Marines discharge sergeant for Facebook posts critical of President Obama policies

Ruling undermines measure blocking lawmakers' pay

State news briefs

PERSON DIES AFTER SUV DANGLES FROM FREEWAY: SAN DIEGO (AP) - Authorities say a woman has died after five people were rescued from a wrecked SUV as it dangled off the side of a San Diego freeway.

Jane Goodall named grand marshal of Rose Parade

PASADENA (AP) - Chimpanzee expert and conservationist Jane Goodall was named Wednesday as grand marshal of the 2013 Tournament of Roses. The honor was announced outside the tournament's stately mansion headquarters, where Goodall greeted well-wishers with the kind of chimpanzee call she said can be heard in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. Goodall, 78, said she was startled when ...

Fireball remnants likely in California.

Bay Area briefs

Santa Clara County takes aim at payday loans

SAN JOSE (AP) - San Jose and Santa Clara County are cracking down on payday lending operations. Critics say the storefront businesses prey on the poor. In exchange for a post-dated check, people get up to $255 in cash with a promise to repay the loan, plus a $45 fee, within two weeks. The San Jose Mercury News ...

Rodney King reflects on an up-down life since riot Los Angeles riot 20 years ago

Settlement clears way for cross in Mojave Desert honoring war dead

Hunting bill to ban dogs draws hundreds

Proposal calls for local control over campuses

BERKELEY (AP) - Each of the 10 campuses that make up the University of California system would have the autonomy to set their own tuition, determine how many out-of-state students to enroll and make other key decisions under a proposal floated by top officials at the University of California, Berkeley. The officials, including UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, say in a new ...

Judge: Controller cannot block lawmakers' pay

SACRAMENTO (AP) - In a tentative ruling, a trial judge said Tuesday that the state controller has no authority to block lawmakers' pay, as he did last summer after deciding they had failed to meet their constitutional deadline for passing a balanced budget. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David Brown found that Controller John Chiang violated the separation of powers clause of ...

State news briefs

TEENS DRINKING HAND SANITIZER TO GET DRUNK: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Teenagers are showing up in Los Angeles emergency rooms after drinking inexpensive liquid hand sanitizers to get drunk.

Bay Area briefs

BART staff recommends Canadian firm for new cars

Plan calls for halting prison construction, bring inmates shipped out of state back

SF firefighter makes $221,000 in OT

State news briefs

GOODWILL AGREES TO SETTLE SOCAL SEX BIAS CASE: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Goodwill Industries of Southern California has agreed to settle federal allegations that it discriminated against men in hiring.

L.A. tops cities with worst traffic

209 News

PIT BULLS KILL NEARLY 200 GOATS: FRENCH CAMP - Concerned residents and workers at a French Camp livestock auction yard are worried that a pack of pit bulls will return to attack their animals.

Bolts on Bay Bridge that haven't failed may go

OAKLAND (AP) - Long seismic safety bolts on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that haven't failed may have to be replaced nonetheless, a regional transportation official said Wednesday.

State news briefs

GROCER TRIES TO PROFIT OFF BOTCHED BURGLARY: REDDING (AP) - A Northern California grocery store owner is trying to profit from a suspected thief's botched burglary attempt that was caught on video and went viral.

2 a.m. still last call for alcohol in California

Educators sued over English instruction