Jury: Toyota not liable for death of woman

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A jury found Thursday that Toyota Motor Corp. is not liable for the death of a California woman who was killed when her 2006 Camry apparently accelerated and crashed despite her efforts to stop.

LA officer charged in death of suspect

Stuck in virtual world as murder unfolds

LA police testing new all electric motorcycles

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck made a surprising entrance at the Los Angeles Police Museum last month when he stealthily zipped into the parking lot on a souped-up, racing-style, all-electric motorcycle.

LA police testing new all electric motorcycles

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck made a surprising entrance at the Los Angeles Police Museum last month when he stealthily zipped into the parking lot on a souped-up, racing-style, all-electric motorcycle.

News from around california

POLICE, FBI INVESTIGATE CALIF. PIPE BOMB DISCOVERY PETALUMA (AP) - Police and the FBI are investigating a Northern California man who was being held on $1 million bail after authorities say they found pipe bombs at his home. Ismail Moylan, 30, of Sonoma County, who police said also goes by the name Ismail Aljamal, was scheduled to be in court on Wednesday. He was arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of possessing a destructive ...

Hollywood sign sightseers frustrate upscale residents

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A flier calling for the Hollywood sign to be torn down is a joke, but residents of hillside neighborhoods below the landmark said the frustration they feel over growing crowds of sightseers is real. Signs have gone up in the upscale areas of Beachwood Canyon and Hollywoodland, some reading "Warning - Tourist-Free Zone" and "Tourists Go Away," the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. Residents say they are bothered by the traffic ...

Democrats seeking changes sought in state prison isolation policies

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Democratic lawmakers on key policy committees said Wednesday that they want to limit California's practice of keeping hundreds of inmates in solitary confinement for years, sometimes decades, as a way of controlling violent prison gangs.

Student professor fight case in court

FRESNO (AP) - A student cried as she testified that an instructor at Fresno City College pinned her against a wall and threw her to the ground. Student Kevynn Gomez said Wednesday she was shaky and scared after the March fight with instructor Brian Calhoun, who was fired and is on trial for battery. The Fresno Bee reports Calhoun, who had the classroom next, complained to Gomez's instructor that their midterm was running late, and ...

Rescued kidnapped teen to speak on 'Today'

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Kidnapping survivor Hannah Anderson says her family's friend-turned-captor handcuffed her and tried to make her play a game of Russian roulette until she started "freaking out." James Lee DiMaggio used zip ties to bind her feet and then told her that he was going to take her to Idaho to help him settle there before releasing her, according to the San Diego-area teen, who described her ordeal two months after she ...

Cliff House caught in federal shutdown

Democratic group runs ads against GOP lawmakers including Denham

New California law expands who can perform abortions

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants in California will be allowed to perform a type of early abortion under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown, an action that drew condemnation from Catholic bishops and that came as many conservative states are limiting access to abortion services.

Study: Change initiative process

Agency will inspect illegal pot grows

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board will begin inspecting illegal marijuana grows across Northern California, reversing an earlier ban designed to protect employees Last week the water board directed staff to join law enforcement in the field and write citations for environmental violations when appropriate. Law enforcement agencies across the board's 37-county region had sought the help of water scientists so they could prosecute growers who flatten hilltops, divert streams ...

News from across San Joaquin

DRIVER IN FATAL LODI CRASH IS ARRAIGNED: STOCKTON (AP) - The driver accused of causing a car crash in Northern California that killed five members of a family, including a pregnant woman, has been arraigned on more than a dozen counts, including six murder counts and four DUI counts.

State exchange enrolls fraction of target

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's health insurance exchange led the nation in enrollments during its inaugural month of operation, but the 35,000 tentative sign-ups announced Wednesday represented just a fraction of the eventual goal.

News from around california

COUNCIL CANDIDATE LOSES SUPPORT DUE TO RAP VIDEO: SAN BERNARDINO . (AP) - A San Bernardino city council candidate is drawing some flak after music videos he recorded have turned up that critics say promote violence and crime.

