Dow Tumbles 1,833 Points and Nasdaq Enters Correction on AI Selloff
U.S. equities surrendered Wednesday's 1,570-point (3%) post-election surge—their strongest session since April 9, 2025—on Thursday as…
2 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
Mountain View Picks San Mateo County's Justin Mates as City Attorney
The Mountain View City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday, Nov. 10 to appoint San Mateo County Assistant County Executive Justin…
2 min read
SF Attorney Harmeet Dhillon Resigns as DOJ Civil Rights Chief
San Francisco conservative attorney Harmeet Dhillon resigned Thursday as Assistant Attorney General for the U.S.
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Livermore Presidio Hotel Site Owes $144,494 in Unpaid Property Taxes
Public records obtained by The Independent reveal that the developer behind the long-delayed downtown Livermore Presidio Hotel—first…
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Walnut Creek Voters Pass Measure U BART Rezoning With 71% Support
Walnut Creek voters approved Measure U with 71% support in Tuesday's municipal election, authorizing the rezoning of a 2.4-acre…
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OpenAI Debuts ChatGPT Cyber and $1B Fund as OpenSSH and Truffle Patch
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Cyber for vetted defenders in its Daybreak Red program alongside a $1 billion critical-infrastructure…
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Amazon Adds Uber Eats to Prime as JetBlue Hikes Checked Bag Fees
Consumer retail, aviation, fashion, and municipal contracting saw major shifts on Thursday. Amazon added Uber Eats to U.S.
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Allies Launch 'Run Ro' 2028 Draft for Khanna as 2028 Jockeying Begins
Allies of fifth-term Silicon Valley Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna—led by former New York Rep.
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Democrats Win Majority of Mid-Decade Congressional Redistricting Races
Democrats emerged victorious across the majority of mid-decade congressional redistricting battlegrounds in Tuesday's midterm…
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Voters Reject Prop. 40 Billionaire Tax and Pass Prop. 42 Wealth Ban
California voters reshaped the state's fiscal and election rules across seven closely watched ballot propositions.
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California Passes $8.4B Biotech Bond and $36B in Housing Measures
California voters approved three major bond measures while rejecting a clinic spending mandate in statewide ballot returns.
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Barrientos Wins Livermore Council Race as Wahab Completes 4-Race Sweep
With 100% of precincts reporting in Livermore, incumbent District 2 Councilmember Ben Barrientos won re-election with 69.34% of the…
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Coliseum Manager Files 1,600-Worker WARN Notice as Lee Wins Oakland
Oakland Arena and Coliseum operator Legends Global—which has managed the complex since 2012—filed a state WARN notice to lay off more…
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OpenAI Releases GPT-6 Cyber as CISA Warns on Cold Chain OT and Apple
OpenAI has released GPT-6 Cyber—its first model classified at the Critical cybersecurity tier under its Preparedness Framework—to…
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Cristiano Ronaldo Retires From Portugal Duty as LIV Golf Loses Backer
Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, announced his retirement from international soccer after 23 years, six World Cups, 234 appearances, and a men's…
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Mississippi and Alaska Races Hang in Balance as States Vote Measures
With control of Congress decided but 59 House races still uncalled Wednesday afternoon, razor-thin contests remained in…
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Democrats Flip 29 House and 7 Senate Seats as Voters Demand Relief
Democrats flipped at least 29 House seats and seven Senate seats—securing at least 54 of 100 Senate seats and well past the 218 seats…
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Late Ballots Slow San Mateo Count as South Bay Council Leaders Emerge
An influx of late mail ballots and ballot adjudication slowed San Mateo County's election count through 2 a.m.
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Oakland Re-Elects Mayor Barbara Lee and Passes Measure EE Reform
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee won re-election with nearly 85% of the vote against three challengers who each received under 7%, while City…
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Livermore Library Sets December Author Series as 12 House Races Tally
Livermore Public Library announced four free virtual author talks for December 2026 featuring Helen Scheuerer on December 3 at 4 p.m.
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Walnut Creek Opens Yard Sign Recycling as Measure RTM Passes
Walnut Creek residents can drop off corrugated plastic election yard signs and metal frames at City Hall (1666 N.
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OpenAI Prototype Finds 948 Linux Exploits as GhostMap Hits Android
OpenAI researchers built a five-stage autonomous vulnerability pipeline that scanned 5,034 Linux kernel audit targets (2.8 million…
5 min read
Guardians Pitchers Fraud Trial Opens in Brooklyn as Kedai Makan Moves
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn opened the fraud trial of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz over an alleged…
3 min read
16-Story Sunset Strip Tower Filed as Joliet Plans 1.28M-Sq-Ft Hub
Developer 8228 Associates filed plans for a 16-story residential tower with 115 homes and 18 affordable units at 8240 Sunset Boulevard…
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Conroy Pulls Within 1,857 Votes in WA-5 as Wong Faces Sentencing
Spokane Democrat Carmela Conroy trailed incumbent Republican Rep.
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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…
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Randy Villegas Leads District 22 Count as JetBlue Hikes Bag Fees
Democrat Randy Villegas took an early lead over six-term Republican incumbent Rep.
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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San Jose, Santa Clara, and Morgan Hill Council Returns Take Shape
Early Santa Clara County returns show San Jose Councilmembers Peter Ortiz leading District 5 with 56.8% and Bien Doan leading District…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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.
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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%,…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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…
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