By Amber Henry

File photo by Ron Logan

November 11, 2016 (San Diego) — Kamala Harris will be California’s first African-American U.S. Senator and the first Indian-American in the U.S. Senate.  Harris, 52, a Democrat currently serving as California’s Attorney General, won over 62% of the votes,  AP reported, winning a landslide victory over Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat who represents California in the 46^th Congressional district.

By Miriam Raftery

May 6, 2016 (San Diego) – California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running for the U.S. Senate, let the statute of limitations run out without filing charges over secret meetings in Poland between a Southern California Edison executive and then-president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)  Michael Peevey.   The secret meeting appeared to be illegal and instrumental in formation of a deal that forced ratepayers to foot the bill for billions of dollars related to the San Onofre nuclear power plant settlement.

“What Kamala Harris is doing is like a copy who witnessed a bank heist and did nothing,” Charles Langley, public advocate at Public Watchdogs, told East County Magazine.

But Michael Shanes, San Diego Consumer Action Network, defended Harris' actions. In an e-mail to ECM, he wrote, "...there was no criminal activity and Harris did the obvious by declining to press charges."

5 Catholic justices issue ruling, raising question over lack of religious diversity on the high court

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2014 (Washington D.C.)--The Supreme Court decision last week in the Hobby Lobby case is drawing strong reactions across the nation and here in San Diego County—and raising questions over whether the Supreme Court lacks adequate religious diversity.

“I really want to say `Dismantle it and give the land back to the tribes…I’d like to ask the Attorney General to…give this commission more teeth so we could say `Tear that wall down.”  -- Commissioner Marshall McKay

View video highlights by Paul Kruze: http://youtu.be/nS93BfT6juI

  (For full unedited videos, scroll to bottom of this story)

By Miriam Raftery

April 26, 2013 (San Diego) – At a hearing in San Diego on Monday, members of the state Native American Heritage Commission heard several hours of emotional testimony from Native Americans who contend that the  U.S. Bureau of Land Management ignored their  concerns and its duty to protect a clearly documented sacred site and cemetery in the fast-tracked approval process for the Ocotillo Express Wind Facility.

By a 4-0 vote, with the remaining commissioners absent, the NAHC voted to grant requests by Viejas and Quechan tribes to declare the 12,400 acre Ocotillo wind project site a sanctified Native American  sacred site.  Further, the commissioners voted unanimously to ask California Attorney General Kamala Harris to research if legal action can be taken.

By Rick Rogers, Host of Front & Center: Military Talk Radio

August 23, 2012 (San Diego)--Charities rattling their cups for veterans and troop programs in Southern California have grown to epic numbers in recent years.

I bet San Diego County charities have grown tenfold since 2008.

At least I think they have.

March 11, 2012 (Sacramento) - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Perez have announced their sponsorship of six bills known collectively as the California Homeowner Bill of Rights.

The bills aim to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies and to help consumers and communities cope with the state's urgent mortgage and foreclosure crisis.  The bill could bring relief to homeowners statewide include San Diego County, where one in 27 homeowners has faced foreclosure.

The measures, if enacted, would guarantee:

How Kamala Harris played hardball and won $18 billion to help California homeowners 

Story by Miriam Raftery, photos by Ron Logan

February 13, 2012 (San Diego) – Last September, the U.S. Department of Justice and attorney generals from other states were ready to sign a multi-state settlement of misconduct by banks that resulted in foreclosures.  The deal on the table? An estimated $4 billion or less for California, the state hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Moreover, no wrongdoers would be prosecuted.

So California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris stood up—and walked out. 

Her actions led to a dramatically different settlement reached last week that is expected to ultimately reach $40 billion—including an estimated $18 billion for California and $1.5 billion for San Diego homeowners.

East County News Service
November 3, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – At daybreak, Democrat Kamala Harris has regained a narrow lead over Republican Steve Cooley in the California attorney general race.

Cooley declared victory last night, but canceled a press conference today after learning that overnight, Harris took the lead at 46.1% to 45.6%. Fewer than 38,000 votes separate the two candidates and thousands of provisional and late absentee ballots remain uncounted.