Authorities say a man apparently set a northeast Fresno home on fire while using a blowtorch to kill spiders. Twenty-nine firefighters were called to a home in Woodward Lake on Tuesday night to put out a two-alarm blaze. According to firefighters, a man was house-sitting for his parents when he...
All Polls Point to Newsom as California's Next Governor
Barring a big rally by John Cox, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will become the next governor of California. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday night shows Newsom holding an 11-point lead over Cox among likely voters in the race to succeed Jerry Brown. Newsom, a Democrat, leads...
White Supremacists Arrested on Charlottesville Riot Charges
LOS ANGELES — The leader of a Southern California white supremacist group and two other members were arrested on charges of inciting a deadly riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, prosecutors said Wednesday. The arrests come weeks after other group members were indicted in Virginia on similar charges. Rise Above...
Enthusiasm Bump Not Reflected in Early California Voting
SACRAMENTO — The enthusiasm both parties say exists in the electorate hasn't yet translated into early voting in California, where the percentage of people who have voted so far is similar to this time four years ago. Voters who are Republican, white and older are sending in their ballots early at...
California Revisits Three-Strike Life Sentences
SACRAMENTO — Up to 4,000 California inmates serving life sentences for nonviolent convictions will have a chance at parole following the state's decision to let stand a judge's ruling saying those prisoners are eligible for freedom under a voter-approved law. The state will craft new regulations by January to include...
Survival Bigger Than Politics in Poverty-Riddled West Side Town
HURON — A rooster signals the start of the day as workers wearing sombreros and ball caps emerge from the shadows and shuffle past boarded-up businesses in this tiny farm town. They converge on a dimly lit dirt lot outside Panaderia de Dios, a bakery sweetening the air with the...
Gov. Brown Elevates Fresno Women to Judgeships
Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two new judges to the Fresno County Superior Court last week. Both are women from Fresno legal firms. Amy Guerra, an attorney with Richard Ciummo and Associates, and Ana de Alba, a shareholder at Lang, Richert, and Patch, will join the bench. They will replace Dale Ikeda, who...
Democrats Get Big Bucks From Small-Dollar Donors
In any campaign, big money players get the most attention. But Democrats running in California’s seven most competitive congressional districts are vastly outraising Republicans in small-dollar donations, according to a review of campaign money compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. It’s a display of voter enthusiasm that can pay long-term dividends...
Feinstein, De León Spar on How Democrats Can Best Resist
SAN FRANCISCO — California Sen. Kevin de León tied U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to Washington dysfunction during a Wednesday event and pledged to "fight like hell" for immigrants and other Californians if elected to replace her, while Feinstein crafted herself as a problem solver and argued resistance is futile with Republicans...
Walters: Feinstein-De León Senate Debate Changed Nothing
With voting already underway and trailing in the polls, Kevin de León desperately needed to score big in Wednesday’s one-and-only quasi-debate with U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Billed as a “conversation” by the Public Policy Institute of California, the event was carried live only on the Internet in the middle of...