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The Week in California Politics

Ambition, accusation, intrigue and hardball politics have all been on display this week at the state Capitol. We check in with Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers about the week's events.

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Demon Sheep?

A new YouTube ad from Carly Fiorina's U.S. Senate campaign attacks her opponent, fellow Republican Tom Campbell, for supporting higher taxes. The ad is getting national attention, but it's not all flattering. Reporter: Scott Shafer

• More: Watch the 'demon sheep' ad at YouTube.com

Rise in Pregnancy-Related Deaths

For decades, the maternal death rate steadily declined in California and around the country. Fewer women died from causes related to pregnancy, thanks to major progress in medical technology and better care. But a new study is raising concerns among doctors and nurses that this trend is now reversing itself. Reporter Nathanael Johnson has been investigating the issue as part of our ongoing collaboration with California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting.Reporter: Nathanael Johnson

• More: Read the California Watch investigative article
• More: Q&A: Pregnancy-related deaths explained : (at CaliforniaWatch.org)

Photo: Jennifer Baires

Meet the General

A ceremony Tuesday at a former Air Force base in Sacramento marked a change of command for California's National Guard. In choosing Mary J. Kight to be adjutant general of the guard, Governor Schwarzenegger accomplished a first.Reporter: Scott Shafer

Working Wardrobes

The nation's unemployment rate has fallen to 9.7 percent, but that's little consolation to millions of people out of work, many of them in California. Finding work can be even tougher when you can't afford clothes nice enough to make the right impression at a job interview. But there are places where people on the hunt for work are finding help -- such as the Orange County non-profit Working Wardrobes.

Book Review: T.C. Boyle's 'Wild Child'

Author T.C. Boyle's house on California's Central Coast was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and it was the inspiration for his last novel, about the architect and his lovers. But in a new collection of short stories, Boyle turns back to nature. Carolyn Kellogg reviews "Wild Child."