SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Among the 548 inmates sentenced to death in California is Robert Rhoades, who abducted 8-year-old Michael Lyons as he walked home from school in Yuba City on May 16, 1996, then tortured and raped him before stabbing him more than 70 times.

Michael was found dead the next day, his body recovered from brush along the banks ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Farmworker rights activist Dolores Huerta will lie in honor at the State Capitol following her death at age 96, California state officials said.

Huerta, a longtime labor leader who worked to improve the lives and working conditions of California’s migrant laborers, died Oct. 28, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Members of ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Xavier Becerra and Democratic legislative leaders expressed unity Thursday at the Capitol two days after California’s governor-elect sailed to a blowout Election Day victory.

Becerra, during a news conference, stood beside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón, D-Santa ...Read more

With that cool, rainy Halloween now a memory, Santa Ana winds are moving into Southern California starting Thursday, bringing escalating heat and critical fire danger in mountain areas.

Residents can expect a "weak to moderate Santa Ana wind across Southern California," said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — On the day after their election victories, Connecticut Democrats said Wednesday that their next step will involve trying to make healthcare more affordable at a time of rising costs.

With the potential moniker of “Nedcare,” Gov. Ned Lamont said he continues to work behind the scenes with state Comptroller Sean Scanlon on...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A major sand replenishment is headed to the San Clemente beach along the long-imperiled railway line, part of a large shoreline work package aimed at fortifying the vulnerable railroad while also protecting the area's shrinking beaches.

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved an extensive permit that railway ...Read more

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña submitted his resignation Thursday after the collapse of a major commercial bank with ties to his government plunged the South American nation into turmoil.

Regulators seized Ueno Bank SA early Tuesday, freezing the savings of millions of Paraguayans, including pensioners, and sparked widespread protests in a...Read more

WASHINGTON — Michigan U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain is running to keep her post as chair of the House Republican Conference next term, but she faces some competition after Democrats' rout of GOP candidates in this week's midterm elections.

"We can spend the next two years licking our wounds and waiting for the political winds to shift, or we can get...Read more

Cuban State Security agents detained Yoani Sánchez, the award-winning founder and director of the independent news outlet 14ymedio, in Havana on Thursday morning amid the latest government crackdown on independent journalists. She was released several hours later.

It was the third detention of an independent journalist in the Cuban capital ...Read more

Two Sacramento hotels have become staging grounds for confrontations between federal immigration agents and activists protesting their presence in the city. The protesters recently gained a vocal ally in City Councilmember Lisa Kaplan.

A group of immigration advocates monitoring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began protesting ...Read more

BOSTON — An 18-year-old Tewksbury man who law enforcement says has described mass shooters as his “heroes” and advocated a race war faces federal charges alleging that he threatened to kill President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors say that on June 21, Trenton Touch sent a direct message on Instagram to another user with him holding what ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas’ newly elected governor, who will take office in January, pledged to fire Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath and to stop existing state takeovers of school districts such as Fort Worth ISD. Political science experts say fulfilling these promises is less straightforward than it appears.

Democrat Gina ...Read more

LANSING — Michigan House Republicans chose a new leader Thursday, Nov. 5, to replace House Speaker Matt Hall in the new year after the GOP lost 11 House seats and majority control of the lower chamber in Tuesday's "blue wave" midterm.

The new 47-member Republican minority instead chose state Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, to lead the caucus and ...Read more

At the direction of Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, three competitive statewide races are being audited in accordance with a state law that requires reviews of results in races that are within one percentage point.

No winner has been declared in the contests for Kansas governor, attorney general and secretary state.

Democrats Cindy ...Read more

NEW YORK — Judges hearing an appeal of Donald Trump’s criminal conviction for concealing a hush-money payment to a porn star focused on whether prosecutors properly applied campaign-finance law to his conduct.

Trump attorney Robert Giuffra Jr. argued to a five-judge panel Thursday that prosecutors improperly elevated a false-business ...Read more

DENVER — Two days after polls closed, a measure restricting which teams transgender athletes may play on has been approved by Colorado voters, while a second measure that would ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors looks likely to pass as well.

The Associated Press called the race in favor of Proposition 134 at 4:12 p.m. Thursday, with an...Read more

NEW YORK — An FBI agent driving the wrong way on a street in Brooklyn blew a red light and struck a pedestrian, then dragged the unconscious man through the snow, across the street and put him on a nearby bench to cover up what he’d done, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

The feds on Thursday arrested the agent, Andrew Reyes, 30, of ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — “People’s lives are in serious danger at the Sigma Nu house. 6 people have been hospitalized.”

This anonymous report was received by NC State University police on Sept. 15. Less than two hours later, another report about the Sigma Nu fraternity came in, university police said in a search warrant for the Sigma Nu house ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is weighing whether to leave the Trump administration, people familiar with the matter said, as he considers his next moves following Republicans’ midterm elections wipeout this week.

Rubio and his advisers are going over options for his future, according to the people, who asked not to be ...Read more