Bay Area briefs

Officials scramble to keep Lucas studio SAN RAFAEL . (AP) - Marin County officials are scrambling to convince filmmaker George Lucas not to abandon plans to build a sprawling movie studio north of San Francisco, but the company says it's too late. Lucasfilm Ltd. shocked the community Tuesday when it announced it was scrapping the Grady Ranch project, citing regulatory delays and bitter ...

State news briefs

METEOROLOGIST: TORNADO NEAR STOCKTON NOT UNUSUAL: STOCKTON (AP) - The National Weather Service says the tornado that struck five miles outside of Stockton on Wednesday was not unusual for this time of year.

Lawmakers pass bill inspired by Penn State

Rail authority passes plan for bullet train

Court: Managers don't have to ensure workers take lunch breaks

More wear found on tubes at ailing San Onofre nuclear power plant

State game official avoids fine from cougar hunt

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California regulators on Thursday issued a warning letter to the president of the state Fish and Game Commission over a mountain lion hunting trip he took earlier this year, but they decided against issuing a fine. The Fair Political Practices Commission took the action against Dan Richards, a Republican commercial real estate developer from San Bernardino County. It said ...

Push launched to keep Silicon Valley above water

Bay Area briefs

1 dead, 1 injured in Fairfield bar fight FAIRFIELD (AP) - Police say one man was killed and another injured in a shooting stemming from a fight at a Fairfield bar. The shooting occurred around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday after two groups of men began fighting inside Perk's Place Bar and Grill. Two men were found with gunshot wounds to ...

State news briefs

HUNDREDS PROTEST POLICE SHOOTINGS IN STOCKTON: STOCKTON (AP) - Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of downtown Stockton in the wake of a police shooting that left a 32-year-old man dead.

Who's the pizza delivery guy? It's Jeff Francoeur

Drug war now classified: Uncle Sam buying ads in Mexican newspapers

California appeals release of 1970s bus kidnapper

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The state is appealing a court order that called for the immediate release of one of three men convicted of kidnapping and burying a busload of schoolchildren in a 1970s ransom attempt. The San Francisco-based 1st District Court of Appeal had ruled in February that the Board of Parole Hearings unfairly set Richard Schoenfeld's release date for 2021, ...

Report blasts pepper-spraying of students

Prison panel denies Manson's bid for parole

Vulnerable inmates ordered out of 2 Central Valley prisons

Nesting swallows could delay Petaluma bridge work

State news briefs

SANTA CLARA THREATENS AMBULANCE TERMINATION: SAN JOSE. (AP) - Santa Clara County officials are threatening to terminate the contract of an ambulance company that they say has repeatedly responded too slowly to emergencies.

Killer on the loose: Valley Springs on lockdown

Lawmakers consider moratorium on oil fracking in San Joaquin Valley

3 divers killed over weekend abalone diving off California

SF Bay Bridge has bolts similar to banned bolts

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has more than 1,200 bolts made from galvanized steel that is virtually identical to a high-strength alloy that a nationwide group of transportation officials banned for use on bridges because the bolts can crack, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Fatal stabbing of girl, 8, prompts manhunt

VALLEY SPRINGS (AP) - Residents of a rural Northern California county were being told Sunday to keep their doors locked and report anyone considered suspicious as authorities continued the search for the killer of an 8-year-old girl.

Some are overlooked in overhaul

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Carlos Gonzalez has lived nearly all his 29 years in a country he considers home but now finds himself on the wrong side of the border - and the wrong side of a proposed overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that would grant legal status to millions of people.

California weighs first state ban on lead ammo

SACRAMENTO (AP) - In November, one of the oldest condors in Central California died from lead poisoning after being found with tiny bullet fragments and a .22-caliber slug in his gullet that he apparently swallowed with a mouthful of meat.

Rolling Stones rock small LA club

LOS ANGELES (AP) - For one night only, the Rolling Stones were an up-and-coming band again.

OC officials keep inmate alive they want to ultimately execute

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A man charged with raping and killing a woman 30 years ago is being kept alive in Orange County with dialysis treatments until officials can win permission to execute him.

Bills aim to protect privacy in drone age

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California lawmakers are attempting to stay ahead of science fiction-style technology as increasingly nimble unmanned aircraft are considered for use in tracking fleeing suspects and monitoring crowded public spaces.

Arrest in shooting at Vallejo Little League game

Daycare owners arraigned in swaddling case