Jerry Brown

If Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill, California will become the second state, after Hawaii, to raise the age limit for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that bars professional teams there from treating their cheerleaders as independent contractors. The bill came after lawsuits alleged the cheerleaders were underpaid.

Farms in California use as much as four times the water consumed by cities and towns. Now farmers are on defense after the governor decided to mostly exempt them from new, sweeping water cutbacks.

Cities in drought-stricken California will have to reduce their water usage by 25 percent. In a news conference, Gov. Jerry Brown said the "historic drought demands unprecedented action."