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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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Calley Garay's picture sits at the entrance table of the rally, where supporters purchased purple t-shirts in support of domestic violence awareness at R C Wisener Park in Chowchilla on Oct. 23, 2021. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters
WhatMatters
How California lets abusers stay armed
Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, November 17. Loopholes in state laws Today, a man named Julio Garay is due to appear in Madera County Superior Court, where he faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing his wife, Calley Jean Garay, a month after she requested a domestic violence […]
By • November 17, 2021
california hospital strikes
WhatMatters
For California workers, ‘Striketober’ turns into ‘Strikesgiving’
Wins are mounting for California workers as “Striketober” morphs into “Strikesgiving” and as the state cracks down on companies it says are violating labor laws. Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced an agreement with Amazon that, if approved by a judge, would require the e-commerce giant to pay California $500,000 to help enforce consumer […]
By • November 16, 2021
California State Auditor Elaine Howle speaks with CalMatters at her office in Sacramento on Nov. 9, 2021. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters
CalMatters en Español
Auditora de California: ‘Hay que hablar con la verdad al poder’
En resumen Elaine Howle dejará su cargo a fines de 2021 después de 21 años en el trabajo. Su oficina ha realizado auditorías de una amplia gama de agencias estatales, incluida una serie de revisiones muy críticas de la respuesta y el gasto por la pandemia realizado por California. En una entrevista con CalMatters, habla […]
By • November 12, 2021
California State Auditor Elaine Howle speaks with CalMatters at her office in Sacramento on Nov. 9, 2021. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters
Politics
California’s state auditor: ‘Speak the truth to power’
Elaine Howle is stepping down at the end of 2021 after 21 years on the job. Her office has issued audits of a wide range of state agencies, including a series of highly critical reviews of California's pandemic response and spending. In an interview with CalMatters, she talks about her biggest accomplishments and stiffest challenges.
By • November 12, 2021
Oakland resident Ed Rogers pumps gas at a Chevron station in Berkeley, CA. File photo
WhatMatters
Gas, electricity, food: Cost of living skyrockets in California
Day-to-day life is getting more expensive in California, which already has a higher percentage of residents living in poverty than any other state in the nation when the cost of living is taken into account. That’s because skyrocketing inflation rates pushed consumer prices nationwide up 6.2% in October compared to the same time last year […]
By • November 11, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the California Economic Summit in Monterey on Nov. 9, 2021. AP Photo/Nic Coury
WhatMatters
After two weeks, Newsom makes an appearance
Gov. Gavin Newsom broke his nearly two-week silence on Tuesday to make two key points: California is seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases that could signal the start of a worrisome winter surge, and California’s economy “continues to dominate” the rest of the country’s. Newsom made the remarks at the California Economic Summit in Monterey, […]
By • November 10, 2021
People pass by a vaccination verification station at the entrance to the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in San Jose, on Aug. 13, 2021. Photo by Anda Chu, Bay Area News Group
WhatMatters
Are California’s vaccine rules making inequality worse?
Will California’s strict vaccine rules help bring an end to the pandemic that has disproportionately ravaged communities of color — or further entrench and widen those longstanding disparities? Answering that question is an increasingly urgent task for elected leaders and public health officials: Starting today, customers must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 […]
By • November 8, 2021

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