Steven Cuevas/KQED

Southern Calif. Catholics Pray for a Modern Pope

What might be the world's most exclusive election is scheduled to start on Tuesday, when cardinals gathered in Vatican City will begin to select a new pope. The papal election comes as a New York Times poll finds many Catholics yearning for a transformative leader -- someone who can move the church forward on issues like gay marriage and the ordination of women. We catch up with Catholics in Southern California to get their thoughts on a new leader for the Church.Reporter: Steven Cuevas

Susan Valot/KQED

Campaign Aims to Ease Naturalization for Vietnamese Immigrants

While Congress prepares to debate the so-called "path to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants, 8.5 million legal permanent residents are in the U.S. and eligible to naturalize. Nearly one-third of them live in California -- but they're not all becoming citizens. Language is a big obstacle. The federal government has launched its first-ever national campaign in Vietnamese and other languages, to get out the word about the naturalization process. We stop by a recent kick-off event in Orange County.Reporter: Susan Valot

Mina Kim/KQED

Veterans Find Comfort, Hope in Cooking Class

Among other issues, veterans face a challenge shared by many Americans: obesity. Federal officials say more than 70 percent of veterans receiving VA care have weight problems. We visit an elite culinary school in Napa Valley, which runs a healthy cooking program for wounded veterans. Its students include vets from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars -- and it's helping them to eat better, and to ease the difficult transition back to civilian life.Reporter: Mina Kim

• More: Read the full story (State of Health)

Courtesy Fred Schroeder

Book Review: Jim Gavin's 'Middle Men'

California is gradually climbing out of the recession, but the economic downturn has done some collateral damage to the American Dream. People are struggling to stay in or climb into the middle class. Writer Jim Gavin's "Middle Men" is a collection of stories about characters old and young, all of them adrift in California. Book critic Oscar Villalon says the Los Angeles author's first book makes the argument that anxiety and bewilderment might be a permanent state.

Adam Plowright/AFP/Getty Images)

California Songs: Lyrics Born's 'The Bay'

The San Francisco Bay Area has inspired more than its share of music, from Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" to Tony Bennett, who left his heart in San Francisco, and "Lights" by Journey, to name just three. Add to that Berkeley-based rapper Tom Shimura -- aka Lyrics Born -- who regularly tweets and writes about life in the Bay Area. As part of our "California Songs" series, he talks with us about the inspiration for his song, "The Bay."

• More: California Songs series page
• More: About Lyrics Born