Teen reaches deal in classroom hazing case

SAN BERNARDINO (AP) - An 18-year-old student charged in a brutal California classroom hazing case that allegedly involved sex crimes reached a plea deal Monday and will testify against his teacher, prosecutors said. Fernando Salgado agreed to plead guilty to one count each of attempted sexual penetration by a foreign object and assault with a deadly weapon, said Christopher Lee, a spokesman ...

Largest public pension fund earns dismal 1%

170 homes under threat from Placer blaze

FORESTHILL (AP) - Firefighters are struggling to contain a blaze that has consumed one home and forced evacuations from dozens of others in Placer County. State fire officials on Monday said the Robbers Fire was growing on its northern and eastern edges. It was 30 percent contained. Residents have been evacuated to a Red Cross shelter in Foresthill, ...

Death penalty tossed in killing of rocker's mom due to prospective juror’s dismissal over views

Bay Area briefs

PLEAS DELAYED FOR COUPLE IN DRUG PLANT ARREST: SANTA ANA (AP) - A husband and wife accused of planting drugs in the car of a school aide they believed mistreated their son have appeared in court.

State treasurer seeks divorce amid public troubles with wife’s substance abuse

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has filed for divorce from his wife, who resigned her seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors earlier this year after her problems with substance abuse and marital troubles played out publicly. The 71-year-old treasurer filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences with Nadia Lockyer, his spokesman, Tom Dresslar, said Monday. ...

Imperial County's kids with asthma more likely to visit ER

CALEXICO (AP) - Children with asthma in the dusty and impoverished Imperial County are far more likely to visit the emergency room, costing taxpayers for care often covered by state and federal health care programs. One in five children ages 5 to 17 in the county has been diagnosed with asthma, which can be managed with medication. The rate of youngsters visiting ...

Boxing club coach arrested in child sex probe

SANTA ANA (AP) - The coach of a prominent Southern California youth boxing club was arrested on suspicion of molesting one of his teenage athletes, police said Monday. Anthony Serrano, 45, was arrested Sunday after the 15-year-old boy's mother contacted police, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told The Orange County Register. Serrano is head coach at the ...

CSU must choose tuition hike or enrollment cut

Catalina Island fighting proposed water rate hike

AVALON (AP) - Residents and business owners of Santa Catalina Island have formed a coalition to fight against a proposal to dramatically raise their water rates.

Cities eye plan to seize mortgages

FONTANA (AP) - In the foreclosure-battered inland stretches of California, local government officials desperate for change are weighing a controversial but inventive way to fix troubled mortgages: Condemn them.

Man recovers car 42 years after theft

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Texas man whose prized sports car was stolen 42 years ago recovered the vehicle in California after spotting it on eBay, authorities said Sunday.

State news briefs

PLACER COUNTY FIRE DESTROYS HOME, 3 OUTBUILDINGS: FORESTHILL (AP) - Firefighters are bracing for an another day of high temperatures and strong afternoon winds as they battle a wildfire burning in a rugged area of thick woods near the Placer County community of Colfax.

Aging anti-war sculpture debate

SANTA MONICA . (AP) - For decades the big, black mass of chain link that's piled up outside the Civic Center has alternately awed and inspired, annoyed and confounded, and, perhaps most often, simply divided residents of this otherwise famously tolerant beach town.

Secret buyouts at state parks HQ

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A high-ranking official at the California Department of Parks and Recreation carried out a secret vacation buyout program last year for himself and other employees at the department's headquarters, just as the agency was planning to close 70 state parks due to budget cuts.

Panel restores some pay for lawmakers

Legislature creates confusion over records bill

LA to give every student an iPad; $30M order

BART police chief wants reform review

State news briefs

JUDGE MAY EXPAND CALIF. PRISON MENTAL HEALTH CASE: SACRAMENTO (AP) - Attorneys who represent California inmates asked a federal judge Wednesday to expand the court's oversight of prison mental health care to include the Department of State Hospitals.

Pay Box

Bay Area briefs

SF 'LANDLORDS FROM HELL' PLEAD GUILTY TO FELONIES: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A couple that prosecutors dubbed the "landlords from hell" for going to scary lengths to drive tenants from a San Francisco apartment building have pleaded guilty to several felonies.

Bill would honor Buffalo Soldiers' role in parks

Unattended campfire caused Mariposa fire

MARIPOSA (AP) - An unattended campfire near a main route into Yosemite National Park has grown into a blaze that has led to the evacuations of 800 homes and 1,500 people, officials said Tuesday. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials released the cause of the fire Tuesday, as 2,200 firefighters - up from more than 700 Monday - worked to gain the upper hand on it amid windy, dry conditions. No other details ...

State news briefs

SURFER SHOT AT AMID EX-LAPD COP HUNT FILES LAWSUIT: LOS ANGELES (AP) - A surfer who was shot at by police during the manhunt for rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner has filed a lawsuit against a Los Angeles suburb and its police department.

Bay Area briefs

BOY, 6, KILLED BY RELATIVE'S DOG AT UNION CITY HOME: UNION CITY (AP) - A 6-year-old San Francisco Bay area boy died after he was attacked by a relative's dog, authorities said Tuesday.

Judge considers effect of fungus on inmates

Apple details nearly 500 government requests for user data over six months

CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple says it received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement for customer data for the six months ended in May. The company, like some other businesses, had asked the U.S government to be able to share how many requests it received related to national security and how it handled them. Those requests were made as part of Prism, the recently revealed highly classified National Security Agency program that seizes ...

Bill would let cities decide on open records

Wildfire burning near Hwy 140 near Mariposa

MARIPOSA (AP) - A wind-whipped wildfire near the main route into Yosemite National Park in the Central Sierra foothills forced the evacuation of about 150 houses and threatened others, a state fire official said on Monday. More than 700 firefighters are battling the Carstens fire which began Sunday afternoon and has burned about 1 1/2 square miles or 900 acres, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said. With more than 140 ...