🎙️ Today on The Breakfast Club, David Hogg shared a powerful message about the courage required to fight for democracy, the urgent need for comprehensive gun reform, and the importance of empowering the next generation of leaders.

His dedication to creating a safer, more equitable future is a reminder that bold action and unwavering resolve can bring about meaningful change. Let’s continue to champion these critical conversations and work together for progress.

Watch the interview here: https://lnkd.in/gazTXrMb (You can also click on the button below!)

🎉 Hi everyone! Don't forget to join us as we celebrate San Mateo County's 169th Anniversary and mark a historic milestone with the Dedication and Unveiling of 500 County Center!

📅 Date: Thursday, May 15, 2025

⏰ Time: 5:00 PM

📍 Location: 500 County Center, Redwood City

Come and be part of this momentous occasion as we honor San Mateo County's rich history and unveil a reimagined space that reflects our vibrant community. This is a celebration of progress, heritage, and the incredible people who make San Mateo County shine.

🌟We’ll have special guest speakers (including President David Canepa of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors), live music, and more! Don’t miss this chance to connect with your community and witness history in the making.

Bring your friends and neighbors—let’s make it a night to remember ! 💛 

April 4, 2025:  The Three former students of Miramonte High in Orinda filed a 2022 complaint in Superior Count accusing a former English teacher of grooming and sexually assaulting them nearly two decades earlier. Read More Here.

A drone view of Miramonte High School in Orinda, California

March 26, 2025:  The Contra Costa Bar Association and more than 50 state, local, and specialty bar associations have joined with the American Bar Association to "defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession." Read More Here.

March 26, 2025:  The Alameda County Bar Association and more than 50 state, local, and specialty bar associations have joined with the American Bar Association to "defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession." Read More Here.

March 21, 2025:  In a newly released audit report, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) found Contra Costa Health Plan (CCHP) failed to ensure proper medical care for its sickest, most medically complicated, and expensive patients. Read More Here.

In a newly-released audit report, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) found Contra Costa Health Plan (CCHP) failed to ensure proper medical care for its sickest, most medically complicated, and expensive patients.

March 20, 2025:  To some longtime Bay Area residents, El Cerrito is just another bedroom community -- the type of suburb with little to distinguish it beyond two BART stations, a large stock of midcentury modern homes, and a relatively low crime rate. But in a metro area with one of the nation's highest percentages of LGBTQ adults, few towns are more queer-friendly than this idyllic burg of about 25,000 just north of Berkeley. At a time when President Donald Trump is waging a culture war on LGBTQ rights, especially those of transgender people, El Cerrito has become a trailblazer in local queer politics. Read More Here.

El Cerrito City Council members stand outside their chambers, from left: Rebecca Saltzman, William Ktsanes, Mayor Carolyn Wysinger, Mayor Pro Tem Gabe Quinto, and Lisa Motoyama. They represent a rare occurrence in California government: a majority of LGBTQ members.

March 20, 2025:  In one Contra Costa County city, commuting takes longer than anywhere else in the country. According to 2023 U.S. census data, workers there spend an average of 46 minutes traveling one way, nearly 40% of residents endure an hour or more on the road, and more than 20% leave before sunrise. That city? Brentwood. Read More Here.

March 10, 2025:  A housing advocacy group filed a lawsuit Monday against the City of Lafayette, accusing officials of failing to follow state housing laws to build its fair share of new units. The Housing Action Coalition, along with Farella Braun & Martel LLP, a San Francisco-based law office, said the city of nearly 25,000 people relies on "misleading and unrealistic housing sites" to meet state-mandated requirements. Their lawsuit, filed in Contra Costa Superior Court, calls on the courts to compel the city to adopt a revised plan and implement changes to its zoning laws. Read More Here.

A large lot sits along Deer Hill Road in Lafayette, where a 315-unit housing development is planned after efforts to block it were denied.

March 7, 2025:  A judge this week ordered the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters and Acalanes Union High School District to alter the title, analysis, and ballot question language of a proposed parcel tax going before voters in a May 6 mail-in special election. Read More Here. 

A courtyard where students gather outside of classes on the Acalanes High School campus in Lafayette sits empty on December 6, 2024. 

