California News

The weather isn't expected to help today in the fight against a wildfire bearing down on hundreds of homes in the high desert north of Los Angeles.

Two separate fires still burning near the small mountain town of Tehachapi point out the need for more education, planning, codes, and common sense from people living in California's wild lands, officials say.

Representative Maxine Waters , Democrat of California, will face charges of misusing her office and is expected to contest the claims in a House trial, the second powerful House Democrat to opt for such a public airing in recent days, Congressional officials said Friday.

California Rep. Dan Lungren was forced to cut short a radio interview when he was stopped by police in Virginia for speeding while he was live on the air.

A huge wildfire in the high desert wilderness north of Los Angeles jumped an aqueduct on Friday, rushing toward hundreds of houses as firefighters also tried to keep flames from damaging power lines that bring electricity to Southern California.

A Southern California man has been sentenced to death for the torture and murder of a 16-year-old runaway girl who was stabbed more than 130 times and left in a burning home.

Census figures released this week show a fifth of Californians -- some 6.5 million -- went without health insurance in 2007.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over the state's finances on Wednesday, raising pressure on lawmakers to negotiate a state budget that is more than a month overdue and will need to close a $19 billion shortfall.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger challenged cities Thursday to post officials' salaries on websites if they have nothing to hide.

Jobs and the economy may be foremost on voters' minds, but Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer has been quick to stress another issue that has been a hallmark of her political career, her support for abortion rights.

Cooler temperatures and calmer winds helped firefighters in their battle against the most destructive of two big wildfires that have burned homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate mountain communities on the edge of the Mojave Desert and in the southern Sierra Nevada.

In a symbolic gesture, the Palm Springs city council has affirmed its support for a new police procedure following a controversial gay sex sting last year.

In 1969, Sen. Gaylord Nelson was so moved after seeing the devastation of an oil spill off the California coast near Santa Barbara that he called for a national teach-in on the environment.

Californian conservation specialists are offering to help the Gulf Coast deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Republican Meg Whitman wants to eliminate the capital gains tax in California if she is elected governor in November, a key part of her plan to boost state employment.

A new poll shows Californians are split between the Democratic and Republican candidates in the contests for governor and U.S. Senate.

California pensions will be withheld for three former Bell administrators until the state attorney general determines whether the city broke any laws in paying them outsized salaries.

Gov. Bill Richardson says a meeting of U.S. and Mexican border governors will be held Sept.

President Reagan at a White House ceremony in February 1982. Jeff Taylor / AP President Reagan at a White House ceremony in February 1982.

A survey of Catholics in the state of California shows that a significant percentage support marriage equality for gay and lesbian families, reported CatholicCulture.org on July 27.