Civic life
Local reporting. The people, places and decisions behind the headlines.
Search and community filters apply to these 50 stories in this part of the archive. Continue to earlier reporting below.
Civic life
SJSU Unveils Filipino History Mural; NASA Ames Tests Artemis Lander
San Jose State University unveiled a $100,000 mural honoring Filipino American history, NASA Ames researchers in Mountain View…
5 min read
SF Launches District 5 Grocery Pilot as Startup Fragment Raises $56M
San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced a privately funded District 5 bulk grocery pilot for 600 residents, local AI startup…
3 min read
Napa Valley Book Festival Sets 50+ Author Lineup at Blue Oak Nov. 14
Napa Valley Writers will host more than 50 authors including Rex Pickett and Tom Stienstra at Blue Oak School on Nov. 14, while Napa…
3 min read
Bay Area Sees 25 Data Center Proposals; Huffman Probes Public Lands
At least 25 new or expanded data center proposals surfaced across 10 Bay Area cities including Pittsburg, Oakley, and Brentwood…
3 min read
Contra Costa Opens 5 Regional Early Voting Sites and 43 Drop Boxes
Contra Costa County opened five regional early voting centers and its Martinez Elections Office ahead of the Nov. 3 election, while…
3 min read
Walnut Creek Rudgear Park Pickleball Noise Dispute Enters Year 4
A multi-year legal dispute between Dapplegray Lane homeowners and the City of Walnut Creek over eight pickleball courts at Rudgear…
3 min read
Bay Tides Peak +1.9 Ft Friday With Slight Halloween Rain Chance
The National Weather Service forecasts high tide at San Francisco to reach 1.9 feet above normal at 2:39 p.m.
4 min read
Menlo Park Candidate Builds 3D Housing Map as Gilroy Reviews Policy
Menlo Park District 1 council candidate Wonman Lee launched an interactive 3D simulator modeling the city’s 2,946-unit housing…
3 min read
Alameda Filings Detail Vella’s EdTech Donors as APD Makes Arrest
Campaign disclosures show Alameda mayoral candidate Malia Vella received a $5,900 maximum donation from Amira Learning co-chair…
4 min read
Sutter Drops Emeryville Hospital Plan as Oakland Weighs Park Sale
Sutter Health abandoned plans for a 17-story, 325-bed hospital in Emeryville in favor of an outpatient campus citing CEQA uncertainty,…
3 min read
Contra Costa Weighs Replacing Stolen $24,923 Check Amid Flood Watch
Contra Costa County supervisors will vote Nov. 3 on a $24,923.93 replacement payment after a check to Partners in Communication LLC…
2 min read
DOJ Subpoenas CA Election Workers as Legislative Spend Tops $128M
Federal prosecutors issued grand jury subpoenas to at least four California election officials after Judge David O.
6 min read
SF Prop. B Public Bank Study Projects 6,000 Homes as Warriors Surge
A Climate and Community Institute report models 1,000 10-year simulations showing San Francisco’s Proposition B public bank could…
5 min read
Santa Clara County Leads U.S. in EV Adoption as Bay Area Sweeps Top 5
Santa Clara County leads the nation with about 24% of households driving at least one electric vehicle as Bay Area counties sweep the…
4 min read
Napa Fire Conducts 90-Acre Burn as Prop. 40 Opponents Spend $50M
Napa County Fire and Cal Fire completed a 90-acre prescribed burn near Soda Canyon Road in east Napa, while opponents of California’s…
4 min read
Key Witness Set for Day 11 of Oakland Trial as Parishioners Protest
Cooperating witness Mario Juarez is scheduled to take the stand Friday on Day 11 of Oakland’s federal public corruption trial after…
4 min read
UC Berkeley In-State Cost Hits $54,674 as District 4 Candidates Debate
UC Berkeley listed an all-in 2026-27 estimated cost of $54,674 for new in-state students living on campus, while District 4 council…
5 min read
Contra Costa Seeks MLK Humanitarian Nominees as Delta Plan Passes
Contra Costa County opened nominations for its 49th Annual Humanitarian of the Year awards ahead of a January 19, 2027 ceremony in…
4 min read
Bay Area High Tides Hit +1.9 Ft as SF Opens Chinatown Special School
Across the Bay Area on Oct. 29, 2026, high tides running 1.9 feet above normal triggered a Bay shoreline Coastal Flood Advisory…
5 min read
58% in Bay Area Poll Can’t Afford Kids as Prop 40 Fight Tops Ballot
Across the Bay Area on Oct. 29, 2026, a Joint Venture Silicon Valley and Bay Area News Group poll of 1,800 childless adults under 50…
6 min read
Berkeley Weighs Measure X 10% Rent Cap as Oakland Fire Deal Advances
Across Alameda County on Oct.
