Richard Gonzales
Richard Gonzales is NPR's National Desk Correspondent based in San Francisco. Along with covering the daily news of region, Gonzales' reporting has included medical marijuana, gay marriage, drive-by shootings, Jerry Brown, Willie Brown, the U.S. Ninth Circuit, the California State Supreme Court and any other legal, political, or social development occurring in Northern California relevant to the rest of the country.
Gonzales joined NPR in May 1986. He covered the U.S. State Department during the Iran-Contra Affair and the fall of apartheid in South Africa. Four years later, he assumed the post of White House Correspondent and reported on the prelude to the Gulf War and President George W. Bush's unsuccessful re-election bid. Gonzales covered the U.S. Congress for NPR from 1993-94, focusing on NAFTA and immigration and welfare reform.
In September 1995, Gonzales moved to his current position after spending a year as a John S. Knight Fellow Journalism at Stanford University.
In 2009, Gonzales won the Broadcast Journalism Award from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He also received the PASS Award in 2004 and 2005 from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency for reports on California's juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.
Prior to NPR, Gonzales was a freelance producer at public television station KQED in San Francisco. From 1979 to 1985, he held positions as a reporter, producer, and later, public affairs director at KPFA, a radio station in Berkeley, CA.
Gonzales graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in psychology and social relations. He is a co-founder of Familias Unidas, a bi-lingual social services program in his hometown of Richmond, California.
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The death of a woman in a car crash in Ventura County is attributed to a fire. The Thomas Fire is still growing as it spreads into Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles. -
One fire official says he foresees a fight that could last weeks. The weather trends that favor wildfires could be around a lot longer than that. -
Oliver Schmidt admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States by misleading federal regulators about the emissions of diesel cars and violating clean air laws. -
Four wildfires in Ventura and Los Angeles counties threatened more than 12,000 homes and other buildings and shut down more than 200 schools. No deaths have been confirmed. -
The blazes in four counties come just weeks after the deadliest wildfires in the state's history killed dozens in Northern California's wine country. -
"In light of its decision to consider the case on an expedited basis, we expect that the Court of Appeals will render its decision with appropriate dispatch," the order says. -
In a speech in Utah on Monday, President Trump announced that his administration will shrink the Bears Ears National Monument by roughly 85 percent and the Grand Staircase by about half its size. -
The San Francisco killing in 2015 became a focus of opponents of sanctuary city policies. The defendant said he had found the gun and it fired accidentally.
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"On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer," NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack said in a statement. -
The White House is seeking to assert control over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to help people in disputes with big financial firms, after its director resigned. -
Republicans applaud as the Virginia State Board of Elections certifies results in two district elections that preserve GOP control of the House of Delegates. Democrats haven't given up the fight. -
Several hundred undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country illegally all share a goal: they want to join the U.S. Army. Now, two programs that put them on that path are in danger of being killed by the Trump administration. Two young men tell NPR they are hoping to get to basic training before it's too late.
