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

Lawmakers seek audit of mental health spending

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two lawmakers say the state needs to change how mental health funding from a 2004 ballot initiative is spent to ensure the money serves those who need it most.

Lawmakers seek audit of mental health spending

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two lawmakers say the state needs to change how mental health funding from a 2004 ballot initiative is spent to ensure the money serves those who need it most.

Struggling California cities looking to tax hikes

STANTON (AP) - There's a new twist emerging as some of California's most financially troubled cities look for ways out of their predicaments: They're declaring fiscal emergencies so they can quickly get tax hike initiatives on local November ballots.

Weakness exposed in electricity trading

FOLSOM (AP) - A big electricity trader may have figured out a way to exploit vulnerabilities in the state's $8 billion-a-year electricity market, just as Enron Corp. did a decade ago, state officials said.

Orange County city says Obama campaign hasn't paid its bill for February protection

NEWPORT BEACH . (AP) - Newport Beach may call the bill collectors on President Obama's re-election campaign.

No mechanical issues in Superman roller coaster stall at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

VALLEJO (AP) - Mechanical problems were not to blame for the stalling of a roller coaster carrying a dozen people at a Northern California theme park while the coaster was about 150 feet above the ground, park officials said Monday.

State news briefs

MAN ATTEMPTS TO SMUGGLE METH AS CANDY: LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California man faces federal drug charges for allegedly trying to smuggle more than four pounds of methamphetamine to Japan in what looked like dozens of Snickers bars.

Newest California city may fold after state hijacks half of its revenue

JURUPA VALLEY (AP) - California's newest city could be broke in a year because the state has taken away nearly half its budget.

OC officials keep inmate alive they want to ultimately execute

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A man charged with raping and killing a woman 30 years ago is being kept alive in Orange County with dialysis treatments until officials can win permission to execute him.

Bills aim to protect privacy in drone age

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California lawmakers are attempting to stay ahead of science fiction-style technology as increasingly nimble unmanned aircraft are considered for use in tracking fleeing suspects and monitoring crowded public spaces.