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In the first gubernatorial debate of the Republican primary, underdog candidate Steve Poizner sought Monday to establish himself as the true conservative of the race while rival Meg Whitman offered more moderate proposals on core GOP issues.

Wood-finishing products used on the surface of a newly built bar fueled a fire that damaged a San Luis Obispo fraternity house Friday.

The gentleman frequents gay bars in Sacramento. That probably wouldn't make news - except that the gentleman is a conservative state senator who has consistently voted "no" on gay rights issues.

A prominent Republican state senator arrested on suspicion of drunken driving this week in Sacramento has taken a personal leave through Sunday from the upper house.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn was arrested early Wednesday morning on suspicion of drunken driving in downtown Sacramento, authorities said.

State Sen. Roy Ashburn brought into the open Monday what was known but rarely discussed in political circles – that he is gay.

In the end, Sen. Roy Ashburn said he decided he owed his constituents an explanation.

Arson was to blame for the Wednesday morning fire that destroyed Cabo San Luis restaurant and damaged neighboring businesses, investigators said this afternoon.

John A. Pérez was sworn in Monday as the California Assembly's 68th speaker. He offered a good speech, promising to limit special-interest influence and return to a more transparent process of approving the state budget.

John A. Pérez reached out to Californians angry about the state's huge budget deficit and partisan warfare Monday as he officially took the helm as Assembly leader.

Alexander Ovechkin downplayed the significance of the jarring, open-ice hit he inflicted on Czech Republic forward Jaromir Jagr early in the third period of Russia's 4-2 victory Sunday in the teams' preliminary-round finale. But Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals' franchise player, didn't need to say much.

It took Hannah Kearney 27.86 seconds down a windy, rainy course to snatch gold away from Canada on the very last run of a drama-filled women's moguls final, a night filled with sublime skiing and spectacular crashes.

A group of about 200 protesters clashed with police at a busy downtown intersection Saturday morning as competition got under way at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The group, calling itself the Olympic Resistance Network, smashed windows with newspaper boxes, overturned mailboxes and spray-painted buses and cars.

Once the guard unlocks the chains around his wrists, Michael Whisenhunt walks into the cage with the spryness of a boxer entering the ring. His solidly built body is a canvas for dozens of tattoos, but it is also a symbol of his struggles on California's death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a partial list of guests to his closed-door lunch with legislators last month, and revealed who picked up the tab for their steak-or-salmon feeding.

The other day I heard from a reader who wanted to know more about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "private" lunch for legislators, held after the State of the State address a few weeks ago with public and press excluded.

California is on the cusp of financial Armageddon. Finding a solution to the state's $20 billion budget hole should be priority No. 1 for state lawmakers, regardless of party.

The plot thickened Monday in the story of GOP state Sen. Abel Maldonado's bid to be seated as lieutenant governor.

Ed Roski Jr. is close to his goal of fielding an NFL team in the Los Angeles area, thanks to a pliant Legislature and governor.

State Sen. Darrell Steinberg's quiet reshuffling of 150 years of California water policy to bail out Southern California developers and giant agricultural interests to the south threatens the future of this region. In essence, upstream water users like Sacramento will be responsible for paying for the damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from decades of water exports to the south.