A woman from the Coachella Valley has tested positive for the Zika virus and health officials say the woman contracted the illness during her travels. The woman is the second travel-associated confirmed Zika case in Riverside County, according to Riverside University Health System-Public Health. The first case involved a 50-year-old man who had recently traveled…

The 2012 race for the 36th Congressional District is heating up. At least, the candidates — Rep. Mary Bono Mack and her Democratic challenger, Dr. Raul Ruiz — were beneficial recipients of donors’ largesse during the fourth quarter of 2011. Ruiz raised $100,000 in individual contributions during the latest reporting period. From July 1 through…

The U.S. Forest Service firefighting air tanker fleet has been slowly dwindling for years. Last month, Sen. John McCain, Arizona, with support from California’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Florida’s Sen. Bill Nelson introduced a bill (S 3441) to direct the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force to transfer 14 excess C-27J Spartan…

Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown released the revision of his January budget proposal for fiscal 2012-13, which begins on July 1. Unfortunately, the state’s financial conditions have not improved during the past four months. Although Brown stressed that this budget situation is much better than a year ago, he also admitted that the projected budget…