How has life in the Bay Area changed over the last 20 years? These stories straight from our Bay City News archives capture news of the day from 5, 10, and 20 years ago – as originally published at the time. Explore these history snapshots and ponder how today’s news compares to that of years past.
JUNE 18, 2021
Digital health records remain part of the larger debate over convenience, privacy and public access to medical proof. California’s vaccine record launch showed how emergency pandemic systems quickly became everyday government infrastructure.
Bay City News Reported:
“California Launches Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Records”
Vaccinated state residents can now access their vaccine record digitally through a tool introduced Friday by the state’s Department of Public Health and Department of Technology.
The digital record can be accessed at and requires residents to input their name, date of birth, phone number or email address and a four-digit PIN.
Users will then receive a link to their digital record, which has the same information as the physical Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination record card given out when people receive their shots, as well as a QR code that can be scanned to show the same information.
Officials with the two departments stressed that the digital record would not be used as a so-called vaccine passport and is an alternative way for vaccinated residents to confirm their status when entering a business or event.
“More than 22 million Californians are now at least partially vaccinated, with nearly 20 million fully vaccinated,” state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Friday in a briefing on the tool.
“The odds are someone is going to misplace their paper CDC card and the digital COVID-19 vaccine record provides a convenient backup,” Pan said.
The CDT’s Office of Enterprise Technology designed the tool in-house, according to the office’s Deputy Director Rick Klau.
Klau also noted that QR code readers will only be able to see the information present on the digital vaccine card and will not be able to store that information.
“They will see as if they were looking at the CDC card but it does not permit the creation of a copy of that information for storage,” Klau said.
The state also has no plans to launch its own mobile app that would verify vaccine record QR codes, Klau said, although state officials are in talks about the possibility of a trusted QR code verification system that is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, which oversees the security of credit and debit cards.
Vaccinated people who need to correct or update their vaccination record can do so at cdph./covidvaccinerecord or contact the state’s COVID-19 hotline at (833) 422-4255.
JUNE 18, 2016
Coastal rescues remain a recurring public-safety concern as visitors navigate cliffs, tides and narrow trails. The Bodega Bay incident shows how quickly a recreational outing can become a multi-agency emergency along the North Coast.
Bay City News reported:
“Teens Rescued After Becoming Stranded On Bodega Bay Cliff”
Fire officials and sheriff’s deputies helped rescue three teens who became stuck on a cliff in Bodega Bay Friday evening.
Around 5:15 p.m., a Sonoma County sheriff’s helicopter was dispatched to Bodega Head for a report that there were two teens stuck about 50 feet below the top of the bluff with water and a rocky beach at least 50 feet below them, according to sheriff’s officials.
Additionally, a third teen was stranded about 15 feet below the top of the bluff and was only hanging on to an ice plant, sheriff’s officials said.
Fire officials were able to quickly rig a safety rope to an emergency vehicle and gave it to the teen while they set up for a rope rescue, according to sheriff’s officials.
Once the helicopter arrived, the pilot was able to spot the teens stuck 50 feet below the top of the bluff, as they were clinging onto loose rocks on nearly vertical terrain.
The pilot landed the helicopter on top of the bluff and crewmembers were able to rig the helicopter for a 100-foot longline rescue, sheriff’s officials said.
The pilot then flew the helicopter, as a tactical flight officer held onto the end of the longline, to the teens.
The two teens were then secured to rescue devices and flown to the top of the bluff, one at a time, according to sheriff’s officials.
Sheriff’s officials determined the group, who was visiting from San Jose, had climbed down to the beach using a trail. Due to the rising tide, the trail was no longer there when they decided to return, sheriff’s officials said.
As they tried to climb up the face of the bluff, they got stuck and could no longer climb up or down. A fourth teen who was with them was able to make it to the top of the bluff, where he called for help.
JUNE 18, 2006
Local governments continue to use resolutions to influence national immigration debates that directly affect their communities. Sonoma County’s proposal shows how Bay Area officials framed immigration as a family, labor and citizenship issue two decades ago.
Bay City News reported:
“Sonoma County Supervisors To Consider Immigration Reform Resolution“
Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider a resolution calling on Congress to endorse criteria for fair immigration reform.
The Committee for Fair Immigration Reform asked the board to consider the resolution and also will request the Sonoma City Council to consider it Wednesday, committee spokeswoman Betty Ann Bruno said.
Committee co-founder Elsa Nelson said, “We hope the supervisors not only pass this resolution to send to our representatives in Washington, but that they also encourage other local entities to do the same thing.”
Nelson said moderate members of both parties in Congress “need to hear reasoned tones of grassroots America and move away from the over-heated demands of those who want extreme measures like deporting millions of people already here or making felons out of them.”
The committee believes immigration laws should be fair to those who have applied for legal entry; have reasonable residency requirements; consider the needs of employers and employment history; respect families; promote assimilations and encourage citizenship.
The resolution before the board also calls on other counties to send the same message to Congress.
Editor’s Note: All the reporting, writing, and editing of this content was done by human journalists at the time of initial publication. AI tools were used to surface these stories from our internal Bay City News archives and provide the introductory context.