South state high school senior dress-up day deemed offensive to Hispanics

ANAHEIM (AP) - A Southern California high school canceled an annual dress-up day for seniors, saying that students who dressed as gang members, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a pregnant woman pushing a stroller demeaned Latinos. The June "Seniores and Senoritas" day at Canyon High School in Anaheim prompted complaints by two former students and an investigation by the Orange Unified ...

NOAA wants to expand sanctuary outside Golden Gate

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal officials are proposing a plan to expand the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to include the busy waters just west of the Golden Gate Bridge. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's plan would enlarge what is already the biggest ocean refuge in the continental United States. Federal officials plan to discuss the idea at a meeting in ...

Denham, other SJ Valley congress members ask USDA to reopen plant

Fire near Redding destroys 84 buildings

Jury awards man $425K for false arrest

FRESNO (AP) - A federal jury has awarded a California man $425,000 who claimed he was wrongfully jailed by Fresno County authorities for violating his probation. The Fresno Bee reports jurors reached its verdict following a four-day trial in U.S. District Court and awarded James Quinn of Clovis, who said his civil rights were violated after his arrest in 2007 for allegedly ...

State will audit Calif. mental health spending

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - The state auditor will review some of California's mental health spending to determine whether money from a 2004 ballot initiative is being spent the way voters intended. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee unanimously approved the eight-month study Thursday. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who co-authored Proposition 63, requested the audit. ...

Lawmakers exchange barbs over abortion bill over study of nurse practitioners’ role

No charges for San Diego man, 88, suspected of aiding suicide of sick wife

SAN DIEGO (AP) - An 88-year-old man who was arrested shortly after the death of his wife on suspicion of aiding in her suicide won't be charged with any crime, San Diego County prosecutors decided Wednesday.

State news briefs

DEVELOPER PROPOSES MASSIVE THEME PARK IN TRACY: TRACY (AP) - A developer is proposing to build a $1.2 billion entertainment hub in Tracy that would be four times bigger than Disneyland. City officials gave James Rogers and Spirit of California LLC the exclusive right to negotiate for 628 acres north of Tracy. <p style="line-height: 18pt; ...

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 ...

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.