Government/Politics

H1N1 vaccination clinics scheduled for today and Saturday by the Sacramento County health department have been canceled due to weather and a lack of parking at the planned sites.

The city of Elk Grove's bid to spread southward took a step forward this week with the release of a draft agreement framing future planning for thousands of acres of expansion.

California teamed with Sacramento County officials Thursday to launch a first-in-the-state multi-agency task force to investigate fraud in In-Home Supportive Services.

Despite the promise of a winter shelter plan for the homeless, most of those looking for temporary housing have literally been left out in the cold, advocates said Thursday.

The University of California, Davis, Health System is suing Sacramento County for failing to pay as much as $125 million in medical bills for indigent patients from July 2008 through September 2009.

Budget cuts are prompting the Sacramento region's largest fire department to reconsider how much holiday-decorating help it can give park districts and community organizations.

Sacramento County's budget, fresh from $180 million in cuts, is primed for another $100 million hit next fiscal year because of insufficient revenues, county Supervisor Jimmie Yee said Tuesday.

Sacramentans for Accountable Government – the group running Mayor Kevin Johnson's strong- mayor campaign – is climbing out of debt after taking in nearly $60,000 in donations and forgiven loans from July 1 to Sept. 30, campaign records show.

A foothills theater that has proved too popular for its premises is again feeling the heat from neighbors and county government.

Citrus Heights will launch a series of workshops Tuesday to discuss updating the general plan, the city's blueprint for growth.

A week after the House passed a trillion-dollar health care overhaul bill, several hundred vehement opponents gathered Saturday at a Lincoln retirement community with Rep. Tom McClintock to reaffirm their dislike for the proposed plan.

Last month, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District won $127.5 million in federal economic stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop one of the most advanced electricity grids in the nation.

In tough fiscal times, it appears not even popularity and success can save a crime-fighting program.

The Placer County arm of the Republican Party has been ensnared in the investigation of a San Diego County lawmaker by the state's campaign finance watchdog.

Responding quickly to a mayoral call, some of the region's largest developers are rushing to draw up proposals for a new sports and entertainment arena in Sacramento.

Kash Gill, who as a boy rose before dawn to pick peaches in the broiling summer sun, has become the first Punjabi American mayor in Yuba City history.

The El Dorado Irrigation District general manager says he is prepared to sit down with representatives of an environmental group to try to head off a potentially costly lawsuit.

Less than a week after casting votes on a historic health care bill, members of Congress are sweeping through their districts to rally constituents on the proposed overhaul of the country's health care system.

To help stem the spread of the H1N1 virus, public health officials are recommending that people, particularly those in high-risk groups, get vaccinated.

Former Sacramento Police Chief Albert Nájera was linked with "pension spiking" two years ago. He got an 8.6 percent raise and then an 11.2 percent raise months later. Then he retired, the raises went public, and Nájera looked bad at the conclusion of a 30-year career.

The Yolo County Board of Supervisors appointed Marjorie Rist, a five-year employee of the Probation Department, as chief probation officer.

The FBI probe into whether e-mails were deleted during a separate federal investigation of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson's St. HOPE Academy has been closed without charges being filed.

Rumors of City Manager Ray Kerridge's imminent departure began to spread last week after he sent an e-mail thanking city employees for their work during the past year, while the city grappled with budget reductions, layoffs and controversies involving the building department.

Auburn officials said Tuesday that talk of the city banning pit bulls was more bark than bite.

Jason Behrmann, assistant city manager in Galt for nearly four years, was promoted to city manager this week in a 5-0 vote of the City Council.

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi will be sworn in today as the new congressman from the 10th Congressional District after winning Tuesday's special election to replace Rep. Ellen Tauscher.

The California Legislature's water package calls for an election, probably in November 2010, on an $11 billion water bond requiring majority approval by the state's voters.

It may be 2020 before Sacramento developer Paul Petrovich finishes building his proposed Curtis Park Village project on a toxic, abandoned railyard, but at long last his colorful, almost unprecedented, journey to get it to City Hall for a vote is nearing the finish line.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is muscling up against DUI offenders who kill and maim, thanks to a $1 million boost.

In a move reminiscent of one of his political heroes, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Thursday that he was forming a task force in charge of getting a new sports and entertainment arena built in Sacramento.

In Sacramento County's old animal shelter – the one built more than 40 years ago – sick kittens were placed in rows of cages, dogs were crammed into kennels and too many animals were put to sleep just because there wasn't space to keep them.

When Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson trumpeted a collaborative plan for sheltering homeless people this winter, he caught some key players by surprise.

Changing seasons means tighter rules on landscape watering: Starting next week, watering will be banned on weekdays in the city of Sacramento.

Calling it "time for a change," Roseville Mayor Gina Garbolino said Thursday that W. Craig Robinson will not return to his city manager's post.

This year's property tax bills are based on the assessed value of a property as of Jan. 1, 2009.

The Governor's Mansion, the Stanford Mansion, the state Indian Museum and Sutter's Fort – all Sacramento landmarks – will be closed Mondays because of state budget cuts, California State Parks officials announced Wednesday.

Sacramento will receive nearly $87 million for flood control projects under an energy and water bill signed Wednesday by President Barack Obama.

For three years, the city of Sacramento has allowed developers to start work on their projects before receiving formal permits.

Sacramento County's top administrator, Terry Schutten, is retiring at the end of the calendar year.

The City Council on Tuesday urged a quick investigation into why new home permits were issued in the Natomas flood zone after a federal building ban was in effect.

Nestlé Waters can resume building its water bottling plant in south Sacramento after City Attorney Eileen Teichert ruled Tuesday the project was exempt from special permits the City Council might pass regulating similar facilities.

After months of speculation that he would jump into the race, former mayoral candidate Shawn Eldredge is taking a run at the District 3 seat held by Councilman Steve Cohn.