Richard Ramos

Currently, I work as a Digital Producer for CBS News in Sacramento. I lead editorial operations, own the station's social media accounts, and manage the website and all other digital ops. My work covers stories that are relevant to the local market and also those that are of statewide and national interest.

Featured work as a writer

CBS Sacramento •

California 2026 governor candidates discuss gas prices, environmental policy

As California voters prepare to choose their next governor in 2026, energy policy — particularly the future of oil production, refineries and gas prices — has remained a central and complex issue in the race.

California gas prices are the highest in the nation and are projected to rise as oil refineries leave the state. For years, state leaders accused oil companies of price gouging, but a two-year state investigation found no evidence of that. Meanwhile, the oil industry blames California's pr...
CBS News •

California gas prices are the highest in the U.S., but there's no proof of price gouging. Here's why.

For years, California leaders accused oil companies of price gouging.

Instead, a six-month-long CBS News California investigation revealed a complicated reality shaped by state policies, refinery closures, and global supply risks that uniquely impact California's isolated fuel market.

California drivers pay the highest gas prices in the nation. As the conflict in the Middle East increases gas prices globally, California gas continues to be the most expensive in the nation, rising above $6 a ga...
CBS Sacramento •

California Farmworkers Day replaces Cesar Chavez Day as Newsom signs new law

California will now observe March 31 as Farmworkers Day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Thursday officially renaming what has been known as Cesar Chavez Day after sexual assault allegations against the late labor leader came to light.

Assembly Bill 2156 was introduced last week by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and backed by Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara). Now, with Newsom's signature, the measure renaming it Farmworkers Day in the state took...
CBS Sacramento •

Elder parole grant for convicted Sacramento child predator to be reevaluated

The California Board of Parole Hearings voted on Wednesday to reevaluate an elder parole grant for a convicted child predator from Sacramento.

Gregory Vogelsang, 57, was sentenced back in 1999 to 355 years to life for sexually assaulting kids, some as young as three years old.

In both 2022 and 2024, Vogelsang was found not suitable for parole. But last year, on November 4, a small parole board preliminarily granted it. The case was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office for review, and he referred...
CBS Sacramento •

Dan Serafini sentenced to life without parole for Lake Tahoe shootings of in-laws

A California judge on Friday sentenced former Major League Baseball pitcher Daniel Serafini to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 killing of his father-in-law, Robert Gary Spohr, and the attempted murder of his mother-in-law, Wendy Wood.

Serafini appeared in person in a packed courtroom at the Historic Auburn Courthouse, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. Family members of the victims, friends, community members and several jurors who convicted him filled the gallery....
CBS Sacramento •

Convicted Sacramento child molester, set for elder parole, faces new charges in Placer County

A convicted Sacramento child molester who was set to be released under California's elder parole law now faces new charges stemming from an alleged child sexual assault that happened in Roseville in 1996, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

David Allen Funston, 64, was convicted back in 1999 of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation. Funston was later sentenced to three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life, but was authorized by the California Board of Parole to be released from stat...
CBS Sacramento •

69 Jelly Belly Fairfield employees to be laid off amid broader economic strain in Solano County

Amid broader economic strain in Solano County, Fairfield is facing another round of job losses as Ferrara Candy Company prepares to permanently lay off 69 corporate employees at its Jelly Belly campus, even as the factory, warehouse and visitor center operations remain open.

According to a WARN notice received by Mayor Catherine Moy, "Ferrara Candy Company is ceasing its Fairfield corporate-commercial operations" at multiple addresses along One Jelly Belly Lane and North Watney Way. The layoffs...
CBS Sacramento •

Deadly February for skiers in Lake Tahoe region continues with 2 fatalities at Heavenly Resort

Two skiers died Friday in separate incidents at Lake Tahoe's Heavenly Mountain Resort, marking the latest in a series of ski-related deaths this month in the region that stretches across Northern California and Nevada. This follows an avalanche earlier this week that claimed the lives of at least eight people.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office on the Nevada side of the lake said deputies responded around 11:55 a.m. Pacific Time to two separate fatal ski incidents at the resort's Boulder Lodge...
CBS Sacramento •

Avalanche warning signs to recognize after California's deadliest in history

This week's deadly avalanche north of California's Lake Tahoe involved a group of 15 backcountry skiers and left only six survivors.