March 1, 2025:  For more than three decades, Contra Costa County has drawn a line in the sand protecting the region’s verdant open space and sweeping ridgelines from urban sprawl. Elected officials now have a rare opportunity to tweak that boundary — known as the urban limit line — which is one of local government’s most powerful tools for influencing community growth. As the county stares down ambitious, state-mandated housing goals, there’s a chance the historically 20-year plan could be extended through at least 2050. But voters will have the final say on their June 2026 primary election ballots, after the Board of Supervisors accepted an initial report on Tuesday about a ballot measure to renew the urban limit line. Read More Here.

Anchor Marina boat slips which broke away from shore and floated down Taylor Slough in Sunday's storm rest on the shore of Jersey Island from a drone view in Bethel Island, CA, on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.

February 25, 2025:  Anti-immigration policies intensify fear in the East Bay, while local families and communities are afraid but hopeful. Read More Here.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES On President's Day in Lafayette, protestors rallied against Trump, Musk and the current administration's openly xenophobic/anti-immigration policies.

February 23, 2025:  California will launch the "first-in-the-nation" digital democracy program to help support community conversations and promote public engagement on important topics, California Gov. Gavin Newsom says.  Read More Here.

February 23, 2025:  As President Donald Trump targets sanctuary cities, Rev. Deborah Lee — the daughter of Chinese immigrants and a longtime champion for immigrant rights — says she is following “God’s executive orders.” Read More Here.

Jeremy Chan carries a sign referencing President Donald Trump's plan to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, last used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II, while marching to Japantown in San Francisco on February 19, 2025.

February 21, 2025:  Community members joined an interfaith vigil in Oakland on Thursday night to show support for immigrant communities amid ongoing threats to deport undocumented migrants. People gathered at Fruitvale Village Plaza before marching to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. Read More Here.

St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Oakland.

February 20, 2025:  The moves by the Trump administration have also frightened and impacted residents right here in Contra Costa County, many of whom have taken to social media platforms to alert their neighbors about incoming ICE presence and activities. Read More Here.

Courtesy of Stand Together Contra Costa.

February 20, 2025:  Since President Donald Trump took office last month, thousands of immigrants nationwide have been detained and many of them deported to their home countries, shocking many residents-including  college students like myself who feel unease about the anti-immigrant moves being made by the administration. Read More Here.

February 20, 2025:  Since taking office on Jan. 20 of this year, President Donald Trump has signed more than 10 executive orders related to immigration, with an emphasis on the mass deportation of noncitizen immigrants being one of his campaign promises. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly relies on involvement from local law enforcement when conducting immigration enforcement. However, local law enforcement agencies in Brentwood, Antioch, and Oakley as well as the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office have approached the situation in a number of different ways. Read More Here.

February 15, 2025:  Signs mounted this week that President Donald Trump’s national immigration crackdown could include a migrant detention center at the defunct FCI Dublin women’s prison, where a reputed “rape club” terrorized inmates for years. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted conducting an assessment at the shuttered facility on Thursday and Friday, according to John Kostelnik, a federal prison union leader, who earlier this week sought information about the facility’s future in a letter to prison officials. A “structural assessment” of the prison was conducted over the summer and later turned over to ICE, he said. Read More Here.

An aerial view of the former FCI Dublin federal women's prison, right, in Dublin, California, on Monday, February 10, 2025.

February 14, 2025: With the Trump administration now in place, West Contra Costa school leadership has been ramping up communication on how the district plans to keep its community safe from potential immigration raids, with more work to come. Read More Here.

In this July 8, 2019, file photo, a U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer looks on during an operation in Escondido, California.

February 11, 2025: Vice President and recently converted Catholic J.D. Vance was rebuked by the Pope himself for using Catholic theology to justify mass deportations and isolationism. Read More Here.

Pope Francis called out JD Vance's made-up Christian reasoning for Trump's cruel immigration policies.

February 10, 2025: Months into a criminal investigation of Contra Costa Health by the California Department of Justice for possible Medi-Cal fraud and elder abuse, the East Bay public health care system has announced its CEO Anna Roth is leaving. Read More Here.

