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Brown Takes Cautious Approach to Budget Revision

In the 40-plus years Jerry Brown has been in California politics, he's been called a lot of things -- brilliant, wacky, unpredictable, loner. This week, as he unveiled his revised state budget proposal, he described himself as something else -- a "back stop" against irrational exuberance in Sacramento. Is this Jerry Brown 2.0 -- or vintage Brown? Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, who's covered the capitol and Jerry Brown for most of Brown's career, talks to host Scott Shafer.

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L.A. Voters Will Choose New Mayor Tuesday

May is a month not usually associated with elections. But on Tuesday, Angelenos will choose a successor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is termed out. Two local politicians, City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Gruel, are vying to replace Villaraigosa in next week's runoff. Scott Shafer spoke with Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles.

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A Mascot Brings Smiles to Homeless Kids on Skid Row

The next mayor of Los Angeles will have plenty of nitty-gritty issues to tackle -- including homelessness. Some 2,500 people are living on the streets on the infamous Skid Row. It's not the kind of place you'd expect to find clowns or balloon artists. But now a new group of volunteers is throwing birthday parties for homeless kids. As part of our occasional series "What's Your Story," Caitlin Esch introduces us to Mary Davis, who moonlights as the mascot "Skiddy Cat." Reporter: Caitlin Esch.

Courtesy of Jasmin Lopez

Young Immigration Activist Struggles to Balance Courage with Fear

Comprehensive immigration reform inched forward in Washington this week, when a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives reached agreement on how to address key issues like a path to citizenship. No one has more riding on the outcome than the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Many of them are young people -- students anxious about their futures. As part of our series "Graduation Day," Jasmin Lopez brings us the story of Marco Perez, a high school senior struggling to balance his courage and his fears. This story was produced in collaboration with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Reporter: Jasim Lopez.

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The Orange Peels Fly to the Sun and the Moon

The press release for "Sun Moon," the new album by veteran Bay Area band the Orange Peels, says that the quartet "finds itself navigating the confluence of post rock, indiepop, space rock, nouveau psychedelia, and prog rock, with melody as its only compass." And then it adds, with a bit of cheekiness, "That's probably what some critic will say anyway." Our critic, Steve Hochman, says that's about right. Reporter: Steve Hochman.