Accessibility links
Richard Gonzales
Stories By

Richard Gonzales

Thursday

Law

Calif. Prop 8 Supporters Can Defend Gay Marriage Ban

The California Supreme Court ruled today that the sponsors of the state's voter-approved amendment banning same-sex marriage have the right to defend the ban in court. Last year, a judge ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The amendment's sponsors asked to defend the ban at the appellate level since both the governor and the attorney general have declined to do so.

Calif. Prop 8 Supporters Can Defend Gay Marriage Ban

Listen · 3:34
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/142472061/142472040" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Occupy Protesters In Oakland Ponder Next Move

Police break up an encampment for an Occupy Wall Street demonstration in Oakland, Calif. Police began clearing out the weeks-old encampment early Monday after issuing several warnings to demonstrators. Paul Sakuma/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Paul Sakuma/AP

National

Occupy Protesters In Oakland Ponder Next Move

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York and soon protesters were pitching their tents across the country. Since then, protesters have been evicted from their campsites in Oakland, Calif., and in a number of other cities across the country. Protesters in Oakland will no longer be able to spend the night at the site.

Occupy Protesters In Oakland Ponder Next Move

Listen · 3:39
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/142331324/142336256" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Sunday

Big Sky Country Has Lots Of Room For Optimism

Billings, Mont., has a diverse economic base, as evidenced by the confluence of stockyards, oil refineries and natural beauty. The unemployment rate for Billings' Yellowstone County was 5.3 percent in September, far lower than the national average. Richard Gonzales/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Richard Gonzales/NPR

Hard Times: A Journey Across America

Big Sky Country Has Lots Of Room For Optimism

Billings, Mont., has its share of natural resources. But residents attribute their ability to weather the economic storm to a diversification of services beyond oil — like agriculture, financial services and health care. "It's just a great day here in Billings," says a leader of a new library project.

Big Sky Country Has Lots Of Room For Optimism

Listen · 5:00
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/142206382/142284544" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Hard Times: A Journey Across America

Calif. County Yearns For 'The Way It Used To Be'

Solano County, Calif., between San Francisco and Sacramento, has a great climate, diversity and until recently, stable neighborhoods. But now it has the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country. Residents here long for different economic times, like when they were growing up.

Calif. County Yearns For 'The Way It Used To Be'

Listen · 5:16
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/141858769/141896536" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

National

Feds Crack Down On Pot Shops

The federal government is cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries in California. Four U.S. attorneys are telling some landlords that their property could be seized if they don't stop leasing to pot shops.

Feds Crack Down On Pot Shops

Listen · 3:43
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/141162216/141162705" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

California's New Prison Policy Has Some Skeptics

Starting Oct. 1, California state prisons will redirect new nonviolent felons to county facilities. The realignment is in part due to an order by the U.S. Supreme Court for the state to reduce its prison population. Rich Pedroncelli/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Rich Pedroncelli/AP

National

California's New Prison Policy Has Some Skeptics

Starting in October, nonviolent offenders will go to county facilities instead of state prisons, partly in response to a court order to reduce the state's prison population. The program is currently funded for nine months; despite the governor's assurances, some local public safety officials worry about what will happen after that.

California's New Prison Policy Has Some Skeptics

Listen · 4:13
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140901846/140909594" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Saturday

National

Palestinian Kids' Art Deemed Unsuitable For Children

An exhibit of children's art from Palestine was supposed to open Saturday at the Oakland Museum of Children's Art, but the show was canceled. Museum officials say community members raised concerns about whether the art, depicting scenes of Israeli-Palestinian violence, was appropriate for children.

Palestinian Kids' Art Deemed Unsuitable For Children

Listen · 3:50
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140766782/140766763" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Business

Will Whitman Help HP Find Its Way?

In announcing that Meg Whitman would become the new CEO, the HP board called her a "technology visionary with a proven track record of execution." She takes the reins as the company's market value falters and it weighs whether to shed its PC business.

Will Whitman Help HP Find Its Way?

Listen · 4:00
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140717223/140717656" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

California Turns To China For New Bay Bridge

Catwalks hang over a section of the newly constructed eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland, Calif. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

National

California Turns To China For New Bay Bridge

American workers will assemble the more than $7 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, but its massive cable, key sections of the iconic tower and deck are all made in China. Lower costs and Chinese expertise are the main reasons, but critics say the decision hurts the state, which is struggling with high unemployment.

California Turns To China For New Bay Bridge

Listen · 4:35
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140515737/140527470" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Law

Calif.'s Supreme Court Mulls Prop. 8 Dispute

The California Supreme Court Tuesday once again took up the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. In response to a federal appeals court request, the justices will decide whether the sponsors of Proposition 8 have the legal standing to appeal a federal trial judge's ruling that overturns that initiative.

Calif.'s Supreme Court Mulls Prop. 8 Dispute

Listen · 4:24
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140228422/140228778" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ban Returns To Court

Co-lead counsel of the legal team challenging California's same-sex marriage ban, David Boies, right, walks past opponents of same-sex marriage as he leaves after a hearing in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 6, 2010, in San Francisco. A trial court judge overturned the measure as a violation of gay Californians' civil rights in August. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jeff Chiu/AP

Law

Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ban Returns To Court

On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court will decide if proponents of the initiative have the legal authority, or standing, to pursue an appeal of a ruling that the ban is unconstitutional.

Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ban Returns To Court

Listen · 3:50
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140195402/140206880" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

Need A Parking Space? Look In Your Hand

A screenshot of SFpark, an app that lets San Francisco drivers see available parking spaces as well as each space's cost. Courtesy of SFpark hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of SFpark

All Tech Considered

Need A Parking Space? Look In Your Hand

San Francisco is testing a smartphone app that shows drivers the locations of available parking spaces and how much the space will cost. Under this new system, parking meter prices are adjusted higher in areas with high demand.

Need A Parking Space? Look In Your Hand

Listen · 3:42
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/140032852/140042744" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

New Deportation Rules Give Boost To Gay Rights

Anthony Makk (right) and husband Bradford Wells at their San Francisco home on Aug. 8. Though legally married in 2004, Makk faces deportation back to his native Australia. Noah Berger/San Francisco Chronicle via Polaris Images hide caption

toggle caption
Noah Berger/San Francisco Chronicle via Polaris Images

National

New Deportation Rules Give Boost To Gay Rights

The government says it will now prioritize deportations, giving lower priority to those with families in the U.S. The Obama administration has included same-sex couples in its definition of family. But immigration control groups are blasting the new policy.

New Deportation Rules Give Boost To Gay Rights

Listen · 3:32
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/139948266/139952834" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Economy

Home Sales Stall Even As Mortgage Rates Are Low

Home sales figures across the country for July came in well below expectations — especially in western states. That could be, in part, because Wells Fargo stopped taking applications and locking in rates for Fannie, Freddie and FHA-backed loans. New rules for such loans go into effect Oct. 1.

Home Sales Stall Even As Mortgage Rates Are Low

Listen · 1:23
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/139774778/139777414" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript