SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday asked President Donald Trump to approve more housing vouchers as Trump's administration weighs in on the state's massive homelessness problem. Members of the administration visited Los Angeles last week to view the city's sprawling homeless encampments after Trump told his staff to develop...
Iran Urges US to ‘Put Warmongers Aside’ After Bolton Firing
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's president urged the U.S. on Wednesday to "put warmongers aside" as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran in the wake of the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers. Hassan Rouhani's remarks signaled approval of President Donald Trump's abrupt dismissal...
When Was the Last Time You Saw a Monarch Butterfly?
GREENBELT, Md. — Hand-raising monarch butterflies in the midst of a global extinction crisis, Laura Moore and her neighbors gather round in her suburban Maryland yard to launch a butterfly newly emerged from its chrysalis. Eager to play his part, 3-year-old Thomas Powell flaps his arms and exclaims, "I'm flying!...
Border Official Resigns Amid Uproar Over Migrant Children
HOUSTON — The acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection resigned Tuesday amid an uproar over the discovery of migrant children being held in pitiful conditions at one of the agency’s stations in Texas. Acting Commissioner John Sanders’ departure deepened the sense of crisis and added to the rapid...
Walters: 'Big, Hairy' Goal Could Be Newsom's First Defining Moment
The careers of political executives – presidents, governors and big city mayors – are often, fairly or not, defined by how they deal with the crises they encounter. Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression (and later World War II), John Kennedy and the Cuban missile confrontation, Lyndon Johnson and the...
Helping Define What It Means to Be ‘Made in California’
Let me start with an admission: government officials — at all levels — don’t do a good job of engaging the public as we grapple with big, complex challenges. Hearings only go so far. Videos and social posts get into only so much detail and nuance. And, most importantly, most...
Catholic Bishops Approve New Sex-Abuse Reporting Hotline
BALTIMORE — U.S. Catholic bishops voted Wednesday to create a new national sex-abuse hotline run by an independent entity, a decision that represents one of the church's most tangible steps yet in confronting its sex-abuse crisis. The hotline, which would field allegations that bishops committed abuse or covered it up,...
Trump Says Asylum Seekers Should Have to Pay a Fee to Apply
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is proposing charging asylum seekers a fee to process their applications as he continues to try to crack down on the surge of Central American migrants seeking to cross into the U.S. In a presidential memorandum signed Monday, Trump directed his attorney general and acting homeland security...
Housing-Strapped California Debates Density Near Job Hubs
SACRAMENTO — A controversial proposal to increase housing near transportation and job hubs faces a key test Wednesday as California lawmakers search for solutions to the state's housing affordability crisis. Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener's bill is one of dozens on housing before lawmakers this year that attempt to the slow...
Trump Makes New Threat to Send Soldiers to US-Mexico Border
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump made a new threat Wednesday to send armed soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump tweeted that "Mexico's Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border," but he didn't support the drug-smuggling claim. Mexico’s...