Feds launch formal electricity trading probe

FOLSOM (AP) - Federal regulators have intensified an investigation into JPMorgan Chase & Co. electricity trading in California. The California Independent System Operator, a Folsom-based agency that runs the state's power grid and oversees last-minute electricity sales, said earlier this year that the big electricity trader might have figured out a way to exploit vulnerabilities in the state's $8 billion-a-year electricity market. ...

Bay Area briefs

Police wound suspect; shooting spurs SF protest

State news briefs

METAL THIEVES TARGETING MODESTO FIRE HYDRANTS: MODESTO (AP) - Metal thieves are targeting Modesto fire hydrants, putting residents at risk and costing the city thousands of dollars.

11-year-old shot while sleeping in Oakland home

OAKLAND (AP) - An 11-year-old Oakland boy struck by a bullet as he lay sleeping in his bed early Thursday was in serious condition following multiple surgeries. Luis Duenas Hernandez was on the lower mattress of a bunk bed when at least one person fired more than a dozen shots inside his East Oakland home shortly before 1 a.m., family members said. ...

Empty chairs again for Eastwood at film premiere

Police: Abused Ga. teen exiled to Calif. with $200

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A scrawny Georgia teen who was discovered at a bus station told police his abusive stepfather gave him $200 and a list of homeless shelters before he was put on a bus to Los Angeles on his 18th birthday, authorities said Thursday. Retired Los Angeles police Sgt. Joe Gonzalez was working security at a downtown bus station Sept. ...

Field Poll: Voter support for Brown tax hike dips since mid-summer questioning

What's it like to fly a plane with shuttle on top?

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's the ultimate piggyback ride: A space shuttle perched atop a Boeing 747 as the pair crisscrosses the country.

Brake glitch kept Knott's riders stuck in the sky

BUENA PARK (AP) - California officials say a Knott's Berry Farm ride that stranded 20 people 300 feet in the air for nearly four hours automatically stopped when one of its brakes froze. Erika Monterroza, from the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, told the Los Angeles Times that when the brake on Windseeker froze Wednesday, it triggered the ride's safety ...

Yosemite workers may be surveyed for mouse virus

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - California public health officials want to survey workers at Yosemite National Park to determine whether they were exposed to a deadly mouse-borne virus, a park spokesman said Thursday. The California Department of Public Health recently proposed to take a voluntary survey of workers to contribute to the park's understanding of the rare virus and the recent disease ...

Business groups protest Calif. carbon market

Calif. allows complete voter registration online

Law bans predatory ADA lawsuits against businesses

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A new law will protect California businesses, especially small-business owners, from frivolous lawsuits filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Wednesday he signed SB1186 by Democratic Senate leader Darrell Steinberg and Republican Sen. Bob Dutton. The bill takes aim at predatory lawsuits related to the federal law. It bans so-called "demand ...

11 wounded in prison riot

FOLSOM (AP) - A riot Wednesday at a California prison holding many of the state's most hardened criminals left 11 inmates hospitalized, including one who was shot by correctional officers. The disturbance inside a yard at the California State Prison, Sacramento in Folsom involved an unknown number of inmates after it broke out shortly after 11 a.m., said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman ...

More top universities offer free cyber courses

Bill would prohibit ticket-buying software

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Music and sports fans would have one less obstacle in buying tickets to popular events under a bill advancing through the California Legislature. Legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento would prohibit the use of robotic ticket-buying software. Supporters of AB329 say scalpers use the software to bombard online box offices and then resell tickets at higher prices. Lawmakers previously deleted a provision that would have allowed transfers of paperless event ...

Professor assigns students to make ad for his campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him. Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students' work could run afoul ...

Bay Area briefs

SWALLOWS LAWSUIT MAY DELAY PETALUMA BRIDGE WORK : PETALUMA (AP) - A lawsuit accuses state and federal regulators of causing the death of dozens of migratory cliff swallows by placing nets on a Sonoma County bridge during a highway widening project.

State releases health reform plans, pricing

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

Injured volunteer seeks payment from lost hiker

6 plead not guilty in school embezzlement

Driver impaled by metal rod on I-580 near Livermore.

Snacking deputy's crash costs Santa Clara County $5M

Brown defends California's business climate

State news briefs

POSTAL WORKER SENTENCED IN MAIL THEFT: SAN CARLOS, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area postal worker accused of stealing thousands of pieces of mail to obtain credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.