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Politics & Government

Capitol Alert

Who NextGen is targeting + Brown, Kardashian agree on something + Surf’s up in Cali!

NextGen America is launching an advertising campaign to mobilize young voters ahead of the general election. Here are the five California House seats being targeted. Four feature Republican incumbents.

This is the scene of big water rally at State Capitol in Sacramento

Water & Drought

‘Time for action is now.’ Interior chief demands plan to pump more California water south

US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, in a memo, demanded a plan aimed at “maximizing water deliveries” in California. It came as farmers came to the Capitol in Sacramento to rally against a state “water grab.”

Why anti-bail advocates now oppose a bill to eliminate bail

Capitol Alert

Bill to eliminate bail advances despite ACLU defection

The American Civil Liberties Union of California and other groups that pushed to overhaul the state’s bail system said on Aug. 20, 2018, that they now oppose Senate Bill 10, which would replace cash bail with risk assessment.

Video: Developer unveils plans for “Hole in the Ground”

The State Worker

CalPERS wants to turn its ‘hole in the ground’ into Sacramento’s tallest building

CalPERS has committed to spending up to $550 million on a joint project with the CIM Group that would turn 301 Capitol Mall into Sacramento’s tallest building. The proposal includes 740,000 square feet of office space and 100 condos.

Capitol Alert

California lawmakers move to cap prison time for felons, including robbers, murderers

Senate Bill 1279 would limit sentences for felony convictions to twice the base term. Supporters say it would simplify California’s complex sentencing laws. Law enforcement argues it would rob some victims of justice.

Video: Wipeouts at Mavericks surf competition

State

Surf’s up in California, where it’s now the official sport

Surf’s up in California, where it’s now the official state sport.

State Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, speaks out against a Democratic resolution urging President-elect Donald Trump to uphold a program for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants in the country illegally during the first day of the new California legislative session on Dec. 5, 2016.

Capitol Alert

Complaint filed against California legislator over altercation with lobbyist

California state Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Alpine, is being investigated by the Senate over an alleged altercation with a female lobbyist during a fundraiser at The Diplomat Steakhouse in Sacramento on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.

Campaign Ad: Democratic ad accuses Denham of not being a farmer

Capitol Alert

Who’s writing checks to Democrats in Central Valley House races? Bay Area liberals

Central Valley Democrats seeking House seats have drawn major financial support from Silicon Valley and San Francisco, helping them keep pace with Republican incumbents, who can attract big checks from political action committees and other special interests.

Mick Mulvaney returns to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, Monday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2017.

Politics & Government

Trump’s budget chief is trying to protect his home state from tariffs

Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump’s budget director, is trying to use his influence to help a South Carolina business that could be badly wounded by the president’s trade policies.

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., right, listens as her husband Mark Kelly, left, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Giffords, was a congresswoman when she was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011.

Politics & Government

Progressive vets, gun control advocates join forces on the campaign trail

A pair of organizations — one led by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, another that supports progressive veterans — will campaign on behalf of more than a half-dozen candidates next month.

Offshore oil rigs line the Santa Barbara Channel in March 2015. The Trump administration is proposing to open more of the California coast for oil and natural gas exploration.

The California Influencer Series

Offshore oil drilling to get cheaper gas? Not worth it, California leaders say

California Influencers largely oppose the Trump Administration’s recent announcement of plans to expand offshore oil drilling, saying it wouldn’t be worth it even if gas cost less and energy bills went down.

The California Influencer Series

‘Cost savings mean nothing on a dead planet.’ Strong California opinions on offshore oil drilling

Watch the Assembly Appropriations Committee roll through bills

Capitol Alert

How many bills are left? + De León demands debate + Who’s up for sports betting, craps?

Over the next two weeks, California lawmakers will hustle to pass hundreds of bills as the 2017-18 session comes to a close. Legislators have hundreds of proposals still on the agenda.

A Cuban journalist, Serafín Morán Santiago, 40, who says he was accused of spreading propaganda and working as a paid U.S. mercenary of the American government is being detained in Texas while he pleads with federal officials to grant him asylum in the United States.

Politics & Government

Trump administration detains Cuban reporter who says he’s accused of being U.S. agent

A Cuban journalist who says he was accused of spreading propaganda and working as a paid U.S. mercenary of the American government is being detained in Texas while he pleads with federal officials to grant him asylum in the United States.

FILE - In this Dec. 8, 2017, file photo, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty speaks after a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in St. Louis Park, Minn. The ranks of the forgotten Republicans are growing. They are members of Congress, governors and state party leaders who have been left behind by President Donald Trump’s Republican Party. Some, like former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, were forced out.

National Politics

Trump warnings grow from forgotten Republicans

List of ‘forgotten Republicans’ grows as Trump GOP takeover crushes dissent.

Fires

Plan to lessen PG&E’s liability for wildfires is dead for the year, lawmaker says

Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said the California Legislature will not move to lessen PG&E’s legal liability for wildfires during legislative session on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, at left, in a photo released by the CIA soon after his March 2003 capture in Pakistan. At right, a never-published mug shot soon after his September 2006 transfer to Guantánamo, shows dramatic weight loss during his time in CIA custody. The mug shot, which also shows the arms of two soldiers in camo fatigues holding him, was taken from a chart of cell assignments at the covert Camp 7 obtained by McClatchy.

Politics & Government

Sept. 11 trial judge forbids use of FBI interrogations at Guantánamo

The 9/11 trial judge is barring key FBI interrogations of the alleged Sept. 11 plotters taken at Guantanamo after years of black site torture.

Joel Arrona-Lara, a 36-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico, faces deportation after ICE agents detained him Wednesday while he drove his pregnant wife, Mario del Carmen Venegas, to a San Bernardino, Calif. hospital.

California

They were on their way to the hospital to have a baby when ICE took dad away

Joel Arrona-Lara, a 36-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was driving his wife to a hospital in California to deliver their baby when ICE agents detained him at a gas station. Now he could be deported.

Democrat Beto O’Rourke speaks to supporters at a rally in Johnson City, Texas, August 5, 2018.

Politics & Government

Liberal groups wade into pricey Texas Senate race

Opposition trackers, digital ads and door knockers are all headed to Texas to help Democrat Beto O’Rourke in his bid to unseat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. They could foreshadow biggest investments to come, but national party strategists want resources focused on races they consider more winnable.

What farmers think about plan to divert more San Joaquin River water

Environment

Why San Francisco is joining Valley farmers in a fight over precious California water

The State Water Resources Control Board will hold hearings starting Tuesday on a plan to leave more water in the lower San Joaquin River and its three tributaries, the Tuolumne, Merced and Stanislaus.

Politics & Government

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