Livermore lab's computer no longer world's fastest

No major pollution upgrades expected at refinery

RICHMOND (AP) - Chevron does not plan to increase production at its fire-damaged Richmond refinery after repairs are made, allowing it to forego requirements to install the newest clean-air technologies, the company said.

Bay Area briefs

Man discovered in garbage bin dies UNION CITY, Calif. (AP) - Police in Union City are looking into the grisly discovery of a man who died shortly after he was found unconscious in a garbage bin. Investigators say a woman found 21-year-old Joseph Perez of Union City while taking out her trash Sunday morning. Perez was taken to a local hospital where he ...

LA-area freeway back open after power line falls

COMMERCE (AP) - An electrical line fell onto a busy Southern California freeway Monday morning, closing all lanes for more than an hour and jamming traffic for miles while knocking out power to about 1,600 customers, authorities said. A trash truck with a metal rod on top snagged the power line at about 7:15 a.m. and brought it down on Interstate 710 ...

Hostess workers picket in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (AP) - About a dozen workers began picketing at a Hostess Brands plant in Sacramento honoring a bakers' union strike at the bankrupt company's plants across the country.

LA charges into new territory with express lanes along Interstate 110

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's familiar fare for much of the country and the world, but new territory for car-crazy Los Angeles County: Freeway lanes that aren't free.

Veterans resurrect cross ending epic legal battle at SoCal desert site

YUCCA VALLEY (AP) - A war memorial cross that once stood on a rocky hilltop in a national park before being deemed unconstitutional and ordered removed was resurrected on Veterans Day at the stunningly stark Mojave desert site, capping a landmark case for veterans fighting similar battles on public lands.

Young voters turned the tide for Prop 30

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown secured a convincing win for his tax initiative on last week's ballot, thanks partly to voters who might not seem like a natural constituency for the 74-year-old, lifelong politician - young voters.

Cal State targets ‘super seniors’ with hefty fees to get them moving & out of college

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - They're called super seniors, and they can be found on nearly every college campus in America.

Food labels multiply, confuse consumers

FRESNO (AP) - Want to avoid pesticides and antibiotics in your produce, meat, and dairy foods? Prefer to pay more to make sure farm animals were treated humanely, farmworkers got their lunch breaks, bees or birds were protected by the farmer and that ranchers didn't kill predators?

Two die from mushrooms despite warnings

LOOMIS (AP) - The deaths of two residents of a Northern California assisted living facility and the hospitalization of four others come despite warnings from health officials not to eat mushrooms picked in the wild.

State news briefs

• RALEY'S, UNION RETURN TO BARGAINING TABLE: WEST SACRAMENTO (AP) - Officials with supermarket chain Raley's and union representatives are back at the bargaining table.

Union reaches tentative pact with Raley's rival

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The union on strike over contract talks with Northern California supermarket chain Raley's has agreed to new terms with a rival grocer - a move that labor experts say will put pressure on Raley's to make a deal. Pleasanton-based Safeway announced on Thursday that it had reached a tentative contract agreement with the United Food and Commercial ...

Democrat wins tight Sacramento-area Assembly race; Berryhill still leading

LA bank robbery chase ends in televised death

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) - A bank robbery suspect was cornered on a northern Los Angeles County cul-de-sac and shot to death Friday on live television after he apparently fired at sheriff's deputies from his car, authorities said. The man died at the scene at around 10:15 a.m. after televised news reports showed a single bullet trail plowing through the glass from inside ...

2 arrested in alleged Stockton. exorcism kidnapping case

STOCKTON (AP) - A father and son are in custody in California on suspicion of kidnapping the father's ex-wife to perform an exorcism. San Joaquin County Sheriff's officials say 42-year-old Jose Magana-Farias and his son, 20-year-old Victor Farias, thought the woman was possessed because her behavior had changed. Lt. Mike Jones tells KCRA-TV ) they picked her up on Saturday in Stockton and got two priests. The priests aren't expected to face charges, according to ...

News from around california

KIM KARDASHIAN CITED FOR SPEEDING ON LA FREEWAY: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kim Kardashian was cited for speeding Tuesday after a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the reality star apparently being chased by paparazzi on a Los Angeles freeway.

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.