More high school students pass exit exam for sixth straight year

Judge ends lawsuit over. inmate dental care

Assembly votes to ban hunting for bear or bobcats using hounds

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A hotly contested bill that would ban the use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats in California moved a step closer to becoming law. The state Assembly approved SB12212 on a party-line vote after a lengthy debate, sending it back to the Senate for concurrence. Proponents of the ban say dogs chase the animals ...

Costs of big wildfire season hits struggling state governments hard

Bill would help injured student athletes at high profile California universities

Calif. health officials warn of lead in licorice

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California health officials are warning consumers not to eat black licorice twist candies made by Red Vines because they contain too much lead. California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman says tests found that packages with a best before Feb. 4, 2013 date have lead levels that exceed state standards. Chapman says ...

Spending missteps make Brown tax plan a hard sell

Brown jokes about 'Moonbeam' label in JPL visit

Bill seeks to reduce police, student confrontation

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - California State University campuses would be required to designate liaisons between student protesters and campus law enforcement under a bill approved by the Assembly. Lawmakers say it is a response to recent confrontations, most notably the pepper-spraying of student demonstrators at the University of California, Davis in November. The bill does not apply to ...

Metal thieves find markets at illegal scrap yards

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Metal thieves who have stripped wires from streetlights and statues from parks have found markets at illegal scrap yards in Southern California, authorities said. With copper prices soaring, California authorities reported an epidemic of metal thefts. Crooks have torn up train tracks, stolen air conditioners from schools, and earlier this summer made off with a 200-pound brass bell ...

Bill would lower cost of chemo pills

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Patients undergoing chemotherapy would pay less for pill-based treatments under legislation sent to the governor Wednesday over the objections of some health plans and insurers. The state Assembly passed AB1000 on 51-12 vote. It would prohibit health plans and insurance policies from charging more for covering oral chemotherapy than for the intravenous treatment. <p style="line-height: ...

Senate OKs bill targeting unvaccinated students

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The California Senate has approved a bill that would require parents to visit the doctor's office before enrolling their children in school without vaccines. The bill by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento passed the Senate Wednesday on a 21-14 vote. It now goes back to the Assembly for a final vote. AB2109 would require ...

State Side

BILL MANDATES QUICK REPORTING OF LOST, STOLEN GUNS: SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gun owners would have to report stolen or missing firearms to authorities within 48 hours of discovering them gone under a bill approved by the state Assembly.

Bay Area briefs

Sewage worker's unused sick time worth $145K MARTINEZ (AP) - It seems working with California sewage isn't sickening. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District sewage engineer Alan Grieb cashed in 2,138 hours of unused sick time when he retired last year, adding about $145,000 to his final paycheck. The Contra Costa Times says the district also counted most of that ...

Hollywood tax break prompts economy debate

State taxes coming in $4B above forecast

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California is on track to collect $4 billion more in personal income taxes than Gov. Jerry Brown had expected, giving a potential boost to education funding, the legislative analyst's office said Tuesday.

Los Angeles settles with women fired on in manhunt

Davis man spends week in wilderness on pine nuts

Burger King delivers it your way in San Francisco & LA

Bay Area briefs

WOMAN UNINJURED AFTER BART TRAIN PASSES OVER HER: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A woman escaped uninjured after a commuter train passed over her but did not hit her on tracks at a San Francisco station, transit officials said.

NY's Weiner back on Twitter 2 years after his disgrace

State news briefs

SF police chief wants more cameras

LA would have key role in tunnel construction

SF: Were patients dumped by Nevada?

Bay Area briefs

WOMAN CONVICTED IN HUEY LEWIS CAR THEFT: MILL VALLEY (AP) - A woman will be sentenced in May in Northern California for the theft of a rental car and laptop from singer Huey Lewis.

Bill bans teen drivers from hands-free texting

State Senate OKs spending $24M for gun seizures

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