Bay Area news briefs

USS Iowa to depart to Southern California Saturday

State news briefs

CALIF. SUES ARMY CORPS OVER VEGETATION RULE : FRESNO (AP) - A California agency is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its policy requiring the removal of vegetation on federal levees, claiming it harms fish and wildlife.

Safeway clerk who defended woman attacked by boyfriend in store reinstated

DEL REY OAKS (AP) - When Safeway meat clerk Ryan Young jumped from behind his counter to help a pregnant woman being kicked by her boyfriend, he didn't know that he'd be suddenly jobless and a national hero at the same time. On April 21, while Young worked a shift at the Del Rey Oaks, Calif., Safeway, he saw the woman and ...

13-year-old girl held in attempted murder of her mother three times over a few hours

San Jose voters to decide fate of city's minimum wage hike from $8 to $10

SAN JOSE (AP) - The San Jose City Council will let voters have the final say on the city's minimum wage will be. In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the council approved putting a minimum wage ordinance on the Nov. 6 ballot. If approved, the minimum wage would rise from $8 to $10 an hour, with annual increases tied to the consumer price ...

Poll finds support fading for $1 cigarette tax

San Onofre trouble may prompt rule review

Bay Area briefs

City official consults Ouija board before vote

Beam them up: Ashes of 'Star Trek' actor in orbit

Calif. pension fund to vote against Wal-Mart board

SACRAMENTO (AP) - One of the nation's largest pension funds says it will vote its 5.3 million shares against all of Wal-Mart's board nominees - including the company's current and former CEOs - at the retailer's annual meeting next week. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as CalSTERS, said Tuesday that it has lost faith in the board's independence amid allegations ...

Couple convicted in trashed home case

RIVERSIDE (AP) - A former San Diego police officer and his wife have been found guilty of trashing their foreclosed home in Riverside County. A jury convicted Robert Acosta on Monday of stealing fixtures valued at greater than $65,000 when he and his wife moved out of their foreclosed home in 2010. Monique Acosta was found guilty of the same charge on ...

Prolonged Facebook slide could hurt California budget

Brown seeks business support for tax-hike plan on November ballot

State news briefs

WOMAN, 3 CHILDREN HIT BY CAR IN CROSSWALK: THOUSAND OAKS (AP) - Police say a woman and three children walking in a Thousand Oaks crosswalk were hit by a vehicle and injured, but a baby in a stroller escaped harm.

Silicon Valley tech exec accused of Lego thefts; faces up to five years in prison

SAN JOSE (AP) - A Silicon Valley software executive put fake bar codes on Lego sets at various Target stores, bought the toys at a steep discount, then sold them online for thousands of dollars, authorities said. Thomas Langenbach, 47, appeared in court Tuesday on four felony counts of burglary that could net him up to five years in prison if convicted. ...

SF firefighter makes $221,000 in OT

State news briefs

GOODWILL AGREES TO SETTLE SOCAL SEX BIAS CASE: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Goodwill Industries of Southern California has agreed to settle federal allegations that it discriminated against men in hiring.

L.A. tops cities with worst traffic

209 News

PIT BULLS KILL NEARLY 200 GOATS: FRENCH CAMP - Concerned residents and workers at a French Camp livestock auction yard are worried that a pack of pit bulls will return to attack their animals.

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