California Condors are slowly edging back from the brink of extinction, but their future remains clouded.

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education tonight unanimously approved the four-year contract of Cindy Marten to become superintendent.

A California bill that would have sent some sex offenders who violated parole back to state prison has been rejected by an Assembly committee.

Companies and organizations with a stake in immigration reform are making their case to legislators in Washington by way of their pocketbooks.

Dunkin' Donuts is changing its recipes -- though you may not notice much difference the next time you bite into a cruller. In response to pressure from one of New York's top elected officials, the company recently announced that it will set a goal of using only 100 percent sustainable palm oil in making its donuts.

Guest blogger Rebecca Romani suggests going to the drive-in at this year's San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Control towers at many small and medium-sized airports around the country are set to shut down next month because of the across-the-board federal budget cuts. The towers have been operated under contract to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Join Rick Steves as he cruises the Seine River, visits Napoleon’s tomb, and takes in the Louvre. Then we feel the pulse of Paris—shopping in village-like neighborhoods, attending church in a grand pipe organ loft, and celebrating the mother of all revolutions with a big, patriotic Bastille Day bang. Then we ride a unicorn into the Middle Ages at the Cluny Museum, take a midnight Paris joyride in a classic car, get an extremely close-up look at heavenly stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle, go on a tombstone pilgrimage at Père Lachaise Cemetery, and savor the Parisian café scene.

James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, went before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday in a bit of a sour mood. He led off complaining that he had to speak publicly at all.

Although he's been a public figure for three decades, the Rev. Al Sharpton is more visible these days than ever, often in ways even he wouldn't have dreamed when he was leading protests on the streets of New York in the 1980s.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors went on record today against the possible sequestration-related closing of the control tower at the Ramona Airport, which serves as a firefighting air base.

Like the famous cherry blossoms forecast to bloom in a few weeks, this time of year is also marked by the arrival of competing, partisan federal budget proposals that political foes immediately declare dead-on-arrival, though not so dead that they can't be used as campaign fodder.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Under a law that took effect last year, the public has the right to access the records of private foundations that are affiliated with University of California and California State University campuses and examine how they spend the hundreds of millions of dollars they raise.

The family of fallen Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. Wade Wilson will be on base Thursday to receive his Silver Star at a special ceremony.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has failed to provide key information to Congress and the public that shows the agency’s ability to quickly provide service-related benefits has virtually collapsed under President Barack Obama.

The last U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011. Much of the American public was relieved to see American forces pulled out. But since then we have heard remarkably little about what is going on in the country we invaded back in 2003. As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the launch of the U.S. war in Iraq, experts begin to examine the consequences.

Similar to a vending machine, the Medbox safely and securely dispenses medical marijuana.

Zócalo, a publication out of the Coahuila capitol, Saltillo, wrote a front-page editorial on their site Monday explaining it would no longer publish information concerning drug cartel violence.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered a review of the so-called "drone medal" to be led by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey. The medal's ranking above the Purple Heart and Bronze Star has raised the ire of veterans groups and lawmakers alike.

Whether President Obama attacks members of Congress, takes them out to dinner or pays them visits on Capitol Hill, he needs their support in order to achieve major parts of his agenda.

Guest blogger Rebecca Romani looks back on the 20 years of Latino cinema highlighted at the San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Swimming pool season is around the corner, which means young people are training to be summer lifeguards. In Phoenix, there's an effort underway to hire teens from more diverse backgrounds for the job.

After his attorneys said they need more time to prepare to respond to the 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes he faces, a Colorado judge on Tuesday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of accused movie theater gunman James Holmes.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Larry D. Bunn, 43, died March 7 at an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia while he was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

An Air Force general's decision to dismiss the charges against a lieutenant colonel who was convicted of sexual assault has outraged many members of Congress and led new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to say he's ordered a review of the case.

Five United States service members were killed when their helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday.

Voters in southern and eastern areas of San Diego County are set to go to the polls today to select a successor to former Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, who was elected to Congress in November.

Cardinals heard a final appeal for unity Tuesday before sequestering themselves in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to elect the next pope, as they celebrated Mass amid divisions and uncertainty over who will lead the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church and tend to its many problems.

Smaller schools were supposed to solve Crawford High School's academic and enrollment problems. Now, being a traditional high school is supposed to do the same.

Geography will play a bigger part in determining the price of health insurance in California next year.

You don’t get many films that are in Japanese and Latin. And you don’t get many Japanese time traveling comedies about ancient Rome but “Thermae Romae” (the Pac-Arts March Quarterly screening tonight at 7pm at the La Jolla Arclight) is all that.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday is set to approve expanded federal background checks for gun buyers, moving the measure to the full Senate, where it could come up for a vote next month before going to the GOP-controlled House.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, will unveil his latest budget plan Tuesday morning -- and as NPR's Tamara Keith told our Newscast Desk, he'll say it would bring the federal budget in balance by 2023.

Technology has made it easier than ever to track your activity levels, your sleep cycles, how you spend your time, and more. The self-trackers who near-obsessively capture and analyze their own data are part of a growing "Quantified Self" movement.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Environmentalists are pushing legislation to ban lead ammunition in California to prevent toxins from poisoning scavengers that eat animal remains left by hunters.