State news briefs

NO NEW REMAINS FOUND IN SPEED FREAK KILLERS SEARCH: LINDEN (AP) - Authorities say they did not find any new human remains during a search of private property in the Central Valley that authorities felt may have been linked to the so-called Speed Freak Killers.

Cal State University workers authorize strike

Transit worker fired after giving discarded passes to needy teen

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Transit worker Jim Stanek thought he was doing a good deed when he gave a needy teenager $300 in discarded train passes. But he said the decision led to his firing. Customers had paid for the passes then turned them over with outstanding balances to the booth where Stanek works as a station agent for the Bay Area ...

DMV workers charged in bribery scheme

Stinging gas sends May Day protesters fleeing in Oakland

USDA: Offspring of mad cow did not have disease

Student left in cell 4 days recalls hallucinations says he had to drink his own urine to stay alive

Bay Area briefs

Teen charged in celeb car theft had huge weapons cache SAN RAFAEL . (AP) - A Northern California teen charged in a drive-by shooting and the theft of a celebrity chef's Lamborghini kept an arsenal that included assault rifles, cellphone-jamming equipment and police gear, authorities said. The items were stashed at a storage container rented by 17-year-old Max Michael Wade, who now ...

Stinging gas sends May Day protesters fleeing

California population adds 250,000 to near 37.7M, but growth is slow

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California added about 250,000 residents last year, bringing the total population to just under 37.7 million as the state continues with modest growth amid a weak economy, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Department of Finance. California's population grew less than 1 percent in 2011, as it did the year before, but the growth rate still ...

California college leaders press for more taxpayer funding from state legislature

Judge scolds prosecutors for dismissing gay juror

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A San Diego judge has dismissed an entire jury panel after prosecutors dismissed a gay man as a potential juror in a same-sex marriage case. Superior Court Judge Joan Weber ruled Tuesday that defendants in the case were denied a representative jury and called the city attorney office's actions "shocking." The case stems from ...

State news briefs

1 DEAD, 2 WOUNDED IN MODESTO SHOOTING: MODESTO (AP) - One person was fatally shot and two others wounded in a daytime shooting at a south Modesto home on Tuesday, and police said it appears at least one assault rifle was used.

‘Feds cite issues behind massive Southwest blackout that impacted millions in California

Court monitor: Oakland police reforms stagnating

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