Contra Costa Health CEO Anna Roth. 

February 8, 2025: The trump administration is moving to take away legal immigration pathways, leaving some who fled desperate situations at risk. Read More Here. 

Carmen, a journalist from Nicaragua who fled her country for fear of government persecution, is photographed at an attorney's office in Concord, California, where she is fighting to retain her legal immigrant status, on Wednesday, February 5, 2024. 

February 7, 2025: While LMC President Ralston stated that an ICE agent visiting the campus is unlikely, she still wants the community to be prepared for such interactions. To help the community better prepare for changes brought by the upcoming Trump presidency, a memo by the LMC administration was sent out on December 13, 2024 through InSite. Read More Here.

Carmen, a journalist from Nicaragua who fled her country for fear of government persecution, is photographed at an attorney's office in Concord, California, where she is fighting to retain her legal immigrant status, on Wednesday, February 5, 2024. 

February 6, 2025: Jessica Gonzalez, vice chairperson of the Vallejo Latino Parents Network, succinctly summarized her feelings on the response of academic institutions to the Trump Administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement at a meeting of the Solano Community College Board Wednesday evening. Read More Here.

February 6, 2025: On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council will discuss the removal of Commissioner Leslie May from the Antioch Police Oversight Commission. The recommendation comes after Commissioner Leslie May spoke during an Antioch City Council meeting on January 17 where she made several racial slurs during a defense of then-city attorney Thoma Lloyd Smith–who resigned. Read More Here.

February 6, 2025:  San Francisco’s top prosecutor, police chief and public defender gathered on Jan. 28 on the steps outside City Hall’s main entrance in a rare display of unity as they committed to uphold sanctuary laws that protect undocumented immigrants from the Trump administration’s threatened mass deportation. But the agencies diverge on whom to shield from federal action.  San Francisco Public Defender’s Assistant Chief Attorney Angela Chan, who helped draft state and local sanctuary laws, said the district attorney and police are evading local policies by referring drug cases to federal prosecutors, who are under increasing pressure to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Read More Here.

February 6, 2025:  Several hundred students from Ygnacio Valley High School, Concord High School, and Mount Diablo High School walked out of class today and gathered on the corner of Monument Boulevard and Meadow Lane to protest deportations.  Read More Here.

February 6, 2025:  On Wednesday, Martinez Police Chief Andrew White reiterated the policy that their job was to ensure safety for all people in the City of Martinez. Read More Here.

February 4, 2025:  Contra Costa County Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston on Tuesday called for a full facility audit of Martinez Refining Company after a large explosion and fire at the facility prompted surrounding communities to shelter in place Saturday. Read More Here. 

February 4, 2025:  Some lawmakers want to go further to protect classrooms from any possible immigration actions. Read More Here.

Alejandra Villagran, a health community coordinator with Monument Impact, tables at an informational session about immigration services at Willow Cove Elementary School in Pittsburg, CA on January 29, 2025. More than 300 people attended the event organized by Stand Together Contra Costa and the Pittsburg Unified School District, which offered free, private consultation with immigration attorneys, medical services, and a resource fair.

February 4, 2025:  Chinese immigrants, one of the largest ethnic cohorts in San Francisco's undocumented population, rarely speak openly about their situation, fearing deportation or reprisals in their home country. With Trump's return to the White House, some are choosing to make themselves even less visible or considering plans to start over again in other countries, such as Canada, where they might face lower risk of being sent back to China. Read More Here.

Yudy, an undocumented San Franciscan, shops with her mother at the Alemany Farmers Market.

February 4, 2025:  Residents in Antioch came out to protest against ICE raids and the promise by President Donald Trump on mass deportation. Read More Here.

Antioch residents came out to protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents’ activities and recently re-elected President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportation of illegal immigrants in Antioch, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Hema Sivanandam/ Bay Area News Group)

February 3, 2025:  Immigrants, their families, and allies all joined together to stand in solidarity Monday protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration actions. It was a day called a “Day Without Immigrants” and the goal was to show just how critical immigrants are to communities nationwide. Read More Here.

