Alameda County election officials will manually count the petition signatures submitted to recall District Attorney Pamela Price after an initial attempt failed to establish whether there are enough valid signatures to trigger an election. The manual count, by California law, is allowed to last 30 days — and that’s close to how long it will … Read more
The Fremont Union High School District — which includes parts of Cupertino, Los Altos, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Sunnyvale — is implementing a new system for electing trustees to avoid a potential voting rights lawsuit, a move that has some residents upset. The district is planning to transition from its at-large election process, … Read more
BERKELEY — With two vacant seats open on the Berkeley City Council, voters will get the chance to name new representatives in two separate special elections running on slightly different schedules. Just weeks after Councilmember Rigel Robinson, the youngest councilmember in Berkeley history, resigned, citing escalating harassment, burn out and a wish to focus on … Read more
More than 23,000 Californians possess firearms despite criminal convictions, restraining orders, mental illnesses and other prohibitions under the Golden State’s pioneering law aimed at disarming dangerous people, the state’s top law enforcement official said Monday, a frustratingly large number that reflects ongoing bureaucratic snags and a need for more enforcement funding. In an annual report … Read more
A long-awaited city project to make a popular Cupertino park more inclusive for residents is slated to begin construction this year. Positioned along South Stelling Road just east of Highway 85, Jollyman Park is an 11.5 acre public space containing ball fields, two playgrounds and picnic areas. In 2019, the city received funds from a … Read more
Perhaps no moment better underscored what set Oakland’s Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee apart from her leading rivals in the race for California’s open U.S. Senate seat — as well as most of her colleagues in Congress — as an exchange in the debate. Asked about the Golden State’s vexing homelessness problem, Republican political rookie Steve … Read more
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4 billion plan to bring thousands of homeless people off the streets and into treatment appeared to be on life support Wednesday as conservative voters in rural counties roundly rejected the mental health ballot measure that had seemed to enjoy strong support heading into Election Day. Votes in favor of the measure … Read more
When Dianne Feinstein was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, joined by Barbara Boxer that same year, it was a first for California. The first time a woman had represented the state in the Senate, and the first state with two women senators. It also marked the first time four women were elected to … Read more
When Contra Costa County’s elections staff met with local police and an FBI agent to plan defenses and responses to voting-related threats for the 2024 election year, an unusual new risk had been added to the mix: Silicon Valley’s blockbuster product, generative artificial intelligence. In one mock scenario, a news report highlighted a problem at … Read more
OAKLAND — The city’s civilian-led police oversight body was expected to whittle down a shortlist of four finalists to be Oakland’s next top cop on Thursday night — perhaps to just a single candidate. Whoever is selected by the volunteers on the Oakland Police Commission would next be assessed by Mayor Sheng Thao, the final … Read more
