LA’s desire is for return of street cars to downtown area

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Half a century after the last of the lost Pacific Electric Red Cars rumbled through Los Angeles, a move has begun to return streetcars to downtown LA.

‘Painter of Light’ Thomas Kinkade dies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Artist Thomas Kinkade, whose brushwork paintings of idyllic landscapes, cottages and churches have been big sellers for dealers across the United States, died Friday, a family spokesman said.

SF sheriff's wife: Husband victim of coup

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The domestic violence case against San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was akin to a coup and was intended to bring him down, his wife said in an op-ed published Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle. Eliana Lopez, a Venezuelan actress and Mirkarimi's wife, said her 20 years in that country have taught her much about politics. <p style="line-height: ...

Suspect returned to campus over tuition

Santa Monica Community College votes to delay disputed 2-tier fees

State news briefs

DOG BEATEN TO DEATH, DRAGGED BEHIND BICYCLE: RANCHO CUCAMONGA (AP) - Witnesses say a Southern California man severely beat his dog and dragged the leashed, unconscious animal behind his bicycle.

FEC to deny Senator Feinstein’s money proposal

NRC chief pledges tough probe at nuke plant

Ex-teacher arrested for sex abuse of minor

MODESTO (AP) - A former Modesto teacher who made national headlines when he left his job and family to move in with an 18-year-old student was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexually abusing a different student more than a decade ago, police said. Christopher Hooker, 41, was arrested at his home and booked in Stanislaus County ...

State news briefs

Sheriff's official investigated over inmate golf: LOS ANGELES (AP) - A yellow jail jumpsuit isn't the usual golf wear. But pro golfer-turned-thief Frank Carrillo says that's what he wore when a sheriff's official took him to a Catalina Island golf course to offer pointers.

State news briefs

'Octomom': I'm back on food stamps for 14 kids

Judge dismisses Happy Meal lawsuit

California, Nevada team up for Tahoe's bid for 2022 Olympics

School shooter may have had multiple targets

Bay Area briefs

Utility uses waste to produce power OAKLAND. (AP) - A Northern California utility is using a new turbine and truckloads of chicken blood, food scraps and other waste to produce more electricity that it uses. The Contra Costa Times says Oakland's East Bay Municipal Utility District has been generating electricity from sewage gas and other waste since the 1980s. <p style="line-height: 18pt; background: ...

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