Noreen Evans

SACRAMENTO -- Two controversial tax measures advanced Wednesday in the California Legislature — a penny-per-ounce levy on soda and a charge on oil pumped from the ground in the state. The Senate Health Committee members approved a bill by state...

SACRAMENTO -- Officials at the California attorney general's office say they have reversed course and begun a deeper examination of the accounting scandal at the state parks department that could result in criminal charges. The existence of an ongoing...

After California voters approved a multibillion-dollar increase to sales and income taxes in November to help fund education, Democratic legislative leaders promised restraint, saying they would not be seeking additional tax increases any time soon....

State lawmakers are vowing to close a legal loophole cited by a state appeals court this week in a controversial ruling that overturned the rape conviction of a California man....

It was the vision of some and the collaboration of many that kept the Salton Sea Recreational Area and the Picacho Recreational Area opened beyond today. Since early last year these two parks were part of a plan to close about 70 of the 278 state...

Senate votes on measure barring demands for money over disabled access rules...

A new effort to save dozens of California's parks begins in the Legislature on Wednesday. Sens. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) are pushing a plan to fund the parks by shifting more than $40 million within the budget and...

Newport Beach Mayor Nancy Gardner plans to welcome actress Geena Davis and female politicians to town later this month for a fundraising event benefiting a women's commission. Gardner and Davis will be joined by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood), Orange...

Actress Geena Davis once played the president of the United States on TV, but now she is testing her powers of persuasion in the real political arena. Davis, an Academy Award winner, joined a group of lawmakers Wednesday in arguing......

The leaders of the California Legislative Women's Caucus called for removal of a state lottery television ad that shows a woman slapping a man across the face, saying it sanctions violence....

Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa) will chair a long-awaited hearing Tuesday on safety issues in the state's mental hospital system....

The Legislature on Friday approved a special legal process for a proposed 72,000-seat football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, but not before trying to expand the exemption from protracted environmental court challenges to other big projects. The state...