Flash mob trashes historic Balboa Park lily pond

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Police are investigating a huge midnight water-gun fight that left the historic lily pond at Balboa Park trashed and partly drained, causing an estimated $10,000 in damage. At least 1,500 people took part in the fight early Sunday that was organized on social media, the newspaper U-T San Diego (bit.ly/NrQAbp) reported. Organizers specifically urged ...

State Senate leader apologizes for TV blackout of hearing on Nov. 6 tax initiative

Endangered status requested for great white sharks

MONTEREY (AP) - Conservation groups are asking the federal government to give protected status to great white sharks on the Pacific Coast. Oceana, Shark Stewards and the Center for Biological Diversity said Monday they're petitioning the National Marine Fisheries Service to list the shark's U.S. West Coast population as an endangered species. The groups say they plan to ...

Brown's office launches climate change website

SACRAMENTO .(AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday launched a website to document the effects of climate change and respond to those who question it, calling them climate change "denialists." Brown's office announced the site while he was at Lake Tahoe with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval for an annual summit focused on the health of the lake, which straddles both states. <p ...

Bay Area briefs

Deadly fiery highway crash where Caltrans working

State news briefs

BILL TO CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLE MOVES FORWARD: SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Assembly has approved a bill that would help middle class Californians cope with soaring college costs by closing a corporate tax loophole and using the expected windfall to reduce tuition.

Chevron refinery deemed hazardous

Michelle Obama teases Gabby Douglas over fast food

UC argues in favor of race-conscious admissions in Supreme Court case

Phone companies lose broadband subscribers for 1st time to cable firms

Cleaner burning UP locomotives down the track?

ROSEVILLE (AP) - Union Pacific said on Monday that it will spend $20 million testing low-emissions locomotives in California. The railroad may eventually test up to 25 locomotives with various low-emissions technology. They include one, to be based in Roseville that will use several emissions-reducing technologies, including recirculating its exhaust gasses. The railroad and the California Air Resources ...

Western states bake under extended heat wave

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Temperatures soared into triple digits across the western United States on Sunday as a continuing heat wave strained energy supplies and sent thousands to beaches, lakes and shopping malls in search of cooler climes.

Military sexual assault is focus of series

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military are the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.

GOP struggling with November in sight

BURBANK (AP) - With November elections approaching, the California Republican Party is in trouble, struggling to pay its bills and hold its ground in a state that has been growing increasingly favorable for Democratic candidates.

Richmond refinery fire probe focuses on corrosion on decades-old pipeline

RICHMOND (AP) - Federal investigators probing the cause of a massive Chevron oil refinery fire are focusing on possible corrosion in a decades-old pipe the company inspected late last year but did not replace.

Bill would prohibit ticket-buying software

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Music and sports fans would have one less obstacle in buying tickets to popular events under a bill advancing through the California Legislature. Legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento would prohibit the use of robotic ticket-buying software. Supporters of AB329 say scalpers use the software to bombard online box offices and then resell tickets at higher prices. Lawmakers previously deleted a provision that would have allowed transfers of paperless event ...

Professor assigns students to make ad for his campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him. Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students' work could run afoul ...

Bay Area briefs

SWALLOWS LAWSUIT MAY DELAY PETALUMA BRIDGE WORK : PETALUMA (AP) - A lawsuit accuses state and federal regulators of causing the death of dozens of migratory cliff swallows by placing nets on a Sonoma County bridge during a highway widening project.

State releases health reform plans, pricing