State news briefs

ANALYST: CALIF. HIGH-SPEED RAIL PLAN STILL VAGUE: SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Legislative Analyst's Office said Tuesday that the latest plan to build a $68.4 billion high-speed rail system linking Northern and Southern California still relies on highly speculative financing, and it urged the state Legislature to reject funding until more details are ironed out. <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in ...

Bill to regulate pot shops clears 1st hurdle

Jump in out-of-state student admissions

Illegal prison cellphones being disabled

Stanislaus deputy Tasers, fatally shoots man

MODESTO (AP) - Authorities are investigating the shooting death of a man by a Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy who was responding to reports of a family dispute. Sheriff's officials say the deputy went to the home in the town of Keyes on Monday afternoon. Sgt. Anthony Bejaran says the deputy first used a Taser on 32-year-old George Ramirez ...

Report: Widespread seafood mislabeling in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Widespread mislabeling of fish in the Los Angeles area may mean sushi lovers aren't biting into a piece of snapper when they order it at restaurants, according to a report released Monday by an environmental advocacy group.

Folsom residents find escaped inmate in truck bed

FOLSOM (AP) - Folsom police have arrested an escaped prisoner after residents found the inmate hiding in the bed of their pickup truck.

Man confronts neighbor about peeing in bushes

HEMET (AP) - Police say a Hemet man had to dodge bullets after confronting a neighbor for peeing in the bushes outside an apartment complex.

Vice principal taken off campus over gay flap

FULLERTON (AP) - An assistant principal at a Southern California high school has been temporarily removed from campus while district officials assess his pulling a gay student offstage for saying he hoped he could someday marry the love of his life.

California farmers, residents to get more water

FRESNO (AP) - Water agencies that supply millions of California residents and farmers will be getting more water this year, thanks to a wet spring and high reservoir storage. The state Department of Water Resources said Monday that State Water Project contractors can expect to get 60 percent of their ...

Cal State faculty starts voting on strike move to fight for 1 percent pay hike

Chief justice, attorneys seek more court funding

Panetta costs taxpayers $32,000 every time he flies home to California home

State news briefs

7 INDICTED IN TOY FIRM'S ALLEGED DRUG MONEY SCHEME: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Five people were arrested Monday in a money laundering scheme that allegedly funneled millions of dollars in Colombian and Mexican drug money through an American toy company, federal officials said.

Judge releases Sacramento teen who was locked up after she says she was raped

Food-tech startups aim to replace eggs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The startup is housed in a garage-like space in San Francisco's tech-heavy South of Market neighborhood, but it isn't like most of its neighbors that develop software, websites and mobile-phone apps. Its mission is to find plant replacements for eggs.

Delta College puts together time capsule to mark 100th year in 2063

STOCKTON - Delta College's 100-year Time Capsule has been cleared for its voyage through time.

Paul Walker memorial draws thousands

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) - The sounds of high-performance car engines filled the air Sunday as thousands of fans, friends and car enthusiasts headed to the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita to pay tribute to Paul Walker at the site where the "Fast & Furious" actor died in a car crash.

Court to consider state’s blanket DNA collection

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court appeared ready last year to strike down as an unconstitutional invasion of privacy a controversial California law requiring police to collect DNA samples from every person arrested in the state.

Weather not cold enough to damage crops

FRESNO (AP) - From Los Angeles to San Francisco, people awoke to cold, sometimes near-freezing temperatures Sunday, but could take solace in the fact that their weather was not nearly as bad as that brought by the brutal storms dumping ice, wind and snow on much of the rest of the country.

Salvation Army ringer sets 105-hour ring record

COLTON (AP) - Salvation Army Maj. Marcelino "Butch" Soriano got a jump on ringing in the New Year this holiday season by ringing a bell for a record 105 consecutive hours outside a Wal-Mart in Colton this week.

State exchange sharing data without consent

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The California health exchange says it's been giving the names of tens of thousands of consumers to insurance agents without their permission or knowledge in an effort to hit deadlines for coverage.

State PUC to join in BART train probe

OAKLAND (AP) - San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit officials say a state agency is also looking into why a disabled train stranded hundreds of passengers in a tunnel that sent at least nine people to the hospital. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said Friday that the California Public Utilities Commission will be a part of the probe on why a train became stuck in the Berkeley hills tunnel due to an electrical short causing the ...

News from around california

POT CLINIC OWNER NOW MAYOR OF CALIFORNIA CITY: SEBASTOPOL AP) - A medical marijuana dispensary owner has been named mayor of a small Northern California city in the heart of pot country.

Feds decline comment on DA's assertion

SONORA, Calif. (AP) - Federal prosecutors have declined to address a district attorney's claim that they intend to prosecute the hunter who allegedly started the Rim Fire that raged through Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Foothills. Tuolumne County District Attorney Michael Knowles said in a statement on Thursday that federal prosecutors have privately declared their intention to prosecute the hunter. The hunter has not been identified. The statement went on to say that the ...

Teen arrested in theft of part from Walker of ‘Fast & Furious’ crash

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Detectives arrested a teenager Thursday accused of stealing some wreckage from the Porsche that "Fast & Furious" star Paul Walker was in when he died in a crash, and a second suspect was planning to turn himself in, authorities said. The theft occurred as the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT was being towed from the accident scene Saturday night, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said. The investigation led detectives to Jameson Witty, ...

4 die of hypothermia in SF Bay Area

SAN JOSE (AP) - Four homeless people have died of hypothermia in the San Francisco Bay Area since last week, authorities said, highlighting the danger to people without shelter as the region is gripped by freezing temperatures.

Hijack call leads police to 12 tons of pot

TUSTIN (AP) - A Southern California truck driver who called police fearing hijackers unwittingly led officers to a 12-ton haul of pot in his own trailer. Tustin police tell City News Service that the driver didn't know an estimated $7 million worth of marijuana was hidden in the cargo of electronics he was taking from San Diego into Orange County. Sgt. Andrew Birozy says the driver was on the road Monday morning when two men ...

Expert: Fawcett portrait worth $12M,

Father, daughter sentenced after attack

TEMECULA (AP) - A Riverside County father and his teen daughter have each been placed on four years' probation after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a vigilante attack on a man the girl had accused of rape.