Stockton woman shares forced exorcism details

STOCKTON (AP) - A California woman whose husband and son are accused of kidnapping her to perform an exorcism says they made her drink oil and told her she had devils inside her. Forty-one-year-old Blanca Farias told News10 in Sacramento that she was held down in the backseat of a pickup truck Saturday after being picked up in Stockton. "They were saying I had three devils inside of me," Blanca Farias said. She said her ...

George W. Bush heads to Leno's stage next week

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Former President George W. Bush is headed to "The Tonight Show" next week to talk about his post-White House years with Jay Leno, NBC said Tuesday.

2 arrested in alleged Stockton. exorcism kidnapping case

STOCKTON (AP) - A father and son are in custody in California on suspicion of kidnapping the father's ex-wife to perform an exorcism. San Joaquin County Sheriff's officials say 42-year-old Jose Magana-Farias and his son, 20-year-old Victor Farias, thought the woman was possessed because her behavior had changed. Lt. Mike Jones tells KCRA-TV ) they picked her up on Saturday in Stockton and got two priests. The priests aren't expected to face charges, according to ...

News from around california

KIM KARDASHIAN CITED FOR SPEEDING ON LA FREEWAY: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kim Kardashian was cited for speeding Tuesday after a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the reality star apparently being chased by paparazzi on a Los Angeles freeway.

Demolition of old Bay Bridge span begins

OAKLAND (AP) - The new, $6.4 billion eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is done, and demolition of the 1930s-era bridge has begun. The tricky, years-long demolition of the old span presents myriad engineering challenges of its own, Brian Maroney, the California Department of Transportation's bridge engineer, told the Contra Costa Times. "The old bridge is the world's largest armed bow and arrow," Maroney said. "We have to de-string it very carefully or ...

Embattled senator removed from committees

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Sen. Ron Calderon was stripped of his committee assignments Tuesday amid a federal investigation involving allegations that he accepted money in return for promoting certain bills.

Anthem extends 104,000 health insurance policies

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California has agreed to a two-month extension of about 104,000 individual policies after failing to give the required 90-day cancellation notice, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced Tuesday. The policies had been set to expire on Dec. 31 but will be extended until Feb. 28 for those who choose to re-enroll. Notices informing customers of the extension will be sent out this week, Anthem said. Jones ...

2 charged with Sierra bear poaching

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - Nevada County prosecutors have filed criminal charges against two California men accused of illegally killing a black bear near the edge of the Eldorado National Forest about 30 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe. Authorities say 43-year-old Jason Wilkison of Grass Valley and 54-year-old Christopher Nunley of North San Juan were the targets of a five-month-long poaching investigation. They've been charged with misdemeanor unlawful possession and killing of a bear as ...

Lancaster builds house for wounded GI

LANCASTER (AP) - When Jerral Hancock came home from the Iraq war missing one arm, with another that barely worked and a paralyzed body that was burned all over, he was a hero to this Mojave Desert town that wears its military pride on its sleeve.

Three killed, 2 wounded in Stockton home shooting

STOCKTON (AP) - Authorities in Northern California were seeking a motive Monday in a home-invasion shooting that left three adult family members dead and two wounded, and sent a child fleeing to a nearby house for safety. The triple murder happened shortly before midnight Friday in Stockton. Sheriff's deputies responded after receiving a 911 call from a man who reported that he, his girlfriend and other family members had been shot. Deputies arrived and found ...

Cloud seeding may bolster snowpack

SACRAMENTO (AP) - With California experiencing a second straight dry year, water agencies are turning to cloud seeding to help pad the state's snowpack. The practice has been around for decades, but cloud seeding has gone mainstream as a result of new technology and research showing its reliable, the Sacramento Bee reported Monday. In a report this year, the California Department of Water Resources estimated cloud seeding projects generate 400,000 acre-feet of additional water supply ...

Lansbury: Mistake to recycle 'Murder, She Wrote'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Angela Lansbury says "it's a mistake" for NBC to call a new series "Murder, She Wrote."