North Bay news from Bay Area Brief: local stories summarized with links to the original reporting.
Measure H on the Nov. 3 ballot asks Sonoma County voters to continue the one-eighth-cent parks sales tax first passed as Measure M in 2018. It would not raise the rate, would start April 1, 2029, and would run until voters end it. It needs a two-thirds vote.
Benicia voters face three linked tax measures on Nov. 3. Measure X would overhaul the business license tax and raise about $1.6 million in year one. Measure Y would make Benicia a charter city only so it can adopt Measure Z, a transfer tax aimed at newly built homes and sales over $2 million.
Marin County supervisors are set to discuss and possibly vote Tuesday, Oct. 20, on a policy resolution that would bar federal immigration agents from staging on county property and require judicial warrants for nonpublic county facilities. A coalition that packed Tuesday's meeting wants a binding ordinance instead.
Measure E on Solano County's Nov. 3 ballot would raise the commercial wind turbine business license tax and add new taxes on solar farms, battery storage, natural gas extraction and data centers in unincorporated areas. County staff estimate about $353,000 a year for the General Fund. It needs a simple majority.
Measure P on Marin County's Nov. 3 ballot would add a 15-year special parcel tax of 5 cents per square foot of building area — about $100 a year for a typical single-family home and capped at $5,000 — to expand affordable child care. It needs a simple majority.
Caltrans will fully close State Route 37 between Mare Island in Vallejo and Sears Point for about 55 hours from 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, to 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26, while crews raise eastbound lanes about three feet for flood resilience. Westbound-only overnight closures run Oct. 21 and 22; detours use Highways 121, 12 and 29.
A fatal two-vehicle crash on eastbound Interstate 80 at Air Base Parkway in Fairfield around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday was followed about an hour later by a second crash in which a Tesla struck a CHP patrol car, injuring two officers who were later released. Multiple eastbound lanes stayed closed into Wednesday morning.
The Pride flag that flew at Sonoma Valley High School since 2019 came down Monday after Sonoma Valley Unified trustees voted 3-2 on Oct. 8 to give the board sole say over symbolic flags. At least 250 people rallied on Broadway during a student walkout Tuesday, and police arrested a counter-protester on suspicion of trespassing.
A man stabbed outside Northgate Medical Dental Center at Las Gallinas Avenue and Northgate Drive died at a hospital Monday. San Rafael police detained a suspect and said there was no ongoing public threat.
PG&E's Wednesday update puts about 9,757 Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino and Solano customers in a potential shutoff that could start Wednesday evening, on top of thousands of Alameda and Contra Costa accounts in a statewide watch of about 88,000.
UPDATED: The Marin County Sheriff's Office says its preliminary investigation points to a double murder-suicide, with retired SFPD Sgt. Kevin Mannix, 68, the suspected shooter in the deaths of retired Deputy Chief Ann Mannix, 65, and their daughter Katie, 24. Another daughter called 911 and escaped. Autopsies are set for Tuesday.
Starting Nov. 17, travelers flying United, Alaska, Hawaiian, American or JetBlue out of SFO can check bags and clear TSA screening at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, then ride a secure coach straight to SFO's airside. Eight round trips a day, $55 one way, kids 15 and under free.
Measure W would raise San Rafael's one-time real property transfer tax fivefold, from $2,000 to $10,000 on a $1 million sale, for about $6 million more a year in city money. Here is what a yes or no vote means.
SMART is asking the public where Healdsburg's first passenger station in nearly 70 years should go — the planned Depot/Hudson site or a Vine Street stop by West Plaza — with a community meeting Oct. 22 and a board decision expected in December.
Kevin Saavedra quit the Tamalpais Union High School District board in a letter dated Oct. 9, a day after a Marin judge issued a three-year restraining order over profane emails to a parent. His name remains on the ballot, where seven candidates are running for three seats.
