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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

Oil pumpjacks near Fellows in Kern County. Photo via iStock
WhatMatters
Oil faces complicated future in California
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, October 22. Long road to divestment Oil is on its way out in California — kind of. “We don’t see oil in our future,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as his administration unveiled a draft proposal — originally scheduled for release last year — that would ban the development of […]
By • October 22, 2021
Aerial view of the severe drought conditions of Folsom Lake, a reservoir in Folsom. Image via iStock
WhatMatters
Newsom: Please save water
Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, October 20. No state restrictions — yet You don’t have to conserve water — but the state would really, really appreciate it if you do. That was the message Gov. Gavin Newsom sent Tuesday when he declared a drought emergency for the entire state of California — a move that […]
By • October 20, 2021
More than a thousand gathered in front of the California Capitol building to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay at home order and demand that the state re-open on May 1, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
WhatMatters
Parents plan school walkout over vaccine mandate
Today, thousands of California parents are expected to keep their kids home from school as part of a statewide protest against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recently announced student vaccine mandate. Around 2,500 people are slated to protest in front of the state Capitol building in Sacramento for an event called “Our Children, Our Choice,” according to […]
By • October 18, 2021
Registered nurses listen to speakers during a National Nurses United rally at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland on March 11, 2020. Photo by Jane Tyska, Bay Area News Group
WhatMatters
Welcome to Striketober
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, October 15. Burnout + deadlines converge Employee burnout and resistance to vaccine mandates are colliding across California, leading to strike authorizations, walkouts and worker shortfalls in health care, education, transportation and logistics, hospitality, retail, entertainment and law enforcement. This week, nearly a third of California hospitals reported critical staffing shortages […]
By • October 15, 2021
WhatMatters
Port backlogs sum up California’s COVID crisis
The extent to which California’s — and the country and world’s — challenges are interconnected was exemplified by President Joe Biden’s Wednesday announcement that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will move toward 24/7 operations to help unsnarl massive supply chain backlogs. Before the pandemic, usually just one cargo ship had to anchor […]
By • October 14, 2021
WhatMatters
Get ready for more wind, fires, blackouts
When it comes to California’s fire season, there’s no rest for the weary. Soon after PG&E began restoring power to the 24,000 customers hit with shutoffs amid Monday and Tuesday’s gusty winds, the utility warned another 29,000 customers could face blackouts starting Thursday morning, when a second round of powerful winds is expected to pummel […]
By • October 13, 2021
WhatMatters
Shortages, worker burnout hit California
Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, October 12. Nothing back to normal What do dog blood, brooms and teachers have in common? California is facing a severe shortage of all of them — evidence that the state’s labor pool, supply chain and morale are far from returning to normal nearly four months after the Golden State […]
By • October 12, 2021

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