The slide quickly became the deadliest in state history and the deadliest in U.S. history in nearly five decades. It happened in an area of the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range that experts say is "one of the snowiest places in the western hemisphere."

Among the 15 people were four ski guides and 11 clients, who were returning from a three-day touring trip a...
CBS Sacramento •

Timothy Busfield, founder of Sacramento's B Street Theatre, accused of child sex abuse

Law enforcement officials in New Mexico announced Tuesday that Timothy Busfield, an Emmy-winning actor and founder of Sacramento's B Street Theatre, turned himself in after an arrest warrant was issued following accusations of child sex abuse.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said that Busfield is currently in custody at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center after he surrendered in Albuquerque. He has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a mino...
CBS Sacramento •

15 years after Sacramento County woman vanished, murder suspect arrested in Tennessee

Law enforcement officials on Wednesday said a Tennessee man has been arrested in connection with the murder and disappearance of a woman who vanished 15 years ago from Northern California.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said Lynda Haynie was reported missing in July 2010 by several acquaintances. Despite an investigation by its missing persons bureau, the sheriff's office said Haynie, who was 39 at the time, was never found, and the case went cold.

The investigation picked back up agai...
CBS Sacramento •

Stephen Cloobeck ends bid for California governor, endorses Eric Swalwell

California's crowded 2026 governor's race narrowed Monday night as Democratic businessman Stephen Cloobeck ended his campaign and endorsed Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who entered the race last week.

Cloobeck announced his decision during an interview on CNN, putting his full support behind Swalwell.

"I only ran for Governor because I believe none of the other candidates are capable of doing the job. ... So when Eric decided to do this, I realized he is absolutely the right person for the jo...
CBS News •

California 2026 governor candidates discuss transgender athletes in school sports

As California voters prepare to choose their next governor in 2026, the question of whether transgender students should be allowed to play on school sports teams based on their gender identity has emerged as one of the gubernatorial race's most contentious issues.

Over several weeks in September, CBS News California Investigates correspondent Julie Watts sat down with candidates in the race to discuss their views on a variety of policy questions, including California's law that guarantees trans...
CBS News •

California 2026 governor candidates talk immigrant health care, ICE cooperation and sanctuary state status

As California voters prepare to choose their next governor in 2026, immigration remains one of the state's most divisive and closely watched issues.

Over several weeks in September, CBS News California Investigates correspondent Julie Watts sat down with each candidate in the race to discuss their views on a variety of issues, including immigration.

In this segment, they examine two nuanced and often misunderstood aspects of California's policy on health care for undocumented immigrants and Ca...
CBS Sacramento •

California voters pass Prop 50 to redraw the state's congressional maps, CBS News projects

California voters have passed Proposition 50, CBS News projects, approving a measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats that will redraw the state's congressional districts.

The measure is intended to make five Republican-held congressional districts in California more favorable to Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections in an effort to offset redistricting efforts in Texas that flipped five Democratic House seats to Republicans.

"It was not just a victory tonight for the De...
CBS News •

Robocalls are the top U.S. consumer complaint. Here's how California and tech companies are fighting back.

How many spam calls have you gotten so far today? Unwanted robocalls are Americans' number one consumer complaint, and that has CBS News California investigative correspondent Julie Watts asking: What's being done to stop them?

Whether they're pushing payday loans, sketchy charities or they're just a straight-up scam, robocalls aren't just annoying. If that automated voice is asking you for money, odds are that it's illegal.

Once a world traveler working on development projects for the U.S. Ag...
CBS Sacramento •

Ex-Manson Family member Patricia Krenwinkel again denied parole by Newsom for role in 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has again denied the parole of Patricia Krenwinkel, the longest-serving female inmate in the state and a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson, citing ongoing concerns about her insight and risk to public safety.

