Gavin Newsom gets Current TV gig

Menlo Park approves deal with Facebook

MENLO PARK (AP) - A Silicon Valley city where Facebook recently opened its new headquarters approved a deal that will allow the company to bring in thousands more employees. The Menlo Park City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to let the social networking giant make annual payments totaling nearly $10 million ...

Santa Monica College 2-tier course pricing illegal

SANTA MONICA . (AP) - The state attorney general's office determined that a now-aborted, two-tier course pricing plan at Santa Monica College was illegal, a community college official said Wednesday. The fee proposal called for offering some high-demand, three-unit classes for $540, even though the standard per-unit cost for classes will be $46 this summer. California Community Colleges ...

Bay Area news briefs

SF Muni board OKs Sunday meters SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco is moving forward with a plan to make drivers feed meters on Sunday. The Municipal Transportation Agency's Board of Directors approved the proposal on Tuesday. It would still require approval from the Board of Supervisors. It comes as Muni is facing multi-million-dollar budget deficits. <p style="line-height: 18pt; ...

State news briefs

ANALYST: CALIF. HIGH-SPEED RAIL PLAN STILL VAGUE: SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Legislative Analyst's Office said Tuesday that the latest plan to build a $68.4 billion high-speed rail system linking Northern and Southern California still relies on highly speculative financing, and it urged the state Legislature to reject funding until more details are ironed out. <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in ...

Bill to regulate pot shops clears 1st hurdle

Jump in out-of-state student admissions

Illegal prison cellphones being disabled

Stanislaus deputy Tasers, fatally shoots man

MODESTO (AP) - Authorities are investigating the shooting death of a man by a Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy who was responding to reports of a family dispute. Sheriff's officials say the deputy went to the home in the town of Keyes on Monday afternoon. Sgt. Anthony Bejaran says the deputy first used a Taser on 32-year-old George Ramirez ...

Report: Widespread seafood mislabeling in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Widespread mislabeling of fish in the Los Angeles area may mean sushi lovers aren't biting into a piece of snapper when they order it at restaurants, according to a report released Monday by an environmental advocacy group.

Folsom residents find escaped inmate in truck bed

FOLSOM (AP) - Folsom police have arrested an escaped prisoner after residents found the inmate hiding in the bed of their pickup truck.

Man confronts neighbor about peeing in bushes

HEMET (AP) - Police say a Hemet man had to dodge bullets after confronting a neighbor for peeing in the bushes outside an apartment complex.

Vice principal taken off campus over gay flap

FULLERTON (AP) - An assistant principal at a Southern California high school has been temporarily removed from campus while district officials assess his pulling a gay student offstage for saying he hoped he could someday marry the love of his life.

California farmers, residents to get more water

FRESNO (AP) - Water agencies that supply millions of California residents and farmers will be getting more water this year, thanks to a wet spring and high reservoir storage. The state Department of Water Resources said Monday that State Water Project contractors can expect to get 60 percent of their ...

Cal State faculty starts voting on strike move to fight for 1 percent pay hike

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