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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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WhatMatters
An unprecedented day for California
Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 27. Census + recall What a day Monday was. First, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that California will lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in the state’s 171-year history. Then, Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that supporters of the effort to […]
By • April 27, 2021
WhatMatters
California home prices hit record high
Never has it cost so much to buy a house in California. The median price for a single-family home shot up to a staggering $758,990 in March — a nearly 6% increase from the previous record of $717,930 set in December and a whopping 24% increase from March 2020, according to figures released Friday by […]
By • April 26, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic led to an unprecedented drop in public school enrollment in California. Image via iStock
WhatMatters
Public school enrollment hits 20-year low: Biggest dip in youngest grades
California’s public schools lost more than 160,000 students amid the pandemic, the largest enrollment drop in two decades and a likely harbinger of serious educational and financial challenges. The sharp 2.6% decline, announced Thursday by the California Department of Education, doesn’t capture the full effects of the pandemic. The enrollment tally comes from a one-day […]
By • April 23, 2021
Lake Mendocino, a reservoir serving the region, is largely dried up due to drought conditions. Photo by Bobby Cochran Photography courtesy of Russian River Flood Control, & Water Conservation Improvement District
WhatMatters
Drought emergency inflames political tensions
Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, April 22. Central Valley wants in Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a regional drought emergency Wednesday, but stopped short of issuing a statewide proclamation or mandating water conservation measures — a decision that drew ire from some lawmakers. Newsom’s emergency declaration applies to the Russian River watershed, which spans Sonoma and […]
By • April 22, 2021
People take part in a rally after a guilty verdict was announced at the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 death of George Floyd on April 20, 2021, in Los Angeles. Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Photo
WhatMatters
Will Chauvin verdict prompt California police reforms?
Gov. Gavin Newsom and top California lawmakers pledged to continue combating police brutality and racism after ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd last summer. But many of the sweeping police reforms promised in the wake of Floyd’s death and nationwide protests stalled […]
By • April 21, 2021
Palo Alto resident Margaret Park, 91, is wheeled into Levi’s Stadium to receive a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 9, 2021. The 49ers arena opened as a vaccine distribution site for Santa Clara County residents/ Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California policy gives businesses incentive to require ‘vaccine passports’ at events
California is incentivizing businesses to require customers show proof of vaccination, suggesting that the Golden State is moving toward a “vaccine passport” system despite health officials’ comments to the contrary. The state Department of Public Health last week unveiled little-noticed revisions that allow conferences, live events and performances, stadiums, family entertainment centers and other gatherings […]
By • April 20, 2021
WhatMatters
Key reason unemployment rate fell: Californians dropped out of workforce
It’s a troubling trend: For two out of three months in 2021, California’s unemployment rate shrank partly from thousands of people dropping out of the workforce. The Golden State’s unemployment rate hit a pandemic low of 8.3% in March, down from 8.5% in February, according to figures released Friday by the Employment Development Department. But […]
By • April 19, 2021
Gov. Gavin Newsom tours a vaccination site at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Union City on April 15, 2021. At a press conference following the tour, Newsom said the only challenge for vaccine distribution for the state is “manufacture and supply.” Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
California hits huge vaccine milestone
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 16. Nearly halfway there California is at its pandemic best. No counties are left in the state’s most restrictive reopening tier. California has the lowest coronavirus positivity rate in the country. And 49% of eligible residents are at least partially vaccinated — a number sure to have crossed the […]
By • April 16, 2021
Silhouettes of students walking between buildings are seen reflected in a window at Ruby Bridges Elementary school in Alameda on March 16, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Newsom overstates school reopening progress
Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, April 15. Minimal in-person learning Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday touted the state’s progress in reopening schools, even as California continues to offer its students the least amount of in-person learning in the country. At a press conference at a Sonoma County elementary school that had reopened two days before, […]
By • April 15, 2021
Gov. Newsom listens to reporter questions during a press conference at Ruby Bridges Elementary school in Alameda on March 16, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Yet again, a state ban on fracking goes down
Just when Gov. Gavin Newsom sheds one political headache, another emerges. A controversial bill that would have banned fracking and other oil extraction methods and prevented gas wells from operating near homes, schools and health care facilities died in the state Legislature on Tuesday — freeing the governor from having to take a stance on […]
By • April 14, 2021

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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.
CalMatters
California, explained
Emily Hoeven