House Democrats fall short in blocking food stamp reductions

Governor issues furloughs for last 2 labor groups impacting 11,000 state workers

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown issued a furlough order Wednesday for more than 11,000 California workers whose unions have yet to reach a deal for a 5 percent wage cut. Brown's order forces employees to take one day of unpaid leave a month, which amounts to a pay cut of about 5 percent. Bruce Blanning, executive ...

Another California city opts for bankruptcy

State news briefs

POLICE: TRACY MOTEL OWNER, 62, KILLED BY NAKED MAN: TRACY (AP) - Tracy police are investigating the death of a motel owner who was allegedly killed by a naked man in her business office.

Peter O'Toole retires with 'dry-eyed farewell'

Appeals court to examine Calif. ballot numbering

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An appeals court is asking the California secretary of state to explain why Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative should be first on the November ballot. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento agreed Tuesday to examine a challenge to the decision, one day after the state's chief elections officer assigned numbers to 11 measures on the November ballot. ...

Bay Area briefs

UC tuition could rise sharply if tax measure fails

Family of soldier sues security firm over death

Injured hiker saves rescuer hit by copter blades

Firefighters try to outrun heat wave

ACLU files suit against LA County sheriff, DA for withholding evidence

$3.2M yacht sinks in Lake Tahoe marina

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - Witnesses at the Tahoe Keys Marina say they heard screeching, the sound of tearing metal, and a passenger yell "oh, no!" late Sunday night. By about 3 a.m. Monday, a three-story, $3.2 million yacht ...

S. California, Sierra experiencing heat wave

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern California's deserts and interior valleys broiled in triple-digit or upper 90s temperatures on Monday as a mini heat wave set in. The National Weather Service said warming brought by a strong, upper-level high centered over the Great Basin would peak on Tuesday and Wednesday. Excessive heat warnings will be in effect most of Tuesday across the deserts, ...

Eastern Sierra wildfire now 85 percent contained

BIG PINE (AP) - A wildfire burning near a main highway in the eastern Sierra Nevada is nearly surrounded. The 1,103-acre blaze west of Highway 395 in Inyo County was more than 85 percent contained Monday morning. State fire Battalion Chief Julie Hutchinson says there are no active flames and crews are concentrating on dousing hotspots to ...

5 shot outside Oakland's Jack London Square

Vulnerable inmates ordered out of 2 Central Valley prisons

Nesting swallows could delay Petaluma bridge work

State news briefs

SANTA CLARA THREATENS AMBULANCE TERMINATION: SAN JOSE. (AP) - Santa Clara County officials are threatening to terminate the contract of an ambulance company that they say has repeatedly responded too slowly to emergencies.

Killer on the loose: Valley Springs on lockdown

Lawmakers consider moratorium on oil fracking in San Joaquin Valley

3 divers killed over weekend abalone diving off California

SF Bay Bridge has bolts similar to banned bolts

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has more than 1,200 bolts made from galvanized steel that is virtually identical to a high-strength alloy that a nationwide group of transportation officials banned for use on bridges because the bolts can crack, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Fatal stabbing of girl, 8, prompts manhunt

VALLEY SPRINGS (AP) - Residents of a rural Northern California county were being told Sunday to keep their doors locked and report anyone considered suspicious as authorities continued the search for the killer of an 8-year-old girl.

Some are overlooked in overhaul

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Carlos Gonzalez has lived nearly all his 29 years in a country he considers home but now finds himself on the wrong side of the border - and the wrong side of a proposed overhaul of the U.S. immigration system that would grant legal status to millions of people.

California weighs first state ban on lead ammo

SACRAMENTO (AP) - In November, one of the oldest condors in Central California died from lead poisoning after being found with tiny bullet fragments and a .22-caliber slug in his gullet that he apparently swallowed with a mouthful of meat.

Rolling Stones rock small LA club

LOS ANGELES (AP) - For one night only, the Rolling Stones were an up-and-coming band again.

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.