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

State news briefs

3 HURT AS AMBULANCE, GARBAGE TRUCK COLLIDE IN LA: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Authorities say an ambulance from the Los Angeles Fire Department and a garbage truck have collided, sending the two firefighters in the ambulance and the driver of the truck to the hospital.

LA teacher named National Teacher of Year

PG&E seeks to avoid paying punitive damages

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Pacific Gas & Electric Co. wants to avoid paying punitive damages to survivors of the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion, claiming in recent court filings that the blast was an accident rather than the result of mismanagement. PG&E faces more than 100 civil lawsuits for the pipeline explosion, which killed eight and destroyed 38 homes in the San ...

Starbucks to open on Disney properties

Ex-Yahoo president settles divorce after long & bitter tiff

SAN RAFAEL (AP) - A former president of Yahoo and her husband reached a settlement Monday in their long-running divorce involving about $71 million in real estate, stock, cash and other assets. The fight between ex-Yahoo president Susan Decker, 49, and her one-time investment banker husband Michael Dovey, 52, revealed a seamy side of Silicon Valley. The multimillion-dollar divorce proceedings included allegations ...

Nuclear plant developing plan to go back online

Measure to ban death penalty qualifies for November ballot

Bay Area news briefs

HEARING TO SET PROCEDURES IN SHERIFF'S ETHICS CASE: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The city ethics commission plans to set the ground rules Monday for the misconduct case against Ross Mirkarimi, the sheriff who was suspended after being charged with domestic violence.

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.