GOP decries Legislature passing 'shell' bills they can later add budget legislation plans

Senate leader: Promote Brown tax plan on 2012 ballot then water bond in 2014

Lawmakers vote to overturn Citizens United

State news briefs

MAN CUTS OFF HIS HAND WITH KITCHEN KNIFE: ADELANTO (AP) - Investigators say a Southern California man deliberately cut off his hand with a kitchen knife, but it's not clear why.

Man faces up to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty for celeb hacking

Bay Area briefs

Mavericks big-wave surfing contest unlikely HALF MOON BAY . (AP) - A Mavericks big-wave surfing contest in California isn't likely this year. The window for the competition closes on March 31 and organizers say it doesn't appear the right combination of wind and ocean swell will materialize. Mavericks International contest director Jeff Clark saod that the window won't be ...

State news briefs

SF SHERIFF CHARGED WITH OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Over the past nine weeks, San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi hasn't spoken to his wife and has seen his 3-year-old son only sporadically.

Salinas counselor arrested on sex, porn charges

SALINAS (AP) - Police have arrested a high school counselor whose computer allegedly contained videos of students engaged in sexual activity in his office, authorities said. Gilbert Olivares, a drug and alcohol counselor at Salinas High School, was first arrested last week on suspicion of inappropriately touching a student, the Monterey County Herald reported Wednesday. The 34-year-old man turned himself in Monday ...

California mosque sues city over denial of application to rebuild and expand

Wal-Mart to pay $2.1 million in fines for overcharging California consumers

. SAN DIEGO (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million penalty for charging California costumers at prices higher than those posted, in violation of a 2008 judgment ordering the retail chain to stop, state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Wednesday. The agreement came after an investigation that began in November 2010 found ...

LA council urges curbs on derogatory radio speech

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The City Council called on TV and radio broadcasters Wednesday to keep their hosts from spouting crude slurs, citing Rush Limbaugh's reference to a woman as a "slut" and a KFI show calling Whitney Houston a "crack ho." The council voted 13-2 for a resolution urging Los Angeles stations to do everything in their power to ensure that ...

Wife: 'Kony 2012' director suffers from psychosis

Oakland to pay legal fees in public search by cops

OAKLAND (AP) - Oakland officers' decision to pull two men's pants down on a public street after they were stopped by police has cost the city about a million dollars. The City Council voted 7-1 in closed session on Tuesday to pay the men's lawyers, civil rights attorneys John Burris and Michael Haddad, $832,000 in legal fees, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. ...

Bay Area briefs

PG&E wants to offset fine for pipeline blast

‘California inmates petition UN to monitor prisons

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.