It’s not hard to imagine how Barbara Becnel charmed her way into spending more than 12 hours a day with Los Angeles gangsters for a year and a half. Or befriended a former gangster on death row for murder. Or ran for governor of California.
CityLab, a project by UC Berkeley journalism students and News21, tracks data about Bay cities, from government expenditures and voting patterns to more obscure information like the number of veterinarians, liquor licenses and medical marijuana dispensaries in each city.