Bay Area briefs

Oakland ends 82-year-old ban on dance marathons

21 burned in walk over hot coals at Robbins’ motivational event

SAN JOSE (AP) - Fire officials said 21 people at an event hosted by motivational speaker Tony Robbins suffered burns while walking across hot coals and three of the injured were treated at hospitals.

Vallejo: Mixed picture after bankruptcy

VALLEJO (AP) - Cobblestones show through the decrepit pavement in Sheila Dodson's downtown neighborhood, prostitutes ply the sidewalks in broad daylight and many of the century-old Victorians stand empty. Yet this is where Dodson wants to raise her family.

Surgeons banned from human research after failing to secure UC Davis permission

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two University of California, Davis neurosurgeons have been banned from performing medical research on humans after they were accused of experimenting on dying brain cancer patients without university permission, the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday.

Santa Monica trailer park community threatened by upscale growth plan

SANTA MONICA (AP) - Sandwiched between a brake shop, gritty industrial buildings and a few modest storefronts is a little neighborhood that time has seemingly forgotten.

Marines create law enforcement battalions

CAMP PENDLETON (AP) - The Marine Corps has created its first law enforcement battalions - a lean, specialized force of military police officers that it hopes can quickly deploy worldwide to help investigate crimes from terrorism to drug trafficking and train fledgling security forces in allied nations.

State news briefs

• HAYASHI TO RUN FOR VACANT ALAMEDA COUNTY SEAT: SAN JOSE (AP) - California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi says she's planning to run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Nadia Lockyer.

It could one day cost Bay Area vehicle owners a dime a mile in taxes to drive

OAKLAND (AP) - San Francisco Bay area officials will study a proposal to charge motorists a tax on every mile they drive in the nine-county region as a way to raise money for roads and public transit while reducing traffic and pollution from car emissions. Members of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments approved going forward with ...

California parks director resigns amid scandal; department sat on $54 million

Lawmakers hand out pay raises amid cuts

LA drivers told to prepare for 'Carmageddon II'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Remember "Carmageddon"? Get ready for the sequel. Southern California drivers were urged Thursday to stay off the roads when a 10-mile section of busy Interstate 405 is closed this fall. Crews will finish tearing down a bridge in the Sepulveda Pass, which links West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley and carries nearly ...

State news briefs

3 CHARGED IN OAKLAND SHOOTING THAT KILLED INFANT: OAKLAND (AP) - Three members of an infamous Oakland street gang are facing charges for their alleged roles in a shooting during the filming of rap video that left a toddler dead, authorities said Friday.

Homeless loners run risks as LA stabber lurks

Bay Area briefs

Man accidentally shoots self to death at gun range

Travel tax using tracking devices on private vehicles could raise $15M a day

OAKLAND (AP) - San Francisco Bay area officials are mulling the idea of charging motorists a tax on every mile they drive in the nine-county region as a way to raise money for roads and public transit while reducing traffic and pollution from car emissions. <p style="line-height: 18pt; background: ...

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.