Foreclosure rate for California homes slows, eases fears of housing recovery hit

Chilling video confession in dismemberment killing

FRESNO (AP) - A Fresno County murder defendant acknowledged beating his alleged victim with a metal pipe before dismembering his body with a knife and hacksaw in a bathtub in a chilling video confession played in court. Brian Waldron, 54, is accused of killing Jonathan Taylor at Waldron's home on Oct. 24, 2008. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and mutilation ...

State news briefs

FEDERAL OFFICER KILLED IN MODESTO SHOOTING: MODESTO (AP) - Authorities have identified the victim of a weekend bar shooting in Modesto as a 34-year-old police officer for the Department of Defense.

Los Angeles City Council votes to ban marijuana shops after allowing them

Alameda County passes law making pharmaceutical industry pay to toss pills

Bay Area briefs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco's mayor says the Colorado theater shootings have made him more committed to implementing a police stop and frisk policy aimed at getting weapons off the streets. Mayor Ed Lee's consideration of stop and frisk, where officers stop and search suspicious people for weapons, has triggered an outcry from those who liken it to racial profiling. <p ...

State news briefs

&bull; Man accused of threats at SoCal Batman screening: NORWALK (AP) - A man is accused of making criminal threats at a screening of the new Batman movie at a Southern California theater.

Homeowners see jump in property taxes

SAN JOSE (AP) - Tens of thousands of California homeowners are seeing the downside of the recovering real estate market: unexpected jumps in their property tax bills. Many homeowners believe their property taxes are limited to increases of no more than 2 percent annually because of Proposition 13, the landmark voter initiative approved in 1978. <p ...

Judge: SoCal district improperly rejected petition aimed at imposing school reforms

Alameda County may require pharmaceutical firms to pay for prescription drug disposal

Student assistants to be let go amid California budget cuts

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - Hundreds of California student assistants will lose their jobs as the school year begins as part of a cost-cutting deal between the state and its largest public employees union. With California facing a deep budget deficit, 1,600 state student assistant positions will be eliminated in September, The Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/SQ9F7F) reported Monday. The move ...

Mariah Carey joins 'American Idol' as new judge, props up show with star power

State news briefs

HEAD MOUSKETEER GINNY TYLER DIES AT 86: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former Disney head Mousketeer and voice actress Ginny Tyler has died in Washington at 86.

State park groups fret over secret fund debacle as they try to keep 70 parks open

Fingerprint expert shortage causes LA backlog

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Detectives investigating burglaries, auto thefts and other property-related crimes in Los Angeles have been forced to wait an average two to three months to get fingerprints analyzed because of an employee shortage at the Police Department's Latent Print Unit. The backlog of 2,200 cases means fingerprint analysis in some active criminal investigations is being delayed more than a ...

State taxes coming in $4B above forecast

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California is on track to collect $4 billion more in personal income taxes than Gov. Jerry Brown had expected, giving a potential boost to education funding, the legislative analyst's office said Tuesday.

Los Angeles settles with women fired on in manhunt

Davis man spends week in wilderness on pine nuts

Burger King delivers it your way in San Francisco & LA

Bay Area briefs

WOMAN UNINJURED AFTER BART TRAIN PASSES OVER HER: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A woman escaped uninjured after a commuter train passed over her but did not hit her on tracks at a San Francisco station, transit officials said.