SF slaying suspect in five killings had had been ordered deported to Vietnam

Chief: No conclusions in beating death of Iraqi-American woman

State news briefs

TINY PUPPY BORN IN CA COULD BE WORLD'S SMALLEST: SACRAMENTO (AP) - A puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars could set the world's record for tiniest dog.

Weinstein Co. to release 'Bully' without rating

Lawmaker pleads no contest to airport gun charges

Bay Area briefs

Federal crackdown hurts Oakland pot-growing school

State News Briefs

'HUNGER GAMES' BATTLES TO $155M OPENING WEEKEND: LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Hunger Games" has filled fan appetites with a $155 million opening weekend that puts it near the top of the domestic record book.

Hmong community launches online translator

FRESNO (AP) - When Phong Yang, a Hmong refugee from Laos, landed in California's Central Valley - via stops in Thailand and France - he was 14 years old. He learned to speak Hmong from his parents, but today he has a hard time teaching the language to his children, who are distracted by cell phones and computers.

USC/Times poll finds California GOP support for Romney grows

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mitt Romney is running away with Republican support in California, as the leader of the national presidential field enjoys a double digit lead over his competitors in the GOP, a new survey finds.

How many pot patients California has is anyone's guess based on state system

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California has seven times as many residents as Colorado, but nearly nine times fewer medical marijuana users, at least on paper.

Vegas rail from Victorville to Sin City: A gamble or good thing?

VICTORVILLE (AP) - On a dusty, rock-strewn expanse at the edge of the Mojave Desert, a company linked to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to build a bullet train that would rocket tourists from the middle of nowhere to the gambling palaces of Las Vegas.

LA marijuana dispensary workers join labor union connected with food workers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marijuana dispensary workers in Los Angeles have joined a labor union to fight for their jobs in an industry that the federal government considers illegal. Workers at 14 pot shops have formed the "medical cannabis and hemp division" of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 770. The 35,000-member union also represents grocery clerks, pharmacists and health care ...

State jobless rate unchanged at 10.9 percent

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's unemployment rate remained unchanged in February at 10.9 percent as steady job growth continued, but the state still has a long way to go to fully recover from the recession. Its jobless rate remains well above the national average of 8.3 percent. The state Employment Development Department reported Friday that the seasonally adjusted jobless ...

State news briefs

CLERK'S WALLET STOPS BULLET DURING ROBBER STRUGGLE: MODESTO (AP) - A Modesto convenience store clerk's wallet has stopped a bullet during a struggle with an armed robber.

Munger says Brown tax claims untrue; vows TV blitz to get the truth out to voters

Google's Bay Area barge to hoist sails

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google plans to include a dozen or so massive sails on its four-story barge under construction in the heart of the San Francisco Bay, creating a floating artistic structure the Internet giant promises will "stand out," a newspaper reported Friday. After weeks of speculation that barge would be "a party boat," a data storage center and a store to sell its Internet-connected glasses, Google on Wednesday revealed that it plans to ...

State workers get $516M in bonus pay

4 charged in 'virtual kidnappings'

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Four people have been charged in a scheme that used telemarketing tactics to shake down immigrants for ransom money under the guise that loved ones had been kidnapped, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.

4 charged in severing pot clinic owner's penis during his torture

NEWPORT BEACH (AP) - Four people were charged with kidnapping a California marijuana dispensary owner, torturing him with a blowtorch and cutting off his penis during a robbery because they thought he was burying piles of cash in the desert, authorities said Friday. Ryan Anthony Kevorkian, 34, and Naomi Josette Kevorkian, 33, were arrested Friday in Fresno, a day after the FBI arrested 34-year-old Hossein Nayeri in Prague in the Czech Republic, Orange County authorities ...

BONUSES KEEP INCREASING

News from around california

$25M AWARDED FOR HIT-AND-RUN CRASH THAT HURT GIRL: RIVERSIDE (AP) - A Southern California jury has awarded $25 million to the family of a 4-year-old girl who was run over twice by a hit-and-run driver.

UC Berkeley inaugurates its 10th chancellor

BERKELEY (AP) - The University of California, Berkeley, has formally inaugurated its 10th chancellor in a ceremony marked by pageantry and brief moments of protest. Nicholas Dirks, a history and anthropology scholar, became chancellor of California's flagship public university on June 1 and was inaugurated Friday afternoon. The chancellor serves as executive head of all activities on the campus. In a speech Friday, he promised to expand and revise the university's approach to its primary ...

Judge weighs penalty for high speed rail

School dons skirts in honor of burn victim

BERKELEY (AP) - Students and staff members at a small private high school in California wore skirts to class on Friday to show solidarity with an 18-year-old senior who suffered serious burns when his clothes were set on fire on a public bus.

High-speed rail officials bless 2nd segment

HA NFORD (AP) - The board that oversees California's high-speed rail project endorsed a 114-mile route for the second segment of the bullet train from Fresno to Bakersfield during its meeting Thursday.

FEMA denies aid to Tuolumne County hit by Rim Fire

SONORA (AP) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied continued aid to a Northern California county struck hard by the Rim Fire that raged in August and September. Tuolomne County, which is home to the northern part of Yosemite National Park, will potentially have to rebuild roads and other damaged infrastructure with only state and local resources. Kelly Huston, a spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown's office, says FEMA has declined to extend a major ...

News from across California

SF BAY BRIDGE BOLTS TO TAKE A MONTH LONGER TO FIX: OAKLAND (AP) - State transportation officials say it will take a month longer to complete the permanent fix for the giant steel bolts that snapped on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Feds investigate school harassment in Richmond

RICHMOND (AP) - A federal investigation of a Northern California school district revealed a widespread environment of sexual harassment and assaults by students that district officials failed to adequately address, the U.S. Department of Education said. The determination came as the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced its agreement Wednesday with the West Contra Costa Unified School District to ensure compliance with Title IX, a 1972 law guaranteeing equal gender treatment, and reduce ...

High school asked to abandon Arab mascot

Suspect in bus passenger fire charged as adult

OAKLAND (AP) - A 16-year-old Northern California boy is being charged as an adult with hate crimes after authorities say he set another teenage boy wearing a skirt on fire on a public bus because of homophobia, authorities said Thursday.