Another California city opts for bankruptcy

State news briefs

POLICE: TRACY MOTEL OWNER, 62, KILLED BY NAKED MAN: TRACY (AP) - Tracy police are investigating the death of a motel owner who was allegedly killed by a naked man in her business office.

Peter O'Toole retires with 'dry-eyed farewell'

Appeals court to examine Calif. ballot numbering

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An appeals court is asking the California secretary of state to explain why Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative should be first on the November ballot. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento agreed Tuesday to examine a challenge to the decision, one day after the state's chief elections officer assigned numbers to 11 measures on the November ballot. ...

Bay Area briefs

UC tuition could rise sharply if tax measure fails

Family of soldier sues security firm over death

Injured hiker saves rescuer hit by copter blades

Firefighters try to outrun heat wave

ACLU files suit against LA County sheriff, DA for withholding evidence

$3.2M yacht sinks in Lake Tahoe marina

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - Witnesses at the Tahoe Keys Marina say they heard screeching, the sound of tearing metal, and a passenger yell "oh, no!" late Sunday night. By about 3 a.m. Monday, a three-story, $3.2 million yacht ...

S. California, Sierra experiencing heat wave

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern California's deserts and interior valleys broiled in triple-digit or upper 90s temperatures on Monday as a mini heat wave set in. The National Weather Service said warming brought by a strong, upper-level high centered over the Great Basin would peak on Tuesday and Wednesday. Excessive heat warnings will be in effect most of Tuesday across the deserts, ...

Eastern Sierra wildfire now 85 percent contained

BIG PINE (AP) - A wildfire burning near a main highway in the eastern Sierra Nevada is nearly surrounded. The 1,103-acre blaze west of Highway 395 in Inyo County was more than 85 percent contained Monday morning. State fire Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson says there are no active flames and crews are concentrating on dousing hotspots to ...

5 shot outside Oakland's Jack London Square

Challenges remain for high-speed rail plan

State news briefs

REMAINS OF MISSING WWII SOLDIER RETURN TO CALIF.: SAN BRUNO (AP) - A California soldier who died during World War II will be buried near his boyhood home this week after the former Marine's remains were discovered on a remote island in the South Pacific.

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 ...

State news briefs

Bay Area briefs

KAYAKER MISSING AFTER FALLING INTO LIVERMORE LAKE: LIVERMORE (AP) - A 30-year-old man is missing after falling out of a kayak at a lake in Livermore.

Four lawsuits filed against Delta Plan

Port of LA unveils plan for marine research center

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles port officials on Monday unveiled plans to create a $500 million marine research center called AltaSea. The project, developed through a public-private partnership between the port and universities, will be built on a 100-year-old wharf on the San Pedro waterfront. Officials cited Los Angeles' urban environment as a reason to invest in research at the port, which had been looking to diversify its uses - in addition to cargo ...

Cancer killed serial killer Richard Ramirez

LA elementary teacher arrested in estranged wife's stabbing death

Legislature passes $96.3B budget