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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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A McDonald’s sign in south Fresno on Sept. 12, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
WhatMatters
2024 election fights begin to brew
California’s Nov. 8 election is less than two weeks away, but battle lines are already being drawn for elections in 2024 and beyond. Here’s a look at two key fights: First up: Not so fast, fast food companies. That was the message sent Thursday by the state’s largest labor union, SEIU California, when it asked […]
By • October 28, 2022
Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal in Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Photo by Noah Berger, AP Photo
WhatMatters
California’s climate culture war heats up
Saying Californians disagree about the state’s approach to climate change might be a bit of an understatement. Today, for example, California’s air regulators are set to hold the first of two hearings on a controversial, far-reaching proposal that would ban the sale of new gas-powered big rigs and other trucks in the state by 2040 […]
By • October 27, 2022
A shopper moves down an aisle in a grocery story in Los Angeles. Photo by Reed Saxon, AP Photo
WhatMatters
California sends contradictory economic signals
When it comes to California’s economy, the numbers tell wildly different and seemingly incompatible stories — leading to competing narratives ahead of the Nov. 8 election as residents identify jobs, the economy and inflation as the top issues facing the state. Take GDP: On the one hand, Gov. Gavin Newsom is trumpeting a Bloomberg opinion […]
By • October 26, 2022
Volunteers are trained for going door-to-door to advocate for Republican candidates in the Republican National Committee office in Bakersfield on Oct. 14, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight LocalVolunteers are trained for going door-to-door to advocate for Republican candidates in the Republican National Committee office in Bakersfield on Oct. 14, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
WhatMatters
Inside California’s overlooked political powerhouse
Note: The amazing Ben Christopher will be handling the newsletter on Monday and Tuesday. I’ll see you Wednesday! Don’t underestimate Kern County. This swath of land in the southern Central Valley produces 70% of California’s oil, and industry groups have already raised more than $8 million to gather signatures for a 2024 referendum to overturn […]
By • October 21, 2022
WhatMatters
An ominous warning for California economy
Economic warning signs are mounting in California — foreshadowing potentially tough budget decisions for the state officials and policymakers who emerge victorious from the Nov. 8 election. One particularly eye-popping statistic: Just nine companies headquartered in the Golden State went public in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 81 during the same period […]
By • October 20, 2022
Minority Floor Leader James Gallagher, R-Chico, addresses the media during a press conference calling for a suspension of the state's gas tax on March 14, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
WhatMatters
California GOP demands emergency action on taxes, crime
California Republicans are zeroing in on the three issues on which they say Democrats may be most vulnerable heading into the Nov. 8 election: The rising cost of living, crime and homelessness. On Tuesday, 26 of the 28 current Republican lawmakers asked the Democratic leaders of the state Assembly and Senate to “immediately” reconvene the […]
By • October 19, 2022
WhatMatters
Jane Fonda blasts wealthy Prop. 30 foes
Actress and activist Jane Fonda has a message for wealthy Californians who oppose Proposition 30, a November ballot measure that would hike taxes on millionaires to subsidize electric vehicles and fund wildfire response and prevention: “People who would choose to get rich and stay rich, as opposed to helping create a livable future, have to […]
By • October 18, 2022
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters after a swearing-in event for College Corps volunteers in Sacramento on Oct. 7, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Why was Newsom absent during Biden visit?
President Joe Biden’s three-day trip to Southern California, which concluded Friday, featured events with a who’s who of California Democrats — but not Gov. Gavin Newsom. Many of the state party’s biggest names — including U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla; Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; U.S. Reps. Karen Bass, Katie Porter and Ted Lieu; and state […]
By • October 17, 2022
Adolfo Buenas fills up his work truck at a Chevron gas station in Fresno on June 23, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
WhatMatters
Californians confront rising cost of living
If you’ve got your mind on your money and your money on your mind, you aren’t alone. Driven largely by increases in the cost of food, housing and health care, inflation rose 8.2% in September compared to the same time last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Thursday. And the core inflation rate […]
By • October 14, 2022
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is interviewed at the CalMatters offices on Oct. 11, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
WhatMatters
Bonta floats changing definition of violent crime
If this week is any indication, Attorney General Rob Bonta is on a mission. On Wednesday, he announced that his office would conduct an independent investigation into last year’s redistricting in the city of Los Angeles following the explosive publication of a secretly recorded meeting in which three city council members and an influential labor […]
By • October 13, 2022

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