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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
Big money, big challenges
Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 13. Solutions elusive When it comes to California’s big problems, big money isn’t always enough. Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign into law a $536 million wildfire prevention bill lawmakers sent to his desk on Monday. But even as the state Assembly and Senate unanimously passed the bill — […]
By • April 13, 2021
Alameda County Fire Department employee Max Shih dispenses of a syringe after administering a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during a distribution clinic at St. Rose hospital in Hayward on Jan. 27, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Vaccine supply shrinks ahead of state’s 16+ expansion
Welcome to open season. On Thursday, California will expand vaccine eligibility to everyone 16 and older — the same day the vast majority of counties will get the green light to resume indoor concerts, conferences, weddings and other gatherings under certain conditions. But the promising news comes amid some not-so-promising numbers: The Golden State’s vaccine […]
By • April 12, 2021
Lifelong Oakland Athletics fan Kurt Samuels cheers for a young boy who caught a fly ball several rows away during the season opener against the Houston Astros at Oakland Coliseum on April 1, 2021. Major League Baseball opened for in-person games for the first time since October 2019. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
A fresh start for California
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, April 2. Note: My colleague Ben Christopher will take over the newsletter next week while I’m on vacation. See you on April 12! Baseball season off with a swing The Golden State seemed to turn a corner on Thursday. Fans were in the stands in Oakland, San Diego and Anaheim […]
By • April 2, 2021
Patients receive COVID-19 vaccines at a mass drive-thru vaccination site at Oakland Coliseum on Feb. 26, 2021. The site which is run as a partnership between state and federal organizations can vaccinate up to 6,000 people daily. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Mad rush for vaccine as millions become eligible
Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, April 1. Future J&J supply halted Today, California’s vaccine floodgates will open to millions of people 50 and over — even as some mass vaccination sites close due to a lack of doses and health officials warn of weeks-long appointment backlogs.  Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Sonoma County Board of […]
By • April 1, 2021
WhatMatters
How CA’s backlogged court system delays justice
Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, March 31. Years-long waits It’s a shocking statistic: 75% of the inmates in California’s county jails — more than 44,000 people — have not been convicted or sentenced for a crime. Instead, they’re largely waiting for arraignment, trial or sentencing. At least 1,300 people have been waiting for more than […]
By • March 31, 2021
WhatMatters
Is a fourth coronavirus wave coming for California?
President Joe Biden said Monday that states should pause their reopening efforts amid a new surge in coronavirus cases, creating a potential political liability for Gov. Gavin Newsom as he ushers California into its fastest reopening yet. Biden’s comments came the same day that Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control […]
By • March 30, 2021
WhatMatters
Inside CA’s little-known $21B debt
Good morning, California. It’s Monday, March 29. Businesses to shoulder costs California’s unemployment rate fell to a pandemic low of 8.5% in February, the Employment Development Department announced Friday — even as its jobless benefits fund sank deeper into the red, imperiling economic recovery. The Golden State recovered nearly 91% of the jobs it lost […]
By • March 29, 2021
National Guard members direct traffic at a mass drive-thru COVID-19 vaccine distribution clinic at Oakland Coliseum on Feb. 26, 2021. Today, Gov. Newsom announced vaccinations will open up to those 50+ next week and the generally population on April 15. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Vaccines for all 16+ in 3 weeks, Newsom says
Good morning, California. It’s Friday, March 26. Statewide network incomplete All Californians 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in three weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday. Under the state’s new guidelines, Californians 50 and older — a group that includes Newsom himself — will become eligible on April 1, with those […]
By • March 26, 2021
Assemblymember Rob Bonta speaks during a press conference announcing his nomination as the new Attorney General at International Hotel Manilatown center in San Francisco on March 24, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Newsom’s AG pick = new criminal justice approach
Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, March 25. Bonta a win for progressives By nominating Assemblymember Rob Bonta to be California’s next attorney general, Gov. Gavin Newsom is priming the state to take a significantly different approach to criminal justice — one that could help him shore up progressive support ahead of a likely recall election, […]
By • March 25, 2021
bullets and gun on black velvet desk
WhatMatters
California’s gun control laws under scrutiny
Good morning, California. It’s Wednesday, March 24. Microstamping debate returns As national debates over gun control reignite in the wake of a Monday mass shooting in Colorado and mass shootings last week in Georgia, California is revisiting some of its own decades-old battles to regulate firearms. Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel on Tuesday introduced a bill that […]
By • March 24, 2021

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