Boy, 10, faces murder charge in neo-Nazi dad's death while he slept on their home

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - Just 10 when he was arrested for killing his neo-Nazi father, the small, blonde child told police he pulled the gun from a low-lying closet shelf and aimed it at the man's ear while he slept in the family's California home. Now, the boy is standing trial for murdering 32-year-old Jeff Hall in a rare case that, if ...

Marines prep for ‘Zombie Apocalypse’

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Move over vampires, goblins and haunted houses, this kind of Halloween terror aims to shake up even the toughest warriors: An untold number of so-called zombies are coming to a counterterrorism summit attended by hundreds of Marines, Navy special ops, soldiers, police, firefighters and others to prepare them for their worst nightmares.

California Latino grocery chain fights federal immigration enforcement woes

SAN JOSE (AP) - Two decades ago, Mi Pueblo Food Center began modestly as a small butcher shop run by an illegal immigrant. Now, the supermarket that caters to the Latino immigrant community has grown into a popular chain of 21 stores in California.

Woman describes how walk turned into ordeal

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - A Central Valley woman is describing how what had started as a pleasant walk one morning earlier this month in Yosemite National Park turned into a three-day ordeal.

Crews searching for 2 hikers missing in Sierra

INDPEDENDENCE (AP) - Rescue teams were back in the mountains Sunday resuming separate searches for two hikers missing in California's Sierra Nevada.

Irvine may sell park land after depleting funds

IRVINE (AP) - The city of Irvine is considering selling off more than 1,000 acres of land that had been destined for a signature park to rival the likes of New York City's Central Park after running out of money to develop it.

Poll: Scant demand for Microsoft’s Windows 8

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft bills Windows 8 as a "re-imagining" of the personal computer market's dominant operating system, but the company still has a lot of work to do before the makeover captures the imagination of most consumers, based on the results of a recent poll by The Associated Press and GfK.

State news briefs

• Malibu lifeguards need rescue after getting stuck: MALIBU (AP) - Two lifeguards got stranded on a Malibu cliff face while they were trying to rescue a stuck climber and had to be rescued themselves.

Wealthy siblings with opposing views become force in state politics

Calif. man charged in Good Samaritans' deaths

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California man was charged Friday with killing two women who were electrocuted after his SUV struck a fire hydrant and light pole. Aman Samsonian, 19, turned himself in Thursday and faces two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the deaths of Stacy Schreiber, 39, and Irma Zamora, 40. He faces up to seven years and four months in ...

State news briefs

RIVERSIDE COUNCIL CHANGES RULES AFTER ARREST: RIVERSIDE (AP) - The Riverside City Council is changing the way it deals with disruptions after a woman was handcuffed and arrested when she ran over the three-minute public speakers' time limit.

Ex-Sen. Mitchell won't mediate PG&E talks

Fresno couple loses lawsuit involving faked death

State news briefs

CALIFORNIA BEGINS REGAINING CONTROL OF STATE INMATE CARE: SACRAMENTO (AP) - The federal courts will begin handing responsibility for inmate health care back to California corrections officials today, the first step in ending a 7-year-old receivership that has cost the state billions of dollars to improve prison medical conditions. <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; background: white; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: ...

Occupy targets Oakland again

Demolition of old Bay Bridge span begins

OAKLAND (AP) - The new, $6.4 billion eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is done, and demolition of the 1930s-era bridge has begun. The tricky, years-long demolition of the old span presents myriad engineering challenges of its own, Brian Maroney, the California Department of Transportation's bridge engineer, told the Contra Costa Times. "The old bridge is the world's largest armed bow and arrow," Maroney said. "We have to de-string it very carefully or ...

Embattled senator removed from committees

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Sen. Ron Calderon was stripped of his committee assignments Tuesday amid a federal investigation involving allegations that he accepted money in return for promoting certain bills.

Anthem extends 104,000 health insurance policies

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California has agreed to a two-month extension of about 104,000 individual policies after failing to give the required 90-day cancellation notice, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced Tuesday. The policies had been set to expire on Dec. 31 but will be extended until Feb. 28 for those who choose to re-enroll. Notices informing customers of the extension will be sent out this week, Anthem said. Jones ...

