The Almost Daily Briefing
Published news articles from local, regional, and national media on topics of interest to the #LoveLafayette Community
LOCAL NEWS
Earthquake shakes the East Bay Sunday morning - The quake, a magnitude 2.9, was epicentered 4.5 miles north-northwest of Lafayette. (KRON4)
Santa Cruz County’s new alert system aims to stop property fraud before it happens- The free service, called Fraud Notify, sends email alerts to residents whenever a document is recorded under their name. The county’s Recorder’s Office says the program is designed to give homeowners an early warning if a fraudulent or unauthorized document, such as a fake deed or lien, is filed. (Local News Matters)
OTHER NEWS
Newsom signs new shopping cart law championed by San Jose politicians - Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Sen. Dave Cortese’s bill that enables governments to return abandoned shopping carts directly to retailers and recover the costs of retrieval. (East Bay Times)
Berkeley study of wildfire exposure adds to dispute over Sonoma County’s Ag Pass program for farmworkers - UC Berkeley researchers find 75% of surveyed field workers labored during Sonoma County wildfires since 2017. (East Bay Times)
Why plastic bags will be gone from California groceries by the end of the year - On Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a legal settlement with four major plastic bag manufacturing companies to stop selling such bags in California. State law already mandates that retailers stop using the plastic bags on Jan. 1. (Mercury News)
California made it through another summer without a Flex Alert. Thank batteries, experts say - Battery storage in California has grown more than 3,000% since 2020 (L.A. Times)
LOCAL HAPPENINGS
City Council
Design Review Commission
Crime Prevention Commission
Hamlin Parkland Workshop
The Weekly Roundup
Lafayette Planning Applications Received
Major Development Projects Map
Lafayette Community Information & Emergency Radio AM 1670
Shop, Dine & Gather in Lafayette
Contact the City
HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION AND CITY PLANNING
The East Bay is suddenly seeing a 'significant influx of OpenAI buyers' for all-cash real estate deals - "We've noticed a significant influx of OpenAI buyers working with our team in the Lamorinda market over the past month. Several of our recent luxury transactions above $3 million have been cash purchases, reflecting the substantial liquidity these AI-sector buyers bring to the market," Green told the Business Times. (San Francisco Business Times)
Pittsburg’s urban forest plan aims to bring shade, cleaner air - By January 2029, city aims to plant 450 trees, with 50% planned for underserved communities (East Bay Times)
California Forever: A closer look at Suisun Expansion Plan - The Specific Plan, which spans more than 250 pages, outlines the opportunities that California Forever sees for Suisun, currently the smallest city in the county by footprint, covering only four square miles, compared to Fairfield’s 42 square miles and Vacaville’s 30 square miles. (East Bay Times)
Sonoma Valley Collaborative Releases Housing Affordability Roadmap - The Sonoma Valley Collaborative, a project of the Sonoma Ecology Center, has released its Housing Affordability Roadmap, its collection of ideas on ways to preserve existing affordable housing and to create more. (Sonoma Sun)
At first-ever California Big City Mayors summit, leaders call for unity, urgency on housing -California Big City Mayors is a bipartisan coalition of 13 mayors from cities such as Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, Bakersfield, and Los Angeles. The group works together to advocate for state funding and legislation that helps address the most pressing issues within California’s largest cities. (Local News Matters)
California Court Strikes Down Redondo Beach’s Housing Element Plan - The court concluded that Redondo Beach’s overlay strategy ‘fails to satisfy section 65583.2(h)(2)’s mandatory minimum density requirement of 20 units per acre because the underlying commercial and industrial zoning permits development of identified sites within the overlay zone that does not include housing, i.e., that permits construction with zero residential units.’ (Davis Vanguard) Related: AES ruling against Redondo may open door to Builder’s Remedy developments statewide (Easy Reader)
Manhattan Office-to-Apartment Conversions Doubled in 2024 - Thanks in part to recent zoning changes, a record number of office space is being converted to housing in the city’s former business districts. (Planetizen)
MIXTAPE
John Muir Land Trust Announces Plans To Acquire Wagner Ranch Nature Area
Walnut Creek announces next chief of police
The Martinez Hospice Tree Of Lights Has Fallen
Beloved Valley Oak Tree at Pleasant Hill Park Falls
A Berkeley neighborhood spent years battling rats. Now it’s trying a compelling new tactic
Government funding shortfalls put Bay Area senior services at risk
8 Towns in Northern California With the Best Downtown Areas in 2025
Winners announced for the APLD International Landscape Design Awards
Moraga Orinda Firefighters Receive Grant For Mastering Life-Or-Death Skills
California’s 2025 commercial Dungeness crab season delayed to protect whales
California Condors are making a comeback in East Bay
No Federal Food Aid Will Go Out Nov. 1 As US Shutdown Drags On
MEANWHILE IN ANOTHER LAFAYETTE .
Lafayette breaks ground on $17.6 million sewage project to unlock downtown development - the South Gravity Lift Station will expand sewage capacity in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and is considered a linchpin to further development and increased density in the city's urban core.
AND FINALLY…
Take a peek at some of the finalist in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
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The Almost Daily Briefing (ADB) is an aggregation of links to news articles from local and regional newspapers, magazines, websites, and other news sources. Its purpose is to alert readers to current issues and affairs that may impact Lafayette. The ADB does not promote, favor, disfavor, support, reject, or endorse any position, candidate, campaign, or proposition, and nothing about the ADB, including the selection, presentation, arrangement, or content of the links presented should be construed as an advocacy position.
At times, the ADB features articles from sites that limit access for nonsubscribers. The Contra Costa Library offers access to multiple newspapers online for all cardholders, including the Los Angeles Times (via the ProQuest E-Library digital resource) and the New York Times Digital. Visit the library’s website to learn how to get a library card or access digital services.
If you have questions about the ADB, please contact the City of Lafayette's Communications Analyst, Suzanne Iarla, at siarla@ci.lafayette.ca.us. You can subscribe to the ADB and learn more about Lafayette’s publications and social media sites here.
