In The News

By: Jeremy White

The San Francisco Giants entered Monday with a losing record, but relief pitcher Sergio Romo won plaudits from California lawmakers for his service.

Fingers glittering with the three World Series championship rings his team has made a habit of winning, Romo arrived in Sacramento to accept a Latino Spirit Award. The California Latino Legislative Caucus bestows the honor on Latinos prominent in fields that can include business, public service, and sports.

By: Melissa Masatani

A La Puente girl was recognized Monday by state officials after completing seven marathons on seven continents.

The California Latino Legislative Caucus honored 12-year-old Blanca Ramirez at the 14th annual Latino Spirit Awards Ceremony. Blanca received the Dynamic Youth Award.

By: Melanie Maso

Latino lawmakers, who have increasingly flexed their muscle as a voting bloc in the Capitol, endorsed a slate of proposals Wednesday that includes efforts to increase voter registration and promote clean energy.

The package underscores how the lawmakers are broadening their focus from core issues such as immigration to economic and environmental policies as well.

By: Jeremy White

If not for a supportive cousin, Tony Thurmond might have ended up like the kids he’s made a career of helping instead of becoming a state assemblyman from Richmond.

Thurmond’s mother died when he was six, and the trauma of serving in Vietnam had led his father to “basically never come home,” Thurmond said. Rather than slip into the foster care system, Thurmond moved from San Jose to Philadelphia to be raised by a cousin who he says “basically saved my life.”

By Paul Chacon

Peter Chacon served in the California State Legislature from 1970 until his retirement in 1992 representing the urban core of San Diego. Upon his election, he became only the second Latino legislator elected to State of California public office in the past (100) years. Together with Alex Garcia, they formed the California Latino Legislative Caucus with a membership of just two.

By: Jeremy B. White

One month after California began offering driver’s licenses to immigrants in the state illegally, tens of thousands have received licenses and seven times as many took driving tests.

Years of effort by immigrant advocates culminated on Jan. 2, when immigrants became eligible to begin driving legally under a 2013 law. The California Department of Motor Vehicles estimated 1.4 million people would apply over the course of three years, though questions about how many would step forward persisted.

By: Dan Walters

There are two dozen Latinos in the California Legislature today, including Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, but when Pete Chacon unexpectedly won a seat in the state Assembly 44 years ago, he became one of only two.

Not only was it unusual for a Latino to be a legislator in 1970, but Chacon did it the hard way. He took a leave of absence from his teaching job, sold his house to raise funds and campaigned for a year to unseat a seemingly secure incumbent in a San Diego district that was just 8 percent Latino in makeup.