News
Abandoned by his father and orphaned at age 6 after the death of his mother to cancer, Tony Thurmond believes he could have easily ended up in prison. Instead, the 50-year-old Richmond resident is the new state superintendent of public education. He is the second African-American in the position after Wilson Riles, who served 1971-83.
Analysis
ANALYSIS: In declaring her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president, Kamala Harris joins an increasingly crowded field that includes an array of potential California contenders. Whether she will get the nomination is questionable. They would never admit it, but in the deepest part of their minds, a group of California politicians have to be musing about the increasingly likely possibility that poll-leading Joe Biden is going to run for the presidency.
Recent News
California judges can now consider what is in the best interests of a pet when deciding animal custody cases in divorce disputes. A new law that went into effect Jan. 1 is intended to elevate pets above other community property like furniture or cars.
News
Last January, about 36,000 people gathered in Sacramento to march in support of the #MeToo movement. Many women and their allies who marched included those that spoke out and signed an open letter denouncing sexual harassment within the Capitol community. Supporters hope they will have a similar turnout Saturday.
News
President Donald Trump threatened—again—to withhold federal dollars from California as the state copes with the aftermath of wildfires. But the president’s action is on shaky legal ground. That’s because there are clear guidelines governing how federal funding is administered and under what circumstances it can be cut off.
Podcast
Longtime California environmentalist Paul Mason sits down with Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster for a wide-ranging discussion covering wildfires, the status of California’s forests, Julia Butterfly Hill, John’s 1980 Volkswagen Scirocco and the shifting focus of California’s environmental movement in the face of the global climate change crisis.
News
Gavin Newsom, the former San Francisco mayor who roiled Democrats across the country when he issued marriage certificates to same-sex couples, was sworn in Monday as California’s 40th governor. He succeeds the unprecedented, largely successful tenure of four-time governor and fellow Democrat Jerry Brown, who moseyed on back to his 2,500-acre ranch in Colusa.
News
California labor confronted major challenges last year but responded with frenetic organizing and a newfound aggressiveness—momentum unions hope to maintain in 2019. As 2018 opened, California had 2.49 million union members, roughly 15.5 percent of the state’s official working population
News
Gov. Brown leaves office next week with a smaller cost-cutting pension reform than he wanted. But after he’s gone, union challenges to minor parts of his reform pending in the state Supreme Court may open the door to big changes. The main parts of Brown’s reform add several years to retirement ages and make some employees pay more for their pensions.
News
California’s longest-serving governor will turn things over to incoming Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, but during a recent public appearance Jerry Brown bathed in the upside of politics. “I like sparring with the press, I like raising money, I like attacking my opponents, I like being attacked by my opponents.”
State Schools Superintendent Tony Thurmond at the Sacramento Press Club in September. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press) 
