When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

California lawmakers are raising questions about the Governor’s commitment to implementing the proposed Medi-Cal expansion under the federal health law.

The head of the California Public Utilities Commission says at no point did budget forecasting mistakes lead to ratepayers being overcharged.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The number of paroled sex offenders who are fugitives in California is 15 percent higher today than before Gov. Jerry Brown's sweeping law enforcement realignment law took effect 17 months ago, according to figures released Wednesday by the state corrections department.

California led the nation in the creation of green jobs last year.

One Book, One San Diego promises to be an exciting program in 2013. This article answers common questions about the program. Contact Clare Pister at cpister@kpbs.org with further questions.

The House has approved a bill to fund the federal government through the end of September. The $982 billion continuing resolution introduced by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), who heads the Appropriations Committee, would avoid a potential government shutdown on March 27.

Tasty breadsticks, all-you-can-eat salad, and surprise military reunions. These days, Olive Garden has it all.

Marcela Zhou, an engaging young woman, is a recent graduate from UCSD, who earned her B.S. in Human Biology in just three years. Soft spoken and polite, she smiles brightly when she thinks about all she has been able to achieve.

Consumer advocates want the governor to remove two long time employees of the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control. The group insists the state workers have serious conflicts of interest.

Bacon and bologna are hardly health food. But a huge new study offers the strongest evidence yet that eating processed meat boosts the risk of the two big killers, cancer and heart disease.

For the second semester in a row, San Diego State University's Chicano Studies department has fallen short of enrollment targets, despite a record number of Latinos on campus.

President Obama recently acknowledged the obvious: He doesn't have the supernatural powers necessary to do a mind meld, Jedi or otherwise, with Republican congressional leaders that would lead to pacts on fiscal policy, or anything else for that matter.

Monica Montgomery has always led a life of service to her community. From a young age, she has performed well in leadership roles, and has strived to live a life of integrity.

Having lived most of her life in the 4th District, Sandy knows and understands the people in this community and the challenges that face the District.

Arkansas has approved a law banning most abortions after 12 weeks of gestation, as both houses of the state's legislature vote to override a veto by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe. The Republican-backed Human Heartbeat Protection Act will become the nation's most restrictive law.

Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to answer questions on everything from gun control to the Department of Justice's failure to prosecute Wall Street. But he was also asked about an issue proponents of marijuana legalization have been following closely: what the DOJ plans to do about Colorado and Washington state, which have defied federal law by legalizing recreational use of the drug.

Pastor Ray L. Smith was born and raised in Southeastern San Diego. Currently he is the Senior Pastor at United Missionary Baptist Church which he has served for the past eleven years.

Barry Pollard is a San Diego Native with deep roots in southeastern San Diego.

Finally today, I read this sentence a couple of weeks ago and I've been thinking about it since: "When you can't change what's bothering you, a typical response is to convince yourself it's not really bothering you."

The only one prepared to take this seat, ahead of the times, running a campaign grass-roots, within the community is Tony Villafranca.

Dwayne Crenshaw figures he has one year to prove to San Diego 4th District voters that he can deliver.

Myrtle Cole, who's running for San Diego's District 4 council seat, sees herself as an heir to former Councilmen Charles Lewis and George Stevens.

Bruce Williams was born and raised in District 4. Bruce attended Knox Elementary School, Morse High School, and the University of California San Diego.

The offices of a newspaper and a television station in Ciudad Juarez were hit in a drive-by shooting early Wednesday morning. No one was injured.

Blanca Lopez Brown, mother of four and resident of the 4th District for over thirty years, is currently the President of the Board of Trustees for the Lemon Grove School District.

Homeless people and those making less than $15,000 a year are eligible to get free cell phones and service, thanks to a new statewide program that began this week. It's part of the federally funded Lifeline effort.

Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords appeared Wednesday at the Tucson Safeway where she was shot by gunman two years ago.

Veterans whose war injuries prevent them from having children would get coverage from the VA for reproductive treatment options like IVF under new federal legislation.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA says the Curiosity rover is hunkering down after the sun unleashed a blast headed for Mars.

Mayor Bob Filner's plan to use the Port of San Diego as a center of job creation received support from three City Council members at its first public airing today.

