Recently in California Category

Becca Doten, the communications director for Councilman Richard Alarcon, won her election as a member of the Democratic National Committee post.
Doten was one of four women seeking the post and received 180 of 281 votes cast at the California Democratic Party meeting this past weekend.'
"I am honored to have the opportunity to join the California delegation to the DNC," said Doten. "Inclusion of young Democrats as DNC members is essential to the future of our Party and I thank the Executive Board members of the CDP for the strong statement they made to ensure that our diverse delegation includes young voices."
Doten first got involved in politics in 2003, inspired and engaged by Gov. Howard Dean's campaign for President. Since then, she has given hundreds of hours of volunteer time to local, state and national campaigns. In 2006, she was named a "Volunteer of the Year" by the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV).

Giving up after months of campaigning across the state, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom it pulling out of the race for governor,
His deicison leaves Attorney General Jerry Brown as the leading Democratic contender _ even though Brown has yet to formally announce.
Newsom's decision came as he has been unable to attract major donors for his campaign.
Earlier this year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa withdrew from the race.

While her husband, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is battered by dismal popularity polls, California first lady Maria Shriver had no such trouble Tuesday as she presided over the nation's top gathering of women, a who's who of America's most-influential entertainers and political figures. S.F. Chronicle

Shriver welcomed nearly 15,000 women gathered for the annual nonpartisan Women's Conference at the Long Beach Convention Center, which attracts major corporate sponsorship and newsmakers from entertainer Alicia Keyes to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, news anchor Katie Couric, Elizabeth Edwards and blogger Meghan McCain.

Storefront Latino evangelical churches in the San Fernando Valley and throughout California have become the front line of the 2010 Census battle to count the country's exploding, but elusive, immigrant population.Tony Castro in the Daily News.
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"We are no longer just about saving souls," said the Rev. Aaron Morales, pastor of Christian Adonai Church in Van Nuys, "but about counting them, too."

Pastors such as Morales have emerged as prominent boosters of the upcoming census as traditional Latino leaders face increasing pressure from large U.S. Latino organizations and other religious clerics who are spearheading a census boycott to force Washington to deal with immigration reform.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws, under new policy guidelines to be sent to federal prosecutors Monday. AP in the Daily News.

Two Justice Department officials described the new policy to The Associated Press, saying prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws.

Poor Maria Shriver. Sue Doyle in the Daily News

First she's photographed breaking the law by chatting on her cellphone behind the wheel of a big SUV.

Then her husband - the same Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who signed the ban on hand-held cellphone use - promises "swift action" against her.

Attorney General Jerry Brown has built a commanding lead over San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor, according to the latest Field Poll results released today. Sacramento Bee.

On the Republican side, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman remains locked in a virtual tie with former Rep. Tom Campbell, but half of the voters are undecided. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner continues to place a distant third in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, the nonpartisan poll found.

"Covering a Republican convention is a precious right that all political reporters should exercise. We have repeatedly said that skipping this year's is inexcusable.** We failed to register for press credentials or show up on at least one occasion throughout our lives. That is simply wrong and we have taken responsibility for our mistake." Calbuzz.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman sought to fight back criticism Tuesday of her apparently scant voting record as the news threatened to dominate much of the California Republican Party's convention being held at a resort here. Sacramento Bee.

The Bee reported Thursday that it could not find records that the billionaire candidate had registered to vote before 2002.

California Republicans spent much of their weekend convention soul-searching over the battered party's future and debating a plan of attack for 2010, when they hope to capitalize on anti-tax protests and growing national conservative anger over President Barack Obama's health care proposals.AP in SF.Examiner.

Most of the attention during their three-day convention at a resort near Palm Springs was on the three GOP gubernatorial candidates, former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former five-term congressman Tom Campbell.

Attorney General Jerry Brown said he plans to open an official exploratory committee for governor soon to allow him to begin fundraising for the 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
Brown, during a visit at Los Angeles City Hall where he met with City Councill President Eric Garcetti, said he plans to take the next step to begin raising the millions that will be necessary to be competitive.
While Brown did not address the primary campaign against San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, but said he was looking at the general election against multi-millionaire Republicans, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman.
"They are talking about spending $150 million," Brown said. "They will buy up all the airtime with that kind of money."
Brown was asked about the endorsement Newsom received from former President Bill Clinton.
"These things happen in politics," Brown said.
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A year after the financial system nearly collapsed, the nation's biggest banks are bigger and regaining their appetite for risk.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and others - which have received tens of billions of dollars in federal aid - are once more betting big on bonds, commodities and exotic financial products, trading that nearly stopped during the financial crisis.

State inspectors have identified more than $15 million in questionable expenditures using federal homeland security grants spent in California, an investigation by California Watch has found. California Watch in the Daily News.

Using the state's open-records laws, the investigative unit started this year by the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting found scores of instances of wasteful spending, purchasing violations, error-prone accounting and shoddy oversight at agencies across the state during the years immediately following 9-11.

Los Angeles County officials, for instance, spent $20,000 for a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, $3,558 for 70 replica firearms and $1,500 for a shotgun safe - none of which were permitted under the guidelines for the homeland

At a time when government agencies are cutting back on law enforcement, health care for children and services for the poor, the number of public servants collecting $100,000-plus pensions - including one raking in nearly $500,000 a year - has exploded in recent years, in some cases tripling or even increasing sevenfold. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

In Los Angeles County, the number of retired county employees receiving pensions of $100,000 or more has nearly tripled from 1,198 in 2004 to 3,096 today, the Daily News has learned through a series of Public Records Act requests.

Throughout California, the number of retired state workers collecting $100,000-plus pensions has mushroomed more than sixfold from 816 in 2004 to 5,115 now.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a candidate for governor, made a campaign stop Monday night and talked about medical marijuana and gay marriage, among other topics. Press Telegram

Newsom, who is in his second term as mayor and seeking the Democratic Party nomination, spoke with and took questions from members of a packed crowd of more than 400 people at the Cesar Chavez Elementary School gymnasium.

The campaign stop is part of Newsom's "Conversations About California's Future."