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Advocates gathered at the state Capitol yesterday to testify about how to improve the lives of boys and men from ethnic communities.

Joshua Ham from South Central Los Angeles was one of many young men who came from all over the state to tell lawmakers how to improve the lives of people like him.

“It’s better for us to step up like this than to lash out and have something like 1992 riots or something weird like that you know. But actually have it like a structured way, you know, like have people think critically about what they want.”

California’s top wildlife official lost that job today seven months after he shot a mountain lion in Idaho. As KPCC’s Julie Small reports, the state Fish and Game Commission voted him out of office.

It wasn’t illegal for commission president Dan Richards to kill the cougar, or to pose with his prey for a photograph that later circulated online.

California banned mountain lion hunts decades ago - but Idaho and many other states allow them.

A bill that would create a retirement plan for California private sector workers who have no pensions or 401-K’s is facing intense opposition from business groups. The bill was heard today by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

A coalition of teachers and education activists gathered today to announce an effort to recall Fresno Unified school board member Tony Vang. 

A new study shows that tribal gaming casinos have a $7.5 billion impact on California’s economy.

The report comes as Governor Jerry Brown considers whether to approve two new tribal casinos that would add to the 60 already in the state.

Beacon Economics conducted the study. It shows tribal gaming has helped create 52-thousand jobs in industries throughout the state.

Steve Stallings is with the California Nations Indian Gaming Association which commissioned the study. He says the report also shows their casinos generate significant tax revenue.

UC Merced may be less than a decade old, but the struggling economy and environmental concerns are already leading campus officials to explore the possibility of directing some of the university's future growth to off-campus locations. 

Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has decided that now is not the time to change California’s newly-approved process for cities and counties to enter into bankruptcy.

He’s decided to kill the legislation authored by a Democratic Assembly member. The bill would have loosened deadlines on negotiations with creditors and labor groups. But Steinberg says it’s time now for the legislature to focus elsewhere.

A new analysis shows that campaign committees already are spending millions of dollars on propositions for California’s November’s ballot. The analysis, by the Fair Political Practices Commission, shows by the end of June, committees had raised more than $84 million to fight or support the 11 ballot measures.

The Commission’s report looked at donors who gave $10,000 or more. While the state limits what an individual donor can give state candidates, there are no limits on the amount of money committees can contribute to ballot measures.

The California Air Resources Board has created a map that shows the state’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. It is a significant step in the development of California’s Cap and Trade program.

On the new Google Earth map are 625 facilities that each produce more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. The map breaks down facilities by industry, zip code and emissions. But, Stanley Young with the Air Resources Board says state-to-state comparisons aren’t yet available.