Keep People Housed Marin, run by Bay Area Community Services, will steer cash help and case management to households at the highest risk of becoming homeless, with a goal of at least 170 households a year.
The November measure would replace a 1988 plan for Sausalito's roughly 220-acre industrial and maritime district, raising height limits to 47 feet and allowing cafes, galleries and shops. Supporters say the city needs the tax revenue; opponents fear artists and boatyards will be priced out.
Police say a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old are the suspects and have sent the hate crime case to the Marin County DA. A swastika and an anti-Jewish message were found on the asphalt at Brookside Elementary over the weekend. The Ross Valley School District says it handed students' names to police, and neighbors gathered at the campus Tuesday night.
One of the biggest developments the Sonoma County town has seen in decades goes before the City Council, with backers touting jobs and tax revenue and opponents warning about old contamination on the property.
A Van's RV-7A went down in a field by Rooster Run Golf Club late Wednesday morning, closing part of East Washington Street. The FAA and NTSB are investigating, and the condition of the two people aboard wasn't immediately known.
Supervisors voted unanimously to proclaim a local emergency so crews can get ahead of flooding and slides, two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide El Niño proclamation.
Supervisors backed a microenterprise home kitchen program set to start March 1, 2027, with 100 permits a year, a 30-meal daily limit and fee breaks for lower-income neighborhoods.
Fairfield's Measure P and Vacaville's Measure V would each add a cent per dollar, while Rio Vista's Measure O would extend an existing tax through 2030.
The five-story project would replace an RV dealership in north Napa. State housing law limits how much the city can push back on its height and parking waivers.
The permanent tax would raise the city's rate to 10.25% and bring in about $5.5 million a year. Four former mayors say it won't fix the deficit.
The push follows a months-long debate over a $1.5 million Peregrine data-sharing contract that would pull in license plate reader and body camera data.
A survey open through Oct. 30 asks residents to weigh in on play areas, a dry 1930s fountain and the park's rows of yew trees.
Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures says 98% of the money in its new fund came from local residents and institutions, more than doubling what it manages to over $17.7 million.
A planned burn at Carrington Coast Ranch near Salmon Creek prompted a county health advisory warning air could reach unhealthy or even hazardous levels. Officials stress it was not a wildfire.
Marin, Sonoma and regional agencies are putting up about $1.39 million, and a $1 million state earmark will pay for more e-bikes in Healdsburg, Windsor, the airport area, Ross Valley and Corte Madera.
Supervisors voted 5-0 to buy the former American AgCredit headquarters north of Santa Rosa, about $6.6 million below the price floated last year, and hired a construction manager for a smaller new county center.
The City Council's Oct. 5 declaration taps the emergency reserve for pumps, barriers and sandbags and lets the city skip competitive bidding on flood work. Free sandbags are available at four sites.
A countywide half-cent tax for wildfire prevention and open space needs only a simple majority this time. American Canyon and St. Helena are also asking voters for more money for city services.
Touro becomes the academic partner for NorthBay's residency programs as the Fairfield hospital group gets ready for its first class of 10 internal medicine residents in July 2027.
Daniel Kain, 29, faces manslaughter, hit-and-run and DUI charges in the Sept. 27 death of Shannon Skilling, 43. A tip about a damaged Ford Ranger led CHP to the suspect.
The council gave final approval to a ban with no exemptions, matching Corte Madera. Five local retailers have until Jan. 31 to wind down.
Commissioners revoked a permit to cut down the McDonald district redwood that cracked a sidewalk. The owners have 10 days to appeal to the City Council.
Officers described about 20,000 Flock searches a year and their audits. A joint meeting with the Surveillance Advisory Board is set for Oct. 15.
The $47 million building is the first finished piece of the long-delayed Tierra de Rosas project. Rents run from $849 to $2,355, and 4,000 people are on the waiting list.
The Kentfield campus now holds what the college calls the only permanent collection of work by the Black Panther Party's former minister of culture.
