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 publisher of Allen Ginsberg's iconic poem "Howl" has three books coming out this year and is also working on a novel. Looking back, he says, "Everything was better than it is when you're old." -
The nation's immigration courts are jammed with the asylum cases of some 60,000 unaccompanied minors who crossed the southern border last summer. There are 429,000 cases pending and only 223 judges. -
Bans on same-sex marriage in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee were confirmed by a federal court Thursday, reversing lower courts' decisions.
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California cities are taking drastic measures and none more so than Santa Cruz, where rationing is enforced through penalties. And if you can't afford to pay your fine, there's always Water School.
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The Obama administration claims there are fewer unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border; nevertheless, deportation hearings have accelerated. The situation has created a new challenge: There's a shortage of pro-bono attorneys to represent the immigrant children in immigration court.
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Star Wars creator George Lucas wants to build a museum full of movie memorabilia and fine art. But where? Both his hometown of San Francisco and Chicago, his "second home," are vying for it. -
State Sen. Leland Yee, who's been indicted in a FBI probe, doesn't represent Chinatown. But the scandal fits neatly into a caricature of Chinatown, says Sue Lee of the Chinese Historical Society.
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More than 38 percent of the U.S. population lives in a state in which same-sex marriage is legal. That's a much more revealing number than the figure usually discussed: 18 states plus Washington D.C. In the coming years, that number is expected to increase dramatically.
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Oracle Team USA completed a remarkable comeback to win the America's Cup regatta, winning eight straight races. The American team, backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, beat Emirates Team New Zealand. Just a few days ago, the American team trailed the Kiwis, and were on the brink of being eliminated from the competition.
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A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday hears arguments over a radical plan to stem the foreclosure crisis. The City of Richmond is proposing to buy underwater mortgages in order to help keep local residents in their homes. If banks don't want to sell those mortgages, the city says it is prepared to invoke eminent domain to seize the mortgages.
