A new statewide poll shows widespread voter opposition to a California law that allows counties to close polling places and instead rely on absentee ballots and a limited number of multipurpose election centers.

Sixty-one percent of voters said they didn't like the idea of switching to a system of "voter centers" and all-mail ballots, according to the poll released on Tuesday by UC Davis' California Civic Engagement Project.

"Voters are not initially receptive to vote centers," said Mindy Romero, the project's founder, during a presentation in Sacramento.

A state Assemblywoman has shelved her bill to make "stealthing," or tampering with a condom during sex, a form of rape under California law, saying it did not have enough support to win approval this year.

In a statement, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) said she would commit to educating lawmakers on the issue and holding ongoing discussions to file a similar proposal next legislative session.

"I, and others, believe stealthing is a violation of informed consent, and sex without consent in California is rape," said Garcia, who last year helped expand the legal definition of rape in the state.

A section of the 5 Freeway in the northeast San Fernando Valley will be named after rock ’n’ roll icon Ritchie Valens, who grew up in the area and had a stellar career before he died in a plane crash.

Valens, whose hits included “La Bamba,” “Come On, Let’s Go” and “Donna,” will have his name put up on signs along a stretch of the interstate between the 170 and 118 freeways that will be named the Ritchie Valens Memorial Highway.

The state Legislature gave final approval to the honor last week, and Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), who authored the proposal, said Thursday that private funds are being raised, as required by state law, to pay for the signs.

Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled on Thursday his plan for spending cap-and-trade revenue, prioritizing cleaner vehicles and improving air quality.

Roughly $1.5 billion, all generated by the sale of permits required to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is available to be spent by the governor and lawmakers. 

Brown wants the biggest chunk of the money, $607.5 million, to be used on financial incentives for cleaner cars, trucks, buses and farm vehicles. 

Gov. Jerry Brown is collecting more stamps on his passport this year.

After a trip to China in June, he's jetting to Russia next week, his office announced. Brown will speak to international government and business leaders about the need to combat climate change at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

Brown said the forum on trade "isn’t just an occasion to promote investment, it’s an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to decarbonizing the economy."

Supervised drug injection centers where users would be able to receive addiction treatment could be coming to California. 

Legislation authored by Assemblyman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) would allow eight counties — Alameda, Fresno, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Mendocino, San Francisco, San Joaquin and Santa Cruz — to pilot supervised drug injection centers by 2022. 

The bill, which has passed the Assembly, is awaiting a vote in the state Senate. 

On the day that changed his life, Gregory Cheadle almost stayed in bed.

He was tired — he traveled a lot in his long-shot bid for Congress — but asked himself: How often does a candidate for president come to the far reaches of Northern California? And why pass up a crowd and the chance to hand out more fliers?

So Cheadle roused himself that June 2016 morning and secured a spot up close when Donald Trump swooped in for a rally at Redding’s municipal airport.

A proposal to fast-track a new arena in Inglewood for the Los Angeles Clippers remains on the table at the Capitol, said the state senator who represents the city.

“If it’s needed, we’re definitely going to introduce it,” said Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena).

In recent years, state lawmakers have passed bills helping possible arenas and football stadiums up and down California. The measures have aimed, for the most part, to provide relief from potential lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act by speeding up court-decision deadlines or halting a judge’s ability to block construction, even if it found the project's environmental review didn't adequately study traffic problems or had other flaws.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence might want to talk with Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher about his meeting this month with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

CNN reported Thursday that two sources confirmed that the committee members are deciding if they will call on Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) to testify as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian attempts to influence the outcome of the 2016 election and what the Trump campaign might have known. It's one of several congressional investigations into the issue.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times last week, Rohrabacher said that during his meeting with Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, the fugitive "emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved" in the theft of Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. The emails were published by WikiLeaks and put Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on the defensive for much of the campaign. The belief of the majority of U.S. intelligence agencies is that Russia played a role in stealing and leaking the emails.

I have not made any decision on that. I'm here to lobby for housing today.