SAN MATEO — By the end of 2019, the Wright Solar Facility in Los Banos will come online, converting that light into renewable energy for more than 100,000 San Mateo County homes. The facility is one local agency’s latest stride toward fulfilling an ambitious promise: supplying enough green power for all of San Mateo County within the next five years.
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BAY AREA — PG&E’s Public Safety Power Shutoff events left nearly one million customers across Northern California without power, and knocked out nearly 60% of cell towers in certain counties. It also highlighted critical gaps in communication infrastructure that local government agencies are now scrambling to address.
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Opponents of Mountain View’s RV ban work to overturn the enforcement
MOUNTAIN VIEW — Opponents of Mountain View’s new ban on RV overnight parking are rushing to collect enough signatures to block enforcement of the new rule.
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San Francisco launches new e-scooter program despite mounting injury concerns
SAN FRANCISCO — Over the coming year, up to 10,000 of e-scooters will join the city’s busy traffic-scape. More scooter riders will weave through the cars, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds, bikes and all the other vehicles that uneasily share the city roadways.
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New smoking ban aims to end cigarette butt litter on state beaches and parks
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that will ban the use of cigarettes, nicotine and marijuana vapes at state parks and beaches. Starting Jan. 1, the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation will be required to put up no-smoking signs at beaches and parks. There will be a fine up to $25 for a person caught smoking, and it will be considered an infraction.
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When the dead dance: Dia de los Muertos, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO — The annual Mexican tradition celebrates the lives and memories of those who have died. While the event’s energy carries a deep reverence, it is also a party.
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Truck owners protest against AB 5, a California “gig economy” law
BAY AREA — Some truck “owner-operators” – who invest in their own vehicles and work as independent contractors to other trucking firms – say a new law taking effect on Jan. 1 will put them out of business. Supporters of the law say it will give protections to misclassified contract truck drivers.
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Amid labor actions, mental health workers see high vacancies, turnover
SANTA CLARA COUNTY — Vacancies and turnover is a growing problem for mental health workers in Santa Clara County. In October, workers launched a labor strike to try and achieve better working conditions. The union has since entered into mediation with the county.
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Apprenticeships expand, struggle to make up years of dried-up pipeline
SAN JOSE — As training centers respond to a growing demand for skilled workers with more and larger classes, enrollment has not been able to make up for the talent gap created by the 2008 economic recession. At the Loyd E. Williams Pipe Trades Training Center, more than 500 apprentices train every week to become plumbers, steamfitters and refrigeration technicians — the most in 15 years.
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San Jose continues to tweak rules on accessory dwelling units to address housing shortage
SAN JOSE — In an effort to address San Jose’s housing shortage, the city’s planning commission has recommended that any home can build a detached accessory dwelling unit so long as it is 45 feet from the property line.
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After 50 years, the occupation of Alcatraz continues to fuel Red Power
SAN FRANCISCO — It has been 50 years since the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz, a historical 19-month long protest that fueled indigenous activism around the country and inspired legislative changes that still benefit Native Americans today.
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Bay Area kid activists are prioritizing climate protests over school plays to save their future
BAY AREA — There is a growing crowd of Bay Area youth climate activists. Youth leaders were some of the critical organizers of the local September climate week, where 40,000 people were out in the streets of San Francisco, a portion of the estimated 7.6 million who struck globally in support of more governmental action to prevent climate change.
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In an attempt to stop trolls, Facebook leaves local activists perplexed
BAY AREA — Armies of trolls are bombarding Bay Area Filipino activists on Facebook through disinformation campaigns and online harassment. But Facebook’s response to two attacks has left the activists feeling frustrated and confused.
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Activists petition Gov. Newsom to pardon prisoners facing deportation after serving their sentence
SACRAMENTO — Immigration and prison reform advocates across the state are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to stop California prisons from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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By Melanie Hogue and Ashlyn Rollins
SPECIAL REPORTS
A drug 50 times deadlier than heroin finds its way to California
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. Now, it is the most commonly used drug in overdoses: about 30 percent of overdoses in 2016 involved fentanyl. In 2016, the rate of overdoses involving fentanyl was 12 times larger than it was in 2013.
Advertisers are spending more money on Super Bowl commercials and reaching fewer people
Advertisers who invest in ad spots during the Super Bowl are paying dramatically higher costs year over year, while the number of people they reach by the dollar is steadily decreasing.
Twitter users bolster #ImWithKap leading up to Super Bowl LIII
The total number of tweets with the hashtag in the month leading up to game day was 1,955. On Super Bowl Sunday, there were 30,715 tweets with the hashtag.