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Emily Hoeven

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Emily Hoeven wrote the daily WhatMatters newsletter for three years at CalMatters . Her reporting, essays, and opinion columns have been published in San Francisco Weekly, the Deseret News, the San Francisco Business Times, the Flathead Beacon, the Daily Pennsylvanian, and the Mercury News. Emily graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English and French and studied English at the University of Cambridge, England as a Thouron Summer Prize fellow. She speaks French fluently and spent a year teaching English in Châteauroux, France.

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Latest Stories

Lawmakers on the Assembly floor at the state Capitol on May 31, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Newsom wary of lawmaker-approved budget
Depending on whom you ask, the $300-billion-plus budget bill California lawmakers passed on Monday either was developed largely behind closed doors, ignores the state’s biggest problems and fails to provide urgent relief amid skyrocketing inflation — or offered ample opportunity for public input, makes historic investments in vital programs and ensures the neediest residents will […]
By • June 14, 2022
As wildfires intensify, thousands of overworked California firefighters carry a heavy load of trauma, pain and grief. Here, firefighter Jose Corona sprays water as flames from the Camp Fire consume a home in Magalia on Nov. 9, 2018. Photo by Noah Berger, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Inside Cal Fire’s mental health epidemic
A smoldering crisis has emerged at California’s firefighting agency, Cal Fire.  As blazes intensify and California’s fire season grows longer, firefighters are increasingly fatigued, traumatized and overworked. In her stunning five-month investigation Trial by Fire, CalMatters reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Julie Cart uncovers a severe and unaddressed mental health crisis at Cal Fire.  Despite […]
By • June 13, 2022
Voters cast their ballots at the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters office in Sacramento on June 7, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
Trump, math, political games: Dissecting California’s primary
Only three days have passed since California’s primary election, and at least 2.8 million ballots still have to be counted, local elections offices said Thursday. And it isn’t yet clear in four statewide and numerous congressional and legislative races which two candidates will advance to the general election in November. Nevertheless, some key takeaways have […]
By • June 10, 2022
A voter fills out their ballot at a voting site at the Hamilton School gymnasium in central Fresno on June 7, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Why didn’t more Californians vote?
California mailed out more than 22 million ballots to registered voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. But as of Wednesday, just 3.5 million had been counted. The tally is far from complete — county elections offices will accept through June 14 ballots postmarked by June 7, and the Secretary of State has until July 15 […]
By • June 9, 2022
Attorney General Rob Bonta during a confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court of California in San Francisco on March 22, 2022. AP Photo/Eric Risberg
WhatMatters
Could DA Boudin recall spell trouble for Attorney General Bonta?
Get ready for a lot more ads attempting to link Attorney General Rob Bonta to Chesa Boudin, the progressive district attorney whom San Francisco voters ousted Tuesday night in one of the most closely watched races in California’s primary election. But it’s unclear if such an approach will prove effective, given the two men’s sharply […]
By • June 8, 2022
Election worker Donna Young inspects a mail-in ballot for damage at the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters in Sacramento on Friday, June 3, 2022. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Confusion, contradictions swirl in lead-up to California primary
California’s primary election is here at last — and with it a jumble of contradictions and confusing communication. First up: Erratic emails. Californians searching for information on how to cast their ballots (which you can find in CalMatters’ Voter Guide) may have been baffled by a series of Monday emails from the secretary of state’s […]
By • June 7, 2022
Voters register and receive their ballots at the San Francisco voting center at City Hall on Nov. 3, 2002. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
WhatMatters
California’s primary is 1 day away. Do voters care?
I’m back from a vacation made all the more sweet by CalMatters’ showing at the California Journalism Awards! Many thanks to Ben Christopher for his incredible job guest-hosting the newsletter. ‘Twas the night before California’s primary election, when all through the state / Barely a creature was stirring, even with the high stakes. My adaptation […]
By • June 6, 2022
A child gets on a school bus as law enforcement personnel guard the scene of a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. Photo by Marco Bello, Reuters
WhatMatters
California advances gun control bills amid Texas school massacre
Note: My amazing colleague Ben Christopher will be guest hosting the newsletter through June 3. I’ll see you on Monday, June 6 — just in time for California’s primary election! As news traveled around the country Tuesday of a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that left at least 22 dead — including 19 […]
By • May 25, 2022
Eric Early (left) and Rob Bonta are both running for Attorney General of California. Photos courtesy of Eric Early for CA Attorney General, Rob Bonta Attorney General
WhatMatters
Confusion reigns as California election season heats up
With California’s June 7 primary election just two weeks away, political campaigns are intensifying — and getting more confusing.  Take this mailer circulating in Southern California, which reads, “We all want to protect the environment, increase recycling and reduce plastic waste, but adding billions of dollars in higher costs on the backs of working families […]
By • May 24, 2022

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