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

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

SANTA ANA (AP) - Orange County wants state permission to charge reckless people for the cost of rescuing them. The Orange County Register says county supervisors voted Tuesday to propose state legislation and Assemblyman Don Wagner has agreed to carry a bill. It would permit counties and cities to recover rescue costs for people who put themselves in ...

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

SANTA ANA (AP) - Orange County wants state permission to charge reckless people for the cost of rescuing them. The Orange County Register says county supervisors voted Tuesday to propose state legislation and Assemblyman Don Wagner has agreed to carry a bill. It would permit counties and cities to recover rescue costs for people who put themselves in ...

Injured volunteer seeks payment from lost hiker

SANTA ANA (AP) - A volunteer searcher who broke his back while looking for a teenager who was lost in Orange County wilderness says he deserves restitution if the teen is convicted on drug charges. Nick Papageorge, 20, said after Nic Cendoya's arraignment was postponed Wednesday that his medical bills could total $350,000, City News Service reported. Papageorge ...

6 plead not guilty in school embezzlement

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Six current and former San Francisco school district employees have pleaded not guilty to charges that they embezzled $15 million in grant money from the school system. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the six women entered the pleas on Tuesday during their first court appearance. Prosecutors say they diverted federal and state grant ...

Driver impaled by metal rod on I-580 near Livermore.

LIVERMORE (AP) - The California Highway Patrol is looking for witnesses, as it investigates the death of a man who was impaled by a metal rod while driving on Interstate 580 around Livermore. The incident occurred around 8:11 a.m. Wednesday. The CHP says the 2 to 3-foot long rod went through the windshield of the westbound Volvo station wagon, penetrating the driver's ...

Snacking deputy's crash costs Santa Clara County $5M

SAN JOSE (AP) - Santa Clara County is on the hook for a $5 million settlement in a crash involving a sheriff's deputy who allegedly took his eyes off the road while eating a McDonald's hamburger, a newspaper reported. Deputy Greg Markovic smashed into Diem Van Lam's Honda in January in San Jose, leaving Van Lam with injuries including broken ribs and ...

Brown defends California's business climate

State news briefs

POSTAL WORKER SENTENCED IN MAIL THEFT: SAN CARLOS, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area postal worker accused of stealing thousands of pieces of mail to obtain credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

State news briefs

LAWYER: TEEN USED 'MURDER KIT' ON GIRL'S PARENTS: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prosecutors say a teenager accused of murdering his girlfriend's parents was equipped with a "murder kit" to kill the Compton couple.

Montana man dies in Yosemite climbing accident

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - A Montana man died in a rock climbing accident as he tried to climb to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, authorities said. Mason Robison, 38, of Columbia Falls, Mont., was killed after a rock dislodged and severed his rope as he and a partner were about 2,300 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, ...

Unclaimed veterans' remains laid to rest

DIXON (AP) - The unclaimed remains of 35 military veterans, including some from World War I, and two military wives have been given formal military burials in Northern California. The remains, some left unclaimed for decades, were escorted by 120 motorcycles from Santa Rosa to the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon on Monday. "One of the tragedies ...

Plastic ocean debris bill dies in committee

Bill would treat e-cigarettes like other tobacco

State Senate election might be headed to runoff in 16th district

LA sanitation ends plans for dump near Joshua Tree