California Governor

SACRAMENTO -- Would-be homeowners must be told how to obtain information about potential safety hazards near properties, according to a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law, written by Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), responds to the deadly explosion of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. natural gas pipeline Sept. 9, 2010, in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno. The explosion killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. Bradford's law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires property sellers and real estate agents to provide prospective buyers with directions about how to find out via the Internet whether a gas transmission line or hazardous liquid pipeline is buried nearby.

SACRAMENTO - The graduation rates of UC students came under more scrutiny Wednesday as Gov. Jerry Brown urged administrators and faculty to prod more undergraduates to earn a degree in four years, not six. Brown recently proposed giving UC and Cal State more funds if they increase their graduation rates by 10% by 2017. UC leaders have said that is an admirable but unreasonable goal and that such issues as students' outside employment and their desire to take double majors slow them down.

The pictures that dominated the news last week formed two parallel realities. In one, Teddy Kennedy's face was young and unlined, his jaw taut, his bearing vibrant, as he was when he campaigned for his brothers and when he ran for president, with one of his final victories the 1980 Democratic primary in California. In another, the Massachusetts senator was grayed and stooped, if still smiling, as he was when longevity helped him forge a stunning array of accomplishments in the United States Senate.

GUANGZHOU, China -- It's easy to feel good traveling through China with Gov. Jerry Brown this week.  Multimillion-dollar business deals between Chinese and California companies have been announced, and cooperation on environmental policy is pledged at every turn from top Communist Party and California officials. At night, the state is celebrated at lavish dinners where the California wine flows freely. Brown says his trip here is a first step toward improved relations between California and China that will be mutually beneficial for both.

Douglas Anderson Age: 55 Party: Republican Occupation: Owns mortgage brokerage Residence: Simi Valley Family: Married, two children, four grandchildren Education: Attended El Camino College, 1967-69.

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell's shift Thursday from the governor's race to the contest for U.S. Senate may have simplified things for him -- he will now be running against a single multimillionaire for the Republican nomination, instead of two. But the road ahead remains rocky, as Campbell tries to persuade the conservative voters who control the party's primaries to overlook his moderate views on social issues and his recent support for temporary tax...

Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater said Wednesday that next year's California gubernatorial campaign will be the "No. 1 race" in the country because of its potential impact on the nationwide struggle for reapportionment of congressional seats. As things stand in the competition for the seat, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian will vacate after two terms and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson is all but assured the Republican nomination. Atty. Gen. John K.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is mourning the death of fitness impresario Joe Weider, who died Saturday at 93, calling Weider his mentor and the "godfather of fitness. " "He taught us that through hard work and training we could all be champions," Schwarzenegger, a Mr. Universe- and Mr. Olympia-winning former bodybuilder turned actor and former California governor, said in a statement released Saturday. "When I was a young boy in Austria, his muscle magazines provided me with the inspiration and the blueprint to push myself beyond my limits and imagine a much bigger future," he said.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown is making good on his Super Bowl wager. After the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, the California governor was on the hook to send Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley a copy of "California: The Great Exception" by Carey McWilliams. Brown made the wager via Twitter, and his spokesman confirmed Tuesday that, indeed, the book is in the mail. Brown sent O'Malley a first edition of the book, purchased from Bibliomania in downtown Oakland.

Citizenville How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government Gavin Newsom with Lisa Dickey Penguin Press: 272 pp., $25.95 California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has a lot more time on his hands than he used to. When he was San Francisco mayor, from 2004 to '11, Newsom was busy, busy, busy. He (briefly) legalized gay marriage. He helped reform the city's generous welfare cash payment program. He worked on universal healthcare. His messy personal life provided endless fodder for a mercilessly snarky local press.

SACRAMENTO - A combative Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday declared that "the prison crisis is over in California" and demanded an end to years of intervention by federal judges and expensive edicts designed to reduce crowding and improve inmate healthcare. "At some point, the job's done," Brown said at a Capitol news conference before catching a plane for Los Angeles, where he repeated the message. "We spent billions of dollars" complying with the court orders, the governor said. "It is now time to return control of our prison system to California.

SACRAMENTO - There's a strange atmosphere in Sacramento. It's as if there has just been a gubernatorial election and the incumbent has decisively won another term. All hail the governor. The people have reaffirmed their confidence in his leadership. His contract has been renewed. That's only the mind playing tricks, of course. Gov. Jerry Brown merely won passage of a tax increase - and one that was about the easiest imaginable for voters to swallow. Only the top 1% or so will be nailed with the higher income tax rates.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that will allow Californians to make certain foods and baked goods at home and then sell them to stores, restaurants and directly to consumers. On Friday, Brown signed AB 1616 , which supporters say will create a lucrative cottage food industry in the state and serve as an alternative source of income for residents. Now, wannabe entrepreneuers can skip the expensive step of leasing certified commercial kitchens before selling their home-prepared confections.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown has spent months persuading some of California's most powerful interests to invest millions of dollars in his November tax initiative. Now, that drive for campaign cash looms over the Capitol as he considers bills that could profoundly affect his donors. In picking winners and losers among those with stakes in the slew of proposals sent to him in the legislative session that ended Friday, Brown risks alienating key allies with big checkbooks. With each signature or veto, he also puts at risk his image as an independent, above-the-fray operator dedicated to restoring public confidence in Sacramento.

TAMPA, Fla. — The distinguished Republican panel included House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former George W. Bush domestic policy advisor Margaret Spellings. But the audience clapped for only one person at the beginning of a discussion on education policy Thursday: former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "By the way," Jeb Bush said, prompting a second round of applause, "it was a spectacular speech. " Every so often at a political convention, a rising star disappoints (say, Bill Clinton, who droned on too long in 1988)