Brown signs casino compact with tribe

ROHNERT PARK (AP) - A Native American tribe's plans for a Las Vegas-style casino about 50 miles north of San Francisco got a big boost on Friday when the governor signed a gaming compact with the tribe. The deal between the state and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria calls for a casino on 254 acres near Rohnert Park in Sonoma County. ...

Bay Area news briefs

SF considers enforcing parking meters on Sunday

State news briefs

LONG BEACH OWED $18M IN UNPAID PARKING TICKETS: LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A councilwoman says Long Beach is owed $18 million in unpaid parking tickets.

California. lawmakers don hoodies for slain Florida teen during Capitol session

Another finalist booted from 'American Idol'

Bay Area briefs

$1.5B deal approved to electrify Caltrains SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A $1.5 billion deal has been approved to electrify Caltrain lines for eventual sharing with California bullet trains. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the two-track sharing plan. Using two tracks rather than the proposed four tracks will mean slower travel times and fewer trains. ...

Mojave Desert parents wage legal fight against local district over school reform

Rescuers free entangled gray whale off coast

Political rift appears in state compensation panel that handles legislators’ compensation

Sacramento commuter rail collision injures 5

Brown defends tax plan, says money goes to schools despite claim of backer of rival plan

Beyonce the tiny puppy fit into spoon at birth

Economists see brighter future for state economy

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California's economy should improve with its nearly 11 percent unemployment rate falling to 7.7 percent in less than two years, according to UCLA's quarterly Anderson Forecast. However, some areas won't return to pre-recession levels for four years, according to the report. California's 10.9 percent jobless rate is expected to fall to about 7.7 percent ...

Pepper-spray report can be released without names

Dennis Rodman back in court over child support

ORANGE (AP) - Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been told he could face up to 20 days in jail unless he pays some $860,000 in child support. His lawyer, however, says Rodman has made payments and will fight to have the contempt of court finding overturned. Rodman appeared in an Orange County court Tuesday but sentencing ...

BART may lift rush-hour bike ban

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Authorities have set the wheels in motion to allow bicycles on all commuter trains in the San Francisco Bay area. The San Francisco Chronicle says directors of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District voted Thursday to permit bikes on all trains for a five-month period, beginning in July. Currently, bikes are banned during rush hours. Two smaller previous tests found no problems with allowing bikes during rush hours. <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: ...

Firm: Bay Bridge bolts made to exact specs

OAKLAND (AP) - An executive with an Ohio manufacturer has said steel bolts used on a troubled new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge were made exactly to specifications. Experts have spent the past two months trying to determine why 32 of 96 bolts broke after they were tightened in March. A report released on May 7 by Caltrans suggests the bridge design team ordered a type of steel that under some conditions could ...

Sherman Oaks teen takes supermodel to prom

SANTA MONICA (AP) - A Southern California teen turned heads at his prom when he showed up with a Sports Illustrated model as his date. Nina Agdal agreed to step in as Jake Davidson's date Thursday night after he got turned down for prom by supermodel Kate Upton. The Sherman Oaks teen appeared in a YouTube video that was viewed more than 2.5 million times asking Upton to be his date. After Upton declined because ...

SoCal school's ex-PTA head charged with theft

JURUPA VALLEY (AP) - The former president of a local Southern California PTA has been charged with grand theft for allegedly stealing $20,000 raised from children's candy bar sales. Patricia Gledhill pleaded not guilty earlier this month to two felony counts. Gledhill was PTA president last year for Stone Avenue Elementary School in Jurupa (huh-ROO'-puh) Valley. According to court records, Gledhill told authorities she took fundraising money to pay for food, rent, and the cost ...

State news briefs

SHUTTLE IS MAJOR DRAW AT CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER: LOS ANGELES (AP) - There was always been a special connection between space shuttle Endeavour and California, where it was built.

Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake

Court denies 2nd hearing on Medi-Cal rate cut

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday denied a second request by California doctors, pharmacists and hospitals seeking to undo the state's 10 percent provider rate cut for treating the poor.

PG&E calls $2.25B fine for deadly blast excessive

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The utility responsible for a deadly pipeline explosion in Northern California said Friday that the record $2.25 billion in fines being sought by state regulators is illegally excessive, but did not offer a specific dollar figure it considers reasonable. In a 103-page filing submitted just before the close of business, Pacific Gas & Electric said that it agrees with the California Public Utilities Commission's finding that a financial penalty is appropriate ...

Plastic ocean debris bill dies in committee

Bill would treat e-cigarettes like other tobacco

State Senate election might be headed to runoff in 16th district

LA sanitation ends plans for dump near Joshua Tree

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.