SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers are on a collision course over restoring cuts to California's safety net, marking a key test of vows to hold the line on state spending.

President Barack Obama may have avoided using "genocide" or "Armenian genocide" in the White House's annual statement commemorating the systemic killing and forced relocation of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. But Gov. Jerry Brown didn't.

A little more than two months ago, Bakersfield Democrat Leticia Perez was sworn in to her first term on the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

The passing of C. Thomas Whitt last week rekindled memories of one of the stickiest elections in Fresno County history.

Former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, who has been out of office and off the political radar for four years, is now seriously considering a run for the state Senate seat vacated by Bakersfield Democrat Michael Rubio.

SACRAMENTO -- California's rank-and-file Republicans, beaten down after being handed near-historic losses in last November's election, came here this weekend looking for a bit of direction and a strong dose of inspiration.

Before resigning to head California governmental affairs for Chevron Corp., Democratic Sen. Michael Rubio participated in two real estate deals with a Kern County oil executive who has contributed to his campaign.

It's probably not a shock that more than 99% of Fresno County ballots were marked for president in the November election, but it might come as a surprise that fewer than 86% of voters bothered to weigh in on a Fresno city ballot measure.

The mayor of Hanford is not running for re-election and neither is the former mayor. The California Department of Justice is snooping around Hanford City Hall, and a YouTube video showing Council Member Joleen Jameson putting on lipstick and making faces from the dais has more than 198,500 hits.

The Fresno Bee lists the candidates in city council elections across the Valley.

With a little more than two weeks until Election Day, the evidence is mounting that a west-side congressional battle between Hanford Republican David Valadao and Fresno Democrat John Hernandez won't be the walkover that many had predicted.

It was billed as a bipartisan news conference where Republicans and Democrats alike would talk about "leadership issues within the Fresno Teachers Association and how they are adversely affecting the students."

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin has moved to Plan B as time runs out on efforts to approve next year's budget. Swearengin has drafted a revised budget for 2012-13 that depends on higher-than-expected sales tax revenue, outsourcing of the residential trash service and savings from a slightly smaller police force.

With the city's budget deadline just days away, the Fresno City Council appears close to embracing Mayor Ashley Swearengin's plan to balance the budget by privatizing residential trash collection.

Chaotic efforts to get the Fresno Oversight Board sworn in have some members muttering a different kind of oath.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday signed legislation in Fresno that will extend and enlarge a popular program that gives tax credits to first-time homebuyers.

The Fresno City Council on Wednesday got its first look at a new state law regulating how Californians water their yards.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, now begins the hardest congressional year imaginable.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has just complicated Sen. Barbara Boxer's search for San Joaquin Valley voters.

A San Diego County Assembly member has returned more than $78,000 in campaign donations from the Fresno County Republican Party -- contributions that had sparked controversy and prompted a state investigation.

PORTERVILLE -- Seven candidates are running for three spots on a City Council that is expected to face decisions that will significantly affect Porterville's future.

Fresno mayoral candidates singled out air quality, crime and jobs as top issues facing the city in coming years during a debate Monday night sponsored by Valley Public Television.

Two distinct views divide the political turf in the race for the District 2 seat on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Pinedale residents concerned that the city of Fresno is dragging its feet in making improvements to their neighborhood received pledges to speed up the process Monday night from two City Council candidates.

Ninety-Three Years of Waiting

A new mayor might not be the only change at City Hall next January.

Fresno's next mayor will inherit a challenge -- how to balance the budget and preserve police, fire and other services when city revenues are shrinking.

Officials hope a $500,000 fund created by the Fresno City Council last week will spark new affordable housing projects for families whose income falls below the average for the area.

SACRAMENTO -- California sued the federal government Thursday to force a decision on the state's request to enforce tough new rules aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.