2 charged with Sierra bear poaching

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - Nevada County prosecutors have filed criminal charges against two California men accused of illegally killing a black bear near the edge of the Eldorado National Forest about 30 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe. Authorities say 43-year-old Jason Wilkison of Grass Valley and 54-year-old Christopher Nunley of North San Juan were the targets of a five-month-long poaching investigation. They've been charged with misdemeanor unlawful possession and killing of a bear as ...

Lancaster builds house for wounded GI

LANCASTER (AP) - When Jerral Hancock came home from the Iraq war missing one arm, with another that barely worked and a paralyzed body that was burned all over, he was a hero to this Mojave Desert town that wears its military pride on its sleeve.

Three killed, 2 wounded in Stockton home shooting

STOCKTON (AP) - Authorities in Northern California were seeking a motive Monday in a home-invasion shooting that left three adult family members dead and two wounded, and sent a child fleeing to a nearby house for safety. The triple murder happened shortly before midnight Friday in Stockton. Sheriff's deputies responded after receiving a 911 call from a man who reported that he, his girlfriend and other family members had been shot. Deputies arrived and found ...

Cloud seeding may bolster snowpack

SACRAMENTO (AP) - With California experiencing a second straight dry year, water agencies are turning to cloud seeding to help pad the state's snowpack. The practice has been around for decades, but cloud seeding has gone mainstream as a result of new technology and research showing its reliable, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday. In a report this year, the California Department of Water Resources estimated cloud seeding projects generate 400,000 acre-feet of additional water supply ...

Lansbury: Mistake to recycle 'Murder, She Wrote'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Angela Lansbury says "it's a mistake" for NBC to call a new series "Murder, She Wrote."

Olympic gold medal won by Jesse Owens to be sold

LAGUNA NIGUEL (AP) - One of the four Olympic gold medals won by track and field star Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Games is set to go on the auction block. SCP Auctions says the medal could sell for upward of $1 million in the online auction that runs from Nov. 20-Dec. 7. Owens won gold in the 100- and 200-meters, the 400 relay and the long jump at the games attended by Adolph ...

Thieves bypass luxury cars, opt for watches

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Police say burglars smashed a plate glass window at a San Diego County luxury car dealership, but it wasn't the Rolls-Royces, Bentleys or Lamborghinis they were interested in. They walked out with watches worth between $20,000 and $60,000 apiece. Tthe break-in at the Symbolic Motor Car Company showroom in La Jolla was reported about 2:50 a.m. Monday. They then tipped over and smashed a glass case containing four Breitling for Bentley ...

Burglary suspects caught after online post

ROCKLIN (AP) - Four burglary suspects have been arrested in Northern California after posting a photograph online of an expensive fast food feast that they allegedly purchased with a stolen credit card. Rocklin Sgt. Scott Horrillo says three adult suspects and one juvenile were arrested Sunday for breaking into four parked cars in Rocklin on Friday and stealing GPS units, wallets and other items. Horrillo says that after the burglaries, the suspects stopped at a ...

Girl burned playing with glass of gasoline

VICTORVILLE (AP) - A girl is recovering from burns over 20 percent of her body including her face after she and friends lit a glass of gasoline on fire in a playhouse in Southern California. San Bernardino County fire officials tell the Victorville Daily Press (http://bit.ly/1fveUFj) three girls removed the gasoline from an all-terrain vehicle last week at a Wrightwood home. They put the gas in a glass and took it to a playhouse behind ...

DNA to determine if rare fox spotted

TRUCKEE . (AP) - Wildlife biologists are conducting a DNA test to determine if a rare native fox has been spotted at a lake in northern California near the Nevada state line.

Officials seek to find how 2 California condors died

TEHACHAPI (AP) - State wildlife officials are trying to learn how two endangered California condors died after the birds were found last month in water tanks used by firefighters in California's Central Valley.

Four hurt in S. California hot air balloon explosion

TEMECULA (AP) - Officials say a hot air balloon exploded after landing in Southern California wine country leaving four people hospitalized, one of them with severe burns.