State news briefs

MAN CUTS OFF HIS HAND WITH KITCHEN KNIFE: ADELANTO (AP) - Investigators say a Southern California man deliberately cut off his hand with a kitchen knife, but it's not clear why.

Man faces up to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty for celeb hacking

Bay Area briefs

Mavericks big-wave surfing contest unlikely HALF MOON BAY . (AP) - A Mavericks big-wave surfing contest in California isn't likely this year. The window for the competition closes on March 31 and organizers say it doesn't appear the right combination of wind and ocean swell will materialize. Mavericks International contest director Jeff Clark saod that the window won't be ...

State news briefs

SF SHERIFF CHARGED WITH OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Over the past nine weeks, San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi hasn't spoken to his wife and has seen his 3-year-old son only sporadically.

Salinas counselor arrested on sex, porn charges

SALINAS (AP) - Police have arrested a high school counselor whose computer allegedly contained videos of students engaged in sexual activity in his office, authorities said. Gilbert Olivares, a drug and alcohol counselor at Salinas High School, was first arrested last week on suspicion of inappropriately touching a student, the Monterey County Herald reported Wednesday. The 34-year-old man turned himself in Monday ...

California mosque sues city over denial of application to rebuild and expand

Wal-Mart to pay $2.1 million in fines for overcharging California consumers

. SAN DIEGO (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million penalty for charging California costumers at prices higher than those posted, in violation of a 2008 judgment ordering the retail chain to stop, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Wednesday. The agreement came after an investigation that began in November 2010 found ...

LA council urges curbs on derogatory radio speech

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The City Council called on TV and radio broadcasters Wednesday to keep their hosts from spouting crude slurs, citing Rush Limbaugh's reference to a woman as a "slut" and a KFI show calling Whitney Houston a "crack ho." The council voted 13-2 for a resolution urging Los Angeles stations to do everything in their power to ensure that ...

Wife: 'Kony 2012' director suffers from psychosis

Oakland to pay legal fees in public search by cops

OAKLAND (AP) - Oakland officers' decision to pull two men's pants down on a public street after they were stopped by police has cost the city about a million dollars. The City Council voted 7-1 in closed session on Tuesday to pay the men's lawyers, civil rights attorneys John Burris and Michael Haddad, $832,000 in legal fees, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. ...

Bay Area briefs

PG&E wants to offset fine for pipeline blast

‘California inmates petition UN to monitor prisons

Three online date sites agree to screen for predators

Drake’s Bay could be named as explorer's landing place

PT. REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE (AP) - The U.S. government is poised to settle the long-running historical dispute over where British explorer Sir Francis Drake stopped on the West Coast to repair and restock his ship during his 16th century journey around the world. The National Park Service approved designating Drakes Bay north of San Francisco as a historic landmark based on the ...

Brown calls his tax 'superior,' tackles budget gap

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