State news briefs

Tahoe water shuttle starts Friday on north shore

School official accused of embezzlement pleads

WOODSIDE (AP) - A former school superintendent in San Mateo County accused of billing one school district for work done on his home and misappropriating funds from another district has reached a plea deal. The Palo Alto Daily News reports that Timothy Hanretty pleaded no contest on Tuesday to multiple counts of misappropriating funds in exchange for a prison sentence of no ...

Professor’s email reveals shooting plot

Lawmakers request audit of 9/11 fund, other plates

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers has formally requested a detailed review of the California specialty license plate program, the first in the program's 20-year history. The request comes in response to an investigation by The Associated ...

LA workers asked to stop watching Olympics online

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The top technology officer for Los Angeles is pleading with city workers to stop watching the Olympics online at work, saying it could cause a municipal computer meltdown.

Climate change report: Hotter & drier days plus a lot more fires

FRESNO (AP) - As California grows warmer, nowhere will the increased temperatures be starker than its arid Central Valley, where farmers will have to consider whether the crops ...

Ailing San Onofre nuke plant cost: $165 million so far with $25 million in expenses on the way

Cal State reaches tentative agreement with faculty; no raises, same benefits

No bail for UC Irvine professor charged with arson

SANTA ANA. (AP) - A University of California professor was held without bail Tuesday after prosecutors said they found evidence he plotted to kill students and administrators at a high school where his son was disciplined before committing suicide. Rainer Reinscheid, 48, an associate professor of pharmaceuticals at the University of California, Irvine, is charged with arson for a series of five ...

Most Calif. for-profit colleges such as University of Phoenix lose state grants

State news briefs

JUDGE ALLOWS SAN DIEGO PENSION OVERHAUL TO PROCEED: SAN DIEGO (AP) - A judge will allow a closely-watched measure to curb pensions for San Diego city workers to take effect. San Diego Superior Court Judge Luis Vargas on Tuesday denied a request by California's Public Employee Relations Board to put the plan on hold. The judge noted that San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved it last month. ...

Gay marriage ban backers seek review by US Supreme Court of Proposition 8

Crews battle 2 fires in Plumas National Forest

QUINCY (AP) - Nearly 900 firefighters are battling separate blazes burning in rugged terrain in Plumas National Forest, including one fire that is threatening four trailer homes. The larger of the two wildfires has consumed about 780 acres, or a little more than a square mile. That fire, called the Peak Fire, is a remote area of forest and is not threatening ...

Apple claims Samsung copied iPhone technology

Bay Area briefs

Mother sues police over son's accidental shooting

Bolts on Bay Bridge that haven't failed may go

OAKLAND (AP) - Long seismic safety bolts on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that haven't failed may have to be replaced nonetheless, a regional transportation official said Wednesday.

State news briefs

GROCER TRIES TO PROFIT OFF BOTCHED BURGLARY: REDDING (AP) - A Northern California grocery store owner is trying to profit from a suspected thief's botched burglary attempt that was caught on video and went viral.

2 a.m. still last call for alcohol in California

Educators sued over English instruction