AP Exclusive: Calif. exchange granted secrecy
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California law that created an agency to oversee national health care reforms granted it broad authority to conceal spending on the contractors that will perform most of its functions, potentially shielding the public from seeing how ...

From Fresno to Key West, a Proliferation of Poets Laureate
FRESNO, Calif. – This city has long been an object of ridicule. Even seemingly innocuous details like the flatness of the land, reinforced by the sea of ranch-style houses, take on a pejorative hue. Midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles ...

AP Exclusive: Lawmakers granted Calif. health exchange unusual secrecy in contracting records
Associated Press writers Steve LeBlanc in Boston, Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M., John Miller in Boise, Idaho, and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this report. Follow Michael R. Blood at http://twitter.com/MichaelRBloodAP

Turn a Colorblind Eye to Your Spring Wine
Spring is a transitional season for wines ... which he gets from a vineyard in California gold country. His red gamay is always worth seeking out. This rosé is fragrant, with a light berry scent. It’s dry, slightly herbal and seriously good.

Smaller airports have fewer departures, seats as airlines become more profitable
Shorter flights that served communities such as Fresno, Calif., saw a 25 percent decline in departures over the five-year period covered by the MIT study. Or Wichita, Kan., which saw a 26 percent drop, and Columbia, S.C., 27 percent. Boise ...

Idaho Sen. Crapo says campaign lost $250K on loan
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo's campaign announced Friday it lost $250,000 on a loan authorized by a former campaign manager to an Idaho company owned by a friend who contends somebody else stole the money. Crapo ...