Political Stories Top stories  Large majorities on both sides of southwestern border oppose a wall, poll finds — Large majorities of Americans and Mexicans living in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border oppose building a wall dividing the two countries, rejecting the proposal that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has made a cornerstone of his campaign, […]

Political Stories Top stories  Dan Walters: Is rape a violent crime? AG Kamala Harris offers two definitions — Attorney General Kamala Harris recently released her annual report on crime, revealing that in 2015, violent crimes jumped 10 percent from the previous year. Digging into the voluminous report’s appendix reveals the dozens of specific assaults in the Penal Code […]

Political Stories Top stories  Valley Republicans divided on whether to attend GOP convention — GOP lawmakers from the Central Valley are split on whether to attend the Republican National Convention as presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump continues to divide members of the party months after his last opponent conceded. Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, has decided to […]

Political Stories Top stories Trump’s stance on high-speed rail clashes with House Republicans’ – High-speed rail potentially puts Republicans in the House of Representatives and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on different tracks. While Republican lawmakers used a hearing Thursday to question high-speed rail projects like one underway in California, Trump has urged greater federal […]

Political Stories Top stories  House sets stage for post-election showdown over California water — Controversial efforts to steer more water toward California farms advanced Wednesday in the House of Representatives, setting up yet another post-election showdown. Amid frustration and finger-pointing from all sides, the Republican-controlled House rejected Northern California Democrats’ efforts to strip the California water […]

Political Stories Top stories  California’s drought may be easing, but fight over water persists — California Republicans are spreading out their bets in their annual effort to steer more water to the state’s farmers. In the absence of negotiations, such tactics matter most right now. Framed by a hearing Tuesday, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will vote […]

Political Stories Top stories California ballot measure money rolls in following deadline – Newly minted proposition numbers in hand, campaign committees supporting or opposing measures on California’s November ballot raised millions of dollars in the days following last month’s initiative qualification deadline. Sacramento Bee article Little consensus on policing bills at California Capitol – On all the hot-button […]

Political Stories Top stories Dan Walters: Late-blooming measure would fast-track bullet train’s ‘bookends’ — Backers of the $2 billion Caltrain electrification project are especially eager to proceed and see its connection to the troubled bullet train as a potential albatross. Therefore, they and Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, are pushing a late-blooming “gut-and-amend” bill to allow the […]

Political Stories Top stories Cathleen Decker: It took only a month to count California’s votes. Here’s why, and here’s why it may get better – The lingering question isn’t who won the presidential primaries or the Senate race; the margins in those races, and most other regional and local contests across the state, were big enough that […]

Political Stories Top stories  California water-bill fight is percolating again on Capitol Hill — California water will retake the Capitol Hill stage in coming days, with compromise nowhere in sight. Deep into a largely arid legislative season, lawmakers will again reflect on the state’s drought as early as Monday and wrangle over efforts to address it. […]