Amaris, 17, (center), and Christian, 14, march during a rally for immigrants' rights in the Fruitvale district of Oakland on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. By Any Means Necessary, a youth-led immigrants' rights organization, organized the rally.

February 2, 2025:  A sizable crowd of several hundred people lined Monument Boulevard in protest of ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – detentions . Watch the rally here. 

February 2, 2025:  The first reported sighting of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the East Bay this year was over this weekend in Concord, according to the city's police department. The Concord Police Department was notified about ICE agents' presence in the city on Saturday, Feburary 1. Concord police said it did not assist ICE in any way. The police department did not provide further details about why ICE was in the city. As of Sunday afternoon, it is unclear what ICE agents were doing in Concord. Read More Here.

February 2, 2025:  Several hundred demonstrators gathered along Richmond's 23rd Street Sunday afternoon, braving rainy conditions to stand in solidarity with the city's undocumented community. Read More Here.

Marchers head down 23rd Street in Richmond, California, on Sunday afternoon in a show of solidarity for undocumented residents who are feeling threatened by President Trump's deportation policies.

January 29, 2025: At the request of newly elected Councilman Pablo Benavente, the Concord City Council voted 4-1 to discuss the city's newly implemented and problematic rent control ordinance. The City Council is seeking your feedback on the following provisions:

• How the ordinance should apply, if at all, to rented single-family residences and rented condominiums, and

• Whether changes should be made to the allowable annual rent increase cap from what is currently defined in the ordinance.

Read More Here.  

January 22, 2025: Antioch City Attorney Thomas Lloyd Smith resigned January 17 following a special city council meeting held on the same day. Read More Here.

Thomas Smith, the first African-American city attorney in Antioch, is pictured on February 5, 2019. 

January 21, 2025: San Ramon's Bishop Ranch is taking a significant leap into the future by centralizing its medical facilities into a new hub, the Bishop Ranch Medical Campus, in an ongoing effort to swiftly make room for new housing within the East Bay neighborhood. Sunset Development Company, which spearheads the project, has completed leasing the revamped 203,000-square-foot medical complex at 12677 Alcosta Boulevard, now 70% filled with health and wellness providers. This consolidation strategy is to primarily free up space for an ambitious plan to add residential units to the mixed-use community. Read More Here. 

Bishop Ranch Medical Campus at 12677 Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon, part of the Bishop Ranch office, retail, restaurant, housing, and medical mixed-use neighborhood. 

January 20, 2025: Carlyn Obringer said It was with great pride that I accepted the gavel and the title of mayor of the city of Concord on December 10. Read More Here. 

January 18, 2025: Ouster of Bicycle Commission members echoes former school trustee's experience when Arts Commission was disbanded. Read More Here.

Danville Councilmembers Robert Storer, left, and Newell Arnerich succeeded last week in their efforts to outs two members of the Bicycle Advisory Commission, similar to their disbanding of the Arts Commission in 2019. 

January 18, 2025: Two of Mount Diablo's loudest bike champions were stripped of their policy advisory appointments this week, concluding two years of bitter finger pointing and bullying accusations between local leaders in this otherwise idyllic suburban town of 43,000. 

A majority of the Danville Town Council agreed on Tuesday to remove Al Kalin and Bruce Bilodeau from its Bicycle Advisory Commission, a group of six volunteers appointed to ensure that elected leaders followed through on promises to implement bike-friendly policies across the town’s network of trails and arterial roadways that wind through the heart of the San Ramon Valley.

There was little disagreement about the list of accomplishments Kalin and Bilodeau each spearheaded in recent years. Most notably, they spent more than a decade advocating for the construction of 67 bike turnout lanes on Mount Diablo, which was a data-driven, first-in-the-nation and award-winning initiative that led to an 80% reduction in collisions between motorists and cyclists trekking up and down the summit.

Regardless, the council voted 3-1 to prematurely cut their four-year terms on the commission in half — completely disregarding dozens of other pleas from community members who rallied behind the now-former commissioners in recent months.

Trouble started brewing last spring, when Vice Mayor Newell Arnerich and Councilmember Robert Storer began publicly accusing Kalin and Bilodeau of excessive, hostile demands that eventually eroded relationships with town staff and fellow volunteers beyond repair. In May, the council opted against a proposal to completely dissolve the volunteer body less than two years after its inception. Read More Here.

