Food labels multiply, confuse consumers

FRESNO (AP) - Want to avoid pesticides and antibiotics in your produce, meat, and dairy foods? Prefer to pay more to make sure farm animals were treated humanely, farmworkers got their lunch breaks, bees or birds were protected by the farmer and that ranchers didn't kill predators?

Two die from mushrooms despite warnings

LOOMIS (AP) - The deaths of two residents of a Northern California assisted living facility and the hospitalization of four others come despite warnings from health officials not to eat mushrooms picked in the wild.

State news briefs

• RALEY'S, UNION RETURN TO BARGAINING TABLE: WEST SACRAMENTO (AP) - Officials with supermarket chain Raley's and union representatives are back at the bargaining table.

Union reaches tentative pact with Raley's rival

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The union on strike over contract talks with Northern California supermarket chain Raley's has agreed to new terms with a rival grocer - a move that labor experts say will put pressure on Raley's to make a deal. Pleasanton-based Safeway announced on Thursday that it had reached a tentative contract agreement with the United Food and Commercial ...

Democrat wins tight Sacramento-area Assembly race; Berryhill still leading

LA bank robbery chase ends in televised death

LANCASTER, Calif. (AP) - A bank robbery suspect was cornered on a northern Los Angeles County cul-de-sac and shot to death Friday on live television after he apparently fired at sheriff's deputies from his car, authorities said. The man died at the scene at around 10:15 a.m. after televised news reports showed a single bullet trail plowing through the glass from inside ...

GOP Rep. Bono Mack loses House seat

Storm brings 18 inches of snow to Sierra raising skiers' hopes

State news briefs

DEPUTIES SAY SOUTHERN CAL MAN TORCHED FAMILY DOG: CAMARILLO (AP) - Ventura County sheriff's and fire investigators say an 18-year-old has been arrested for dousing his family's dog with lighter fluid and setting it on fire in a ravine near their home.

Two arrested in shooting of deputy with pellet gun

FRIANT (AP) - Two men have been arrested in the shooting of an off-duty Fresno County Sheriff's deputy with a pellet gun.

Oakland pleas with judge not to have police taken over by federal government

Bay Area briefs

Mavericks surfing contest window opens HALF MOON BAY (AP) - The time window for the Mavericks big-wave surfing contest off the Northern California coast has officially opened. Surfers and organizers on Friday planned an opening ceremony and paddle out at the break to mark the season's opening. Each year, wave forecasters wait for the right combination of swell and ...

Disabled woman raped on bus in Culver City

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles County sheriff's officials say they're looking for a man accused of raping a mentally disabled woman on a city bus.

Bay Area news briefs

• TV CAMERAMAN PUNCHED, ROBBED OF CAMERA IN OAKLAND: OAKLAND (AP) - A TV news cameraman is back at work after a group of young men punched him and stole his camera while he was on assignment on a busy Oakland, Calif., street.

Columbia dean named Berkeley chancellor

Columbia dean named Berkeley chancellor BERKELEY (AP) - A Columbia University dean was nominated Thursday as the next chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, following a six-month search. UC President Mark Yudof said he selected Nicholas Dirks, Columbia's executive vice president and dean of the faculty for arts and sciences, to replace outgoing Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau. Dirks' ...

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 ...

Fertility coverage protected for same-sex couples under new law

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Unmarried and same-sex couples will be ensured the same access to insurance coverage for fertility treatments as heterosexual couples under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law. The governor's office announced Tuesday that he had signed AB460 by Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco. The bill clarifies the non-discrimination provision of an existing state law that requires health plans to offer coverage for fertility treatments, except for in vitro ...

Woman found dead in SF hospital stairwell may be missing patient

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A woman's body was found dead Tuesday in a San Francisco hospital stairwell as authorities investigated whether she was a patient who went missing more than two weeks ago. The unidentified woman's body was found by an employee in a rarely used exterior stairwell around 10 a.m., San Francisco General Hospital spokeswoman Rachael Kagan said. It wasn't known how long the woman had been on the stairway - which is used ...

SF rail commuters on phones didn't notice gun

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A man flashed a gun several times on a crowded commuter train in San Francisco, but passengers were so absorbed in their phones and tablets they didn't notice until he randomly shot and killed a university student, authorities said. Security video footage showed the gunman pull out the .45-caliber pistol, raise it and point it across the aisle before putting it back against his side, authorities told the San Francisco Chronicle ...

PG&E must show regulators closed gas pipeline in San Carlos is safe

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - State regulators on Tuesday directed Pacific Gas and Electric to keep a Northern California natural gas pipeline shut down until they verify its safety after concerns surfaced in an email from an engineer. The California Public Utilities Commission has opened an investigation to determine whether any immediate dangers are posed by the pipeline in the San Francisco Bay Area city of San Carlos, saying the findings would be made public, and ...

State exchange processes 16,000 applications

Stockton teen takes plea in boy's beating death

STOCKTON (AP) - A Stockton teenager is facing nearly 20 years in state prison after pleading guilty to participating in the beating and stomping death of a 14-year-old boy at a city park. Jereme Sin, who is now 17, was the same age as the victim, Rin Ros, when he and seven other teens were charged as adults with murder in Ros' August 2010 slaying. Sin pleaded guilty on Monday to involuntary manslaughter as part ...

New Calif. law limits worker comp for professional athletes

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Professional athletes who spend most of their careers with teams in other states will be prohibited from filing workers' compensation claims in California, under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

LA seeks census of buildings vulnerable in earthquake

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles officials hope to follow San Francisco's lead in upgrading so-called "soft-story" buildings, those with bottom floors that are susceptible to collapse during an earthquake. Legislation, however, could be years away. Officials were expected to provide details about a proposed census of LA's soft-story structures at Tuesday's Buildings at Risk conference. Also this week, LA officials are meeting with San Francisco's earthquake team to get advice on how to proceed ...

News from around california

PG&E offers employers that are big power users lower rates

Spanking with wooden spoon not child abuse

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A state appeals court on Tuesday tossed out child abuse findings against a frustrated Northern California mother who spanked her 12-year-old daughter hard enough with a wooden spoon to cause bruising. The 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose reversed the child abuse determination made by the Santa Clara County Department of Social Services. Social workers waned to report Vernica Gonzalez to the state Department of Justice's child abuse ...