Legal claims rolling in after refinery fire

State news briefs

SAN DIEGO DESALINATION PLANT DEAL PROPOSED:SAN DIEGO (AP) - A plan to provide the San Diego area with drinking water made from seawater has cleared a major hurdle. The San Diego County Water Authority announced Thursday that it's reached an agreement with a private company to buy enough water from a proposed desalination plant to supply 112,000 homes. The 30-year deal will ...

Muslims want fed probe of pig-leg vandalism

ONTARIO (AP) - Pig's legs were thrown on the proposed site of a Southern California mosque, and a Muslim civil rights group is asking federal officials to investigate. Worshippers said two women threw the three legs onto the driveway of the proposed Al-Nur Islamic Center in Ontario shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday and sped away in a white pickup, said Munira Syeda, ...

Man arrested for beating opossum can sue police due to it not being illegal

ANAHEIM (AP) - A Southern California man arrested with his young son for beating an opossum with a shovel can sue police officers for wrongful arrest because it's not illegal to kill an opossum, a federal appeals court ruled. In 2008, Lorenzo Oliver called Anaheim police about an opossum attacking his bulldogs in his backyard. Officers Ryan Tisdale ...

Bay Area briefs

GRAND JURY SAYS RIDERS DUMPED BEFORE DESTINATION: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco grand jury says Bay Area train and bus riders are too often dumped before reaching their destinations.

Anti-Semitism report sparks free speech fight

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - University of California students and faculty are criticizing a report to fight anti-Semitism that recommends the schools consider bans on hate speech and campus sponsorship of protests against Israel. More than 2,200 students, faculty and alumni signed a petition asking UC President Mark Yudof to disregard the report, commissioned in response to turmoil over campus discrimination. <p style="line-height: ...

State news briefs

MAN ARRESTED FOR MESSAGE ON CHICK-FIL-A : TORRANCE (AP) - A 30-year-old man has been arrested for investigation of vandalism after police say he scrawled "tastes like hate" on the side of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in a Los Angeles suburb.

Brown dismisses Romney's comment comparing state’s economy with Europe

Researchers find surprises in Lake Tahoe data

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - (AP) - An annual report released Thursday detailing the status of Lake Tahoe's health and clarity has researchers rethinking some long-held assumptions and focusing on trends that may be linked to climate change.

Sonora fire sweeps Sierra destroys 2 homes

SONORA (AP) - More than 200 firefighters are battling a grass and woodland fire in the central Sierra foothills that has already destroyed two homes. State fire officials say the small but fast-moving fire has also burned an outbuilding, a pickup, three recreational vehicles and two cars since it began in a subdivision about five miles east of the Tuolumne County city ...

NASA rover sends back colorful picture of Mars

Gas prices rise to near average $4 a gallon

Cleaner cars helping reduce LA pollution

Bay Area briefs

MODESTO HOMEOWNER SHOOTS AND KILLS MARIJUANA BURGLAR: MODESTO (AP) - Investigators say a homeowner has shot and killed a burglar who broke into his Modesto indoor marijuana garden.

Chevron refinery fire highlights pollution concerns; one of state’s 10 worst emitters

Bay Area briefs

NO BACKPACKS ALLOWED AT 2013 BAY TO BREAKERS IN SF: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - No backpacks, large bags or containers will be allowed at this year's Bay to Breakers footrace in San Francisco as officials heighten security in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Vulnerable inmates ordered out of 2 Central Valley prisons

Nesting swallows could delay Petaluma bridge work

State news briefs

SANTA CLARA THREATENS AMBULANCE TERMINATION: SAN JOSE. (AP) - Santa Clara County officials are threatening to terminate the contract of an ambulance company that they say has repeatedly responded too slowly to emergencies.

Killer on the loose: Valley Springs on lockdown

Lawmakers consider moratorium on oil fracking in San Joaquin Valley

3 divers killed over weekend abalone diving off California