Ripon crime lab analyst pleads in drug theft case

RIPON (AP) - A former state crime lab forensic analyst accused of stealing drugs being held as evidence is facing 16 months behind bars after pleading guilty to an embezzlement charge. Hermon Brown, 43, entered the plea on Tuesday, as his jury trial was under way. Prosecutors say he stole half a pound of crystal methamphetamine and cocaine ...

Brown: Review UC graduation rates

Major budget infusion for education

Body of missing 9-year-old found

CLEARLAKE (AP) - Authorities found the body on Wednesday of an autistic Northern California 9-year-old who went missing from her family's vacation home, ending an exhaustive, emotional search for the girl. A dive team found Mikaela Lynch in a muddy creek near the home in Clearlake, Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen said. He said there was no indication of foul play, but ...

State news briefs

HIKERS WON'T HAVE TO PAY $160K RESCUE COSTS: SANTA ANA (AP) - Two hikers lost for days in the Southern California wilderness won't be charged the $160,000 it took to find them.

SF loses federal grant for new fireboat

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco Fire Department has lost a $7.8 million federal grant for what would have been its first new fireboat in 50 years because it didn't spend the money in time, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. "It's just a huge disappointment," Fire Commission member Steve Nakajo told the San Francisco Chronicle. "And believe me, we want to ...

LA buildings emptied after devices found

Is boy mature enough to aid murder defense?

6 charged with embezzling $15M from SF schools

‘Fighting chance' for 2013 opening

State news briefs

POLICE: MAN DRESSED AS WOMAN IN RESTROOM ARRESTED: PALMDALE (AP) - A Palmdale man has been arrested for allegedly videotaping women in a Macy's restroom while dressed as a woman.

GOV. JERRY BROWN'S BUDGET PROPOSAL AT A GLANCE

911 caller believed stabbed girl, 8, was alive at the time

VALLEY SPRINGS . (AP) - The parents of an 8-year-old Central California girl who was stabbed to death in her home believed she was fine when they made a 911 call to authorities from another location.

Brown budget: An extra $2.9B to education

Brown takes restrained view of spending

Firm: Bay Bridge bolts made to exact specs

OAKLAND (AP) - An executive with an Ohio manufacturer has said steel bolts used on a troubled new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge were made exactly to specifications. Experts have spent the past two months trying to determine why 32 of 96 bolts broke after they were tightened in March. A report released on May 7 by Caltrans suggests the bridge design team ordered a type of steel that under some conditions could ...

Sherman Oaks teen takes supermodel to prom

SANTA MONICA (AP) - A Southern California teen turned heads at his prom when he showed up with a Sports Illustrated model as his date. Nina Agdal agreed to step in as Jake Davidson's date Thursday night after he got turned down for prom by supermodel Kate Upton. The Sherman Oaks teen appeared in a YouTube video that was viewed more than 2.5 million times asking Upton to be his date. After Upton declined because ...

SoCal school's ex-PTA head charged with theft

JURUPA VALLEY (AP) - The former president of a local Southern California PTA has been charged with grand theft for allegedly stealing $20,000 raised from children's candy bar sales. Patricia Gledhill pleaded not guilty earlier this month to two felony counts. Gledhill was PTA president last year for Stone Avenue Elementary School in Jurupa (huh-ROO'-puh) Valley. According to court records, Gledhill told authorities she took fundraising money to pay for food, rent, and the cost ...

State news briefs

SHUTTLE IS MAJOR DRAW AT CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER: LOS ANGELES (AP) - There was always been a special connection between space shuttle Endeavour and California, where it was built.

Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake

Court denies 2nd hearing on Medi-Cal rate cut

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday denied a second request by California doctors, pharmacists and hospitals seeking to undo the state's 10 percent provider rate cut for treating the poor.

PG&E calls $2.25B fine for deadly blast excessive

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The utility responsible for a deadly pipeline explosion in Northern California said Friday that the record $2.25 billion in fines being sought by state regulators is illegally excessive, but did not offer a specific dollar figure it considers reasonable. In a 103-page filing submitted just before the close of business, Pacific Gas & Electric said that it agrees with the California Public Utilities Commission's finding that a financial penalty is appropriate ...

Plastic ocean debris bill dies in committee

Bill would treat e-cigarettes like other tobacco

State Senate election might be headed to runoff in 16th district

LA sanitation ends plans for dump near Joshua Tree