Beam them up: Ashes of 'Star Trek' actor in orbit

Calif. pension fund to vote against Wal-Mart board

SACRAMENTO (AP) - One of the nation's largest pension funds says it will vote its 5.3 million shares against all of Wal-Mart's board nominees - including the company's current and former CEOs - at the retailer's annual meeting next week. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as CalSTERS, said Tuesday that it has lost faith in the board's independence amid allegations ...

Couple convicted in trashed home case

RIVERSIDE (AP) - A former San Diego police officer and his wife have been found guilty of trashing their foreclosed home in Riverside County. A jury convicted Robert Acosta on Monday of stealing fixtures valued at greater than $65,000 when he and his wife moved out of their foreclosed home in 2010. Monique Acosta was found guilty of the same charge on ...

Prolonged Facebook slide could hurt California budget

Brown seeks business support for tax-hike plan on November ballot

State news briefs

WOMAN, 3 CHILDREN HIT BY CAR IN CROSSWALK: THOUSAND OAKS (AP) - Police say a woman and three children walking in a Thousand Oaks crosswalk were hit by a vehicle and injured, but a baby in a stroller escaped harm.

Silicon Valley tech exec accused of Lego thefts; faces up to five years in prison

SAN JOSE (AP) - A Silicon Valley software executive put fake bar codes on Lego sets at various Target stores, bought the toys at a steep discount, then sold them online for thousands of dollars, authorities said. Thomas Langenbach, 47, appeared in court Tuesday on four felony counts of burglary that could net him up to five years in prison if convicted. ...

Bay Area briefs

Sheriff: Suspect linked by DNA to missing teen

Does school ordering parents to buy iPads for 4th, 5th graders violate state constitution?

POWAY (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a San Diego County school's project to equip fourth- and fifth-graders with iPads - at parents' expense. ACLU lawyer David Loy has complained to Poway Unified School District, saying Tierra Bonita Elementary School's request that 90 percent of parents buy, rent or lease a $483 iPad and accessories veers close to violating ...

Lawmakers trade insults debating airport gun bill

Senate bill would cap Cal State pay increases

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California State University employees who make more than $200,000 annually would have their salaries capped under a bill approved by the state Senate. The measure would place a two-year moratorium on any pay raises for those employees, ending in July 2014. SB952 also would cap pay raises for those same employees at no ...

Golden Gate celebrates 75th with help of engineers

State news briefs

MAN SENTENCED IN NATIONAL FOREST POT GROW: FRESNO (AP) - A Mexican national has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in connection with a marijuana growing operation in Sequoia National Forest.

Report: LA rail line woes could cause derailments

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California officials say the recently opened light rail line that connects downtown Los Angeles with the city's west side must be reinspected because a key section contains a serious design flaw that could cause trains to derail, the Los Angeles Times reported. The section in question is a downtown junction that links the Expo Line, which carries passengers ...

Senate votes to ban bear, bobcat hunting with dogs; GOP calls it an attack on rural California

Bill would prohibit ticket-buying software

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Music and sports fans would have one less obstacle in buying tickets to popular events under a bill advancing through the California Legislature. Legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento would prohibit the use of robotic ticket-buying software. Supporters of AB329 say scalpers use the software to bombard online box offices and then resell tickets at higher prices. Lawmakers previously deleted a provision that would have allowed transfers of paperless event ...

Professor assigns students to make ad for his campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him. Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students' work could run afoul ...

Bay Area briefs

SWALLOWS LAWSUIT MAY DELAY PETALUMA BRIDGE WORK : PETALUMA (AP) - A lawsuit accuses state and federal regulators of causing the death of dozens of migratory cliff swallows by placing nets on a Sonoma County bridge during a highway widening project.

State releases health reform plans, pricing

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

Injured volunteer seeks payment from lost hiker

6 plead not guilty in school embezzlement

Driver impaled by metal rod on I-580 near Livermore.

Snacking deputy's crash costs Santa Clara County $5M

Brown defends California's business climate

State news briefs

POSTAL WORKER SENTENCED IN MAIL THEFT: SAN CARLOS, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area postal worker accused of stealing thousands of pieces of mail to obtain credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

State news briefs

LAWYER: TEEN USED 'MURDER KIT' ON GIRL'S PARENTS: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prosecutors say a teenager accused of murdering his girlfriend's parents was equipped with a "murder kit" to kill the Compton couple.

Montana man dies in Yosemite climbing accident

Unclaimed veterans' remains laid to rest