A cyclist rides along a road as light rain falls in Mount Diablo State Park, Calif., on Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Shanelle Scales-Preston, Contra Costa County's first female African American supervisor, speaks to attendees during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new White Pony Express (WPE) headquarters at 2470 Bates Avenue in Concord, California, on August 23, 2024. WPE delivers surplus food to organizations serving those in need. 

West Contra Costa Unified's Stege Elementary School in Richmond 

L to R: Joanna Marie Hernandez, Wolfgang Croskey, Arlene Kobata, and Robert Lewis

A vacant Kmart site, located at 5100 Clayton Road, is one of seven sites that will undergo environmental reviews for the city's Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rezoning project. Concord is studying a 20-acre zoning overlay district where developers and property owners can construct up to 60 units per acre of high-density housing to enable 1,000 new housing units.  

December 30, 2024: Over a dozen years, Birsan developed a reputation for his brash, outspoken style. Community members and elected officials praised Birsan's accessibility and passion during his final council meeting. Read More Here. 

Outgoing Mayor Edi Birsan dons his hat as he leaves the chamber for the last time as incoming Mayor Carlyn Obringer looks on during a City Council meeting at City Hall in Concord, California, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. 

December 20, 2024: After it became clear the votes weren't there, Mayor Edi Birsan dropped a proposal to update the policy on mayoral rotation. Click here to read more. 

The Concord City Hall in Concord, California. Currently, the cities of Concord, Clayton, and Pleasant Hill don't have a directly elected mayor but instead choose a mayor from among the council members. 

December 10, 2024: Concord officially has a new city councilperson and a new mayor who isn't totally new. Mayor Carlyn Obringer, who was reelected last month and was appointed mayor by her fellow councilmembers in 2019, moved back into the role at the council's December 10 meeting. Pablo Benavente officially took his seat after defeating former mayor Edi Birsan in last month's District 4 race. Click here to read more. 

Incoming Councilmember Pablo Benavente and Mayor Carlyn Obringer take the oath of office from City Clerk Joelle Fockler as they are sworn in during the Dec. 10, 2024, Concord City Council meeting. (Partial framegrab via City of Concord)

December 9, 2024: The former San Ramon headquarters of Chevron could become 2,510 new homes under a new plan. Owner Sunset Development formally proposed 426 housing units for the first phase of the Orchards project, with plans for two additional phases in the future. The project could be approved within 12 months, with construction aiming for 2026. Read More Here. 

An artist's rendering of the Orchards project that would replace the former Chevron headquarters site in San Ramon's Bishop Ranch. (Courtesy of Sunset Development)

November 8, 2024: On Friday, Contra Costa County Elections issued its election update with 98,790 votes added to the results. Voter Turnout increased to 62.41% with 451,172 ballots cast out of 722,861 registered votes. Read More Here. 

An artist's rendering of the Orchards project that would replace the former Chevron headquarters site in San Ramon's Bishop Ranch. (Courtesy of Sunset Development)

October 31, 2024: For us, it's policy positions that tip the balance in her favor---especially support for oversight of the county sheriff. Read More Here.

Pittsburg Councilmember Shanelle Scales-Preston has worked for more than two decades as a top aide to Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), and his predecessor, George Miller.

October 5, 2024: Darris Thomas has joined the political campaign of Pablo Benavente for District 4 of the Concord City Council. Click here to learn more about the Pablo Benavente campaign.

On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council voted unanimously to endorse Proposition 36, making it the first city in East Contra Costa County to formally do so.

Image from the first-ever Fiestas Patrias Parade on September 14, 2024.

The Mount Diablo Unified School District office in Concord, CA

Entryway to the Immigration Court in Concord is just off the 8th floor elevator at 1855 Gateway Boulevard.

The Acalanes Union High School District office in Lafayette, CA

Deputy Public Defender Ali Saidi meets with his deportation defense team at the Martinez office of the Contra Costa County Public Defender on February 6, 2024, to strategize about serving immigrants going to the new Concord court.