Voters Speak Up in Newly Created Central Coast District
The election is just over a month away now, and California has nearly a dozen Congressional seats where the outcome is truly up in the air. One is in the new 24th Congressional district, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties and a little bit of northern Ventura County. Host Scott Shafer visited the area to see what voters think about the race and the role of government for our series "What's Government For?"
Romney's Chief Policy Director
A recent field poll shows Asian-American voters in California strongly supporting President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney. But one of Romney's top policy advisors, Lanhee Chen, is a rising political star from Southern California whose parents were born in Taiwan.
Afghan Americans Help Others Get the Voting Habit
Like many refugees living in California, Afghan Americans often equate government and politics with corruption and repression back home. Many who are eligible to vote in U.S. elections, don't. But some community activists are trying to change that in the Bay Area city of Fremont, the heart of California's Afghan population.
Al Young's Poem of the Month: Octobering
Unlike most of the country, California actually warms up in October, even as the nights grow crisp.It's enough to inspire writer Al Young, who's composing a poem to mark the start of each month this year. Al Young served as California's poet laureate from 2005 to 2008. The winner of awards and honors too numerous to mention, Al Young has contributed to The California Report many times over the years.
Baseball's Offbeat Side Preserved in 'Not Exactly Cooperstown'
Besides harvest and pumpkins, many of us associate October with something else -- baseball's sprint to the World Series. This year both the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's are representing California in post-season play. But there's a place for the also-rans and runners-up: the Baseball Reliquary, a nonprofit group near Los Angeles that celebrates the quirkier aspects and more unusual artifacts of our national pastime. A new documentary about the Reliquary, titled Not Exactly Cooperstown, is out on DVD.