Capitol Alert

By Torey Van Oot and Jon Ortiz Had your fill of the run-of-the-mill lunch spots and food trucks surrounding the Capitol? While there's no shortage of coffee and lunch locales in the area, we know some downtown denizens have yet to sample the many...

California lawmakers on legislative recess are out and about today. Democratic Sen. Lois Wolk of Davis, for instance, is in Fairfield helping to launch the Solano County Literacy in Education Project. Republican Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is visiti...

A federal judge this afternoon denied a challenge to California's campaign disclosure law by proponents of Proposition 8, who sought to make donors' identities secret, claiming they were harassed. The preliminary ruling, by U.S. District Judge Morriso...

The number of Californians living in poverty increased to nearly six million - more than the populations of most states - between 2009 and 2010, according to a new Census Bureau report. Californians living in poverty increased from 5.1 million in 200...

Former Assemblyman Hector De La Torre was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown today to the state air resources board, a part-time job paying $40,699. De La Torre, a 44-year-old South Gate Democrat, was termed out of the Assembly in 2010 and currently is ser...

Our top takeaway from Capitol Alert's first-ever punchline contest? Controller John Chiang's staffers have no problem publicly poking fun at their boss. Several of the department's employees were among the readers who submitted their best joke abou...

Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, announced his retirement Thursday, culminating a San Joaquin Valley political career that dates back to a college internship three decades ago. The 52-year-old Cardoza said he will step down at the end of 2012 rather tha...

Fresh off the Republican debate earlier this week in Nevada, presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann makes a foray into blue-state country for a talk at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. The Minnesota congresswoman's subject? "The R...

SANTA CLARA -- It was only a ribbon-cutting, but in a flagging economy and with statewide unemployment above 12 percent, even a minor victory can get a politician to show up. The opening of a new research and development center by Dell Inc., Gov. Jerr...

Democratic Assemblyman Ricardo Lara has made plans to run for a Los Angeles County Senate seat official, setting the stage for a 2012 battle with fellow Assembly Democrat Bonnie Lowenthal. The Bell Gardens Democrat, who was elected to his first t...