In his profile of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this week's issue of The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin writes: "Ginsburg has suggested that she would like to serve as long as Louis Brandeis, her judicial hero, who retired at eighty-two." Ginsburg turns 80 this month and is marking her 20th year on the court. She has had cancer -- colon and pancreatic -- and her tiny, frail-looking stature leads many people to wonder if she'll be retiring soon.

Mississippi is poised to make homebrewing legal, after its legislature approved a beer-brewing measure Wednesday. The bill now heads to Gov. Phil Bryant, who last year approved a move to raise the state's maximum alcohol limits on beer -- something the current bill's supporters point to with optimism. The governor's office has not indicated whether he intends to sign the bill.

Listeners were shocked to hear a 911 call in which a caregiver refuse to administer CPR to a dying women. We'll discuss the policies of senior care facilities.

Every year, the South By Southwest music, film and interactive festival gets larger, and navigating the blur of panels, parties and shows gets more daunting. The girth of it all is enough to keep many SXSW old-timers away from Austin this year.

The Center For Ethics 2013 'Silent Spring' series focuses on global warming and its connection to infectious diseases.

Best-selling author and health advocate Dr. Neal Barnard offers groundbreaking research to protect against memory loss and offers new ways to offset the risks for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. By showing three simple steps that can be taken to derail degenerative processes and warning against potential threats to the brain, Dr. Barnard provides viewers with the research-backed information that gives them the power to protect their memory.

A Portland, Ore., resident was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The FBI alleges that Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, gave money and advice to a man involved in a deadly 2009 suicide bomb attack on the headquarters of Pakistan's intelligence service in Lahore.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled the December 2012 scuba diving death of Camp Pendleton Marine Anastasia Jackson an accident.

Some slopping coding on an update to Microsoft's Windows 7 two years ago has cost the computer giant a $731 million fine to the European Commission.

William Moody, who as the pro wrestling character Paul Bearer embodied a sense of theater that was equal parts morbid and absurd, has died at age 58. A portly man known for his wild-eyed stare and habit of carrying a brass urn under his arm, Paul Bearer was most notably the manager of The Undertaker and Kane.

Chefs are taking advantage of unused real estate and popping up all over town in unlikely places. It's a phenomenon called "pop-up" restaurants. When an eatery is closed either during the week or at night, a second business emerges in its place.

It wasn't the fish heads poking out of the Stargazy Pie that stopped more than a few of our readers cold. It was the eyeballs.

What it means to own something in the digital age is being re-negotiated.

South Korea upped the ante on Wednesday after Pyongyang threatened to scrap the armistice that ended a brutal war between the rival neighbors in 1953, promising retaliation for any North Korean attack.

Prompted by sequestration cuts, the Marine Corps has immediately ceased new enrollments in its tuition assistance program.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is unveiling today an e-mail alert system to inform residents when a registered sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

Saying that she doesn't think about dying, she thinks "of being here now," actress Valerie Harper has revealed to People magazine that she has terminal brain cancer.

Federal health officials warned that a dangerous group of superbugs has become increasingly common in hospitals throughout the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bacteria are resistant to virtually all antibiotics, including the ones doctors use as a last-ditch option.

You can’t walk along 4th and C Streets in downtown San Diego and not wonder about the dilapidated building across from City Hall. It was once the California Theatre.

A new study finds that aging infrastructure, rising construction costs and budget cuts have put California’s local streets and roads system in crisis.

Winter storm Saturn, which has dumped several inches of snow from the Dakotas to Maryland, is expected to linger over the mid-Atlantic on Wednesday, bringing another five to nine inches to many areas in the east.

Increasingly, people are continuing to work past 65. Almost a third of Americans between the ages of 65 and 70 are working, and among those older than 75, about 7 percent are still on the job. In Working Late, a series for Morning Edition, NPR profiles older adults who are still in the workforce.

Secretary of State John Kerry describes himself as a recovering politician. He's just getting used to the fact that he can't speak quite as freely as he did when he was a senator.

March means spring break is just around the corner, and for New Mexico it means mild temperatures and fresh snow -- perfect conditions for visiting area ski resorts.