San Leandro: After several months of searching for candidates nationwide, Mayor Stephen Cassidy and the San Leandro City Council selected Chris Zapata as their new city manager. Working off of 25 years of local government experience, Zapata expressed to the public that he is eager to move San Leandro forward in an exciting direction. He will assume the position on Jan. 30.

Oakland: The City of Oakland was recognized as the fifth most desirable destination to visit this year in “45 Places to Go in 2012”, featured in the Travel section of The New York Times. The city was the highest ranked Northern American city, placed between London and Tokyo. Mayor Jean Quan attributes the city’s popularity to it’s growing entertainment and restaurant scene.

Pleasanton: The Pleasanton Unified School Board will soon vote on allowing drug sniffing dogs on three high school campuses as a deterrent to prevent drug usage of high school students. If passed, dogs from the city’s police department will patrol the campuses during school hours on specified days, absent from student presence. Pleasanton and Castro Valley are among cities that have already adopted the initiative.