In a written decision released by his office, Newsom said he denied the May 2025 parole recommendation for Krenwinkel, 77, after concluding that she "currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison."

"I have concluded that...
CBS Sacramento •

September Lightning Complex fires scorch nearly 14,000 acres in Central California; containment passes 50%

Most evacuation orders issued for the September Lightning Complex fires were lifted after nearly 100 structures were destroyed in the fires.

The major fires that forced people to flee included the 2-7 Fire just east in Calaveras County and the 6-5 Fire in Tuolumne County.  Evacuation orders were also issued for a third fire, the 2-2 Fire in the northern corner of Stanislaus County.

Cal Fire's Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit stated that those three fires are among 22 that comprise the TCU September Lig...
CBS News •

Denise Huskins, Aaron Quinn honored as "Witnesses of the Year" for role in Matthew Muller confessions

Never-before-released interrogations of Matthew Muller, the serial predator who kidnapped Denise Huskins in 2015, show his confessions to decades of other home invasions and sexual assaults.

These revelations might never have come to light without Huskins and her husband, Aaron Quinn, the couple once falsely accused of staging a hoax. Now, they're being honored as "Witnesses of the Year" by the California District Attorneys Association for their persistence in helping investigators uncover the...
CBS Sacramento •

"American Nightmare" kidnapper Matthew Muller gets new life sentence for Contra Costa County crime

Matthew Muller, whose 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins made national headlines and was chronicled in the 2024 Netflix docuseries "American Nightmare," was sentenced to another life term in prison for a separate home invasion that occurred just weeks later in Contra Costa County.

The sentence of life without the possibility of parole was handed down Thursday in Contra Costa County Superior Court, following Muller's no contest plea to one count of aggravated kidnapping.

Muller confessed to the...
CBS Sacramento •

Human remains found at California fireworks warehouse explosion site, officials say

Authorities say human remains have been found after the Tuesday explosion and fire at a fireworks warehouse in the Northern California community of Esparto.

On Friday, Yolo County officials announced that human remains were located after coroner's division personnel were allowed to access the site for their investigation. The following day, officials confirmed the remains of the seven missing after the July 1 incident at Devastating Pyrotechnics were found.

No positive identifications of the r...
CBS Sacramento •

Sherri Papini claims 2016 kidnapping story was true in trailer for new docuseries: "FBI said I made it all up."

SACRAMENTO — Sherri Papini, the California mother of two convicted of lying to the FBI after faking her own kidnapping nearly a decade ago, is speaking out publicly for the first time in a new docuseries.

Papini, 42, is featured in the four-part series "Sherri Papini: Caught in the Lie," which is produced by Investigation Discovery and releases on Max and ID on May 26.

Despite previously admitting to the hoax as part of a plea bargain, Papini is now back in the spotlight, claiming that everyth...
Sactown Magazine •

13 farmers’ markets to visit throughout the region

Fill your basket with farm-fresh finds, local eats and handcrafted goodies at these 13 farmers’ markets around the region. Here is our cornucopian guide (including an interactive map) for your next trip to bountiful.
Take a break from the office and your brown-bag lunch to visit one of over a dozen mobile restaurants—such as Yolanda’s Tamales, Big Joe’s BBQ and Masa Guiseria (which offers tacos with stewed and braised meats and made-to-order corn tortillas) at this downtown bazaar. Before you lo...
Sactown Magazine •

Shangri-la set to open in Fair Oaks

UPDATE: Shangri-la, the new Palm Springs resort-inspired bistro in Fair Oaks will soft-open Tuesday, June 18, for dinner. Hours of operation wlll be Tuesday through Sunday from 5:30-9 p.m., with the bar staying open until 10 p.m. (The restaurant will be closed Mondays.) Owner Sommer Peterson aims to add happy hour and brunch over the coming weeks, and hopes to host a grand opening in mid-July. Reservations are available through yelp.com.
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A Fair Oaks native is devising an oasis of crea...
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