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Politics & Government

President Donald Trump attends a ceremony for the signing of an executive order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, in Washington. At left is Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and speaking at right is Bob Johnson, founder of BET.

Politics & Government

Can Opportunity Zone proponents beat back perceptions it’s an opportunity for the rich?

Republicans and Democrats are linking their political futures to the success of Opportunity Zones, but the program’s optics are making that more difficult.

Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer shared new information Thursday afternoon with The Bee regarding the arrest of Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula on misdemeanor child abuse charges, casting doubt on Arambula’s spanking explanation.

California DMV customers angry over rising wait times

Capitol Alert

A comeback story? California DMV wait times dropping

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is meeting its promises to lower wait times. Customer delays have dropped substantially over the last several months.

A condemned inmate is led out of his east block cell on death row at San Quentin State Prison in August 2016. The prison’s former chief psychiatrist received an $822,000 settlement, alleging he experienced retaliation after warning about risk in a mental health plan.

Capitol Alert

Should Jerry Brown clear out California’s death row? These former governors think so

California has 740 inmates on death row. Now, six former governors are calling on outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown to issue clemency or a moratorium on executions.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), joined by fellow Democratic Senators, at a news conference where they voiced their opposition to President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, July 10, 2018. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)

Capitol Alert

Misconduct claim involving Kamala Harris aide came to agency months before she left office

When U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris was California attorney general, her agency was told about a claim alleging misconduct by one her closest aides, three months before she left. Harris has said she didn’t know until recently.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California holds a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. Pelosi has all but ensured she will become House speaker next month, quelling a revolt by disgruntled younger Democrats by agreeing to limit her tenure to no more than four additional years in the chamber’s top post.

National Politics

Pelosi’s triumph: A reminder why she’s set to be speaker

After a dramatic week, Pelosi is set to reclaim the speaker's gavel and go toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump.

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 10, 2018 file photo, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn leaves federal courthouse in Washington, following a status hearing. Flynn is relaxed and hopeful even as the possibility of prison looms when he’s sentenced in the Russia probe Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. The retired three-star general pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with the then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. during President Donald Trump’s White House transition.

Latest News

As sentencing looms, Flynn is upbeat, has adoring fans

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is days away from being sentenced on a felony charge that in different times might have brought an end to his career.

The state Capitol dome glows in the early evening. Four Sacramento-area seats in the Legislature are on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Capitol Alert

Ax falls on Assembly Republican staff after California election losses

Several California Republicans lost their races, and several Assembly staff members now find themselves without a job. GOP legislative leadership says the decisions were difficult.

Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, speaks at an August rally at the Capitol in Sacramento against a proposal by state water officials to increase water flows for the lower San Joaquin River to protect fish. The State Water Resources Control Board approved the plan.

Latest News

California shifts water from farms, cities to fish. But a Jerry Brown compromise plan isn’t dead

California’s State Water Resources Board approved a plan Wednesday to shift Central Valley river water to fish from farms and cities.

Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula discusses the spanking that led to his arrest

California

Arambula says he was only trying to discipline his daughter after recent child abuse arrest

Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, who was arrested Monday on a misdemeanor child abuse charge, said Wednesday that he spanked his daughter only in an attempt to discipline her and denied any malicious intent.

FILE - In this April 21, 2013 file photo, Maria Butina, leader of a pro-gun organization in Russia, speaks to a crowd during a rally in support of legalizing the possession of handguns in Moscow, Russia. Prosecutors say they have “resolved” a case against Butina accused of being a secret agent for the Russian government, a sign that she likely has taken a plea deal. The information was included in a court filing Monday.

Nation & World

In plea deal, Russian woman admits to being a secret agent

A Russian woman accused of being a secret agent has admitted conspiring to infiltrate the American gun-rights movement to gather intelligence on conservative political groups as Donald Trump rose to power.

Governor-elect Gavin Newsom holds town hall meeting in Fresno

Capitol Alert

Here’s what Californians want Gavin Newsom to deliver. Probably not high-speed rail

A new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, on Dec. 12, 2018, found that Californians want Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to focus on achieving universal health care and free community college.

Newly elected House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi jousts with President Trump over funding for a border wall in an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday.

Politics & Government

Latest threat to Trump’s wall? House Republicans ditching Washington

GOP leaders scrapped the idea of a House vote on a border wall after members left town following the farm bill vote. There could be more absent Republican seats as the holidays approach, which puts Trump’s proposed wall in even greater jeopardy.

In this Dec. 11, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meets with Democratic leaders the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The parent company of magazines including the National Enquirer, Us Weekly and In Touch has admitted to engaging in a journalistically dubious practice known as “catch-and-kill” in order to help Trump become president.

National Politics

Trump argues he ‘never directed’ longtime fixer to break law

President Donald Trump is contending he "never directed" longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law, after Cohen was sentenced to prison time for crimes including arranging hush money payments to conceal Trump's alleged affairs.

Venezuelan Sandra Cadiz holds up her handmade sign carrying the Spanish message: “Blessed driver, please help us with a ride,” as her 10-year-old daughter Angelis stands with her on the road leaving Giron, Colombia, as they make their way to Peru on Sept. 2, 2018. As rising numbers of Venezuelans flee, those who cannot afford a plane or bus ticket out are going by foot.

Politics & Government

Top lawmakers in Congress push to protect Venezuelans facing deportation

Sens. Menendez, Rubio lead congressional effort to protect Venezuelans living in the United States from being forced to return to the troubled South American country.

Tom Steyer: Congress refusing to take stand on impeaching Trump

Capitol Alert

Economic worries real in California + Steyer 2020? + Election results

Californians have fears about their economic future, according to a new poll released Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California. The findings show Democrats and Republicans divided on a number of issues.

FILE- In this Nov. 29, 2018, file photo trader Timothy Nick works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 14.

Business & Real Estate

US stocks sink further; Johnson & Johnson nosedives

US stocks are skidding Friday after Chinese authorities said industrial output and retail sales both slowed in November, the latest warning sign from the second-largest economy in the world and a major engine of global growth.

A French soldiers patrols as the Christmas market reopens in Strasbourg, eastern France, Friday, Dec.14, 2018. The man authorities believe killed three people during a rampage near a Christmas market in Strasbourg died Thursday in a shootout with police at the end of a two-day manhunt, French authorities said.

Nation & World

The Latest: Italian journalist among the dead in Strasbourg

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says a young Italian journalist who was badly wounded in the Strasbourg Christmas market attack has died.

9 most destructive wildfires in California history

Latest News

PG&E wants rate hike to fund wildfire safety

PG&E asked the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday for a $1.1 billion rate hike, with half the money going for wildfire safety. Utility is being investigated after the Camp Fire in Paradise.

FILE - This Dec. 21, 2016 file photo shows the Trump International Hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington. The Justice Department is challenging a Maryland federal judge’s decision to allow a case accusing President Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency to proceed in district court. It wants an appeals court to take up the case instead.

Business & Real Estate

Trump lawyer seeks to send emoluments case to appeals court

A lawyer for President Donald Trump is challenging a Maryland federal judge's decision to allow a case accusing the president of profiting off his office to proceed in district court. The lawyer wants a federal appeals court to take up the case instead.

Politics & Government

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