Feds approve first leg of high-speed rail

Poll finds slim margin for Brown tax initiative on November ballot

State news briefs

DEPIUTY SPRAYED IN FACE WITH BEAR REPELLENT: VICTORVILLE (AP) - An Arizona man is in jail for spraying a sheriff's deputy in the face with bear repellent during a Southern California desert traffic stop.

Governor signs workers' compensation fixes to reduce costs, increase benefits

Berkeley to consider declaring Bisexual Pride Day; would be first in nation to do so

BERKELEY (AP) - Berkeley could become the nation's first city to officially proclaim Bisexual Pride Day and accommodate a group that often complains of exclusion from gay rights celebrations. If approved by the City Council, Bisexual Pride Day would be celebrated every Sept. 23, the same day bisexual pride events are held in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and other cities across the ...

CSU OKs plan to raise tuition if tax fails

Groups lend a hand to teachers with classroom pets

Homebuilder confidence surges to 6-year high

Man arrested for ESPN post on killing kids

Bay Area briefs

FBI says monitoring Occupy protests within rules

San Diego dog walker kills attacking pit bull with knife

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Officials say a man walking his dog on the streets of San Diego stabbed a pit bull to death after the animal attacked him.

State news briefs

LA STUDENTS WRITE ESSAYS ON GAY MARRIAGE: LOS ANGELES (AP) - High school students had to write essays on gay marriage views for admission to a Southern California school play based on the legal wrangle over anti-same sex marriage Proposition 8.

Late painter's girlfriend agrees to pay $11K rent

SAN JOSE. (AP) - Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend is agreeing to pay $11,000 a month to rent the San Francisco Bay area mansion where she had lived with the late artist, but his paintings and possessions remain the focus of a bitter estate fight. The San Jose Mercury News reports that Kinkade's widow, Nanette, sought permission Monday from a probate judge to remove ...

Cancer overtakes heart disease among Hispanics

Filipinos win settlement in English-only case

DELANO (AP) - Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California will share a nearly $1 million settlement in a lawsuit claiming they were targeted by a rule requiring English only at work, federal officials said Monday. The settlement involves nearly 70 nurses and medical staff members who accused Delano Regional Medical Center in Kern County of banning them from speaking Tagalog and ...

Bill would prohibit ticket-buying software

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Music and sports fans would have one less obstacle in buying tickets to popular events under a bill advancing through the California Legislature. Legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento would prohibit the use of robotic ticket-buying software. Supporters of AB329 say scalpers use the software to bombard online box offices and then resell tickets at higher prices. Lawmakers previously deleted a provision that would have allowed transfers of paperless event ...

Professor assigns students to make ad for his campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him. Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students' work could run afoul ...

Bay Area briefs

SWALLOWS LAWSUIT MAY DELAY PETALUMA BRIDGE WORK : PETALUMA (AP) - A lawsuit accuses state and federal regulators of causing the death of dozens of migratory cliff swallows by placing nets on a Sonoma County bridge during a highway widening project.

State releases health reform plans, pricing

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

Injured volunteer seeks payment from lost hiker

6 plead not guilty in school embezzlement

Driver impaled by metal rod on I-580 near Livermore.

Snacking deputy's crash costs Santa Clara County $5M

Brown defends California's business climate

State news briefs

POSTAL WORKER SENTENCED IN MAIL THEFT: SAN CARLOS, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area postal worker accused of stealing thousands of pieces of mail to obtain credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.