta Beere by 12 votes (562 to 550, with Don Seta at…
3 min read
Walnut Creek Passes Measure T and Sets Nov. 15 Shadelands FallFest
Walnut Creek voters passed Measure T to make the city treasurer an appointed role and backed school board leaders Heidi Hernandez…
3 min read
California Passes Prop 3 and Rejects Props 39 and 40 in Midterms
California voters weighed 14 statewide propositions—approving Proposition 3 (59% to 41% to make permanent a 12.3% tax on individuals…
3 min read
Democrats Win House and Senate as Talarico, Jackson, and Governors Win
Democrats captured control of both the U.S. House (putting Hakeem Jeffries on track to become the first Black Speaker) and the U.S.
6 min read
Mountain View, Menlo Park, and Peninsula Cities Tally 2026 Elections
Peninsula and South Bay voters delivered decisive leads on Tuesday as IdaRose Sylvester (18.99%, 4,528 votes), Silja Paymer (15.66%,…
7 min read
Bay Area Tops CA Home Prices as Dow Jumps 1,178 Points and CVS Splits
The California Association of Realtors’ Q3 2026 report ranked San Mateo ($2.27 million median price, $578,400 required income, $14,460…
4 min read
Napa Master Gardeners Prep for Monarchs and El Niño Hillside Rain
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County contributors Cindy Watter and Melanie Marshall shared fall guides for planting 3-foot California…
4 min read
Concord District 3 Within 12 Votes as Measure O and CA Democrats Win
Contra Costa County’s election-night report showed Robyn Kuslits leading Dena Acosta Beere by 12 votes (562 to 550, with Don Seta at…
3 min read
California Rejects Prop. 40 Wealth Tax and Trails on Prop. 45 CEQA
California voters weighed 14 statewide ballot propositions on Tuesday, rejecting Proposition 40—a one-time 5% tax on roughly 200…
4 min read
Bay Area Passes Transit Taxes RTM and Prop. H as Sunset Dunes Wins
Bay Area voters approved the 5-county Regional Transit Measure (Proposition RTM) by 61.5% to 38.5% (698,839 to 437,799 votes) for a…
4 min read
Oakland Re-Elects Barbara Lee and Passes Measure EE in East Bay Vote
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee won a full 4-year term with 85% of early votes and nearly 74% support for strong-mayor Measure EE while Rep.
8 min read
Walnut Creek Passes Measure T as School Board Incumbents Lead
Preliminary Contra Costa County election returns show Walnut Creek voters approving Measure T by 60% to 40% (12,516 yes votes to 8,240…
3 min read
Indonesia Detains 3 Generals in Wiretap Probe as Brazil Passes Law
Indonesian police detained 3 senior police generals—including Presidential Chief of Staff Gen.
5 min read
AP Voter Poll Finds Young and Hispanic Voters Shifting to Democrats
The AP Voter Poll of 80,000 voters across all 50 states (margin of error 0.6 points) found 7 in 10 voters under 30 and 6 in 10…
4 min read
Contra Costa Airs Voter Forums as Magic of Lights Comes to Concord
Contra Costa Television, the Contra Costa Elections Department, and the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley partnered to broadcast…
3 min read
Officials Caution on ‘Red Mirage’ as 1,000 Poll Monitors Deploy
California election experts and Protect Democracy’s Ben Gips cautioned voters that initial "red mirage" leads reflect early Republican…
3 min read
Becerra Elected Governor as California Takes $1.4B for Broadband
The Associated Press called California’s 2026 gubernatorial election for Democrat Xavier Becerra over Republican Steve…
3 min read
Volunteers Restore Native Olympia Oysters Across San Francisco Bay
The nonprofit Wild Oyster Project, founded in 2016 by environmentalist Linda Hunter and led by executive director Giulio Salerno, now…
3 min read
Berkeley Author Ayelet Waldman Explores Feminist History in New Novel
Berkeley author Ayelet Waldman’s 19th-century historical novel A Perfect Hand, published May 19, 2026, by Knopf (a division of Penguin…
3 min read
Alameda County Sets Vote Schedule as Emeryville Weighs Measure BB
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters outlined its November 3 election night release schedule after 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. plus 5…
3 min read
SF One-Bedroom Rent Hits $4,430 as BART Preps for Valkyries Parade
Zumper data shows San Francisco median monthly rent reaching a record $4,430 for a 1-bedroom apartment and topping $6,000 for a…
3 min read
Ballistic Ventures Seeks $490M as ILC Dover Pays $13M Cyber Fine
San Francisco cybersecurity venture firm Ballistic Ventures filed to raise $490 million across a $360 million third flagship fund and…
4 min read
Citizen Lab Wins IRTF Prize in SF as Europe Counters Cyber Threats
Citizen Lab and Princeton researchers won the IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize—to be presented at IETF-127 in San Francisco from…
5 min read
Polls Close in Key States as Senate Tossups and 2027 Aid Shift Loom
Vote counting began in Indiana and eastern Kentucky on Tuesday ahead of 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 8 p.m.
5 min read
Scientists Track 1,750 Monarch Butterflies With Solar Radio Tags
A tri-national science team including National Wildlife Federation senior scientist Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón and the Xerces Society has…
3 min read
Californians Vote on 8 Statewide Offices as 9th Circuit Backs Ballots
Californians are electing 8 statewide constitutional offices on Tuesday, November 3—including Attorney General, Insurance…
3 min read
Voters Weigh Prop. 3 School Tax and Prop. 38 as Google Revises K-12 AI
California voters are deciding Proposition 3—making permanent a 12.3% income tax on individuals earning over $371,000 and couples over…
4 min read
Voters Decide Prop. 45 CEQA Limits, Prop. 44, and Wealth Tax
Campaign spending across California’s 14 statewide ballot propositions has reached nearly $1 billion on Tuesday, led by Proposition…
4 min read
Bay Area Voters Weigh Five-County Transit Tax as Turnout Surges
Voters across 5 Bay Area counties are deciding the 14-year Regional Transit Measure to fund more than 20 transit agencies carrying…
5 min read
Things to do
Global Peace Forum Examines AI Risks as Paxton Clears 4.95-MW Solar
Norway House in Minneapolis will host the inaugural Global Peace Forum on November 19, 2026, with Thomas Friedman examining artificial…
4 min read
OpenAI Buys Pierre as Meta Acquires Conductor and Apple Tests Siri
OpenAI announced plans to acquire Git tooling maker Pierre Computer Company, rolled out Images 2.6 animated GIF creation across…
3 min read
OpenAI Expands Daybreak Red and Buys Pierre Amid APT29 and CISA Alerts
OpenAI launched Daybreak Red with GPT-5.6 Cyber in AWS GovCloud (US-East) and announced the acquisition of Pierre Computer Company as…
6 min read
Anthropic Unveils FlashProve as AI Data Centers Deploy Jet Turbines
Anthropic introduced FlashProve, an open-source cryptographic system for provable AI inference without exposing private model weights,…
4 min read