Federal officials announces 20K youth summer jobs

MALIBU (AP) - More than 20,000 new summer jobs will give young people an opportunity to work in America's forests, national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands, federal officials announced Friday. The summer work opportunities are to target people ages 15 to 25 and put them in touch with the great outdoors, said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. <p style="line-height: ...

California jobless rate dips slightly to 10.9%

Probation for builder of Phonehenge West

LANCASTER (AP) - The man who built an eccentric Mojave Desert compound known as Phonehenge West was placed on five years' probation on Friday and ordered to serve 63 days community service, five of them at the county morgue. It cost $83,488 to tear down Kim Fahey's structures on the 1.7-acre property in Acton, Los Angeles County prosecutor Patrick David Campbell told ...

Bay Area news briefs

MAN WHO FELL OFF HIGHWAY FABRICATED CARJACK STORY: SAN MATEO (AP) - A Northern California man seriously hurt when he plunged off an elevated freeway ramp fabricated a story about fleeing an armed carjacker.

Richmond puts soda tax on November ballot

RICHMOND (AP) - Voters in Richmond are set to decide whether to make the San Francisco Bay area city the nation's first municipality to tax soda and other sugary beverages to help fight childhood obesity. The Richmond City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to place the soda tax measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, despite opposition from grocers and soda drinkers. The ...

LA museum gets big gift to build shuttle exhibit

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The California Science Center said it has raised nearly half of the $200 million needed to build a permanent exhibit for the space shuttle Endeavour. The museum recently received a donation from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation that will allow it to start the design phase of the project. The museum didn't disclose the amount ...

Parents of slain Chinese students sue USC

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The parents of two Chinese students who were killed near the University of Southern California campus filed a lawsuit alleging the school made false claims about safety. In the 15-page suit filed Wednesday, the parents of 23-year-olds Ming Qu and Ying Wu attack safety claims they say the school makes in the "frequently asked questions" section of its ...

California home prices, sales rise in April

SAN DIEGO (AP) - California home prices increased for a second straight month as the supply of lower-priced homes in foreclosure dwindled and previously hesitant shoppers were lured by low lending rates, a research firm said Thursday. The median price for new and existing houses and condominiums in the state was $264,000 in April, up 6 percent from the same period last ...

Bay Area briefs

BROWN APPROVES TRIBAL CASINO IN SONOMA COUNTY: SANTA ROSA (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has moved a Northern California Indian tribe one step closer to building a casino about 50 miles north of San Francisco.

Bill would repeal vehicle asset limit of $4,650 for CalWorks participation

Street skateboarding league posts $1.6M in prizes for 4 contests

A current lawmaker on the ballot: Who would know?

Phosphorous may have been on hot beach rocks at that severely burned her legs, hands

State news briefs

MOTORIST FATALLY STABBED AFTER CRASHING INTO HOUSE: INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) - A motorist being chased at high-speed by another driver has been stabbed to death after crashing into a Southern California house.

Injured man found week after San Jose rollover crash

SAN JOSE (AP) - Authorities couldn't find the driver of a pickup truck after it rolled over along a Northern California freeway. But he was there a week later when they went back to search for more clues. Police discovered Michael Sanchez Jr. unconscious Tuesday in a dense thicket of brush and trees below an off-ramp along Highway 101 in south San ...

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.