SAN FRANCISCO – Supporters of the San Francisco school bond went home early Tuesday evening, not because it was a school night, but because it was clear Proposition A had been approved by a landslide.

OAKLAND— One of the measures on Oakland’s ballot this November is a proposal to raise $148 million for the city’s aging library system. Voters will approve or reject the city’s plan to raise the money using one of the few methods available to public entities looking for big funding—selling bonds.

ALBANY- In a wide brick garage, two engines and one ambulance glow red in the afternoon light. Dumbbells, a treadmill and other workout equipment lie at the entrance, hiding thick fireproof jackets. It doesn’t look like the kind of place that is about to close for eighteen months.

BACON ISLAND, Ca — A narrow strip of road runs through the rural west edge of San Joaquin County, separating a sea of yellowing corn fields from the placid, reed-lined waters of the Middle River as it rolls toward the San Francisco Bay. Fishermen and fishing birds stalk the rock-lined banks just below the pavement, chasing stripers and catfish in the swirling olive-colored eddies. Chirping black birds dip and dodge above the corn.