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
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
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
San Jose and Santa Clara Tally Council Votes as SEED Act Passes
San Jose Councilmembers Peter Ortiz (56.8%, 4,645 to 3,532) and Bien Doan (62.8%, 5,316 to 3,145) and District 9 newcomer Genny Altwer…
8 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
Collins Names ‘Mogging’ 2026 Word of the Year After 210% Surge
Collins Dictionary selected "mogging"—slang meaning to outshine someone—as its 2026 Word of the Year after usage jumped 210% across…
3 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
TechCrunch Founder Summit Opens as Steam Delays Hit Indie Studios
TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 convenes November 4 at Boston’s SoWa Power Station (with doors opening at 9 a.m.
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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.
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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
DOJ Sends Four Monitor Teams to Alameda County on Election Day
Alameda County Registrar of Voters Cynthia Cornejo confirmed that 4 U.S.
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Concord Council Weighs $75,000 Aid Fund as Brentwood Drive Begins
Concord Mayor Laura Nakamura confirmed that 3 councilmembers support returning Vice Mayor Dominic Aliano’s proposal for $75,000 in…
2 min read
CrowdStrike, Cisco, Microsoft, and Google Expand AI Cyber Defense
CrowdStrike signed agreements at Fal.Con Europe to acquire Fiddler AI (reported at $400 million) and Dreadnode (reported at $95…
4 min read
U.S. Voters Decide Control of Congress as Polls Open Nationwide
Americans across all 50 states are deciding control of the 120th Congress on Tuesday across all 435 U.S.
3 min read
Pleasanton and Dublin Voters Decide Mayoral Races and Tax Measures
Pleasanton and Dublin voters are casting Election Day ballots on Tuesday, November 3, for Pleasanton Mayor (Jack Balch vs.
4 min read
Danville Voters Decide Town Council, SRVUSD, and Assembly Races
Danville voters are casting ballots until 8 p.m.
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Voters Decide Prop. 40 Billionaire Tax After $316.7M Campaign War
California voters are deciding Proposition 40—a labor-backed one-time 5% tax on assets above $1 billion held by roughly 200 California…
3 min read
California U.S. House Battles Test Prop. 50 Maps on Election Day
Voters across California’s 52 congressional districts are deciding pivotal U.S.
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Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton Square Off to Succeed Gavin Newsom
California voters are choosing a successor to termed-out Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday in a contest between Democrat Xavier…
3 min read
Alena Maunder Vies for Marin School Board as Prop. 2 Goes to Voters
Third-generation Marin City resident and registered nurse Alena Maunder, who served as a Sausalito Marin City School District trustee…
3 min read
Californians Weigh Prop. 39 Voter ID and Prop. 5 Recall Reform
California voters are deciding two constitutional amendments reshaping state elections on Tuesday: Proposition 39, a voter ID measure…
3 min read
Google Cloud Sets $250K Root Bounty as Barracuda Patches Flaws
Google Cloud CISO Chris Betz and Cloud VRP Lead Michael Cote introduced a $250,000 top-tier reward for Root-in-Cloud architectural…
2 min read
Fremont Advances 918 Affordable Homes as Union City Upgrades Roads
Fremont approved 918 affordable apartments across 6 developments opening between fall 2027 and spring 2028 under a 35-day permit…
4 min read
San Francisco Voters Elect Pelosi Successor as Bay Area Polls Open
San Francisco voters are electing a successor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time in nearly 4 decades—choosing…
2 min read
Polls Show Democrats Ahead in 6 Senate Races as 57M Vote Early
Final New York Times/Siena College polls across seven U.S.
5 min read