15-year-old Morgan Hill teen-age girl’s disappearance frustrates, unites community

Cop goes undercover to bust students in small SJ Valley town of Exeter

Bay Area briefs

Tree falls on home, traps trio for short time FAIRFAX (AP) - Northern California residents are cleaning up after a big storm that sent a massive oak tree toppling onto a Marin County home. The massive oak tree briefly trapped three people in the house in Fairfax on Tuesday evening, but they were able to get out uninjured. Neighbors ...

Civil rights passion motivates California tax proponent that Brown is opposing

LAPD defends handling of profiling claims

California nuke plant to remain shut for probe

Lorax statue taken from home of Dr. Seuss's widow

SAN DIEGO (AP) - They took the Lorax, made of bronze, the thieves they came, and now he's gone. A 2-foot statue of Dr. Seuss' Lorax character was stolen from the San Diego backyard garden of the 90-year-old widow of the beloved author whose real name was Theodore Geisel. Audrey Geisel noticed the statue and its tree-stump base ...

Assemblywoman Olsen pushing for law to punish public school student-teacher dating

Most California state parks likely to stay open thanks to federal & local agencies

State news briefs

SAN FRANCISCO SHERIFF CHALLENGES SUSPENSION: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi on Tuesday formally challenged his suspension as he faces a misconduct charge stemming from a domestic violence case.

Bay Area briefs

Court leaders pull plug on $2B computer system

South state storm leaves outages; motorist rescued

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Californians cleaned up Monday from a storm that hit many areas in frenzied bursts, flooding streets and freeways, zapping power and toppling trees and utility poles. Crews rescued an injured driver whose pickup truck plunged 300 feet off a snow-covered Southern California mountain highway. After the truck was spotted on a snow-covered slope below ...

Mitt Romney trumpets rush of conservative endorsements during swing through California

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

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

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.