Los Angeles City Council votes to ban marijuana shops after allowing them

Alameda County passes law making pharmaceutical industry pay to toss pills

Bay Area briefs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco's mayor says the Colorado theater shootings have made him more committed to implementing a police stop and frisk policy aimed at getting weapons off the streets. Mayor Ed Lee's consideration of stop and frisk, where officers stop and search suspicious people for weapons, has triggered an outcry from those who liken it to racial profiling. <p ...

State news briefs

&bull; Man accused of threats at SoCal Batman screening: NORWALK (AP) - A man is accused of making criminal threats at a screening of the new Batman movie at a Southern California theater.

Homeowners see jump in property taxes

SAN JOSE (AP) - Tens of thousands of California homeowners are seeing the downside of the recovering real estate market: unexpected jumps in their property tax bills. Many homeowners believe their property taxes are limited to increases of no more than 2 percent annually because of Proposition 13, the landmark voter initiative approved in 1978. <p ...

Judge: SoCal district improperly rejected petition aimed at imposing school reforms

Alameda County may require pharmaceutical firms to pay for prescription drug disposal

Student assistants to be let go amid California budget cuts

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - Hundreds of California student assistants will lose their jobs as the school year begins as part of a cost-cutting deal between the state and its largest public employees union. With California facing a deep budget deficit, 1,600 state student assistant positions will be eliminated in September, The Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/SQ9F7F) reported Monday. The move ...

Mariah Carey joins 'American Idol' as new judge, props up show with star power

State news briefs

HEAD MOUSKETEER GINNY TYLER DIES AT 86: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former Disney head Mousketeer and voice actress Ginny Tyler has died in Washington at 86.

State park groups fret over secret fund debacle as they try to keep 70 parks open

Fingerprint expert shortage causes LA backlog

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Detectives investigating burglaries, auto thefts and other property-related crimes in Los Angeles have been forced to wait an average two to three months to get fingerprints analyzed because of an employee shortage at the Police Department's Latent Print Unit. The backlog of 2,200 cases means fingerprint analysis in some active criminal investigations is being delayed more than a ...

Bay Area briefs

Oakland ends 82-year-old ban on dance marathons

21 burned in walk over hot coals at Robbins’ motivational event

SAN JOSE (AP) - Fire officials said 21 people at an event hosted by motivational speaker Tony Robbins suffered burns while walking across hot coals and three of the injured were treated at hospitals.

Vallejo: Mixed picture after bankruptcy

VALLEJO (AP) - Cobblestones show through the decrepit pavement in Sheila Dodson's downtown neighborhood, prostitutes ply the sidewalks in broad daylight and many of the century-old Victorians stand empty. Yet this is where Dodson wants to raise her family.

SF firefighter makes $221,000 in OT

State news briefs

GOODWILL AGREES TO SETTLE SOCAL SEX BIAS CASE: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Goodwill Industries of Southern California has agreed to settle federal allegations that it discriminated against men in hiring.

L.A. tops cities with worst traffic

209 News

PIT BULLS KILL NEARLY 200 GOATS: FRENCH CAMP - Concerned residents and workers at a French Camp livestock auction yard are worried that a pack of pit bulls will return to attack their animals.

Bolts on Bay Bridge that haven't failed may go

OAKLAND (AP) - Long seismic safety bolts on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that haven't failed may have to be replaced nonetheless, a regional transportation official said Wednesday.

State news briefs

GROCER TRIES TO PROFIT OFF BOTCHED BURGLARY: REDDING (AP) - A Northern California grocery store owner is trying to profit from a suspected thief's botched burglary attempt that was caught on video and went viral.

2 a.m. still last call for alcohol in California

Educators sued over English instruction