3 min read
Ziggy Marley Headlines Sold-Out Nov. 7 Show at Robert Mondavi Winery
Grammy-winning reggae artist Ziggy Marley will headline a sold-out outdoor concert on Nov. 7, 2026 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Robert…
2 min read
Antioch Council Proclaims November 2026 Homelessness Awareness Month
The Antioch City Council and Mayor Ron Bernal unanimously approved a proclamation declaring November 2026 as Homelessness Awareness…
2 min read
Lafayette Chamber Hosts Trick-or-Treat Street on Oct. 30 Downtown
The Lafayette Chamber of Commerce is hosting its free Trick-or-Treat Street community celebration on Oct. 30, 2026, featuring…
1 min read
Life Magazine Returns Nov. 23 as Quarterly Print Edition With Figma
Nearly 90 years after Henry Luce founded Life magazine in 1936, the iconic photojournalism title will relaunch on Nov. 23, 2026, as a…
3 min read
Polls Show Eric Jones Leading Rep. Mike Thompson in 4th District
Two October surveys commissioned by Democratic challenger Eric Jones’s campaign—conducted by David Binder Research (52% to 40%) and…
2 min read
Alameda 9-Year-Old Uses Claude AI to Build Talking Skeleton Display
Nine-year-old Nathalie Chabas and her father, Jim Chabas, spent several weeks using Anthropic’s Claude AI to reprogram a Home Depot…
2 min read
Devon Conley Leads Mountain View School Board Fundraising With $7,400
Campaign finance filings show incumbent Devon Conley leading the four-candidate race for two seats on the Mountain View Whisman School…
2 min read
Alameda Flood Advisory Extended Through Oct. 31; UC Berkeley COSI Set
The National Weather Service has extended the Coastal Flood Advisory for Alameda through Saturday, October 31, at 6 p.m., with the…
2 min read
Contra Costa County Seeks Applicants for Countywide Oversight Board
Contra Costa County is accepting applications from registered county voters for a seat on the Redevelopment Successor Agency…
1 min read
Walnut Creek to Host Annual Veterans Day Ceremony at Lesher Center
The City of Walnut Creek will hold its annual Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, from 11 a.m. to noon at the…
1 min read
DoorDash to Buy Instacart for $17B as Alphabet Drops 15.8% & FTC Acts
San Francisco-based delivery giant DoorDash announced a $17 billion acquisition of grocery platform Instacart on Thursday, adding more…
5 min read
Mill Valley 7.9-Foot High Tides, Peninsula Schools & CA Cost Pressures
In Marin County, 7.9-foot high tides flooded low-lying roads along Miller Avenue in Mill Valley.
4 min read
SF Property Deals, SFUSD Neighborhood Plan, Union St Cafe & Thao Tour
Across San Francisco, Russian Hill’s 9,545-square-foot “OA House” at 1001 Vallejo listed for $25 million, Seven Equity Group moved to…
7 min read
Oakland Bars Open at 9:30 a.m. for Valkyries Game 6; Fremont Noise Row
Bars and restaurants across Oakland, Alameda, Antioch, San Francisco, and San Jose opened early Thursday for the 9:30 a.m.
3 min read
Antioch Rivertown Hosts Halloween Event as High-Speed Rail CEO Resigns
In Antioch, The Four Seasonings Steakhouse in historic downtown Rivertown is hosting a Saturday night Halloween celebration while…
4 min read
Calistoga Sets Dec. 5 Lighted Tractor Parade & Winter Passport
Visit Calistoga has released its winter seasonal guide, anchored by the 2026 Calistoga Lighted Tractor Parade on Saturday, Dec. 5,…
2 min read
Military Food Pantry Opens Near Mountain View as PPIC Polls Voters
The all-volunteer Cost of Courage Foundation opened a new food pantry near Mountain View to provide groceries and essentials to…
3 min read
Menlo Park Council Candidates Debate Measure P and Belle Haven Growth
Ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Menlo Park City Council candidates Wonman Lee and James Rohr in District 1 and Charlotte Reed and Laura…
4 min read
Secret Tapes Played on Day 9 of Oakland Trial as AC Transit Detours 28
On Day 9 of the Oakland federal public corruption trial, prosecutors played secret audio recordings made between November 2023 and…
3 min read
Saint Mary’s Women’s Cross Country Chases First WCC Title Since 1990
After posting five consecutive top-10 team finishes—including 10th among 23 teams at the Oct.
2 min read
Masses Sports Bar & Grill Reopens at 1411 Locust St. in Walnut Creek
Masses Sports Bar & Grill has reopened in a new 3,522-square-foot downtown Walnut Creek space at 1411 Locust St., months after closing…
2 min read
Connie Chan’s Cantonese & English Messaging Draws Scrutiny in SF Race
Translated interviews reviewed ahead of the Nov. 3 congressional election show San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan criticized Mayor…
3 min read
Palo Alto Down Payment Takes 50 Years as Square Pie Guys Closes Friday
Calculations using methodology from a new Center for Responsible Lending and Julian Bond Institute report show a typical Palo Alto…
3 min read
UC Davis Study Warns OAK and SFO Face El Niño Holiday Flooding Risks
A new UC Davis study authored by Road Ecology Center director Fraser Shilling warns that Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK) and…
2 min read
CTA Spends $65.5M on Prop. 3 and Barrera as Judge Rejects Ballot Bid
Campaign finance filings show the California Teachers Association has spent more than $65.5 million in the 2026 election…
4 min read
San Mateo Farm Hub Mobilizes With $2.5M Grant as King Tides Peak
On the San Mateo County coast, Brisa Ranch, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, and the California Association of Food Banks have…
3 min read
Lima Nikkei Opens in Mill Valley’s 1947 El Paseo Space on Throckmorton
Novato contractor Edwin Sandoval and his family have opened Lima Nikkei, a 125-seat Peruvian-Japanese restaurant led by chef Wilmer…
3 min read