Ships told to slow for whales while navigating aorund San Francisco Bay

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal officials are asking large ships to slow down near San Francisco Bay to avoid killing the droves of whales feeding near the Northern California coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued the advisory Tuesday. It wants large vessels to reduce their speed to 10 knots, or about 11.5 mph, in the Gulf of the Farallones and ...

Judge appoints temp guardian for Jackson kids

Couple hospitalized after bee attack

INDIO (AP) - Killer bees have swarmed a gardener and homeowner in the Southern California desert, stinging them dozens of times. The man and woman are hospitalized. The gardener was stung 80 times, and the woman has more than 100 bee stings. The Desert Sun of Palm Springs reports the gardener was trimming a ...

California farms export $22.1B in food

Low on funds: City plans sugary drink tax

EL MONTE (AP) - City leaders are looking for a sugar fix. The City Council on Tuesday was scheduled to consider declaring a fiscal emergency so it can place a proposed soda tax on the Nov. 6 special election ballot. Businesses would be charged a penny per ounce on beverages they sell that are sweetened with sugar, such ...

Crowd heckles police for fatal shootings

Foreclosure rate for California homes slows, eases fears of housing recovery hit

Chilling video confession in dismemberment killing

FRESNO (AP) - A Fresno County murder defendant acknowledged beating his alleged victim with a metal pipe before dismembering his body with a knife and hacksaw in a bathtub in a chilling video confession played in court. Brian Waldron, 54, is accused of killing Jonathan Taylor at Waldron's home on Oct. 24, 2008. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and mutilation ...

State news briefs

FEDERAL OFFICER KILLED IN MODESTO SHOOTING: MODESTO (AP) - Authorities have identified the victim of a weekend bar shooting in Modesto as a 34-year-old police officer for the Department of Defense.

Los Angeles City Council votes to ban marijuana shops after allowing them

Alameda County passes law making pharmaceutical industry pay to toss pills

Bay Area briefs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco's mayor says the Colorado theater shootings have made him more committed to implementing a police stop and frisk policy aimed at getting weapons off the streets. Mayor Ed Lee's consideration of stop and frisk, where officers stop and search suspicious people for weapons, has triggered an outcry from those who liken it to racial profiling. <p ...

State news briefs

&bull; Man accused of threats at SoCal Batman screening: NORWALK (AP) - A man is accused of making criminal threats at a screening of the new Batman movie at a Southern California theater.

Homeowners see jump in property taxes

SAN JOSE (AP) - Tens of thousands of California homeowners are seeing the downside of the recovering real estate market: unexpected jumps in their property tax bills. Many homeowners believe their property taxes are limited to increases of no more than 2 percent annually because of Proposition 13, the landmark voter initiative approved in 1978. <p ...

Judge: SoCal district improperly rejected petition aimed at imposing school reforms

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